42 U.S.C. § 243 — General grant of authority for cooperation

This section gives the Secretary general authority to work with states on public health. (a) Enforcement of quarantine regulations; prevention of communicable diseases. The Secretary may accept help from state and local authorities in enforcing quarantine rules made under this chapter. The Secretary must also help states and their local governments prevent and stop communicable diseases and handle other public health matters, cooperate with and assist them in enforcing their own quarantine and health rules, and advise states on protecting and improving public health. (b) Comprehensive and continuing planning; training of personnel for State and local health work; fees. The Secretary must encourage states to work together on ongoing planning for their current and future health needs, on building and running adequate public health services, and on other public health work. The Secretary may also train state and local health personnel, and may charge reasonable fees for that training only to private entities. (c) Development of plan to control epidemics and meet emergencies or problems resulting from disasters; cooperative planning; temporary assistance; reimbursement of United States. (1) The Secretary may create — and take action to carry out — a plan for using Public Health Service and other HHS-controlled personnel, equipment, medical supplies, and resources to control disease epidemics and handle other health emergencies. The Secretary may also make agreements for the Service to jointly plan with public and private community health programs to handle health problems, including epidemics and emergencies. (2) At a state or local government's request, the Secretary may give up to six months of temporary assistance for a health emergency serious enough to justify federal help. The Secretary may require reasonable reimbursement for that assistance; any reimbursement received goes back into the Service's budget for that year.