114 STAT. 2322 PUBLIC LAW 106-505—NOV. 13, 2000 "(ii) hospitals, primary care facilities, and public health agencies. "(3) WORKING GROUP MEMBERSHIP. —In establishing such working group, the Secretary shall act through the Assistant Secretary for Health and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. " (4) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall ensure coordination and communication between the working groups established in this subsection and subsection (a). " (c) GRANTS. — "(1) IN GENERAL. —The Secretary, in coordination with the working group established under subsection (b), shall, on a competitive basis and following scientific or technical review, award grants to or enter into cooperative agreements with eligible entities to enable such entities to increase their capacity to detect, diagnose, and respond to acts of bioterrorism upon the civilian population. "(2) ELIGIBILITY. —To be an eligible entity under this subsection, such entity must be a State, political subdivision of a State, a consortium of two or more States or political subdivisions of States, or a hospitsil, clinic, or primary care facility. "(3) USE OF FUNDS.— An entity that receives a grant under this subsection shall use such ftinds for activities that are consistent with the priorities identified by the working group under subsection (b), including— "(A) training health care professionals and public health personnel to enhance the ability of such personnel to recognize the symptoms and epidemiological characteristics of exposure to a potential bioweapon; "(B) addressing rapid and accurate identification of potential bioweapons; "(C) coordinating medicsil care for individuals exposed to bioweapons; and "(D) facilitating and coordinating rapid communication of data generated from a bioterrorist attack between national. State, and local health agencies, and health care providers. "(4) COORDINATION. —The Secretary, in awarding grants under this subsection, shall— "(A) notify the Director of the Office of Justice Programs, and the Director of the National Domestic Preparedness Office annually as to the amount and status of grants awarded under this subsection; and "(B) coordinate grants awarded under this subsection with grants awarded by the Office of Emergency Preparedness and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the purpose of improving the capacity of health care providers and public health agencies to respond to bioterrorist attacks on the civilian population. "(5) ACTIVITIES. — An entity that receives a grant under this sulDsection shall, to the greatest extent practicable, coordinate activities carried out with such funds with the activities of a local Metropolitan Medical Response System. " (d) FEDERAL ASSISTANCE. — The Secretary shall ensure that the Department of Health and Human Services is able to provide such assistance as may be needed to State and local health agencies to enable such agencies to respond effectively to bioterrorist attacks.
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