[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1290 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1290

 To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of 
 Homeland Security to establish a National Biosurveillance Integration 
                                Center.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 1, 2007

    Mr. Langevin (for himself, Mr. McCaul of Texas, Mr. Thompson of 
 Mississippi, Mr. King of New York, Ms. Zoe Lofgren of California, Mr. 
Dent, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. David Davis of Tennessee, and Mrs. 
 Christensen) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
  Committee on Homeland Security, and in addition to the Committee on 
Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of 
 Homeland Security to establish a National Biosurveillance Integration 
                                Center.

    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 ``Biosurveillance Enhancement Act of 
2007''.

SEC. 2. NATIONAL BIOSURVEILLANCE INTEGRATION CENTER.

    (a) In General.--Title III of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 
U.S.C. 181 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
section:

``SEC. 316. NATIONAL BIOSURVEILLANCE INTEGRATION CENTER.

    ``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a National 
Biosurveillance Integration Center (referred to in this section as the 
`NBIC') to enhance the capability of the Federal Government to rapidly 
identify, characterize, and localize a biological event by integrating 
and analyzing data related to human health, animals, plants, food, and 
the environment. The NBIC shall be headed by a Director.
    ``(b) Integrated Biosurveillance Network.--As part of the NBIC, the 
Director shall develop, operate, and maintain an integrated network to 
detect, as early as possible, a biological event that presents a risk 
to the United States or the infrastructure or key assets of the United 
States. The network shall--
            ``(1) consolidate data from all relevant surveillance 
        systems maintained by the Department and other governmental and 
        private sources, both foreign and domestic, to the extent 
        practicable; and
            ``(2) use an information technology system that uses the 
        best available statistical and other analytical tools to 
        identify and characterize biological events in as close to 
        real-time as possible.
    ``(c) Responsibilities.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Director shall--
                    ``(A) monitor on an ongoing basis the availability 
                and appropriateness of candidate data feeds and solicit 
                new surveillance systems with data that would enhance 
                biological situational awareness or overall performance 
                of the NBIC;
                    ``(B) review and seek to improve on an ongoing 
                basis the statistical and other analytical methods used 
                by the NBIC;
                    ``(C) establish a procedure to enable Federal, 
                State and local government, and private sector entities 
                to report suspicious events that could warrant further 
                assessments by the NBIC;
                    ``(D) receive and consider all relevant homeland 
                security information; and
                    ``(E) provide technical assistance, as appropriate, 
                to all Federal, State, and local government entities 
                and private sector entities that contribute data 
                relevant to the operation of the NBIC.
            ``(2) Assessments.--The Director shall--
                    ``(A) continuously evaluate available data for 
                evidence of a biological event; and
                    ``(B) integrate homeland security information with 
                NBIC data to provide overall biological situational 
                awareness and determine whether a biological event has 
                occurred.
            ``(3) Information sharing.--The Director shall--
                    ``(A) establish a mechanism for real-time 
                communication with the National Operations Center;
                    ``(B) provide integrated information to the heads 
                of the departments and agencies with which the Director 
                has entered into an agreement under subsection (d);
                    ``(C) notify the Secretary, the head of the 
                National Operations Center, and the heads of 
                appropriate Federal, State, tribal, and local entities 
                of any significant biological event identified by the 
                NBIC;
                    ``(D) provide reports on NBIC assessments to 
                Federal, State, and local government entities, 
                including departments and agencies with which the 
                Director has entered into an agreement under subsection 
                (d), and any private sector entities, as considered 
                appropriate by the Director; and
                    ``(E) use information sharing networks available to 
                the Department, including such networks of the Office 
                of Information Analysis and the National Operations 
                Center, for distributing NBIC incident or situational 
                awareness reports.
    ``(d) Interagency Agreements.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall seek to enter into 
        agreements with the heads of appropriate Federal departments 
        and agencies, including the Department of Health and Human 
        Services, Department of Defense, the Department of Agriculture, 
        the Department of State, the Department of Interior, and the 
        Intelligence Community.
            ``(2) Content of agreements.--Under an agreement entered 
        into under paragraph (1), the head of a Federal department or 
        agency shall agree to--
                    ``(A) use the best efforts of the department or 
                agency to integrate biosurveillance information 
                capabilities through NBIC;
                    ``(B) provide timely, evaluated information to 
                assist the NBIC in maintaining biological situational 
                awareness for timely and accurate detection and 
                response purposes;
                    ``(C) provide connectivity for the biosurveillance 
                data systems of the department or agency to the NBIC 
                network under mutually agreed protocols;
                    ``(D) detail, if practicable, to the NBIC 
                department or agency personnel with relevant expertise 
                in human, animal, plant, food, or environmental disease 
                analysis and interpretation;
                    ``(E) retain responsibility for the surveillance 
                and intelligence systems of that department or agency, 
                if applicable; and
                    ``(F) participate in forming the strategy and 
                policy for the operation and information sharing 
                practices of the NBIC.
    ``(e) Notification of Director.--The Secretary shall ensure that 
the Director is notified of homeland security information relating to 
any significant biological threat and receives all classified and 
unclassified reports related to such a threat in a timely manner.
    ``(f) Administrative Authorities.--
            ``(1) Privacy.--The Secretary shall--
                    ``(A) designate the NBIC as a public health 
                authority;
                    ``(B) ensure that the NBIC complies with any 
                applicable requirements of the Health Insurance 
                Portability and Accountability Act of 1996; and
                    ``(C) ensure that all applicable privacy 
                regulations are strictly adhered to in the operation of 
                the NBIC and the sharing of any information related to 
                the NBIC.
            ``(2) Collection of information.--The NBIC, as a public 
        health authority with a public health mission, is authorized to 
        collect or receive health information, including such 
        information protected under the Health Insurance Portability 
        and Accountability Act of 1996, for the purpose of preventing 
        or controlling disease, injury, or disability.
    ``(g) NBIC Interagency Working Group.--The Director shall--
            ``(1) establish an interagency working group to facilitate 
        interagency cooperation to advise the Director on 
        recommendations to enhance the biosurveillance capabilities of 
        the Department; and
            ``(2) invite officials of Federal agencies that conduct 
        biosurveillance programs, including officials of the 
        departments and agencies with which the Secretary has entered 
        into an agreement under subsection (d), to participate in the 
        working group.
    ``(h) Annual Report Required.--Not later than December 31 of each 
year, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that contains 
each of the following:
            ``(1) A list of departments, agencies, and private or 
        nonprofit entities participating in the NBIC and a description 
        of the data that each entity has contributed to the NBIC during 
        the preceding fiscal year.
            ``(2) The schedule for obtaining access to any relevant 
        biosurveillance information not received by the NBIC as of the 
        date on which the report is submitted.
            ``(3) A list of Federal, State, and local government 
        entities and private sector entities that have direct or 
        indirect access to the information that is integrated by the 
        NBIC.
            ``(4) For any year before the NBIC is fully implemented or 
        any year in which any major structural or institutional change 
        is made to the NBIC, an implementation plan for the NBIC that 
        includes cost, schedule, key milestones, and the status of such 
        milestones.
    ``(i) Relationship to Other Departments and Agencies.--The 
authority of the Secretary under this section shall not affect an 
authority or responsibility of any other Federal department or agency 
with respect to biosurveillance activities under any program 
administered by that department or agency.
    ``(j) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section such sums as may be necessary 
for each fiscal year.
    ``(k) Biological Event.--For purposes of this section, the term 
`biological event' means--
            ``(1) an act of terrorism involving biological agents or 
        toxins of known or unknown origin; or
            ``(2) a naturally occurring outbreak of an infectious 
        disease that may be of potential national significance.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of 
such Act is amended by inserting after the items relating to such title 
the following:

``Sec. 316. National Biosurveillance Integration Center.''.
    (c) Deadline for Implementation.--The National Biosurveillance 
Integration Center required under section 316 of the Homeland Security 
Act of 2002, as added by subsection (a), shall be fully operational by 
not later than September 30, 2008.
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