“A bill to combat the fentanyl crisis.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to states, territories, and localities to improve data collection and surveillance on opioid-related overdoses, including postmortem toxicology testing, data linkage across U.S. data systems, electronic death reporting, and the comprehensiveness of data on fatal and nonfatal overdoses.
This section reforms the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) by (1) expressing the sense of Congress that the ONDCP Director shall be a Cabinet-level position without altering agency reporting structures; (2) requiring ONDCP to document strategies to prevent duplicative services and grants among National Drug Control Program agencies, collaborate with the National Center for Health Statistics and National Forensic Laboratory Information System (including with the Department of Justice to establish uniform national data submission standards that include guilty plea cases), and issue guidance for states and localities to classify certain overdose deaths as homicides when evidence indicates they were not self-induced or intentional; (3) directing ONDCP, the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, and other National Drug Control Program agencies to coordinate in limiting duplication, ensuring uniform reporting standards, and improving interagency relationships; (4) deeming any final rule by a National Drug Control Program agency uncertified by ONDCP as to consistency with the National Drug Control Strategy to be submitted under the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. §801(a)(1)); and (5) amending ONDCP reprogramming and transfer approval procedures to deem unapproved requests denied (from approved).
This section revises reporting and technical assistance requirements under the State Opioid Response Grants program by (1) requiring grantees to submit, as part of annual reports, an assessment of challenges in addressing opioid misuse and use disorders and, as applicable and appropriate, stimulant misuse and use disorders, accounting for variations in grant implementation; and (2) directing the Secretary to provide both technical assistance and best practices on addressing opioid-related overdoses (previously, technical assistance only).
This section establishes a 3-year pilot program under which the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in collaboration with the Attorney General, awards competitive grants to municipal wastewater treatment facilities to analyze wastewater for the prevalence of certain illicit substances—such as fentanyl or xylazine, as determined by the Director and Attorney General—in the communities served by those facilities.
This section expands allowable uses of funds under the Reducing Overdose Deaths grant program by authorizing grantees to support administering (in addition to prescribing) approved opioid overdose reversal drugs under subsection (c)(1) and activities related to the administration of (in addition to prescribing of) such drugs under subsection (c)(2). The section further revises the authorization of appropriations to cover both this program and section 544A (previously, only this program).
This section establishes a grant program authorizing the Secretary to award grants to eligible entities (as defined in section 544(a)(2) of the Public Health Service Act, i.e., typically local educational agencies) to provide for the administration of drugs and devices approved for emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdoses (e.g., naloxone) at public and private elementary and secondary schools under the entity's jurisdiction. Grant applications must include information required under section 544(b), certifications for each school that (1) trained personnel may administer such drugs/devices, (2) supplies are maintained in easily accessible locations, (3) one or more trained personnel are on premises during all operating hours, and (4) the state attorney general certifies that state civil liability protection laws (i.e., Good Samaritan laws shielding emergency aid providers) adequately cover such school personnel, and any additional information required by the Secretary. Defines trained personnel as school nurses or principal-designated staff who have received and documented training in such administration meeting appropriate medical standards.
This section adds fentanyl test strips to the list of exceptions in 21 U.S.C. 862(f) from the denial of Federal benefits to individuals convicted of drug trafficking or possession offenses. (Thus, such convictions related to fentanyl test strips—used to detect fentanyl in substances and prevent overdoses—do not trigger ineligibility for Federal benefits such as welfare, food assistance, or student aid.)