[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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