119-hr5844

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5844 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 5844

To amend the Controlled Substances Act with respect to the registration 
 of opioid treatment programs to increase stakeholder input from 
relevant communities and to ensure such programs are treating patients 
 in need, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 October 28, 2025

Mr. Espaillat introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 
 the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
 Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
 within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To amend the Controlled Substances Act with respect to the registration 
 of opioid treatment programs to increase stakeholder input from 
relevant communities and to ensure such programs are treating patients 
 in need, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Harm Reduction Through Community 
Engagement Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. OPIOID TREATMENT PROGRAM REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) In General.--

Section 303

    (h) of the Controlled Substances Act 
(21 U.S.C. 823

    (h) ) is amended--

    (1) by redesignating paragraphs

    (1) ,

    (2) , and

    (3) as 
 subparagraphs
        (A) ,
        (B) , and
            (C) , respectively, and moving the 
 margins of such subparagraphs (as so redesignated) two ems to 
 the right;

    (2) by striking ``

    (h) Practitioners who'' and inserting the 
 following:
 ``

    (h) Maintenance Treatment or Detoxification Treatment 
Registration Requirements.--
 ``

    (1) In general.--Practitioners who'';

    (3) in paragraph

    (1) (as so designated)--
        (A) in subparagraph
        (B) (as so redesignated), by 
 striking ``and'' at the end;
        (B) in subparagraph
            (C) (as so redesignated), by 
 striking the period at the end and inserting ``; and''; 
 and
            (C) by adding at the end the following:
 ``
            (D) if the Secretary determines that--
 ``
            (i) the applicant will address community impacts 
 in accordance with paragraph

    (2) ;
 ``
            (ii) the treatment will not be provided within 
 one-half mile of a public or private licensed day care 
 center, a public or private elementary or secondary 
 school, a learning center, a playground, or another 
 drug treatment facility or program, including a 
 supervised injection facility;
 ``
            (iii) the applicant justifies patient need for 
 the treatment in the community involved;
 ``
            (iv) the applicant will actively promote the use 
 of telehealth so as to minimize the need for patients 
 to physically appear for treatment;
 ``
            (v) the applicant will designate a community 
 liaison responsible for developing and maintaining 
 cooperative relationships with local elected officials, 
 local law enforcement, and local community-based 
 organizations including nonprofit organizations that 
 provide social services;
 ``
            (vi) the applicant will work with a customer 
 relationship management system of the local government 
 (or establish and operate a customer relationship 
 management system if none exists) to track and report 
 data on the number of service requests received by such 
 system pertaining to drug abuse and treatment in the 
 community involved; and
 ``
            (vii) the applicant will report to the Secretary 
 treatment performance measurement data, including data 
 concerning--
 ``
            (I) how many patients seek effective 
 long-term addiction treatment; and
 ``
            (II) the effectiveness of the use of 
 telehealth in patient treatment plans, 
 including how many patients are using 
 telehealth and the outcomes or progress of such 
 patients.''.

    (b) Community Impact Consideration.--

Section 303

    (h) of the 
Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 823

    (h) ), as amended by subsection

    (a) , is further amended by adding at the end the following:
 ``

    (2) Community Impact Consideration.--For purposes of being 
determined to be qualified under paragraph

    (1)
        (A) , a practitioner 
seeking to become registered or maintain registration under paragraph

    (1) to dispense narcotic drugs to individuals for maintenance treatment 
or detoxification treatment shall comply with each of the following:
 ``
        (A) The practitioner shall--
 ``
            (i) conduct outreach to the community involved 
 concerning the practitioner's treatment program; and
 ``
            (ii) in conducting such outreach, give notice to 
 community stakeholders including community boards, 
 tenant associations, outpatient treatment centers, 
 health care providers, community-based nonprofit 
 organizations that provide opioid use and overdose 
 prevention and treatment services, and such other 
 community stakeholders as may be determined by the 
 Secretary.
 ``
        (B) The practitioner--
 ``
            (i) shall develop and implement a neighborhood 
 engagement plan that outlines the practitioner's 
 engagement with stakeholders referred to in 
 subparagraph
        (A)
            (ii) in the geographic location in 
 which the opioid treatment program is located; and
 ``
            (ii) may include in such plan a description of 
 the practitioner's engagement with stakeholders, 
 including homeowners associations, school 
 administrators, neighboring businesses, community 
 organizations, local councils, local emergency medical 
 agencies, and law enforcement agencies.
 ``
            (C) The practitioner shall--
 ``
            (i) establish and maintain a community advisory 
 board; and
 ``
            (ii) include in the membership of such board 
 volunteers from various stakeholder groups who 
 represent the positions of the surrounding community.
 ``
            (D) The practitioner--
 ``
            (i) shall develop and implement a community 
 relations plan to measure and minimize the negative 
 impacts of the treatment program on the community; and
 ``
            (ii) may include in such plan--
 ``
            (I) policies and procedures to resolve 
 community problems, including loitering and the 
 blocking of pedestrian pathways;
 ``
            (II) procedures to consider community 
 input and impact; and
 ``
            (III) a procedure to escalate and solve 
 the quality-of-life issues in the surrounding 
 blocks such as open air drug trading, uncapped 
 needles disposed in public walkways, and open 
 drug use.''.
            (c) Reporting to Congress.--

Section 303

    (h) of the Controlled 
Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 823

    (h) ), as amended by subsections

    (a) and

    (b) , is further amended by adding at the end the following:
 ``

    (3) Reporting to Congress.--Not later than 1 year after the date 
of enactment of the Harm Reduction Through Community Engagement Act of 
2025, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the 
Congress a comprehensive report on community engagement and the 
maintenance of clinics in connection with maintenance treatment or 
detoxification treatment provided pursuant to this subsection, 
including--
 ``
        (A) treatment performance measurement data;
 ``
        (B) guidance on best practices for sustaining community 
 engagement; and
 ``
            (C) policy recommendations for sustaining community 
 engagement.''.
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