2023 District of Columbia Code › Title 7 - Human Health Care and Safety › Chapter 32 - Opioid Overdose Treatment and Prevention › Subchapter III - Opioid Abatement Fund › § 7–3221. Opioid Abatement Fund

§ 7–3221. Opioid Abatement Fund.
(a) There is established as a special fund the Opioid Abatement Fund ("Fund"), which shall be administered by the Department of Behavioral Health in accordance with this section.
(b) Monies from the following sources shall be deposited into the Fund:
(1) Funds received by the District, regardless of whether such funds are received as a lump sum or series of payments to be made over time, pursuant to the settlement and trust-distribution agreements entered in the following cases:
(A)
District of Columbia v. Johnson & Johnson, et al., Case No. 2022-CA-001441-B (D.C. Super. Ct.)
;
(B)
District of Columbia v. McKesson Corp.,
,
et al.
, Case No. 2022-CA-001401-B (D.C. Super. Ct.);
(C)
District of Columbia v. McKinsey & Co., Case No. 2021-CA-00327-B (D.C. Super. Ct.)
; and
(D)
In re Mallinckrodt PLC, No. 20-BK-12522 (Bankr. D. Del.)
;
(1A) Funds received by the District pursuant to any pre- or post-suit settlement, judgment, or consent decree that the Attorney General designates as an opioid-related settlement, judgment, or consent decree; provided, that the Attorney General shall notify the Mayor and Council of any such designation within 30 days after the settlement, judgment, or consent decree becoming final; and
(2) Monies otherwise appropriated to, or transferred to, the Fund in accordance with law.
(b-1) Monies in the Fund shall be used only for the following purposes:
(1) Permissible Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission and Office of Opioid Abatement activities and operations, including personnel, pursuant to §§ 7-3211 and 7-3212, respectively;
(2) District-wide needs assessments to identify structural gaps and needs related to opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders;
(3) Awards and grants for evidence-based and evidence-informed prevention, recovery, treatment, or harm reduction activities, practices, programs, services, supports, and strategies for opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders, including evidence-informed pilot programs or demonstration studies;
(4) Infrastructure required for evidence-based and evidence-informed prevention, recovery, treatment, or harm reduction activities, practices, programs, services, supports, and strategies for opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders;
(5) Evaluations of effectiveness and outcomes for activities, practices, programs, services, supports, and strategies for opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders for which monies from the Fund were disbursed, such as the impact on access to harm reduction, services, or treatment for disorders, or reduction in drug-related mortality;
(6) Publicly available data interfaces, including to aggregate, track, and report:
(A) Data on opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders, overdoses, and drug-related harms; and
(B) Outcomes of activities, practices, programs, services, supports, and strategies for which monies from the Fund were disbursed;
(7) The audit required by subsection (g) of this section; and
(8) Any other opioid abatement activities authorized by any settlement, judgment, or consent decree resulting in funds being deposited into the Fund.
(b-2) Unless otherwise required by court order, monies in the Fund shall be used for prospective purposes and not to reimburse expenditures incurred prior to March 10, 2023.
(b-3) Monies expended from the Fund for the purposes set forth in subsection (b-1) of this section shall supplement, and not supplant, any other funds, including insurance benefits or District or federal funding, that would otherwise have been expended for such purposes.
(b-4) Expenditures for Commission and Office activities and operations, including personnel, and expenditures for audits shall comply with any applicable terms in the settlement agreements, judgments, or consent decrees that limit the use of funds for administrative expenses.
(c) Money deposited into the Fund shall not be obligated or expended until the Council passes legislation setting forth the permissible uses of the money in the Fund.
(d)(1) Money deposited into the Fund shall not revert to the unassigned fund balance of the General Fund of the District of Columbia at the end of any fiscal year or at any other time.
(2) Subject to authorization in an approved budget and financial plan, any funds deposited into the Fund shall be continually available without regard to fiscal year limitation.
(e)(1) Notwithstanding subsection (b)(1) and (1A) of this section, the Attorney General may elect to have no more than 15% of any payment that the District receives prior to October 1, 2022, pursuant to the settlements, judgments, and consent decrees referenced in subsection (b)(1) and (1A) of this section, retained in the Litigation Support Fund established pursuant to § 1-301.86b, and no more than 10% of any payment received thereafter.
(2) The Attorney General shall make an election pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection by providing the Mayor, Chief Financial Officer, and Council with written notice of the amount of the election and the relevant payment. In making this election, the Attorney General shall ensure compliance with all applicable settlement terms.
(f)(1) No later than December 31 of each year, the Department of Behavioral Health shall provide a report to the Mayor, Council, and Attorney General detailing the District's use of monies in the Fund during the prior fiscal year.
(2) The annual report required by paragraph (1) of this subsection shall:
(A) Be published on the Office of Opioid Abatement's website; and
(B) Include, for the prior fiscal year:
(i) The opening and closing balance of the Fund;
(ii) An accounting and description of all credits to and expenditures from the Fund;
(iii) An inventory of Fund investments, as of September 30 of the prior fiscal year;
(iv) The net income the Fund earned;
(v) A listing of all applications received for awards and grants of monies from the Fund;
(vi) The name and a description of each awardee or grantee of monies from the Fund, and the amount disbursed to each awardee or grantee;
(vii) A description of the intended use of each award or grant from the Fund, including the activity, practice, program, service, support, or strategy funded, population served, and measures that the awardee or grantee will use to assess the impact of the award;
(viii) The primary criteria used to select each awardee or grantee and its respective award or grant amount;
(ix) A statement as to whether monies disbursed from the Fund supplemented and did not supplant or replace any existing or future local, state, or federal government funding; and
(x) The progress toward achieving the Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission, Office of Opioid Abatement, and Fund's purposes, such as metrics on improving outcomes and reducing mortality and other harms related to opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders.
(g) The Office of the District of Columbia Auditor shall audit the Fund every 5 years.
(Sept. 21, 2022, D.C. Law 24-167, § 5012, 69 DCR 009223; Mar. 10, 2023, D.C. Law 24-315, § 202, 70 DCR 838.)
Prior Codifications
2001 Ed., § 1-325.441
Applicability
Section 8(a) of D.C. Law 25-48 repealed, on a temporary basis, section 301 of D.C. Law 24-315 removing the applicability provision impacting this section. Therefore the creation of this section by section 202 of Law 24-315 has been implemented.
Applicability of D.C. Law 24-315: § 301 of D.C. Law 24-315 provided that the change made to this section by § 202 of D.C. Law 24-315 is subject to the inclusion of the law’s fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan. Therefore that amendment has not been implemented.
Emergency Legislation
For temporary (90 days) creation of this section, see § 5012 of Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2022 (D.C. Act 24-470, July 13, 2022, 69 DCR 008707).