I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3148 To provide grants to State, local, territorial, and Tribal law enforcement agencies to purchase chemical screening devices and train personnel to use chemical screening devices in order to enhance law enforcement efficiency and protect law enforcement officers. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 9, 2023 Mr. JOYCE of Ohio (for himself, Ms. SPANBERGER, Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana, Ms. PEREZ, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. D’ESPOSITO, and Mr. RUTHERFORD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide grants to State, local, territorial, and Tribal law enforcement agencies to purchase chemical screening de- vices and train personnel to use chemical screening de- vices in order to enhance law enforcement efficiency and protect law enforcement officers. 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 ‘‘Providing Officers 4 With Electronic Resources Act’’ or the ‘‘POWER Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3148.IH H3148 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3148 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 1 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 2 (1) chemical screening devices enhance the abil- 3 ity of law enforcement agencies to identify unknown 4 chemical substances seized or otherwise encountered 5 by law enforcement officers; and 6 (2) equipping law enforcement agencies with 7 technology that can more efficiently identify sub- 8 stances, such as heroin, fentanyl, methamphetamine, 9 and other narcotics, will ensure that law enforce- 10 ment agencies can— 11 (A) investigate cases more quickly and 12 safely; 13 (B) better deploy resources and strategies 14 to prevent illegal substances from entering and 15 harming communities throughout the United 16 States; and 17 (C) share spectral data with other law en- 18 forcement agencies and State and local fusion 19 centers. 20 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 21 grants to State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies 22 to purchase chemical screening devices and train personnel 23 to use chemical screening devices in order to— 24 (1) enhance law enforcement efficiency; and 25 (2) protect law enforcement officers. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3148.IH H3148 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3148 IH SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) APPLICANT.—The term ‘‘applicant’’ means 3 a law enforcement agency that applies for a grant 4 under section 4. 5 (2) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Attorney 6 General’’ means the Attorney General, acting 7 through the Director of the Office of Community 8 Oriented Policing Services. 9 (3) CHEMICAL SCREENING DEVICE.—The term 10 ‘‘chemical screening device’’ means an infrared spec- 11 trophotometer, mass spectrometer, nuclear magnetic 12 resonance spectrometer, Raman spectrophotometer, 13 ion mobility spectrometer, or any other scientific in- 14 strumentation that is able to collect data that can be 15 interpreted to determine the presence and identity of 16 a covered substance. 17 (4) CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The 18 term ‘‘chief law enforcement officer’’ has the mean- 19 ing given the term in section 922(s) of title 18, 20 United States Code. 21 (5) COVERED SUBSTANCE.—The term ‘‘covered 22 substance’’ means— 23 (A) fentanyl; 24 (B) any other synthetic opioid; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3148.IH H3148 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3148 IH (C) any other narcotic or psychoactive sub- 1 stance. 2 (6) GRANT FUNDS.—The term ‘‘grant funds’’ 3 means funds from a grant awarded under section 4. 4 (7) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 5 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 6 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 7 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 8 (8) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term 9 ‘‘law enforcement agency’’ means an agency of a 10 State, unit of local government, or Indian Tribe that 11 is authorized by law or by a government agency to 12 engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, in- 13 vestigation, or prosecution of any violation of crimi- 14 nal law. 15 (9) PERSONNEL.—The term ‘‘personnel’’— 16 (A) means employees of a law enforcement 17 agency; and 18 (B) includes scientists and law enforce- 19 ment officers. 20 (10) RECIPIENT.—The term ‘‘recipient’’ means 21 an applicant that receives a grant under section 4. 22 (11) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean- 23 ing given the term in section 901 of title I of the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3148.IH H3148 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3148 IH Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10251). 2 SEC. 4. GRANTS. 3 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Attorney General 4 may award grants to applicants to— 5 (1) purchase a chemical screening device; and 6 (2) train personnel to use, and interpret data 7 collected by, a chemical screening device. 8 (b) APPLICATIONS.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The chief law enforcement 10 officer of an applicant shall submit to the Attorney 11 General an application that— 12 (A) shall include— 13 (i) a statement describing the need for 14 a chemical screening device in the jurisdic- 15 tion of the applicant; and 16 (ii) a certification— 17 (I) of the number of chemical 18 screening devices the applicant owns 19 or possesses; 20 (II) that not less than 1 em- 21 ployee of the applicant will be trained 22 to— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3148.IH H3148 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3148 IH (aa) use any chemical 1 screening device purchased using 2 grant funds; and 3 (bb) interpret data collected 4 by any chemical screening device 5 purchased using grant funds; and 6 (III) that the applicant will make 7 any chemical screening device pur- 8 chased using grant funds reasonably 9 available to test a covered substance 10 seized by a law enforcement agency 11 near the jurisdiction of the applicant; 12 and 13 (B) in addition to the information required 14 under subparagraph (A), may, at the option of 15 the applicant, include— 16 (i) information relating to— 17 (I) the process used by the appli- 18 cant to identify a covered substance 19 seized by the applicant, including— 20 (aa) the approximate aver- 21 age amount of time required for 22 the applicant to identify a cov- 23 ered substance; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3148.IH H3148 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3148 IH (bb) as of the date of the 1 application, the number of cases 2 in which the applicant is awaiting 3 identification of a covered sub- 4 stance; 5 (II) any documented case of a 6 law enforcement officer, first re- 7 sponder, or treating medical personnel 8 in the jurisdiction of the applicant 9 who has suffered an accidental drug 10 overdose caused by exposure to a cov- 11 ered substance while in the line of 12 duty; 13 (III) any chemical screening de- 14 vice the applicant will purchase using 15 grant funds, including the estimated 16 cost of the chemical screening device; 17 and 18 (IV) any estimated costs relating 19 to training personnel of the applicant 20 to use a chemical screening device 21 purchased using grant funds; and 22 (ii) data relating to— 23 (I) the approximate amount of 24 covered substances seized by the ap- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3148.IH H3148 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3148 IH plicant during the 2-year period end- 1 ing on the date of the application, cat- 2 egorized by the type of covered sub- 3 stance seized; and 4 (II) the approximate number of 5 covered substance overdoses in the ju- 6 risdiction of the applicant that the ap- 7 plicant investigated or responded to 8 during the 2-year period ending on 9 the date of the application, cat- 10 egorized by fatal and nonfatal 11 overdoses. 12 (2) JOINT APPLICATIONS.— 13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Two or more law en- 14 forcement agencies, including law enforcement 15 agencies located in different States, that have 16 jurisdiction over areas that are geographically 17 contiguous may submit a joint application for a 18 grant under this section that includes— 19 (i) for each law enforcement agency— 20 (I) all information required under 21 paragraph (1)(A); and 22 (II) any optional information de- 23 scribed in paragraph (1)(B) that each 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3148.IH H3148 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3148 IH law enforcement agency chooses to in- 1 clude; 2 (ii) a plan for the sharing of any 3 chemical screening devices purchased or 4 training provided using grant funds; and 5 (iii) a certification that not less than 6 1 employee of each law enforcement agency 7 will be trained to— 8 (I) use any chemical screening 9 device purchased using grant funds; 10 and 11 (II) interpret data collected by 12 any chemical screening device pur- 13 chased using grant funds. 14 (B) SUBMISSION.—Law enforcement agen- 15 cies submitting a joint application under sub- 16 paragraph (A) shall— 17 (i) be considered as 1 applicant; and 18 (ii) select the chief law enforcement 19 officer of one of the law enforcement agen- 20 cies to submit the joint application. 21 (c) RESTRICTIONS.— 22 (1) SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDS.—Grant funds shall 23 be used to supplement, and not supplant, State, 24 local, and Tribal funds made available to any appli- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3148.IH H3148 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3148 IH cant for any of the purposes described in subsection 1 (a). 2 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 3 3 percent of any grant awarded under this section may 4 be used for administrative costs. 5 (d) REPORTS AND RECORDS.— 6 (1) REPORTS.—For each year during which 7 grant funds are used, the recipient shall submit to 8 the Attorney General a report containing— 9 (A) a summary of any activity carried out 10 using grant funds; 11 (B) an assessment of whether each activity 12 described in subparagraph (A) is meeting the 13 needs described in subsection (b)(1)(A)(i) that 14 the applicant identified in the application sub- 15 mitted under subsection (b); and 16 (C) any other information relevant to the 17 purpose of this Act that the Attorney General 18 may determine appropriate. 19 (2) RECORDS.—For the purpose of an audit by 20 the Attorney General of the receipt and use of grant 21 funds, a recipient shall— 22 (A) keep— 23 (i) any record relating to the receipt 24 and use of grant funds; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3148.IH H3148 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3148 IH (ii) any other record as the Attorney 1 General may require; and 2 (B) make the records described in subpara- 3 graph (A) available to the Attorney General 4 upon request by the Attorney General. 5 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 6 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Attor- 7 ney General $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2023 to carry out 8 section 4. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3148.IH H3148 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS