SMASH Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 345 To support programs for mosquito-borne and other vector-borne disease surveillance and control. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 8, 2019 Mr. SOTO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To support programs for mosquito-borne and other vector- borne disease surveillance and control. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening Mos- 4 quito Abatement for Safety and Health Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘SMASH Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF MOSQUITO ABATEMENT FOR 7 SAFETY AND HEALTH PROGRAM. 8 Section 317S of the Public Health Service Act (42 9 U.S.C. 247b–21) is amended— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Jan 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H345.IH H345 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 345 IH (1) in subsection (a)(1)(B)— 1 (A) by inserting ‘‘including programs to 2 address emerging infectious mosquito-borne dis- 3 eases,’’ after ‘‘control programs,’’; and 4 (B) by inserting ‘‘or improving existing 5 control programs’’ before the period at the end; 6 (2) in subsection (b)— 7 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, in- 8 cluding improvement,’’ after ‘‘operation’’; 9 (B) in paragraph (2)— 10 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 11 (I) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘or’’ 12 at the end; 13 (II) in clause (iii), by striking the 14 semicolon at the end and inserting ‘‘, 15 including an emerging infectious mos- 16 quito-borne disease that presents a se- 17 rious public health threat; or’’; and 18 (III) by adding at the end the 19 following: 20 ‘‘(iv) a public health emergency due to 21 the incidence or prevalence of a mosquito- 22 borne disease that presents a serious pub- 23 lic health threat;’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Jan 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H345.IH H345 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 345 IH (ii) in subparagraph (D), by inserting 1 ‘‘or that demonstrates to the Secretary 2 that the control program is consistent with 3 existing State mosquito control plans or 4 policies, or other applicable State pre- 5 paredness plans’’ before the period at the 6 end; 7 (C) in paragraph (4)(C), by striking ‘‘that 8 extraordinary’’ and all that follows through the 9 period at the end and inserting ‘‘that— 10 ‘‘(i) extraordinary economic conditions 11 in the political subdivision or consortium of 12 political subdivisions involved justify the 13 waiver; or 14 ‘‘(ii) the geographical area covered by 15 a political subdivision or consortium for a 16 grant under paragraph (1) has an extreme 17 mosquito control need due to— 18 ‘‘(I) the size or density of the po- 19 tentially impacted human population; 20 ‘‘(II) the size or density of a 21 mosquito population that requires 22 heightened control; or 23 ‘‘(III) the severity of the mos- 24 quito-borne disease, such that ex- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Jan 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H345.IH H345 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 345 IH pected serious adverse health out- 1 comes for the human population jus- 2 tify the waiver.’’; and 3 (D) by amending paragraph (6) to read as 4 follows: 5 ‘‘(6) NUMBER OF GRANTS.—A political subdivi- 6 sion or a consortium of political subdivisions may 7 not receive more than one grant under paragraph 8 (1).’’; and 9 (3) in subsection (f)— 10 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘for fis- 11 cal year 2003, and such sums as may be nec- 12 essary for each of fiscal years 2004 through 13 2007’’ and inserting ‘‘for each of fiscal years 14 2020 through 2024’’; 15 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘the 16 Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Pre- 17 paredness and Response Act of 2002’’ and in- 18 serting ‘‘other medical and public health pre- 19 paredness and response laws’’; and 20 (C) in paragraph (3)— 21 (i) in the heading, by striking ‘‘2004’’ 22 and inserting ‘‘2020’’; and 23 (ii) by striking ‘‘2004’’ and inserting 24 ‘‘2020’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Jan 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H345.IH H345 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 345 IH SEC. 3. EPIDEMIOLOGY-LABORATORY CAPACITY GRANTS. 1 Section 2821 of the Public Health Service Act (42 2 U.S.C. 300hh–31) is amended— 3 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting ‘‘, includ- 4 ing mosquito and other vector-borne diseases,’’ after 5 ‘‘infectious diseases’’; and 6 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘2010 through 7 2013’’ and inserting ‘‘2020 through 2024’’. 8 SEC. 4. GAO STUDY. 9 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 10 States shall conduct a study on the state of surveillance 11 and control of mosquito-borne infectious diseases in the 12 United States and territories, including the state of pre- 13 paredness for conducting such surveillance and control. 14 The study shall include— 15 (1) a description of the infrastructure and pro- 16 grams for mosquito control in the United States, in- 17 cluding— 18 (A) how such infrastructure and programs 19 are organized and implemented at the Federal, 20 State and local levels, including with respect to 21 departments and agencies of the States, and 22 local organizations (including special districts) 23 involved in such control programs; 24 (B) the role of the private sector in such 25 activities; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Jan 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H345.IH H345 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 345 IH (C) how the authority for mosquito control 1 impacts such activities; and 2 (D) the resources for such infrastructure 3 and programs, including Federal, State, and 4 local funding sources; 5 (2) how mosquito and other vector-borne dis- 6 ease surveillance and control is integrated into Fed- 7 eral, State, and local preparedness plans and ac- 8 tions, including how zoonotic surveillance is inte- 9 grated into infectious disease surveillance to support 10 real-time situational surveillance and awareness; 11 (3) Federal, State, and local laboratory capacity 12 for emerging vector-borne diseases, including mos- 13 quito-borne and other zoonotic diseases; and 14 (4) any regulatory challenges for developing and 15 utilizing vector-control technologies and platforms as 16 part of mosquito control strategies. 17 (b) CONSULTATIONS.—In conducting the study under 18 subsection (a), the Comptroller General of the United 19 States shall consult with— 20 (1) State and local public health officials in- 21 volved in mosquito and other vector-borne disease 22 surveillance and control efforts; 23 (2) researchers and manufacturers of mosquito 24 control products; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Jan 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H345.IH H345 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 345 IH (3) stakeholders involved in mosquito abate- 1 ment activities; 2 (4) infectious disease experts; and 3 (5) entomologists involved in mosquito-borne 4 disease surveillance and control efforts. 5 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 6 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 7 of the United States shall submit to the Committee on 8 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and 9 the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 10 of Representatives a report containing the results of the 11 study conducted under subsection (a) and relevant rec- 12 ommendations for Zika virus and other mosquito-borne 13 diseases preparedness and response efforts. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Jan 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H345.IH H345 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS