Authorizing Legislation: Public Health Service Act

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TITLE III—GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES OF PUBLIC
HEALTH SERVICE
PART A—RESEARCH

AND INVESTIGATION

IN GENERAL

SEC. 301. ø241¿ (a) The Secretary shall conduct in the Service,
and encourage, cooperate with, and render assistance to other appropriate public authorities, scientific institutions, and scientists in
the conduct of, and promote the coordination of, research, investigations, experiments, demonstrations, and studies relating to the
causes, diagnosis, treatment, control, and prevention of physical
and mental diseases and impairments of man, including water purification, sewage treatment, and pollution of lakes and streams. In
carrying out the foregoing the Secretary is authorized to—
(1) collect and make available through publications and
other appropriate means, information as to, and the practical
application of, such research and other activities;
(2) make available research facilities of the Service to appropriate public authorities, and to health officials and scientists engaged in special study;
(3) make grants-in-aid to universities, hospitals, laboratories, and other public or private institutions, and to individuals for such research projects as are recommended by the advisory council to the entity of the Department supporting such
projects and make, upon recommendation of the advisory council to the appropriate entity of the Department, grants-in-aid
to public or nonprofit universities, hospitals, laboratories, and
other institutions for the general support of their research;
(4) secure from time to time and for such periods as he
deems advisable, the assistance and advice of experts, scholars,
and consultants from the United States or abroad;
(5) for purposes of study, admit and treat at institutions,
hospitals, and stations of the Service, persons not otherwise eligible for such treatment;
(6) make available, to health officials, scientists, and appropriate public and other nonprofit institutions and organizations, technical advice and assistance on the application of statistical methods to experiments, studies, and surveys in health
and medical fields;
(7) enter into contracts, including contracts for research in
accordance with and subject to the provisions of law applicable
to contracts entered into by the military departments under
title 10, United States Code, sections 2353 and 2354, except
that determination, approval, and certification required thereby shall be by the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare;
and
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(8) adopt, upon recommendations of the advisory councils
to the appropriate entities of the Department or, with respect
to mental health, the National Advisory Mental Health Council, such additional means as the Secretary considers necessary
or appropriate to carry out the purposes of this section.
The Secretary may make available to individuals and entities, for
biomedical and behavioral research, substances and living organisms. Such substances and organisms shall be made available
under such terms and conditions (including payment for them) as
the Secretary determines appropriate.
(b)(1) The Secretary shall conduct and may support through
grants and contracts studies and testing of substances for carcinogenicity, teratogenicity, mutagenicity, and other harmful biological
effects. In carrying out this paragraph, the Secretary shall consult
with entities of the Federal Government, outside of the Department
of Health, Education, and Welfare, engaged in comparable activities. The Secretary, upon request of such an entity and under appropriate arrangements for the payment of expenses, may conduct
for such entity studies and testing of substances for carcinogenicity,
teratogenicity, mutagenicity, and other harmful biological effects.
(2)(A) The Secretary shall establish a comprehensive program
of research into the biological effects of low-level ionizing radiation
under which program the Secretary shall conduct such research
and may support such research by others through grants and contracts.
(B) The Secretary shall conduct a comprehensive review of
Federal programs of research on the biological effects of ionizing
radiation.
(3) The Secretary shall conduct and may support through
grants and contracts research and studies on human nutrition,
with particular emphasis on the role of nutrition in the prevention
and treatment of disease and on the maintenance and promotion
of health, and programs for the dissemination of information respecting human nutrition to health professionals and the public. In
carrying out activities under this paragraph, the Secretary shall
provide for the coordination of such of these activities as are performed by the different divisions within the Department of Health,
Education, and Welfare and shall consult with entities of the Federal Government, outside of the Department of Health, Education,
and Welfare, engaged in comparable activities. The Secretary, upon
request of such an entity and under appropriate arrangements for
the payment of expenses, may conduct and support such activities
for such entity.
(4) The Secretary shall publish a biennial report which contains—
(A) a list of all substances (i) which either are known to
be carcinogens or may reasonably be anticipated to be carcinogens and (ii) to which a significant number of persons residing
in the United States are exposed;
(B) information concerning the nature of such exposure
and the estimated number of persons exposed to such substances;
(C) a statement identifying (i) each substance contained in
the list under subparagraph (A) for which no effluent, ambient,
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or exposure standard has been established by a Federal agency, and (ii) for each effluent, ambient, or exposure standard established by a Federal agency with respect to a substance contained in the list under subparagraph (A), the extent to which,
on the basis of available medical, scientific, or other data, such
standard, and the implementation of such standard by the
agency, decreases the risk to public health from exposure to
the substance; and
(D) a description of (i) each request received during the
year involved—
(I) from a Federal agency outside the Department of
Health, Education, and Welfare for the Secretary, or
(II) from an entity within the Department of Health,
Education, and Welfare to any other entity within the Department,
to conduct research into, or testing for, the carcinogenicity of
substances or to provide information described in clause (ii) of
subparagraph (C), and (ii) how the Secretary and each such
other entity, respectively, have responded to each such request.
(5) The authority of the Secretary to enter into any contract for
the conduct of any study, testing, program, research, or review, or
assessment under this subsection shall be effective for any fiscal
year only to such extent or in such amounts as are provided in advance in Appropriation Acts.
(c) The Secretary may conduct biomedical research, directly or
through grants or contracts, for the identification, control, treatment, and prevention of diseases (including tropical diseases)
which do not occur to a significant extent in the United States.
(d) The Secretary may authorize persons engaged in biomedical, behavioral, clinical, or other research (including research
on mental health, including research on the use and effect of alcohol and other psychoactive drugs) to protect the privacy of individuals who are the subject of such research by withholding from all
persons not connected with the conduct of such research the names
or other identifying characteristics of such individuals. Persons so
authorized to protect the privacy of such individuals may not be
compelled in any Federal, State, or local civil, criminal, administrative, legislative, or other proceedings to identify such individuals.
(e) The Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, shall expand, intensify, and coordinate the activities of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with respect to preterm labor and delivery and infant mortality.

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