Advancing Emergency Preparedness Through One Health Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3771 To establish an interagency One Health Program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 16, 2019 Mr. SCHRADER (for himself and Mr. YOHO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, Natural Resources, and For- eign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris- diction of the committee concerned A BILL To establish an interagency One Health Program, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Advancing Emergency 4 Preparedness Through One Health Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) The term ‘‘One Health’’ reflects the inter- 8 connectedness of human health, animal health, and 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3771.IH H3771 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3771 IH the environment. As technology and population 1 growth facilitates increased interaction of human 2 settlements with wildlife habitats and as inter- 3 national travel and trade increases, the interface be- 4 tween these elements will also continue to rise. 5 (2) When zoonotic diseases spillover to humans, 6 there are often enormous health and economic costs. 7 The World Bank estimates that, between 1997 and 8 2009, the global costs from six zoonotic outbreaks 9 exceeded $80,000,000,000 and the Centers for Dis- 10 ease Control and Prevention estimates that there are 11 annually 2,500,000,000 cases of zoonotic infections 12 globally, resulting in 2,700,000 deaths. 13 (3) There are also immense effects on the agri- 14 culture sector. In 2014 and 2015, a high pathogenic 15 avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak in the United 16 States led to the cull of nearly 50,000,000 birds, 17 and imposed up to approximately $3,300,000,000 in 18 losses for poultry and egg farmers, animal feed pro- 19 ducers, baked good production, and other related in- 20 dustries. 21 (4) Public health preparedness depends on agri- 22 culture in a variety of ways. For example, a wide 23 range of vaccines, including those for influenza, yel- 24 low fever, rabies, and measles-mumps-rubella 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3771.IH H3771 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3771 IH (MMR), are primarily cultivated in poultry eggs. 1 Egg shortages resulting from zoonotic disease out- 2 breaks could impose serious risks to vaccine manu- 3 facturing efforts. 4 (5) It is estimated that approximately 80 per- 5 cent of potential pathogens likely to be used in bio- 6 terrorism or biowarfare are common zoonotic patho- 7 gens. 8 (6) While existing Federal Government initia- 9 tives related to One Health span multiple agencies, 10 including the Centers for Disease Control and Pre- 11 vention One Health office and the Department of 12 Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection 13 Services’ One Health Coordination Center, addi- 14 tional interagency coordination is necessary to help 15 better prevent, prepare for, and respond to zoonotic 16 disease outbreaks. 17 SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY ONE HEALTH PROGRAM. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 19 Human Services and the Secretary of Agriculture (re- 20 ferred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretaries’’), in coordination 21 with the United States Agency for International Develop- 22 ment, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Depart- 23 ment of Homeland Security, the Department of the Inte- 24 rior, the Department of Defense, the Department of Com- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3771.IH H3771 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3771 IH merce, and other departments and agencies as appro- 1 priate, shall develop, publish, and submit to Congress a 2 national One Health Framework (referred to in this Act 3 as the ‘‘framework’’) for coordinated Federal Activities 4 under the One Health Program. 5 (b) NATIONAL ONE HEALTH FRAMEWORK.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 7 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretaries, 8 in cooperation with the United States Agency for 9 International Development, the Environmental Pro- 10 tection Agency, the Department of Homeland Secu- 11 rity, the Department of the Interior, the Department 12 of Defense, the Department of Commerce, and other 13 departments and agencies as appropriate, shall de- 14 velop, publish, and submit to Congress a One Health 15 Framework (referred to in this section as the 16 ‘‘framework’’) for coordinated Federal activities 17 under the One Health Program. 18 (2) CONTENTS OF FRAMEWORK.—The frame- 19 work described in paragraph (1) shall describe exist- 20 ing efforts and contain recommendations for build- 21 ing upon and complementing the activities of the 22 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 23 Food and Drug Administration, the Office of the As- 24 sistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3771.IH H3771 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3771 IH the Department of Agriculture, the United States 1 Agency for International Development, the Environ- 2 mental Protection Agency, the National Institutes of 3 Health, the Department of Homeland Security, the 4 Department of the Interior, and other departments 5 and agencies, as appropriate, and shall— 6 (A) assess, identify, and describe, as ap- 7 propriate, existing activities of Federal agencies 8 and departments under the One Health Pro- 9 gram and consider whether all relevant agencies 10 are adequately represented; 11 (B) for the 10-year period beginning in the 12 year the framework is submitted, establish spe- 13 cific Federal goals and priorities that most ef- 14 fectively advance— 15 (i) scientific understanding of the con- 16 nections between human, animal, and envi- 17 ronmental health; 18 (ii) coordination and collaboration be- 19 tween agencies involved in the framework 20 including sharing data and information, 21 engaging in joint fieldwork, and engaging 22 in joint laboratory studies related to One 23 Health; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:35 Jul 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3771.IH H3771 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3771 IH (iii) identification of priority zoonotic 1 diseases and priority areas of study; 2 (iv) surveillance of priority zoonotic 3 diseases and their transmission between 4 animals and humans; 5 (v) prevention of priority zoonotic dis- 6 eases and their transmission between ani- 7 mals and humans; 8 (vi) protocol development to improve 9 joint outbreak response to and recovery 10 from zoonotic disease outbreaks in animals 11 and humans; and 12 (vii) workforce development to prevent 13 and respond to zoonotic disease outbreaks 14 in animals and humans; 15 (C) describe specific activities required to 16 achieve the goals and priorities described in 17 subparagraph (B), and propose a timeline for 18 achieving these goals; 19 (D) identify and expand partnerships, as 20 appropriate, among Federal agencies, States, 21 Indian tribes, academic institutions, nongovern- 22 mental organizations, and private entities in 23 order to develop new approaches for reducing 24 hazards to human and animal health and to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3771.IH H3771 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3771 IH strengthen understanding of the value of an in- 1 tegrated approach under the One Health Pro- 2 gram to addressing public health threats in a 3 manner that prevents duplication; 4 (E) identify best practices related to State 5 and local-level research coordination, field ac- 6 tivities, and disease outbreak preparedness, re- 7 sponse, and recovery related to One Health; and 8 (F) provide recommendations to Congress 9 regarding additional action or legislation that 10 may be required to assist in establishing the 11 One Health Program. 12 (3) ADDENDUM.—Not later than 3 years after 13 the creation of the framework, the Secretary, in co- 14 ordination with the agencies described in paragraph 15 (1), shall submit to Congress an addendum to the 16 framework that describes the progress made in ad- 17 vancing the activities described in the framework. 18 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 19 out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 20 such sums as may be necessary. 21 SEC. 4. GAO REPORT. 22 Not later than 2 years after the date of the submis- 23 sion of the addendum under section 3(b)(3), the Comp- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3771.IH H3771 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3771 IH troller General of the United States shall submit to Con- 1 gress a report that— 2 (1) details existing collaborative efforts between 3 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 4 Food and Drug Administration, the Department of 5 Agriculture, the United States Agency for Inter- 6 national Development, the Environmental Protection 7 Agency, the National Institutes of Health, the De- 8 partment of Homeland Security, the Department of 9 the Interior, and other departments and agencies to 10 prevent and respond to zoonotic disease outbreaks in 11 animals and humans; and 12 (2) contains an evaluation of the framework 13 and the specific activities requested to achieve the 14 framework. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3771.IH H3771 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS