http://leginfo.state.ny.us:82/menugetf.cgi
STATUS:
S5841 HANNON
Public Health Law
TITLE....Creates the state emergency health powers act
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11/30/01 |
REFERRED TO RULES |
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BILL TEXT:
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5841
2001-2002 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
November 30, 2001
___________
Introduced by Sens. HANNON, SEWARD -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to the state emergen-
cy health powers act
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. In the wake of the tragic events of September 11, 2001,
2 our nation has come to the realization that the government's foremost
3 responsibility is to protect the health, safety, and well being of its
4 citizens. New and emerging dangers-including emergent and resurgent
5 infectious diseases and incidents of civilian mass casualties-pose seri-
6 ous and immediate threats to the population. A renewed focus on the
7 prevention, detection, management, and containment of public health
8 emergencies is thus called for.
9 Emergency health threats, including those caused by bioterrorism and
10 epidemics, require the exercise of extraordinary government functions.
11 Because each state is responsible for safeguarding the health, security,
12 and well being of its people, state governments must be able to respond,
13 rapidly and effectively, to potential or actual public health emergen-
14 cies. The state emergency health powers act, hereby known as the act,
15 therefore grants specific emergency powers to state governors and public
16 health authorities.
17 The act authorizes the collection of data and records, the control of
18 property, the management of persons, and access to communications. It
19 facilitates the early detection of a health emergency, and allows for
20 immediate investigation by granting access to individuals' health infor-
21 mation under specified circumstances. Under the act, state officials are
22 authorized to use and appropriate property as necessary for the care,
23 treatment, and housing of patients, and for the destruction of contam-
24 inated materials. They are also empowered to provide care and treatment
25 to persons who are ill or who have been exposed to infection, and to
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14067-02-1
S. 5841 2
1
separate affected individuals from
the population at
large for the
2
purpose of interrupting the
transmission of infectious disease.
Final-
3
ly, the act requires the development of a comprehensive plan to provide
4
a coordinated, appropriate
response in the event of a public health
5
emergency.
6
At the same time, the act recognizes that a state's ability to respond
7 to a public health
emergency must respect the dignity
and rights of
8
persons. The exercise of
emergency health powers is designed to promote
9
the common good. Emergency powers must be grounded in a thorough scien-
10
tific understanding of public health threats and disease
transmission.
11
Guided by principles of justice, states have a duty to act with fairness
12
and tolerance towards individuals and
groups. The act
thus provides
13
that, in the
event of the
exercise of emergency powers,
the civil
14
rights, liberties, and needs of infected or exposed persons
will be
15
protected given the primary goal of controlling serious health threats.
16
Public health laws
and our courts have traditionally balanced the
17
common good with individual civil liberties. As Justice Harlan
wrote in
18
the seminal United States Supreme Court case of Jacobson v.
Massachu-
19 setts, "the whole people covenants with
each citizen, and each citizen
20
with the whole
people, that all shall be governed by certain laws for
21
the 'common good.'" The act strikes such a balance. It
provides state
22
officials with the ability to prevent, detect, manage, and contain emer-
23 gency health
threats without unduly
interfering with civil rights and
24
liberties. The act ensures a strong, effective, and timely response
to
25
public health emergencies, while
fostering respect for individuals from
26
all groups and backgrounds.
27
§ 2. The public health law is amended by adding a new article
10 to
28
read as follows:
29 ARTICLE
10
30 STATE
EMERGENCY HEALTH POWERS ACT
31 Title I. Findings, purposes and definitions (§§ 1000-1003).
32
II.
Measures to detect
and track potential and existing public
33 health emergencies (§§
1010-1012).
34
III. Declaring state of public health
emergency (§§ 1020-1024).
35
IV. Special powers during state
of public health
emergency;
36 control of property
(§§ 1030-1036).
37
V. Special powers during state of public
health emergency; control
38 of persons (§§
1040-1046).
39 VI. Public information
regarding public health
emergencies (§§
40 1050-1051).
41
VII. Planning for public health
emergency (§§ 1060-1061).
42
VIII. Miscellaneous (§§ 1070-1076).
43 TITLE I
44 FINDINGS,
PURPOSES AND DEFINITIONS
45 Section 1000. Short title.
46
1001. Legislative findings.
47
1002. Purposes.
48
1003. Definitions.
49
§ 1000. Short title. This act may be
cited as the "state emergency
50 health powers act."
51
§ 1001. Legislative findings. The
legislature finds that:
52
1.
The government must
do more to protect the health, safety,
and
53 general well being of our citizens.
54
2. New and emerging dangers -- including
emergent and resurgent infec-
55 tious diseases and incidents of civilian mass casualties --
pose serious
56 and immediate threats.
S. 5841 3
1
3. A renewed focus on
the prevention, detection,
management, and
2 containment of public health emergencies is called for.
3
4.
Emergency health threats, including those caused by
bioterrorism
4 and epidemics, require the exercise of extraordinary government func-
5 tions.
6
5.
This state must
have the ability to respond, rapidly and effec-
7 tively, to potential or actual public health emergencies.
8
6. The exercise of emergency health
powers must promote the common
9 good.
10
7.
Emergency health powers must be
grounded in a thorough scientific
11 understanding of public health threats and disease
transmission.
12
8. Guided by principles of justice, it
is the duty of the state to act
13 with fairness and tolerance towards individuals and groups.
14
9. The rights of people to liberty,
bodily integrity, and privacy must
15 be respected to the fullest extent possible consistent with
the overrid-
16 ing importance of the public's health and security.
17
10. This act is necessary to protect
the health and safety of
the
18 citizens of the state.
19
§ 1002. Purposes. The purposes of this
act are:
20
1.
To authorize the
collection of data and records, the control of
21 property, the management of persons, and access to
communications.
22
2. To facilitate the early detection of
a health emergency, and allow
23 for immediate investigation of such an emergency by
granting access to
24 individuals' health information under specified
circumstances.
25
3. To grant state officials the
authority to use and appropriate prop-
26 erty as necessary for the care, treatment, and housing of
patients, and
27 for the destruction of contaminated materials.
28
4.
To grant state officials the
authority to provide care and treat-
29 ment to persons who are ill or who have been exposed
to infection, and
30 to separate affected
individuals from the population at large for the
31 purpose of interrupting the transmission of infectious
disease.
32
5. To ensure that the needs of infected
or exposed persons will be
33 addressed to the
fullest extent possible, given the primary goal of
34 controlling serious health threats.
35
6. To provide state officials with
the ability to prevent, detect,
36 manage, and contain
emergency health threats without unduly interfering
37 with civil rights and liberties.
38
7. To require the development of a
comprehensive plan to provide for a
39 coordinated, appropriate response in the event of a public
health emer-
40 gency.
41
§ 1003. Definitions. For the purposes of
this article:
42
1.
"Bioterrorism"
means the intentional
use of any microorganism,
43 virus, infectious substance, or biological product that
may be engi-
44 neered as a
result of biotechnology, or any naturally occurring or
45 bioengineered component of any such microorganism, virus,
infectious
46 substance, or biological
product, to cause death, disease, or other
47 biological malfunction in a human, an animal, a plant, or
another living
48 organism in order to influence the conduct of
government or to intim-
49 idate or coerce a civilian population.
50
2.
"Chain of custody" means the methodology of tracking specimens
for
51 the purpose of maintaining control
and accountability from
initial
52 collection to final
disposition of the
specimens and providing for
53 accountability at each stage of collecting, handling,
testing, storing,
54 and transporting the specimens and reporting test results.
55
3. "Contagious disease" means
an infectious disease that can be trans-
56 mitted from person to person, animal to person, or insect
to person.
S. 5841 4
1
4. "Health care facility"
means any non-federal institution, building,
2 or agency or portion thereof, whether public or
private (for-profit or
3 nonprofit) that
is used, operated,
or designed to
provide health
4 services, medical treatment, or nursing, rehabilitative, or
preventive
5 care to any
person or persons. This
includes, but is not limited to:
6 ambulatory surgical facilities, health maintenance organizations, home
7 health
agencies, hospices, hospitals,
infirmaries, intermediate care
8 facilities, kidney treatment centers, long term care
facilities, medical
9 assistance facilities, mental health centers, outpatient
facilities,
10 public health centers, rehabilitation facilities, residential
treatments
11 facilities, skilled
nursing facilities, and adult day-care centers. The
12 term also includes, but is not limited to, the following
related proper-
13 ty when used for or in
connection with the
foregoing: laboratories;
14 research
facilities; pharmacies; laundry facilities; health personnel
15 training and lodging facilities; patient, guest, and
health personnel
16 food service facilities;
and offices and office buildings for persons
17 engaged in health care professions or services.
18
5. "Health care provider"
means any person or
entity who provides
19 health care services including, but not limited to,
hospitals, medical
20 clinics and offices,
special care facilities,
medical laboratories,
21 physicians,
pharmacists, dentists, physician
assistants, nurse practi-
22 tioners, registered and other nurses, paramedics,
emergency medical or
23 laboratory technicians, and ambulance and emergency medical
workers.
24
6.
"Infectious disease"
means a disease caused by a living organism.
25 An infectious disease may, or may not, be transmissible
from person to
26 person, animal to person, or insect to person.
27
7. "Infectious waste" means:
28
(a)
"biological
waste," which includes
blood and blood products,
29 excretions, exudates, secretions, suctioning and other body
fluids, and
30 waste materials saturated with blood or body fluids;
31 (b)
"cultures and stocks," which includes etiologic agents and associ-
32 ated
biologicals, including specimen
cultures and dishes and devices
33 used to transfer, inoculate, and mix cultures, wastes from
production of
34 biologicals and serums, and discarded live and attenuated
vaccines;
35
(c) "pathological waste,"
which includes biopsy
materials and all
36 human tissues, anatomical parts that emanate from surgery,
obstetrical
37 procedures, autopsy
and laboratory procedures
and animal carcasses
38 exposed to pathogens
in research and the bedding and other waste from
39 such animals, but does not include teeth or formaldehyde or
other pres-
40 ervative agents; and
41
(d) "sharps," which includes
needles, IV tubing with needles attached,
42 scalpel blades,
lancets, glass tubes that could be broken during handl-
43 ing, and syringes that have been removed from
their original sterile
44 containers.
45
8.
"Isolation" and "quarantine" mean the compulsory physical sepa-
46 ration (including the restriction of movement or
confinement) of indi-
47 viduals and/or
groups believed to have been exposed to or known to have
48 been infected
with a contagious disease from
individuals who are
49 believed not to
have been exposed or infected, in order to prevent or
50 limit the transmission of the disease to others.
51
9. "Mental health support
personnel" includes, but is not limited
to,
52 psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and volunteer
crisis coun-
53 seling groups.
54
10.
"Protected health information" means any information,
whether
55 oral, written, electronic, visual, pictorial, physical,
or any other
56 form, that relates
to an individual's past, present, or future physical
S. 5841 5
1 or mental health
status, condition, treatment,
service, products
2 purchase, or provision
of care, and that reveals the
identity of the
3 individual whose health care is the subject of the
information, or where
4 there is a
reasonable basis to
believe such information could be
5 utilized (either alone or with other information
that is, or
should
6 reasonably be known to be, available to predictable
recipients of such
7 information) to reveal the identity of that individual.
8
11. "Department" means the
department of health.
9
12. "Public health emergency"
means an occurrence or imminent threat
10 of an illness or health condition, caused by
bioterrorism, epidemic or
11 pandemic disease, or novel and highly fatal infectious
agent or biolog-
12 ical toxin, that
poses a substantial risk of a
significant number of
13 human fatalities or incidents of permanent or long-term
disability. Such
14 illness or health condition includes, but is not limited
to, an illness
15 or health condition resulting from a natural disaster.
16
13.
"Specimens" include, but are not limited to, blood, sputum, urine,
17 stool, other bodily fluids, wastes, tissues, and cultures
necessary to
18 perform required tests.
19
14. "Tests" include, but are
not limited to, any diagnostic or inves-
20 tigative analyses
necessary to prevent the spread of disease or protect
21 the public's health, safety, and welfare.
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