S. 999 — Public Health Improvement Act

This section establishes a limit of 12 years total service for any individual as Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and as Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (previously, no statutory term limits).

This section limits the scope of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) strategic plan required under section 305(c)(2)(A) of the Public Health Service Act by (1) in clause (i), striking "and noncommunicable diseases or conditions, and addressing injuries, and occupational and environmental hazards" and inserting "diseases"; (2) in clause (ii), striking "or conditions"; (3) in clause (iii), adding "and" at the end; (4) in clause (iv), striking "; and" and inserting a semicolon; and (5) striking clause (v). (Thus, the plan, which the CDC Director must develop and submit to specified congressional committees not later than one year after December 29, 2022, and every four years thereafter, no longer requires coverage of noncommunicable diseases or conditions, injuries, or occupational and environmental hazards.)

This section revises the appointment process for members of the advisory committee to the CDC Director (i.e., the committee established under Section 305A of the Public Health Service Act). Specifically, it (1) changes paragraph (1) to specify appointments "as described in" the subsection (from "by the Secretary under" the subsection); and (2) replaces paragraph (3)(A)-(B) with a new structure appointing 15 members as follows: three by the HHS Secretary (one representing HHS and one a public health official), two by the Senate majority leader, two by the Senate minority leader, two by the House Speaker, two by the House minority leader, and four by the Comptroller General of the United States.

This section revises subsection (a) of Section 361 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 264(a)) to vest authority to make and enforce regulations preventing communicable disease introduction, transmission, or spread solely in the Secretary of Health and Human Services—removing the prior grant to the Surgeon General with the Secretary's approval—and to limit such regulations to inspection, fumigation, disinfection, sanitation, pest extermination, or destruction of animals or articles found to be sources of dangerous infection to human beings (from the prior broader authority for "such regulations as in his judgment are necessary," including other measures). (As background, Section 361 authorizes federal public health controls on interstate and foreign-origin communicable diseases; subsections (b)-(d), unchanged, separately limit individual apprehension, detention, or examination to specified diseases and interstate risks.)

This section revises the renewal process for public health emergency declarations under Section 319(a) of the Public Health Service Act to require a majority vote in both chambers of Congress (from renewal by the HHS Secretary). Such renewals terminate upon the Secretary declaring the emergency no longer exists or after 90 days from the date of congressional approval, whichever occurs first, and the Secretary must notify Congress within 48 hours of an initial declaration.

This section transfers the authorities, functions, personnel, and assets of eight Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offices to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), effective two years after enactment. The offices are (1) the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities; (2) the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion; (3) the National Center for Environmental Health; (4) the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry; (5) the National Center for Health Statistics; (6) the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention; (7) the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control; and (8) the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

This section requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue new or revised regulations as necessary to implement the Act and its amendments not later than 90 days after the date of enactment.

This section preempts any inconsistent Federal (other than this Act), State, Tribal, territorial, or local law, declaration, guidance, or directive.