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Congress·In Committee·S. 4048

Sen. Scott Introduces Bipartisan PREDICT Act to Track Disease Outbreaks Through Wastewater

PREDICT Act

10 days ago·View on Congress.gov

Legislative Progress

Senate
House
President
Law

Key Points

  • The bill would require the HHS Secretary, through the CDC, to award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to state, tribal, and local health departments for detecting and monitoring infectious diseases through wastewater testing.
  • The program specifically targets rural areas and individual facilities where wastewater isn't treated through standard local utilities, ensuring smaller communities aren't left out of disease surveillance efforts.

    From policy text

    “conduct wastewater surveillance, as appropriate, at individual facilities, institutions, and locations in rural areas, in which there is an increased risk of infectious disease outbreaks and wastewater is not treated through the relevant local utility of the jurisdiction”
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  • Within 180 days of enactment, the HHS Secretary must issue draft guidance establishing standardized testing methods and a publicly available wastewater surveillance database and dashboard, making disease-tracking data accessible to everyone.
  • The bill authorizes funding from fiscal years 2026 through 2030 but does not specify a dollar amount, leaving the actual spending level up to future appropriations decisions by Congress.

    From policy text

    “there is authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030”
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  • The legislation also directs HHS to continue research on improving wastewater surveillance methods, including making sample collection more efficient and developing better ways to estimate disease levels across a community.

    From policy text

    “research to improve the efficiency of wastewater sample collection and analysis and increase the sensitivity and specificity of wastewater testing methods”
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Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

Scores: 1 = low, 5 = highSentiment: -5 to +5 (net benefit)

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions
Mar 11, 2026Senate

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Mar 11, 2026

Introduced in Senate

What Happens Next

Projected impacts based on AI analysis

Within 180 days of enactment

Draft guidance on wastewater testing standards and public dashboard must be issued

If enacted, the CDC would have 6 months to set up standardized rules for how wastewater testing is done and how data is shared publicly, creating the framework for the whole program.

September 2030

Authorization period expires at end of fiscal year 2030

Unless Congress renews funding, the grant program's spending authority would end, and communities that built wastewater surveillance programs may need to find other funding to keep them going.

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

PREDICT Act

Bill NumberS 4048
Congress119th Congress
ChamberSenate
Latest ActionRead twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Sponsor

Cosponsors

(5)
D: 2R: 2I: 1

Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.