Title 42 — The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-73

§3506a Scientific engagement

Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 43— - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - GENERAL PROVISIONS › § 3506a

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

HHS staff who go to scientific or medical meetings that are directly part of their job are not counted as attending "conferences" for annual spending reports or for travel limits like OMB M-12-12. Their travel still must follow federal travel rules. Within 90 days after each fiscal year ends, every part of HHS must post online a yearly report on meeting attendance and travel spending. The report must give totals and basic details. For any meeting where a division spent more than $30,000 it must list the amount, location, date, a short note on how it helped the division’s mission, and how many people had expenses paid; meetings over $150,000 need an explanation of the exceptional circumstances.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §3506a

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Scientific meetings that are attended by scientific or medical personnel, or other professionals, of the Department of Health and Human Services for whom attendance at such meeting is directly related to their professional duties and the mission of the Department—

(1)shall not be considered conferences for the purposes of complying with Federal reporting requirements contained in annual appropriations Acts or in this section; and

(2)shall not be considered conferences for purposes of a restriction contained in an annual appropriations Act, based on Office of Management and Budget Memorandum M-12-12 or any other regulation restricting travel to such meeting.

(b)Nothing in this section shall be construed to exempt travel for scientific meetings from Federal regulations relating to travel.

(c)Not later than 90 days after the end of the fiscal year, each operating division of the Department of Health and Human Services shall prepare, and post on an Internet website of the operating division, an annual report on scientific meeting attendance and related travel spending for each fiscal year. Such report shall include—

(1)general information concerning the scientific meeting activities involved;

(2)information concerning the total amount expended for such meetings;

(3)a description of all such meetings that were attended by scientific or medical personnel, or other professionals, of each such operating division where the total amount expended by the operating division associated with each such meeting were in excess of $30,000, including—

(A)the total amount of meeting expenses incurred by the operating division for such meeting;

(B)the location of such meeting;

(C)the date of such meeting;

(D)a brief explanation on how such meeting advanced the mission of the operating division; and

(E)the total number of individuals whose travel expenses or other scientific meeting expenses were paid by the operating division; and

(4)with respect to any such meeting where the total expenses to the operating division exceeded $150,000, a description of the exceptional circumstances that necessitated the expenditure of such amounts.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 3506a

Title 42 — The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73