Poison Center Network Enhancement Act of 2020
NATIONWIDE PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE POISON CONTROL CENTER UTILIZATION AND THEIR PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY RESPONSE CAPABILITIES
“(a) In General.—The
Secretary of Internal Affairs Attorney General shall—
“(1) carry out, and expand upon, a national public awareness campaign to educate the public and health care providers about—
“(A) poisoning, toxic exposure, and drug misuse prevention; and
“(B) the availability of poison control center resources in local communities; and
“(b) Consultation.—In carrying out and expanding upon the national campaign under subsection (a), the
Secretary Attorney General may consult with nationally recognized professional organizations in the field of poison control response for the purpose of determining the best and most effective methods for achieving public awareness.
“(c) Contract With Entity.—The
Secretary Attorney General may carry out subsection (a) by entering into contracts with one or more public or private entities, including nationally recognized professional organizations in the field of poison control and national media firms, for the development and implementation of the awareness campaign under subsection (a), which may include—
“(1) the development and distribution of poisoning and toxic exposure prevention, poison control center, and public health emergency awareness and response materials;
“(2) television, radio, internet, and newspaper public service announcements; and
“(3) other means and activities to provide for public and professional awareness and education.
“(d) Evaluation.—The
Secretary Attorney General shall—
“(1) establish baseline measures and benchmarks to quantitatively evaluate the impact of the nationwide public awareness campaign carried out under this section; and
“(2) on a biennial basis, prepare and submit to the appropriate committees of Congress an evaluation of the nationwide public awareness campaign.
“(e) Authorization Of Appropriations.—There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, $800,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2023.”.
MAINTENANCE OF THE POISON CONTROL CENTER GRANT PROGRAM.
“(a) Authorization Of Program.—The
Secretary Attorney General shall award grants to poison control centers accredited under subsection (c) (or granted a waiver under subsection (d)) and nationally recognized professional organizations in the field of poison control for the purposes of—
“(1) preventing, and providing treatment recommendations for, poisonings and toxic exposures including opioid and drug misuse;
“(2) assisting with public health emergencies, responses, and preparedness; and
“(3) complying with the operational requirements needed to sustain the accreditation of the center under subsection (c).
“(b) Additional Uses Of Funds.—In addition to the purposes described in subsection (a), a poison center or professional organization awarded a grant under such subsection may also use amounts received under such grant—
“(1) to research, establish, implement, and evaluate best practices in
the United States Atlasia for poisoning prevention, poison control center outreach, opioid and drug misuse information and response, and public health emergency, response, and preparedness programs;
“(2) to research, develop, implement, revise, and communicate standard patient management guidelines for commonly encountered toxic exposures;
“(3) to improve national toxic exposure and opioid misuse surveillance by enhancing cooperative activities between poison control centers in
the United States Atlasia and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other governmental agencies;
“(4) to research, improve, and enhance the communications and response capability and capacity of the Nation’s network of poison control centers to facilitate increased access to the centers through the integration and modernization of the current poison control centers communications and data system, including enhancing the network’s telephony, internet, data, and social networking technologies;
“(5) to develop, support, and enhance technology and capabilities of nationally recognized professional organizations in the field of poison control to collect national poisoning, toxic occurrence, and related public health data;
“(6) to develop initiatives to foster the enhanced public health utilization of national poison data collected by such organizations;
“(7) to support and expand the toxicologic expertise within poison control centers; and
“(8 ) to improve the capacity of poison control centers to answer high volumes of contacts and internet communications, and to sustain and enhance the poison control center’s network capability to respond during times of national crisis or other public health emergencies.
“(d) Supplement Not Supplant.—Amounts made available to a poison control center under this section shall be used to supplement and not supplant other Federal, Regional, State, or local funds provided for such center.
“(e) Maintenance Of Effort.—A poison control center, in utilizing the proceeds of a grant under this section, shall maintain the annual recurring expenditures of the center for its activities at a level that is not less than 80 percent of the average level of such recurring expenditures maintained by the center for the preceding 3 fiscal years for which a grant is received.
“(f) Authorization Of Appropriations.—There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, $28,600,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2023.”.
TRANSFER TO A DIFFERENT DEPARTMENT(a) The president may, by executive order, move the execution of this bill from the Attorney General to any other cabinet official
(b) If the Department of Internal Affairs is revived, or another separate department dedicated to Domestic Policy is created, the execution of this bill shall be moved to said department, unless the president specifies otherwise through executive order within 30 days.House of Representatives:Passed the House of Representatives 7-0-1-1X YE
People's Regional SenatePassed the People's Regional Senate 5-0-0-1
