Combating the Heroin Epidemic Through Forensic Drug Testing Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 817 To combat the heroin epidemic and drug sample backlogs. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 28, 2019 Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To combat the heroin epidemic and drug sample backlogs. 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 ‘‘Combating the Heroin 4 Epidemic Through Forensic Drug Testing Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. CONFRONTING THE USE OF HEROIN AND ASSOCI- 6 ATED DRUGS. 7 Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 8 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3711 et seq.) is amended 9 by adding at the end the following: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:11 Feb 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H817.IH H817 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 817 IH ‘‘PART LL—CONFRONTING THE USE OF HEROIN 1 AND ASSOCIATED DRUGS 2 ‘‘SEC. 3021. AUTHORITY TO MAKE GRANTS TO ADDRESS 3 PUBLIC SAFETY AND HEROIN DISTRIBUTION, 4 SALE, AND USE. 5 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to as- 6 sist States and Indian tribes to— 7 ‘‘(1) carry out programs to address the dis- 8 tribution, sale, and use of heroin, fentanyl, and asso- 9 ciated synthetic drugs; and 10 ‘‘(2) improve the ability of State, tribal, and 11 local government institutions to carry out such pro- 12 grams. 13 ‘‘(b) GRANT AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney Gen- 14 eral, through the Bureau of Justice Assistance, may make 15 grants to States to address the distribution, sale, and use 16 of heroin, fentanyl, and associated synthetic drugs to en- 17 hance public safety. 18 ‘‘(c) GRANT PROJECTS TO ADDRESS DISTRIBUTION, 19 SALE, AND USE OF HEROIN, FENTANYL, AND ASSOCI- 20 ATED SYNTHETIC DRUGS.—Grants made under sub- 21 section (b) may be used for programs, projects, and other 22 activities to— 23 ‘‘(1) reimburse State, local, or other forensic 24 science laboratories to help address backlogs of un- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:11 Feb 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H817.IH H817 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 817 IH tested samples of heroin, fentanyl, and associated 1 synthetic drugs; 2 ‘‘(2) reimburse State, local, or other forensic 3 science laboratories for procuring equipment, tech- 4 nology, or other support systems if the applicant for 5 the grant demonstrates to the satisfaction of the At- 6 torney General that expenditures for such purposes 7 would result in improved efficiency of laboratory 8 testing and help prevent future backlogs; 9 ‘‘(3) reimburse State, tribal, and local law en- 10 forcement agencies for procuring field-testing equip- 11 ment for use in the identification or detection of her- 12 oin, fentanyl, and associated synthetic drugs; 13 ‘‘(4) investigate, arrest, and prosecute individ- 14 uals violating laws related to the distribution or sale 15 of heroin, fentanyl, and associated synthetic drugs; 16 and 17 ‘‘(5) support State, tribal, and local health de- 18 partment services deployed to address the use of 19 heroin, fentanyl, and associated synthetic drugs. 20 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION.—Not less than 60 percent of the 21 amounts made available to carry out this section shall be 22 awarded for the purposes under paragraph (1) or (2) of 23 subsection (c). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:11 Feb 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H817.IH H817 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 817 IH ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 1 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 2 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 and 2020. 3 ‘‘(f) ALLOCATION.— 4 ‘‘(1) POPULATION ALLOCATION.—Seventy-five 5 percent of the amount made available to carry out 6 this section in a fiscal year shall be allocated to each 7 State that meets the requirements of section 2802 8 so that each State shall receive an amount that 9 bears the same ratio to the 75 percent of the total 10 amount made available to carry out this section for 11 that fiscal year as the population of the State bears 12 to the population of all States. 13 ‘‘(2) DISCRETIONARY ALLOCATION.— 14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Twenty-five percent of 15 the amount made available to carry out this 16 section in a fiscal year shall be allocated pursu- 17 ant to the discretion of the Attorney General 18 for competitive grants to States with high rates 19 of primary treatment admissions for heroin and 20 other opioids, for use by State law enforcement 21 agencies. 22 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In making 23 grants under subparagraph (A), the Attorney 24 General shall consider— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:11 Feb 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H817.IH H817 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 817 IH ‘‘(i) the average annual number of 1 part 1 violent crimes reported by each 2 State to the Federal Bureau of Investiga- 3 tion for the 3 most recent calendar years 4 for which data is available; and 5 ‘‘(ii) the existing resources and cur- 6 rent needs of the potential grant recipient. 7 ‘‘(3) MINIMUM REQUIREMENT.—Each State 8 shall receive not less than 0.6 percent of the amount 9 made available to carry out this section in each fis- 10 cal year. 11 ‘‘(4) CERTAIN TERRITORIES.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of the 13 allocation under this section, American Samoa 14 and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar- 15 iana Islands shall be considered as 1 State. 16 ‘‘(B) ALLOCATION AMONGST CERTAIN TER- 17 RITORIES.—For purposes of subparagraph (A), 18 67 percent of the amount allocated shall be al- 19 located to American Samoa and 33 percent 20 shall be allocated to the Commonwealth of the 21 Northern Mariana Islands.’’. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:11 Feb 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H817.IH H817 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS