§ 300d-73. Maintenance of the poison control center grant program

(a) Authorization of program

The Secretary shall award grants to poison control centers certified under subsection (c) (or granted a waiver under subsection (d)) and professional organizations in the field of poison control for the purposes of preventing, and providing treatment recommendations for, poisonings and complying with the operational requirements needed to sustain the certification of the center under subsection (c).

(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 establish and evaluate best practices in the United States for poison prevention, poison control center outreach, and emergency and preparedness 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 and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;

(4) 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;

(5) to develop initiatives to foster the enhanced public health utilization of national poison data collected by organizations described in paragraph (4);

(6) to support and expand the toxicologic expertise within poison control centers; and

(7) to improve the capacity of poison control centers to answer high volumes of calls and respond during times of national crisis or other public health emergencies.

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 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 requirements of subsection (c) with respect to a noncertified poison control 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 case 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 of October 8, 2008.

(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 expenditures maintained by the center for the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the grant is received.

(g) Authorization of appropriations

There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, $27,500,000 for fiscal year 2009, and $28,600,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014. The Secretary may utilize not to exceed 8 percent of the amount appropriated under this preceding sentence in each fiscal year for coordination, dissemination, technical assistance, program evaluation, data activities, and other program administration functions that do not include grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements under subsections (a) and (b), which are determined by the Secretary to be appropriate for carrying out the program under this section.

U.S. Code

§ 300d-73. Maintenance of the poison control center grant program