Authorizing Legislation

OMB No. 1121-XXXX

Clinical Indicators of Sexual Violence in Custody
Attachment 2.
Title III – General Powers and Duties of Public Health Service,
Section 301 (241.a)

WAIS Document Retrieval From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 3, 2006]
[CITE: 42USC241]

TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
CHAPTER 6A--PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE
SUBCHAPTER II--GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES
Part A--Research and Investigations
Sec. 241. Research and investigations generally

(a) Authority of Secretary
The Secretary shall conduct in the Service, and encourage, cooperate
with, and render assistance to other appropriate public authorities,
scientific institutions, and scientists in the conduct of, and promote
the coordination of, research, investigations, experiments,
demonstrations, and studies relating to the causes, diagnosis,
treatment, control, and prevention of physical and mental diseases and
impairments of man, including water purification, sewage treatment, and
pollution of lakes and streams. In carrying out the foregoing the
Secretary is authorized to-(1) collect and make available through publications and other
appropriate means, information as to, and the practical application
of, such research and other activities;
(2) make available research facilities of the Service to
appropriate public authorities, and to health officials and
scientists engaged in special study;
(3) make grants-in-aid to universities, hospitals, laboratories,
and other public or private institutions, and to individuals for
such research projects as are recommended by the advisory council to
the entity of the Department supporting such projects and make, upon
recommendation of the advisory council to the appropriate entity of
the Department, grants-in-aid to public or nonprofit universities,
hospitals, laboratories, and other institutions for the general
support of their research;
(4) secure from time to time and for such periods as he deems
advisable, the assistance and advice of experts, scholars, and
consultants from the United States or abroad;
(5) for purposes of study, admit and treat at institutions,
hospitals, and stations of the Service, persons not otherwise
eligible for such treatment;
(6) make available, to health officials, scientists, and
appropriate public and other nonprofit institutions and
organizations, technical advice and assistance on the application of
statistical methods to experiments, studies, and surveys in health
and medical fields;
(7) enter into contracts, including contracts for research in
accordance with and subject to the provisions of law applicable to
contracts entered into by the military departments under sections
2353 and 2354 of title 10, except that determination, approval, and

certification required thereby shall be by the Secretary of Health
and Human Services; and
(8) adopt, upon recommendations of the advisory councils to the
appropriate entities of the Department or, with respect to mental
health, the National Advisory Mental Health Council, such additional
means as the Secretary considers necessary or appropriate to carry
out the purposes of this section.
The Secretary may make available to individuals and entities, for
biomedical and behavioral research, substances and living organisms.
Such substances and organisms shall be made available under such terms
and conditions (including payment for them) as the Secretary determines
appropriate.
(b) Testing for carcinogenicity, teratogenicity, mutagenicity, and other
harmful biological effects; consultation
(1) The Secretary shall conduct and may support through grants and
contracts studies and testing of substances for carcinogenicity,
teratogenicity, mutagenicity, and other harmful biological effects. In
carrying out this paragraph, the Secretary shall consult with entities
of the Federal Government, outside of the Department of Health and Human
Services, engaged in comparable activities. The Secretary, upon request
of such an entity and under appropriate arrangements for the payment of
expenses, may conduct for such entity studies and testing of substances
for carcinogenicity, teratogenicity, mutagenicity, and other harmful
biological effects.
(2)(A) The Secretary shall establish a comprehensive program of
research into the biological effects of low-level ionizing radiation
under which program the Secretary shall conduct such research and may
support such research by others through grants and contracts.
(B) The Secretary shall conduct a comprehensive review of Federal
programs of research on the biological effects of ionizing radiation.
(3) The Secretary shall conduct and may support through grants and
contracts research and studies on human nutrition, with particular
emphasis on the role of nutrition in the prevention and treatment of
disease and on the maintenance and promotion of health, and programs for
the dissemination of information respecting human nutrition to health
professionals and the public. In carrying out activities under this
paragraph, the Secretary shall provide for the coordination of such of
these activities as are performed by the different divisions within the
Department of Health and Human Services and shall consult with entities
of the Federal Government, outside of the Department of Health and Human
Services, engaged in comparable activities. The Secretary, upon request
of such an entity and under appropriate arrangements for the payment of
expenses, may conduct and support such activities for such entity.
(4) The Secretary shall publish a biennial report which contains-(A) a list of all substances (i) which either are known to be
carcinogens or may reasonably be anticipated to be carcinogens and
(ii) to which a significant number of persons residing in the United
States are exposed;
(B) information concerning the nature of such exposure and the
estimated number of persons exposed to such substances;
(C) a statement identifying (i) each substance contained in the
list under subparagraph (A) for which no effluent, ambient, or
exposure standard has been established by a Federal agency, and (ii)
for each effluent, ambient, or exposure standard established by a

Federal agency with respect to a substance contained in the list
under subparagraph (A), the extent to which, on the basis of
available medical, scientific, or other data, such standard, and the
implementation of such standard by the agency, decreases the risk to
public health from exposure to the substance; and
(D) a description of (i) each request received during the year
involved-(I) from a Federal agency outside the Department of Health
and Human Services for the Secretary, or
(II) from an entity within the Department of Health and
Human Services to any other entity within the Department,
to conduct research into, or testing for, the carcinogenicity of
substances or to provide information described in clause (ii) of
subparagraph (C), and (ii) how the Secretary and each such other
entity, respectively, have responded to each such request.
(5) The authority of the Secretary to enter into any contract for
the conduct of any study, testing, program, research, or review, or
assessment under this subsection shall be effective for any fiscal year
only to such extent or in such amounts as are provided in advance in
appropriation Acts.
(c) Diseases not significantly occurring in United States
The Secretary may conduct biomedical research, directly or through
grants or contracts, for the identification, control, treatment, and
prevention of diseases (including tropical diseases) which do not occur
to a significant extent in the United States.
(d) Protection of privacy of individuals who are research subjects
The Secretary may authorize persons engaged in biomedical,
behavioral, clinical, or other research (including research on mental
health, including research on the use and effect of alcohol and other
psychoactive drugs) to protect the privacy of individuals who are the
subject of such research by withholding from all persons not connected
with the conduct of such research the names or other identifying
characteristics of such individuals. Persons so authorized to protect
the privacy of such individuals may not be compelled in any Federal,
State, or local civil, criminal, administrative, legislative, or other
proceedings to identify such individuals.