    [United States Statutes at Large, Volume 117, 108th Congress, 1st Session]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    117 STAT. 2888

    Public Law 108-194
    108th Congress

    An Act

    To provide assistance for poison prevention and to stabilize the funding
    of regional poison control centers. <>

    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 ``Poison Control Center Enhancement and
    Awareness Act Amendments of 2003''.

    SEC. 2. <> FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
    (1) Poison control centers are our Nation's primary defense
    against injury and deaths from poisoning. Twenty-four hours a
    day, the general public as well as health care practitioners
    contact their local poison centers for help in diagnosing and
    treating victims of poisoning and other toxic exposures.
    (2) Poisoning is the third most common form of unintentional
    death in the United States. In any given year, there will be
    between 2,000,000 and 4,000,000 poison exposures. More than 50
    percent of these exposures will involve children under the age
    of 6 who are exposed to toxic substances in their home.
    Poisoning accounts for 285,000 hospitalizations, 1,200,000 days
    of acute hospital care, and 13,000 fatalities annually.
    (3) Stabilizing the funding structure and increasing
    accessibility to poison control centers will promote the
    utilization of poison control centers, and reduce the
    inappropriate use of emergency medical services and other more
    costly health care services.
    (4) The tragic events of September 11, 2001, and the anthrax
    cases of October 2001, have dramatically changed our Nation.
    During this time period, poison centers in many areas of the
    country were answering thousands of additional calls from
    concerned residents. Many poison centers were relied upon as a
    source for accurate medical information about the disease and
    the complications resulting from prophylactic antibiotic
    therapy.
    (5) The 2001 Presidential Task Force on Citizen Preparedness
    in the War on Terrorism recommended that the Poison Control
    Centers be used as a source of public information and public
    education regarding potential biological, chemical, and nuclear
    domestic terrorism.
    (6) The increased demand placed upon poison centers to
    provide emergency information in the event of a terrorist event

    [[Page 2889]]
    117 STAT. 2889

    involving a biological, chemical, or nuclear toxin will
    dramatically increase call volume.

    SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT.

    Title XII of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300d et seq.)
    is amended by adding at the end the following:

    ``Part G--Poison Control

    ``SEC. 1271. <> MAINTENANCE OF A NATIONAL TOLL-
    FREE NUMBER.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall provide coordination and
    assistance to regional poison control centers for the establishment of a
    nationwide toll-free phone number to be used to access such centers.
    ``(b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
    construed as prohibiting the establishment or continued operation of any
    privately funded nationwide toll-free phone number used to provide
    advice and other assistance for poisonings or accidental exposures.
    ``(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
    appropriated to carry out this section $2,000,000 for each of the fiscal
    years 2000 through 2009. Funds appropriated under this subsection shall
    not be used to fund any toll-free phone number described in subsection
    (b).
    ``SEC. 1272. <> NATIONWIDE MEDIA CAMPAIGN
    TO PROMOTE POISON CONTROL CENTER
    UTILIZATION.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish a national media
    campaign to educate the public and health care providers about poison
    prevention and the availability of poison control resources in local
    communities and to conduct advertising campaigns concerning the
    nationwide toll-free number established under section 1271.
    ``(b) Contract With Entity.--The Secretary may carry out subsection
    (a) by entering into contracts with one or more nationally recognized
    media firms for the development and distribution of monthly television,
    radio, and newspaper public service announcements.
    ``(c) Evaluation.--The Secretary shall--
    ``(1) establish baseline measures and benchmarks to
    quantitatively evaluate the impact of the nationwide media
    campaign established under this section; and
    ``(2) prepare and submit to the appropriate congressional
    committees an evaluation of the nationwide media campaign on an
    annual basis.

    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
    appropriated to carry out this section $600,000 for each of fiscal years
    2000 through 2005 and such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal
    years 2006 through 2009.
    ``SEC. 1273. <> MAINTENANCE OF THE POISON
    CONTROL CENTER GRANT PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Regional Poison Control Centers.--The Secretary shall award
    grants to certified regional poison control centers for the purposes of
    achieving the financial stability of such centers, and for preventing
    and providing treatment recommendations for poisonings.

    [[Page 2890]]
    117 STAT. 2890

    ``(b) Other Improvements.--The Secretary shall also use amounts
    received under this section to--
    ``(1) develop standardized poison prevention and poison
    control promotion programs;
    ``(2) develop standard patient management guidelines for
    commonly encountered toxic exposures;
    ``(3) improve and expand the poison control data collection
    systems, including, at the Secretary's discretion, by assisting
    the poison control centers to improve data collection
    activities;
    ``(4) improve national toxic exposure surveillance by
    enhancing activities at the Centers for Disease Control and
    Prevention and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
    Registry;
    ``(5) expand the toxicologic expertise within poison control
    centers; and
    ``(6) improve the capacity of poison control centers to
    answer high volumes of calls during times of national crisis.

    ``(c) Certification.--Except as provided in subsection (d), the
    Secretary may make a grant to a center under subsection (a) only if--
    ``(1) the center has been certified by a professional
    organization in the field of poison control, and the Secretary
    has approved the organization as having in effect standards for
    certification that reasonably provide for the protection of the
    public health with respect to poisoning; or
    ``(2) the center has been certified by a State government,
    and the Secretary has approved the State government as having in
    effect standards for certification that reasonably provide for
    the protection of the public health with respect to poisoning.

    ``(d) Waiver of Certification Requirements.--
    ``(1) In general.--The Secretary may grant a waiver of the
    certification requirement of subsection (c) with respect to a
    noncertified poison control center or a newly established center
    that applies for a grant under this section if such center can
    reasonably demonstrate that the center will obtain such a
    certification within a reasonable period of time as determined
    appropriate by the Secretary.
    ``(2) Renewal.--The Secretary may renew a waiver under
    paragraph (1).
    ``(3) Limitation.--In no instance may the sum of the number
    of years for a waiver under paragraph (1) and a renewal under
    paragraph (2) exceed 5 years. <> The
    preceding sentence shall take effect as if enacted on February
    25, 2000.

    ``(e) Supplement Not Supplant.--Amounts made available to a poison
    control center under this section shall be used to supplement and not
    supplant other Federal, State, or local funds provided for such center.
    ``(f) Maintenance of Effort.--A poison control center, in utilizing
    the proceeds of a grant under this section, shall maintain the
    expenditures of the center for activities of the center at a level that
    is not less than the level of such expenditures maintained by the center
    for the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the grant is
    received.
    ``(g) Matching Requirement.--The Secretary may impose a matching
    requirement with respect to amounts provided under a grant under this
    section if the Secretary determines appropriate.

    [[Page 2891]]
    117 STAT. 2891

    ``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
    appropriated to carry out this section $25,000,000 for each of the
    fiscal years 2000 through 2004 and $27,500,000 for each of fiscal years
    2005 through 2009.

    ``SEC. 1274. <> RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

    ``Nothing in this part may be construed to ease any restriction in
    Federal law applicable to the amount or percentage of funds appropriated
    to carry out this part that may be used to prepare or submit a
    report.''.

    SEC. 4. <> CONFORMING AMENDMENT.

    The Poison Control Center Enhancement and Awareness Act (42 U.S.C.
    14801 et seq.) is hereby repealed.

    Approved December 19, 2003.

    LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 686:
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    SENATE REPORTS: No. 108-68 (Comm. on Health, Education, Labor, and
    Pensions).
    CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 149 (2003):
    June 20, considered and passed Senate.
    Nov. 19, 20, considered and passed House, amended.
    Dec. 9, Senate concurred in House amendment.