§2225 Decontamination and Disposal Standards and Plans

Summary

Requires the EPA Administrator, working with the Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and Agriculture, to help state, local, and tribal governments get ready for, assess, clean up, and recover from agriculture or food emergencies. The EPA must work with those partners and local governments to create and share clear standards and steps for cleaning up and recovering after contamination by dangerous agents or foreign animal diseases. The EPA, HHS, and Agriculture must also make model plans for decontaminating people, equipment, and facilities and for disposing of large numbers of infected or contaminated animals, plants, or food. They must run exercises at least once a year (as part of the national exercise program when possible) and update the plans at least every two years. Plans must focus first on the highest-risk agents, those that would cause the biggest economic damage, and those hardest to clean.