[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9008 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9008

  To amend the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary to 
award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to eligible entities 
to establish, maintain, or improve activities related to the detection 
  and monitoring of infectious diseases through wastewater for public 
  health emergency preparedness and response purposes, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 11, 2024

Mr. Robert Garcia of California (for himself and Mr. Bacon) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary to 
award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to eligible entities 
to establish, maintain, or improve activities related to the detection 
  and monitoring of infectious diseases through wastewater for public 
  health emergency preparedness and response purposes, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Surveilling Effluent Water for 
Epidemic Response Act'' or the ``SEWER Act''.

SEC. 2. NATIONAL WASTEWATER SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM.

    (a) In General.--Subtitle C of title XXVIII of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300hh-31 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:

``SEC. 2827. NATIONAL WASTEWATER SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM.

    ``(a) National Wastewater Surveillance System.--The Secretary, 
acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, and in coordination with Federal departments and agencies 
and relevant State and local departments and agencies, shall expand, 
intensify, and coordinate the activities of the National Wastewater 
Surveillance System to detect and monitor pathogens in wastewater, such 
as SARS-CoV-2, influenza, mpox, dengue, West Nile virus, and 
respiratory syncytial virus.
    ``(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there is authorized to be appropriated $150,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2025 through 2029, to remain available until expended.''.
    (b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in the amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall be construed as requiring a wastewater utility or 
service provider to comply with a request for wastewater surveillance.
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