§321r Transfer of Equipment During a Public Health Emergency

Summary

During a public health emergency declared by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary may send excess personal protective equipment or medically necessary equipment the Department owns to HHS if HHS asks and pays back the cost. Before asking for a transfer, HHS must check whether the needed equipment is available elsewhere. Before sending equipment, the Secretary must talk with each part of the Department, decide the items are truly excess, and certify that the transfer will not harm the health or safety of the Department’s officers, employees, or contractors. Each Secretary must notify Congress explaining their decisions. The Secretary must keep a continual list, through the Department’s Chief Medical Officer, of all such equipment and make that list available to HHS and to the Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives. The list must be unclassified but may include a classified annex.