# 119-s-4227: Preventing Illegal Laboratories and Protecting Public Health Act of 2026

119-s-4227, Preventing Illegal Laboratories and Protecting Public Health Act of 2026, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine [D-NV] (D-NV); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4227
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-4227
- Congress: 119
- Title: Preventing Illegal Laboratories and Protecting Public Health Act of 2026
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-03-26
- Sponsor: Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine [D-NV] (D-NV)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Health
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**Mandatory electronic logbooks for transfers of highly pathogenic agents** would require covered distributors to record buyers and verify photo ID for sales. The bill would also create a federal framework to evaluate and set national standards for high-containment laboratories. - Covered distributors would have to maintain an electronic log of each sale, lease, loan, or transfer with detailed purchaser information and ID verification. Entries must be retained for at least 3 years and purchasers must be warned that false statements can trigger criminal penalties. - High-containment laboratories, defined as Biosafety Level 3 or higher, would be subject to periodic strategic evaluations by a designated federal entity and to recommended national standards for design, construction, operation, and maintenance. A feasibility study would explore creating a nationwide database of these labs including ownership, location, licensing status, and violations. - Logbook information could be shared with federal, state, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement and health officials for compliance, public health, and national security purposes. Logbooks and derived data would be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.

## Cosponsors (1)

- Sen. Banks, Jim [R-IN] (R-IN), 2026-03-26T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Federal oversight for high-containment labs: benefit, high. If enacted, the bill would direct the National Security Advisor to pick one federal entity to lead strategic evaluations of high-containment (BSL-3+) laboratories. That entity would develop national standards for lab design, construction, commissioning, operation, and long-term maintenance with sci…
- New pathogen transfer rules for sellers: cost, medium. If enacted, the bill would require covered distributors who sell, lease, loan, or otherwise transfer listed highly pathogenic agents to keep an electronic logbook of every transfer. The logbook would record agent name, purchaser contact and identifiers, intended use and housing location, date/time…

## Related bills

- 119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act
- 119-s-5283: Momnibus Act
- 119-s-554: United States-Israel Defense Partnership Act of 2025
- 119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026
- 119-s-4627: FARM AI Act of 2026
- 119-s-4456: AI OVERWATCH Act

## Sources
- [119-s-4227 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/4227)

## Related
- [119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1748)
- [119-s-5283: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5283)
- [119-s-554: United States-Israel Defense Partnership Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-554)
- [119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3990)
- [119-s-4627: FARM AI Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4627)
- [119-s-4456: AI OVERWATCH Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4456)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4227 (as of 2026-04-21).