42 U.S.C. § 300hh — Public health and medical preparedness

Page 1691 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 300hh 1 See References in Text note below. § 300hh. Public health and medical preparedness and response functions (a) In general The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall lead all Federal public health and medical response to public health emergencies and inci- dents covered by the National Response Plan de- veloped pursuant to section 314(6) 1 of title 6, or any successor plan. (b) Interagency agreement The Secretary, in collaboration with the Sec- retary of Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the head of any other relevant Federal agency, shall estab- lish an interagency agreement, consistent with the National Response Plan or any successor plan, under which agreement the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall assume oper- ational control of emergency public health and medical response assets, as necessary, in the event of a public health emergency, except that members of the armed forces under the author- ity of the Secretary of Defense shall remain under the command and control of the Secretary of Defense, as shall any associated assets of the Department of Defense. (c) Coordination with Federal agencies In leading the Federal public health and med- ical response to a declared or potential public health emergency, consistent with this section, the Secretary shall coordinate with, and may re- quest support from, other Federal departments and agencies, as appropriate in order to carry out necessary activities and leverage the exper- tise of such departments and agencies, which may include the provision of assistance at the direction of the Secretary related to supporting the public health and medical response for States, localities, and Tribes. (d) Annual report on emergency response and preparedness The Secretary shall submit a written report each fiscal year to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Com- mittee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, containing— (1) updated information related to an assess- ment of the response to any public health emergency declared, or otherwise in effect, during the previous fiscal year; (2) findings related to drills and operational exercises completed in the previous fiscal year pursuant to section 300hh–10(b)(4)(G) of this title; (3) the state of public health preparedness and response capabilities for chemical, bio- logical, radiological, and nuclear threats, in- cluding emerging infectious diseases; and (4) any challenges in preparing for or re- sponding to such threats, as appropriate. (July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title XXVIII, § 2801, as added Pub. L. 107–188, title I, § 101(a), June 12, 2002, 116 Stat. 596; amended Pub. L. 109–417, title I, § 101(2), Dec. 19, 2006, 120 Stat. 2832; Pub. L. 117–328, div. FF, title II, § 2103(b)(1), (d), Dec. 29, 2022, 136 Stat. 5711, 5714.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Section 314(6) of title 6, referred to in subsec. (a), was in the original ‘‘section 502(6) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002’’, and was translated as meaning section 504(6) of Pub. L. 107–296, to reflect the probable intent of Congress and the renumbering of section 502 as 504 by Pub. L. 109–295, title VI, § 611(8), Oct. 4, 2006, 120 Stat. 1395. AMENDMENTS 2022—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 117–328, § 2103(b)(1), added subsec. (c). Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 117–328, § 2103(d), added subsec. (d). 2006—Pub. L. 109–417 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section consisted of subsecs. (a) to (d) relating to a national preparedness plan for carrying out health-related activities to prepare for and respond effectively to bioterrorism and other public health emergencies. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries DATA USE AGREEMENTS Pub. L. 117–328, div. FF, title II, § 2213(c), Dec. 29, 2022, 136 Stat. 5735, provided that: ‘‘(1) INTERAGENCY DATA USE AGREEMENTS WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES FOR PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIES.— ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and Human Services (referred to in this subsection as the ‘Secretary’) shall, as appropriate, facilitate the devel- opment of, or updates to, memoranda of under- standing, data use agreements, or other applicable interagency agreements regarding appropriate ac- cess, exchange, and use of public health data between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, other relevant agencies or offices with- in the Department of Health and Human Services, and other relevant Federal agencies, in order to pre- pare for, identify, monitor, and respond to declared or potential public health emergencies. ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out activities pur- suant to subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall— ‘‘(i) ensure that the agreements and memoranda of understanding described in such subparagraph— ‘‘(I) address the methods of granting access to data held by one agency or office with another to support the respective missions of such agencies or offices; ‘‘(II) consider minimum necessary principles of data sharing for appropriate use; ‘‘(III) include appropriate privacy and cybersecurity protections; and ‘‘(IV) are subject to regular updates, as appro- priate; ‘‘(ii) collaborate with the Centers for Disease Con- trol and Prevention, the Office of the Assistant Sec- retary for Preparedness and Response, the Office of the Chief Information Officer, and, as appropriate, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, and other entities within the Department of Health and Human Services; and ‘‘(iii) consider the terms and conditions of any ex- isting data use agreements with other public or pri- vate entities and any need for updates to such ex- isting agreements, consistent with paragraph (2). ‘‘(2) DATA USE AGREEMENTS WITH EXTERNAL ENTI- TIES.—The Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Re- sponse, may update memoranda of understanding, Page 1692 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 300hh–1 data use agreements, or other applicable agreements and contracts to improve appropriate access, ex- change, and use of public health data between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response and external entities, including State, Tribal, and territorial health departments, labora- tories, hospitals and other health care providers, electronic health records vendors, and other entities, as applicable and appropriate, in order to prepare for, identify, monitor, and respond to declared or poten- tial public health emergencies. ‘‘(3) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act [Dec. 29, 2022], the Secretary shall report to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representa- tives on the status of the agreements under this sub- section.’’ GUIDANCE FOR PARTICIPATION IN EXERCISES AND DRILLS Pub. L. 116–22, title III, § 306, June 24, 2019, 133 Stat. 941, provided that: ‘‘Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act [June 24, 2019], the Sec- retary of Health and Human Services shall issue final guidance regarding the ability of personnel funded by programs authorized under this Act [see Tables for classification] (including the amendments made by this Act) to participate in drills and operational exercises related to all-hazards medical and public health pre- paredness and response. Such drills and operational ex- ercises may include activities that incorporate medical surge capacity planning, medical countermeasure dis- tribution and administration, and preparing for and re- sponding to identified threats for that region. Such per- sonnel may include State, local, Tribal, and territorial public health department or agency personnel funded under this Act (including the amendments made by this Act). The Secretary shall consult with the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and other applicable Federal departments and agencies as necessary and ap- propriate in the development of such guidance. The Secretary shall make the guidance available on the internet website of the Department of Health and Human Services.’’ GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORT Pub. L. 107–188, title I, § 157, June 12, 2002, 116 Stat. 633, provided that: ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL [sic].—The Comptroller General shall submit to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Committee on Appropria- tions of the Senate, and to the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, a report that describes— ‘‘(1) Federal activities primarily related to research on, preparedness for, and the management of the pub- lic health and medical consequences of a bioterrorist attack against the civilian population; ‘‘(2) the coordination of the activities described in paragraph (1); ‘‘(3) the effectiveness of such efforts in preparing national, State, and local authorities to address the public health and medical consequences of a potential bioterrorist attack against the civilian population; ‘‘(4) the activities and costs of the Civil Support Teams of the National Guard in responding to bio- logical threats or attacks against the civilian popu- lation; ‘‘(5) the activities of the working group under sub- section (a) and the efforts made by such group to carry out the activities described in such subsection; and ‘‘(6) the ability of private sector contractors to en- hance governmental responses to biological threats or attacks.’’ § 300hh–1. National Health Security Strategy (a) In general (1) Preparedness and response regarding pub- lic health emergencies Beginning in 2018 and every four years there- after, the Secretary shall prepare and submit to the relevant committees of Congress a co- ordinated strategy (to be known as the Na- tional Health Security Strategy) and any revi- sions thereof, and an accompanying implemen- tation plan for public health emergency pre- paredness and response. Such National Health Security Strategy shall describe potential emergency health security threats and iden- tify the process for achieving the preparedness goals described in subsection (b) to be pre- pared to identify and respond to such threats and shall be consistent with the national pre- paredness goal (as described in section 314(a)(19) of title 6), the National Incident Management System (as defined in section 311(7) of such title), and the National Response Plan developed pursuant to section 314 of such title, or any successor plan. (2) Evaluation of progress The National Health Security Strategy shall include an evaluation of the progress made by Federal, State, local, and tribal entities, based on the evidence-based benchmarks and objec- tive standards that measure levels of pre- paredness established pursuant to section 247d–3a(g) of this title. Such evaluation shall include aggregate and State-specific break- downs of obligated funding spent by major cat- egory (as defined by the Secretary) for activi- ties funded through awards pursuant to sec- tions 247d–3a and 247d–3b of this title, and an analysis of any changes to the evidence-based benchmarks and objective standards under sections 247d–3a and 247d–3b of this title. (3) Public health workforce In 2022, the National Health Security Strat- egy shall include a national strategy for estab- lishing an effective and prepared public health workforce, including defining the functions, capabilities, and gaps in such workforce (in- cluding gaps in the environmental health and animal health workforces, as applicable), de- scribing the status of such workforce, identi- fying strategies to recruit, retain, and protect such workforce from workplace exposures dur- ing public health emergencies, and identifying current capabilities to meet the requirements of section 300hh–2 of this title. (b) Preparedness goals The National Health Security Strategy shall include provisions in furtherance of the fol- lowing: (1) Integration Integrating public health and public and pri- vate medical capabilities with other first re- sponder systems, including through— (A) the periodic evaluation of Federal, State, local, and tribal preparedness and re- sponse capabilities through drills and exer- cises, including drills and exercises to ensure medical surge capacity for events without notice; and