[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2237 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2237
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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 11, 2023
Mr. Booker (for himself, Mr. King, and Mr. Romney) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
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 ``Public health Response and Emergency
Detection through Integrated wastewater Community Testing Act'' or the
``PREDICT Act''.
SEC. 2. PUBLIC HEALTH RESPONSE AND EMERGENCY DETECTION THROUGH
INTEGRATED WASTEWATER SURVEILLANCE.
(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. WASTEWATER SURVEILLANCE FOR PATHOGEN DETECTION.
``(a) Wastewater Surveillance System.--The Secretary, acting
through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(in this section referred to as the `Secretary'), and in coordination
with other Federal departments and agencies, shall 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.
``(b) Eligible Entities.--To be eligible to receive an award under
this section, an entity shall--
``(1) be a State, Tribal, or local health department, or a
partnership between such a health department and other public
and private entities; and
``(2) submit to the Secretary an application at such time,
in such manner, and containing such information as the
Secretary may reasonably require, which shall include--
``(A) a description of activities proposed to be
carried out pursuant to an award under subsection (a);
``(B) factors such entity proposes to use to select
wastewater sampling sites;
``(C) a plan for responding, as appropriate, to
findings from such wastewater sampling, consistent with
applicable plans developed by such entity pursuant to
section 319C-1;
``(D) a plan to sustain such wastewater
surveillance activities described in such application
following the conclusion of the award period; and
``(E) any additional information the Secretary may
require.
``(c) Consideration.--In making awards under subsection (a), the
Secretary may give priority to eligible entities that have submitted an
application that--
``(1) details plans to provide public access to data
generated through such wastewater surveillance activities in a
manner that enables comparison to such data generated by other
recipients of an award under subsection (a); and
``(2) provides an assessment of community needs related to
ongoing infectious disease monitoring, including burden of
infectious diseases that can be detected in wastewater and
availability of other forms of infectious disease surveillance.
``(d) Use of Funds.--An eligible entity shall use amounts awarded
under this section to--
``(1) establish, or enhance existing, capacity and
capabilities to conduct wastewater sampling and related
analysis;
``(2) conduct wastewater surveillance, as appropriate, at
individual facilities, institutions, and locations in rural
areas, in which there is an increased risk of infectious
disease outbreaks and wastewater is not treated through the
relevant local utility of the jurisdiction; and
``(3) implement projects that use evidence-based or
promising practices to conduct wastewater surveillance
activities.
``(e) Partnerships.--In carrying out activities under this section,
eligible entities shall identify opportunities to partner with other
public or private entities to leverage relevant capabilities maintained
by such entities, as appropriate and consistent with this section.
``(f) Technical Assistance.--The Secretary, in consultation with
the heads of other applicable Federal agencies and departments, as
appropriate, shall provide technical assistance to recipients of awards
under this section to facilitate the planning, development, and
implementation of activities described in subsection (d).
``(g) Wastewater Surveillance Guidance.--Not later than 180 days
after the date of enactment of the PREDICT Act, the Secretary shall
issue draft guidance--
``(1) to provide recommendations for recipients of awards
under this section regarding--
``(A) the use of assays to promote efficient
wastewater surveillance; and
``(B) the use of assays for data on multiple
infectious diseases; and
``(2) to establish standards for--
``(A) wastewater testing methods and metrics used
by such recipients that--
``(i) use a consistent protocol and
process; and
``(ii) sample using scientifically rigorous
and sensitive methods; and
``(B) wastewater sample data reporting by such
recipients to the Secretary, to be published by the
Secretary in a publicly available wastewater
surveillance database and dashboard.
``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section,
there is authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary
for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028.''.
(b) Wastewater Surveillance Research.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services
(in this subsection referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall
continue to conduct or support research on the use of
wastewater surveillance to detect and monitor emerging
infectious diseases, which may include--
(A) research to improve the efficiency of
wastewater sample collection and analysis and increase
the sensitivity and specificity of wastewater testing
methods; and
(B) implementation and development of evidence-
based practices to facilitate the estimation of
population-level data within a community.
(2) Non-duplication of effort.--The Secretary shall ensure
that activities carried out under this subsection do not
unnecessarily duplicate efforts of other agencies and offices
within the Department of Health and Human Services related to
wastewater surveillance.
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