Poison Center Network Enhancement Act of 2019

116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1199 AN ACT To amend the Public Health Service Act to revise and extend the poison center network program. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 2 † S 1199 ES SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Poison Center Network 2 Enhancement Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. NATIONAL TOLL-FREE NUMBER. 4 Section 1271 of the Public Health Service Act (42 5 U.S.C. 300d–71) is amended— 6 (1) in the section heading, by inserting before 7 the period the following: ‘‘AND OTHER COMMU- 8 NICATION CAPABILITIES’’; and 9 (2) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 10 following: 11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary— 12 ‘‘(1) shall provide coordination and assistance 13 to poison control centers for the establishment and 14 maintenance of a nationwide toll-free phone number, 15 to be used to access such centers; and 16 ‘‘(2) may provide coordination and assistance to 17 poison control centers and consult with professional 18 organizations for the establishment, implementation, 19 and maintenance of other communication tech- 20 nologies to be used to access such centers.’’; 21 (3) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub- 22 section (c); 23 (4) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol- 24 lowing: 25 3 † S 1199 ES ‘‘(b) ROUTING CONTACTS WITH POISON CONTROL 1 CENTERS.—Not later than 18 months after the date of 2 enactment of the Poison Center Network Enhancement 3 Act of 2019, the Secretary shall coordinate with the Chair- 4 man of the Federal Communications Commission, to the 5 extent technically and economically feasible, to ensure that 6 communications with the national toll-free number are 7 routed to the appropriate poison control center based on 8 the physical location of the contact rather than the area 9 code of the contact device.’’; and 10 (5) in subsection (c), as so redesignated— 11 (A) by striking ‘‘2015 through 2019’’ and 12 inserting ‘‘2020 through 2024’’; and 13 (B) by striking ‘‘maintenance of the na- 14 tionwide toll free phone number under sub- 15 section (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘establishment, im- 16 plementation, and maintenance activities car- 17 ried out under subsections (a) and (b)’’. 18 SEC. 3. NATIONWIDE MEDIA CAMPAIGN. 19 Section 1272 of the Public Health Service Act (42 20 U.S.C. 300d–72) is amended— 21 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘NA- 22 TIONWIDE MEDIA CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE’’ 23 and inserting ‘‘PROMOTING’’; 24 (2) in subsection (a)— 25 4 † S 1199 ES (A) by inserting ‘‘and support outreach to’’ 1 after ‘‘educate’’; 2 (B) by striking ‘‘poison prevention’’ and 3 inserting ‘‘poisoning and toxic exposure preven- 4 tion’’; and 5 (C) by striking ‘‘established under’’ and in- 6 serting ‘‘and other available communication 7 technologies established, implemented, or main- 8 tained under’’; 9 (3) in subsection (b)— 10 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 11 by striking ‘‘nationwide poison prevention’’ and 12 inserting ‘‘nationwide poisoning and toxic expo- 13 sure prevention’’; and 14 (B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘poison 15 prevention and poison control center’’ and in- 16 serting ‘‘poisoning and toxic exposure preven- 17 tion awareness materials, applicable public 18 health emergency preparedness and response in- 19 formation, and poison control center’’ after 20 ‘‘distribution of’’; and 21 (4) by striking subsection (c); 22 (5) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub- 23 section (c); and 24 5 † S 1199 ES (6) in subsection (c) (as so redesignated), by 1 striking ‘‘2015 through 2019’’ and inserting ‘‘2020 2 through 2024’’. 3 SEC. 4. MAINTENANCE OF PROGRAM. 4 Section 1273 of the Public Health Service Act (42 5 U.S.C. 300d–73) is amended— 6 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘and toxic 7 exposures’’ after ‘‘poisonings’’; and 8 (2) in subsection (b)— 9 (A) in paragraph (1)— 10 (i) by striking ‘‘for poison’’ and in- 11 serting ‘‘for poisoning and toxic exposure’’; 12 and 13 (ii) by striking ‘‘and preparedness’’ 14 and inserting ‘‘preparedness and re- 15 sponse’’; 16 (B) in paragraph (3)— 17 (i) by striking ‘‘United States and’’ 18 and inserting ‘‘United States,’’; and 19 (ii) by inserting before the semicolon 20 the following: ‘‘, and other government 21 agencies as determined to be appropriate 22 and nonduplicative by the Secretary’’; and 23 (C) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘calls’’ 24 and inserting ‘‘contacts’’; 25 6 † S 1199 ES (3) in subsection (d) , by striking paragraph (3) 1 and inserting the following: 2 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.— 3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The sum of the num- 4 ber of years for a waiver under paragraph (1) 5 and a renewal under paragraph (2) may not ex- 6 ceed 5 years. 7 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.—Not- 8 withstanding any previous waivers, in the case 9 of a poison control center whose accreditation is 10 affected by a public health emergency declared 11 pursuant to section 319, the Secretary may, as 12 the circumstances of the emergency reasonably 13 require, provide a waiver under paragraph (1) 14 or a renewal under paragraph (2), not to exceed 15 2 years. The Secretary may require quarterly 16 reports and other information related to such a 17 waiver or renewal under this paragraph.’’; 18 (4) by striking subsection (f) and inserting the 19 following: 20 ‘‘(f) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—With respect to 21 activities for which a grant is awarded under this section, 22 the Secretary may require that poison control centers 23 agree to maintain the expenditures of the center for such 24 activities at a level that is not less than the level of expend- 25 7 † S 1199 ES itures maintained by the center for the fiscal year pre- 1 ceding the fiscal year for which the grant is received.’’; 2 (5) In subsection (g), by striking ‘‘2015 3 through 2019’’ and inserting ‘‘2020 through 2024’’; 4 and 5 (6) by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(h) BIENNIAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later 7 than 2 years after the date of enactment of the Poison 8 Center Network Enhancement Act of 2019, and every 2 9 years thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Com- 10 mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the 11 Senate and Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 12 House of Representatives a report concerning the oper- 13 ations of, and trends identified by, the Poison Control 14 Network. Such report shall include— 15 ‘‘(1) descriptions of the activities carried out 16 pursuant to sections 1271, 1272, and 1273, and the 17 alignment of such activities with the purposes pro- 18 vided under subsection (a); 19 ‘‘(2) a description of trends in volume of con- 20 tacts to poison control centers; 21 ‘‘(3) a description of trends in poisonings and 22 toxic exposures reported to poison control centers, as 23 applicable and appropriate; 24 8 † S 1199 ES ‘‘(4) an assessment of the impact of the public 1 awareness campaign, including any geographic vari- 2 ations; 3 ‘‘(5) a description of barriers, if any, preventing 4 poison control centers from achieving the purposes 5 and programs under this section and sections 1271 6 and 1272; 7 ‘‘(6) a description of the standards for accredi- 8 tation described in subsection (c), including any 9 variations in those standards, and any efforts to cre- 10 ate and maintain consistent standards across organi- 11 zations that accredit poison control centers; and 12 ‘‘(7) the number of and reason for any waivers 13 provided under subsection (d).’’. 14 Passed the Senate July 22, 2019. Attest: Secretary. 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1199 AN ACT To amend the Public Health Service Act to revise and extend the poison center network program.