PROTECT Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1048 To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a Reducing Youth Use of E-Cigarettes Initiative. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 4, 2019 Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. REED, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. BROWN, and Mr. MARKEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Edu- cation, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a Reducing Youth Use of E-Cigarettes Initiative. 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 ‘‘Preventing Opportuni- 4 ties for Teen E-Cigarette and Tobacco Addiction’’ or the 5 ‘‘PROTECT Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:23 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1048.IS S1048 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1048 IS SEC. 2. REDUCING YOUTH USE OF E-CIGARETTES INITIA- 1 TIVE. 2 The Public Health Service Act is amended by insert- 3 ing after section 317T of such Act (42 U.S.C. 247b–22) 4 the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 317U. REDUCING YOUTH USE OF E-CIGARETTES INI- 6 TIATIVE. 7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 8 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre- 9 vention, shall carry out an initiative, to be known as the 10 Reducing Youth Use of E-Cigarettes Initiative, which shall 11 include the following: 12 ‘‘(1) Conducting research (including by using 13 rapid surveillance methods), on use by youth and 14 young adults of electronic cigarettes and emerging 15 tobacco products, including research on— 16 ‘‘(A) the types of products youth and 17 young adults use; 18 ‘‘(B) patterns of products used by youth 19 and young adults, including initiation, fre- 20 quency of use, use in combination with other to- 21 bacco products, and use of flavors; 22 ‘‘(C) the association between the use by 23 youth and young adults of electronic cigarettes 24 and smoking initiation; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:23 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1048.IS S1048 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1048 IS ‘‘(D) use of electronic cigarettes and 1 emerging tobacco products among different de- 2 mographic groups; 3 ‘‘(E) the means by which youth and young 4 adults access electronic cigarettes and emerging 5 tobacco products, and methods of distribution 6 of such products; 7 ‘‘(F) youth and young adult exposure to 8 advertising of electronic cigarettes and emerg- 9 ing tobacco products; 10 ‘‘(G) marketing and advertising strategies 11 used by manufacturers, including the channels 12 and messaging used and strategies that target 13 different demographic groups; 14 ‘‘(H) the reasons youth and young adults 15 use such products; 16 ‘‘(I) the extent to which youth and young 17 adult electronic cigarette users are nicotine de- 18 pendent; and 19 ‘‘(J) youth and young adult motivation to 20 quit using electronic cigarettes. 21 ‘‘(2) Conducting research on— 22 ‘‘(A) the characteristics and nicotine deliv- 23 ery technology of electronic cigarettes and 24 emerging tobacco products; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:23 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1048.IS S1048 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1048 IS ‘‘(B) biomarkers of exposure to electronic 1 cigarettes and emerging tobacco products and 2 resulting health impacts from such exposure. 3 ‘‘(3) Identifying effective messages to youth and 4 young adults, parents, clinicians, health profes- 5 sionals, and others who work or interact with youth 6 and young adults for preventing use of electronic 7 cigarettes and emerging tobacco products. 8 ‘‘(4) Developing and implementing a campaign, 9 in coordination with the Surgeon General of the 10 Public Health Service, to educate youth and young 11 adults, parents, clinicians, health professionals, and 12 others about— 13 ‘‘(A) the rapidly evolving tobacco product 14 landscape; and 15 ‘‘(B) the harms associated with the use by 16 youth and young adults of electronic cigarettes 17 and other emerging products. 18 ‘‘(5) Providing funding through grants, cooper- 19 ative agreements, or contracts to State, territorial, 20 Tribal, and local health departments, community or- 21 ganizations, national and Tribal organizations, or 22 State and local educational agencies, as appropriate, 23 for preventing and reducing the use by youth and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:23 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1048.IS S1048 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1048 IS young adults of electronic cigarettes and emerging 1 tobacco products. 2 ‘‘(6) Informing the development, implementa- 3 tion, and evaluation of evidence-based policies to 4 prevent the initiation and use of emerging tobacco 5 products among youth and young adults. 6 ‘‘(b) NO DUPLICATION.—The Secretary shall ensure 7 that activities under this section do not duplicate other 8 activities of the Department of Health and Human Serv- 9 ices. 10 ‘‘(c) STRATEGY.—Not later than 90 days after the 11 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall sub- 12 mit to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 13 Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and 14 Commerce of the House of Representatives, and make 15 available to the public on the Internet website of the De- 16 partment of Health and Human Services, a strategy for 17 carrying out the Reducing Youth Use of E-Cigarettes Ini- 18 tiative. 19 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 20 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro- 21 priated $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 22 through 2024.’’. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:23 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1048.IS S1048 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS