Detailed Instructions: In this task, you are given text for US Congressional and California state bills, your task is to generate a summary for this bill.
Q: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ''Laboratory Surge Capacity
Preparedness Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds the following:
(1) The Federal Government, through grants provided by the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has
invested more than $250,000,000 in the construction of regional
biocontainment laboratories (RBLs), a network of 13 university-
based Biosafety Level 3 (BSL3) laboratories. Individual
university grant recipients have provided additional private
matching funds to construct these facilities.
(2) These laboratories were established to fulfill 2
functions essential to the Nation's biodefense strategy:
(A) To support research for the development of
drugs, vaccines and diagnostics for emerging infections
and biological threats.
(B) To provide surge capacity in support of a
public emergency response to acts of bioterrorism and
outbreaks of infectious disease.
(3) While the Federal Government has provided support for
the construction of these facilities, it has not to date
provided the operational support required by these laboratories
to fulfill their Federal surge capacity mission.
(4) Recent bioterrorism exercises conducted by the
Department of Homeland Security and the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention have demonstrated that the Federal
Government may not have sufficient laboratory surge capacity to
adequately respond to a large scale bioterrorism event.
(5) Once fully operational, the network of RBLs will be
able to collectively provide more than 52,000 square feet of
laboratory space within a relatively short period of a declared
national bioterror or pandemic emergency.
(6) In addition, the RBL network will be able to
collectively provide the services of nearly 500 trained
personnel, of which more than 230 will have Department of
Justice clearance.
(7) Each of the RBLs has highly trained and specialized
personnel capable of handling select agent pathogens and
conducting diagnostic testing, in a secure BSL3 setting that
can be ''locked down'' rapidly and discreetly during an act of
bioterrorism. Each facility can maintain ''chain of custody''
requirements for specimen processing.
(8) All of the RBL facilities were designed with multiple
laboratory suites, so that each can handle multiple airborne
pathogens simultaneously without the risk for cross-
contamination. Additionally, the RBLs can support critical
threat assessment research through the combined strengths of
some of the world's leading bioterrorism research experts and
the development of diverse animal models.
(9) The House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee
recognized the multi-agency potential of the RBLs by including
report language in its fiscal year 2008 appropriations bill
calling on the Department of Homeland Security to ''leverage
the Federal investment in these facilities''.
(10) The Federal Government, through the Department of
Homeland Security, should provide funding for the RBL network
to preserve this critical homeland security asset and ensure
that the Nation has the surge capacity needed to adequately
respond to acts of bioterrorism and pandemics.

SEC. 3. LABORATORY SURGE CAPACITY.

(a) Grants.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall award grants
on a competitive basis to regional biocontainment laboratories for
maintaining surge capacity that can be used to respond to acts of
bioterrorism or outbreaks of infectious diseases.
(b) Amount.--The Secretary shall base the amount of a grant under
this section to a regional biocontainment laboratory on the costs
incurred by such laboratory that are associated with the provision of
surge capacity.
(c) Inspections.--The Secretary may award a grant to a regional
biocontainment laboratory under this section only if the laboratory
agrees to allow the Secretary and other relevant Federal agencies to
inspect the facilities of the laboratory.
(d) Definitions.--In this section--
(1) The term ''regional biocontainment laboratory'' means
any of the 13 regional biocontainment laboratories funded
through the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases.
(2) The term ''relevant Federal agency'' means any Federal
agency with a role in public emergency response to acts of
bioterrorism and outbreaks of infectious diseases.
(3) The term ''Secretary'' means the Secretary of Homeland
Security.
(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section,
there are authorized to be appropriated--
(1) $21,500,000 for fiscal year 2009;
(2) $23,500,000 in fiscal year 2010; and
(3) $26,000,000 in fiscal year 2011.

SEC. 4. REPORTING.

Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the
Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall report to the Congress
on--
(1) activities undertaken to integrate the network of
regional biocontainment laboratories (as defined in section
3(d)(1)) with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's
laboratory reponse network; and
(2) the extent to which additional Biosafety Level 3 (BSL3)
laboratories are needed to fulfill the Nation's laboratory
surge capacity needs.
A:
Laboratory Surge Capacity Preparedness Act - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to award grants to regional biocontainment laboratories for maintaining surge capacity that can be used to respond to acts of bioterrorism or outbreaks of infectious diseases. Authorizes the Secretary to award such a grant only if the laboratory agrees to allow the Secretary and other relevant federal agencies to inspect laboratory facilities.

Requires the Secretary to report to Congress on: (1) activities undertaken to integrate the network of regional biocontainment laboratories with the laboratory response network of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); and (2) the extent to which additional Biosafety Level 3 laboratories are needed to fulfill the national's laboratory surge capacity needs.