View all text of Part G [§ 300d-71 - § 300d-74]
§ 300d–73. Maintenance of the poison control center grant program
(a) Authorization of program
(b) Additional uses of funds
In addition to the purposes described in subsection (a), a poison center or professional organization awarded a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under such subsection may also use amounts received under such grant, contract, or cooperative agreement—
(1) to research, establish, implement, and evaluate best practices in the United States for poisoning and toxic exposure prevention, poison control center outreach, and emergency preparedness and response programs;
(2) to research, develop, implement, revise, and communicate standard patient management guidelines for commonly encountered toxic exposures;
(3) to improve national toxic exposure surveillance by enhancing cooperative activities between poison control centers in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other government agencies as determined to be appropriate and nonduplicative by the Secretary;
(4) to research, improve, and enhance the communications and response capability and capacity of the nation’s network of poison control centers to facilitate increased access to the centers through the integration and modernization of the current poison control centers communications and data system, including enhancing the network’s telephony, Internet, data and social networking technologies;
(5) to develop, support, and enhance technology and capabilities of professional organizations in the field of poison control to collect national poisoning, toxic occurrence, and related public health data;
(6) to develop initiatives to foster the enhanced public health utilization of national poison data collected by organizations described in paragraph (5);
(7) to support and expand the toxicologic expertise within poison control centers; and
(8) to improve the capacity of poison control centers to answer high volumes of contacts and Internet communications, and to sustain and enhance the poison control center’s network capability to respond during times of national crisis or other public health emergencies.
(c) Accreditation
Except as provided in subsection (d), the Secretary may award a grant to a poison control center under subsection (a) only if—
(1) the center has been accredited by a professional organization in the field of poison control, and the Secretary has approved the organization as having in effect standards for accreditation that reasonably provide for the protection of the public health with respect to poisoning; or
(2) the center has been accredited by a State government, and the Secretary has approved the State government as having in effect standards for accreditation that reasonably provide for the protection of the public health with respect to poisoning.
(d) Waiver of accreditation requirements
(1) In general
(2) Renewal
(3) Limitation
(A) In general
(B) Public health emergency
(e) Supplement not supplant
(f) Maintenance of effort
(g) Authorization of appropriations
(h) Biennial report to Congress
Not later than 2 years after December 20, 2019, and every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives a report concerning the operations of, and trends identified by, the Poison Control Network. Such report shall include—
(1) descriptions of the activities carried out pursuant to sections 300d–71, 300d–72, and 300d–73 of this title, and the alignment of such activities with the purposes provided under subsection (a);
(2) a description of trends in volume of contacts to poison control centers;
(3) a description of trends in poisonings and toxic exposures reported to poison control centers, as applicable and appropriate;
(4) an assessment of the impact of the public awareness campaign, including any geographic variations;
(5) a description of barriers, if any, preventing poison control centers from achieving the purposes and programs under this section and sections 300d–71 and 300d–72 of this title;
(6) a description of the standards for accreditation described in subsection (c), including any variations in those standards, and any efforts to create and maintain consistent standards across organizations that accredit poison control centers; and
(7) the number of and reason for any waivers provided under subsection (d).
(July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title XII, § 1273, as added Pub. L. 108–194, § 3, Dec. 19, 2003, 117 Stat. 2889; amended Pub. L. 110–377, § 5(a), Oct. 8, 2008, 122 Stat. 4065; Pub. L. 113–77, § 4(a), Jan. 24, 2014, 128 Stat. 644; Pub. L. 116–94, div. N, title I, § 403(c), Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 3115; Pub. L. 118–86, § 2(c), Sept. 26, 2024, 138 Stat. 1549.)