HR5747-119

What This Bill Does

The Preventing Illegal Laboratories and Protecting Public Health Act creates new tracking and evaluation duties for dangerous biological agents and high-containment laboratories. HHS, acting through the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, must develop an initial list of highly pathogenic agents within six months, update it annually, and consult CDC, NIH, DHS, USDA, Interior, DOD, and other agencies while considering the CDC-NIH Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories manual and NIH recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid guidelines. Covered distributors, including repositories or biobanks that transfer highly pathogenic agents for value or without value, must maintain electronic logbooks of sales, leases, loans, and other transfers. The bill preserves the Federal Select Agent Program rather than superseding it. Separately, the National Security Advisor must identify a single federal entity to oversee periodic strategic evaluations of high-containment laboratories, covering number, location, mission, capacity, physical security, aggregate risk, expansion risk, oversight needs, and national standards. That entity must report to the President and Congress, recommend oversight improvements, and study the feasibility of publicly releasing high-containment laboratory information such as location, ownership, biosafety level, agency role, pathogens, licensing, certification, violations, and disciplinary actions.

Who Benefits and How

Public health agencies benefit from better visibility into transfers of highly pathogenic agents and high-containment laboratory capacity. Biosafety regulators benefit from an ASPR-maintained agent list and a single-entity strategic evaluation process. Communities near high-containment laboratories benefit if evaluations identify physical security, oversight, and aggregate risk gaps. Researchers using legitimate repositories benefit from clearer logbook rules that preserve the Federal Select Agent Program.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Covered distributors of pathogenic agents must keep electronic transfer logbooks in the format HHS requires. ASPR biosecurity staff must create and annually update the agent list and administer distributor requirements. High-containment laboratory operators may face additional evaluation, standards, reporting, and possible public-information scrutiny. National Security Council staff must identify the oversight entity and coordinate cross-agency laboratory evaluation work.

Key Provisions

• Requires HHS through ASPR to maintain and annually update a list of highly pathogenic agents.
• Requires covered distributors to keep electronic logbooks for sales, leases, loans, and other transfers.
• Requires consultation with CDC, NIH, DHS, USDA, Interior, DOD, and other relevant agencies.
• Preserves the Federal Select Agent Program.
• Requires identification of one federal entity for periodic strategic evaluations of high-containment laboratories.
• Requires reports on laboratory capacity, security, risks, oversight, standards, and public-information feasibility.