NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A1484
SPONSOR: Steck TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to enacting the model
overdose mapping and response act
PURPOSE:
Requires the New York state department of health to collect and report
data concerning non-fatal overdoses
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 provides that the department of health shall collect and make
publicly available, the data collected across all emergency room
syndromic surveillance systems relating to non-fatal overdoses. The
department shall use such non-fatal overdose data to extrapolate
projected fatal overdose numbers. The data shall be disaggregated by
race, ethnicity, sex, age, primary language, socioeconomic status, disa-
bility status, and county. Additionally, this section provides that
privacy protections are withheld.
Section 2 requires that the department of health submit a written report
no later than 90 days after the effective date of this act, and every
180 days thereafter. Such reports must contain information concerning
the total accidental overdoses and must be broken down into categories.
These categories include:
Opioid involvement with the following categories:
Fentanyl excluding Heroin Heroin and Fentanyl Heroin excluding Fentanyl
Other Opioids excluding Heroin and Fentanyl Non Opioid
Cocaine involvement with the following categories:
Cocaine Alone Cocaine and Fentanyl Cocaine and other Drugs or Alcohol
exc. Fentanyl Non-Cocaine Involved
Benzodiazepine involvement with the following categories:
Benzodiazepine Alone Benzodiazepine and Fentanyl Benzodiazepine and
other Drugs or Alcohol exc. Fentanyl Non-Benzodiazepine Involved
Section 3 requires that the department of health expand on their over-
dose data information sharing.
Section 4 states the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
In December the CDC reported the following: "Over 81,000 drug overdose
deaths occurred in the United States in the 12 months ending in May
2020, the highest number of overdose deaths ever recorded in a 12-month
period, according to recent provisional data from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While overdose deaths were already
increasing in the months preceding the 2019 novel coronavirus disease
(COVID-19) pandemic, the latest numbers suggest an acceleration of over-
dose deaths during the pandemic."
In New York we were hearing some counties report similarly alarming
numbers. We need to understand the magnitude of this problem before we
can attempt to grapple with the negative impact this pandemic has had on
mental health and substance use disorder.
This legislation will utilize emergency room syndromic surveillance
systems relating to non-fatal overdoses to get more up to date data on
overdose trends, and standardize the information captured from county to
county.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021/22: referred to health; reported to codes
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the State.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1484
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 10, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. STECK, KELLES, SANTABARBARA, SIMON -- read once
and referred to the Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to enacting the model
overdose mapping and response act
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "model overdose mapping and response act".
3 § 2. Legislative findings and purpose. The legislature finds that
4 substance use disorder and drug overdose is a major health problem that
5 affects the lives of many people, multiple service systems, and leads
6 to profound consequences including permanent injury or death. Accidental
7 overdoses caused by heroin, fentanyl, other opiates, stimulants,
8 controlled substance analogs, novel psychoactive substances, and other
9 legal or illegal drugs are a national security crisis that stress and
10 strain the financial, public health, health care, and public safety
11 resources in New York state. This impact is because there are few
12 central databases that can quickly help identify this problem and limit-
13 ed funding for support to mitigate the crisis and risks statewide. There
14 is a need for collaboration among local, regional, and state agencies,
15 service systems, program offices within New York state, and other part-
16 ners such as federal agencies to establish a comprehensive system
17 addressing the problems associated with overdoses and to reduce duplica-
18 tive requirements across local, county, state, public safety, and health
19 care agencies. Formalized collaboration allows these entities to
20 combine their numerous resources and strengths, thus reducing insular
21 decision-making. Contemporaneous data collection about, and public
22 surveillance of, confirmed or suspected overdoses with New York state
23 will allow state and local agencies to focus on specific areas where the
24 following are needed most in order to maximize resources: (1) inter-
25 ventions to reduce supply; (2) public education about substance misuse;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04515-01-5
A. 1484 2
1 (3) treatment and other health care options to reduce demand; and (4)
2 implementation of risk reduction strategies.
3 The legislature's purpose in enacting this act is to: (1) provide near
4 real-time drug overdose surveillance of confirmed or suspected overdoses
5 occurring within New York state, using a specialized program to collect
6 information about overdose incidents that supports public safety and
7 public health efforts to mobilize an immediate response to a sudden
8 increase in overdoses; (2) provide a centralized resource that can
9 collect information about overdose incidents and make the data available
10 to the health care community, public safety agencies, and municipal,
11 county and state agencies to quickly identify needs and provide short
12 and long-term solutions while protecting and respecting the privacy
13 rights of individuals; (3) discourage substance misuse and accidental
14 overdoses by quickly identifying the areas in New York state where over-
15 doses pose the highest risk to the community; (4) enable local,
16 regional, and state agencies, service systems, and program offices to
17 develop effective strategies for addressing confirmed or suspected over-
18 doses occurring within their jurisdictions and implement interventional
19 strategies; and (5) encourage formal collaborative agreements among
20 local, regional, and state agencies, service systems, and program
21 offices that enhance present and future work pertaining to the various
22 health care and public safety aspects of this crisis, including
23 substance use disorders, co-occurring disorders, unemployment, homeless-
24 ness, drug supply chains, and other health care and public safety
25 issues.
26 By way of this act, the legislature intends to maximize the efficiency
27 of financial, public education, public health, health professional, and
28 public safety resources so that these resources are concentrated on the
29 most needy and at-risk areas and groups in New York state.
30 § 3. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 3309-c
31 to read as follows:
32 § 3309-c. Model overdose mapping and response system. 1. Definitions.
33 For the purposes of this section, unless the context clearly indicates
34 otherwise, the following words and phrases shall have the following
35 meanings:
36 (a) "Application programming interface" or "API" means a set of tools,
37 definitions, and protocols for building and integrating application
38 software and services with different software programs.
39 (b) "Coroner" means the elected or appointed officer in each county of
40 the state whose responsibility is to investigate the cause of death in
41 cases.
42 (c) "Emergency department personnel" means paid or volunteer health
43 care professionals licensed by the state who work in an emergency
44 department, including but not limited to physicians, nurses and medical
45 assistants.
46 (d) "Information technology platform" means the Washington/Baltimore
47 High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas' Overdose Detection Mapping Appli-
48 cation Program (ODMAP), which has the ability to:
49 (i) allow secure access to the system by authorized users to report
50 information about an overdose incident required by this section;
51 (ii) allow secure access to the system by authorized users to view, in
52 near real-time, certain information about overdose incidents reported
53 pursuant to this section;
54 (iii) produce a map in near real-time of the approximate locations of
55 confirmed or suspected overdose incidents reported pursuant to this
56 section;
A. 1484 3
1 (iv) interface with other information systems and applications via an
2 API; and
3 (v) enable access to overdose incident information that assists in
4 state and local decisions regarding the allocation of public health,
5 public safety, and educational resources.
6 (e) "Law enforcement officer" means a paid or volunteer employee of a
7 police department or sheriff's office, which is a part of, or adminis-
8 tered by, the state or any political subdivision thereof, or any full-
9 time or part-time employee of a private police department, and who is
10 responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the enforce-
11 ment of the penal law, vehicle and traffic law, or highway laws of the
12 state.
13 (f) "Medical examiner" means an individual appointed pursuant to
14 section four hundred of the county law to perform death investigations
15 and to establish the cause and manner of death, and includes any person
16 designated by such person to perform duties required by law.
17 (g) "Overdose" means injury to the body that happens when one or more
18 substances are taken in excessive amounts. An overdose can be fatal or
19 nonfatal.
20 (h) "Overdose incident" means an occurrence where a law enforcement
21 officer, person who administers emergency medical services, coroner, or
22 medical examiner encounters a person experiencing, or who recently expe-
23 rienced, a confirmed or suspected overdose.
24 (i) "Overdose reversal drug" means naloxone hydrochloride or other
25 similarly acting drug that is approved by the federal Food and Drug
26 Administration for the emergency treatment of an overdose.
27 (j) "Overdose spike" means the occurrence of a significant increase in
28 the number of confirmed or suspected overdoses in a certain timeframe
29 that triggers the overdose spike response plan within a specific
30 geographic area.
31 (k) "Overdose spike response plan" means a compilation of recommenda-
32 tions for coordinated responses to overdose spikes identified through
33 the use of the information technology platform.
34 (l) "Person who administers emergency services" means a paid or volun-
35 teer professional, other than a law enforcement officer, who is trained
36 and licensed in the state to provide emergency services to the public,
37 including but not limited to a firefighter, emergency medical techni-
38 cian, emergency medical responder, paramedic, and emergency department
39 personnel.
40 2. Establishment of the overdose mapping and response system. (a) The
41 department is hereby directed to:
42 (i) ascertain and document the number, trends, patterns, and risk
43 factors associated with known and suspected overdoses in the state, both
44 fatal and nonfatal; and
45 (ii) develop strategies for public health and public safety inter-
46 ventions that may be effective in reducing the rate of fatal or nonfatal
47 overdoses.
48 (b) In furtherance of the directive in paragraph (a) of this subdivi-
49 sion, no later than one year after the effective date of this section,
50 the department shall develop an overdose mapping and response system in
51 which a central repository containing information about overdose inci-
52 dents is established and maintained using the information technology
53 platform.
54 (c) No later than two years after the effective date of this section,
55 the overdose mapping and response system shall capture information about
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1 all overdose incidents in at least eighty percent of the counties in the
2 state.
3 (d) The overdose mapping and response system shall be designed to
4 avoid data entry duplication wherever possible, which may include using
5 one or more APIs to transfer information about overdose incidents that
6 are currently reported to active databases existing in the state to the
7 information technology platform.
8 (e) A law enforcement officer who goes to an overdose incident shall
9 report information about such overdose incident to the information tech-
10 nology platform, as directed by paragraph (h) of this subdivision, as
11 soon as possible but no later than twenty-four hours after the overdose
12 incident, to the extent that such information is known.
13 (f) A person who administers emergency services who goes to an over-
14 dose incident, or who transports a person experiencing a confirmed or
15 suspected overdose to a medical facility, shall report information about
16 such overdose incident to the information technology platform, as
17 directed by paragraph (h) of this subdivision, as soon as possible but
18 no later than twenty-four hours after the overdose incident, to the
19 extent that such information is known.
20 (g) When a coroner or medical examiner determines that the death of a
21 person was caused by an overdose, the coroner or medical examiner shall
22 report information about such overdose incident to the information tech-
23 nology platform, as directed by paragraph (h) of this subdivision, as
24 soon as possible but no later than twenty-four hours after the overdose
25 incident, to the extent that such information is known.
26 (h) The following information about an overdose incident shall be
27 reported by the individuals identified in paragraphs (e), (f) and (g) of
28 this subdivision using the information technology platform:
29 (i) the date and time of the overdose incident;
30 (ii) the location of the overdose incident;
31 (iii) whether an overdose reversal drug was administered, and if so,
32 the number of doses and the type of delivery;
33 (iv) whether the confirmed or suspected overdose was fatal or
34 nonfatal;
35 (v) the gender and approximate age of the person suffering the over-
36 dose incident; and
37 (vi) the suspected substance involved.
38 (i) A person's or entity's report of information about an overdose
39 incident pursuant to this section shall not preempt or replace any other
40 reporting requirement applicable to such person or entity.
41 (j) During the course of implementing the overdose mapping and
42 response system, the department:
43 (i) shall consult with all affected entities, including but not limit-
44 ed to, law enforcement agencies, health care providers, emergency
45 management, emergency service providers, public health agencies, coron-
46 ers and medical examiners, tribal authorities, state drug court judges,
47 and federal and state prosecutors;
48 (ii) shall enter into, or direct other state, county or local entities
49 to enter into, all participation agreements, data sharing agreements,
50 and other memoranda of understanding necessary to fully implement the
51 overdose mapping and response system; and
52 (iii) may promulgate rules, regulations, or standard operating proce-
53 dures necessary to carry out the requirements of this section.
54 (k) Persons or entities reporting information about an overdose inci-
55 dent pursuant to this section in good faith shall not be subject to
A. 1484 5
1 civil or criminal liability or damages for making the report, unless
2 their acts or omissions constitute willful and wanton misconduct.
3 (l) The failure of a person identified in paragraph (e), (f) or (g) of
4 this subdivision to report information about an overdose incident as
5 required by this section constitutes a form of unprofessional conduct,
6 and the department may refer matters of non-compliance to the appropri-
7 ate licensing board for investigation.
8 (m) The department shall report to the legislature regarding the
9 status of overdose mapping and response system implementation at six
10 months, eighteen months, and thirty months after the effective date of
11 this section. The report at thirty months shall not be required if
12 statewide adoption, as referenced in paragraph (c) of this subdivision,
13 is attained prior to the eighteen-month report.
14 3. Using the overdose mapping and response system. (a) The information
15 about overdose incidents reported pursuant to this section shall be
16 available to users of the information technology platform authorized to
17 view the data in real time. The process by which such authorized users
18 are decided upon and designated shall be addressed in one or more of the
19 participation agreements, data sharing agreements, and memoranda of
20 understanding executed when implementing the overdose mapping and
21 response system.
22 (b) Within one year of the enactment of this section, the department,
23 in conjunction with state and local law enforcement agencies and local
24 public health departments, shall:
25 (i) identify parameters for identifying an overdose spike through the
26 state; and
27 (ii) create overdose spike response plans that coordinate the response
28 of public health, public safety, emergency management, first responders,
29 community organizations, health care providers, and the media with the
30 goal of preventing and reducing the harm caused by overdose spikes.
31 (c) Within one year of the effective date of this section, and each
32 year thereafter, the department shall prepare a comprehensive report
33 regarding the overdose mapping and response system established pursuant
34 to this section that is delivered to or immediately accessible by:
35 (i) the legislature;
36 (ii) state, county, and local departments of health;
37 (iii) the office of addiction services and supports;
38 (iv) the office of children and family services; and
39 (v) any other state or local agency designated by law or regulation.
40 (d) Each report required under paragraph (c) of this subdivision shall
41 contain, at a minimum, the following information:
42 (i) the number of overdose incidents reported and the approximate
43 locations where the overdose incidents occurred, including any clusters
44 of overdose incidents;
45 (ii) the entities reporting, or who employed persons reporting, infor-
46 mation about overdose incidents;
47 (iii) the percentage of overdose incidents involving fatal versus
48 nonfatal overdoses; and
49 (iv) how the reported information about overdose incidents was used
50 for public health and public safety responses, the outcomes of such
51 responses, and the impact on affected communities.
52 (e) In addition to using the overdose mapping and response system as
53 required in paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of this subdivision, the depart-
54 ment may use such system to:
55 (i) establish public safety, public health, and behavioral health
56 partnerships within the state;
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1 (ii) assist local communities to identify additional ways to use
2 information about overdose incidents to deploy public health, behavioral
3 health, and public safety interventions to address specific geographic
4 areas or high-risk individuals;
5 (iii) assist in the distribution of overdose reversal drugs throughout
6 the state; and
7 (iv) assist in implementing strategies to reduce drug supply and
8 demand, especially in high-risk areas and where there are high volumes
9 of elevated risk populations.
10 4. Limitations on data use. (a) Information about overdose incidents
11 reported to the overdose mapping and response system by a person or
12 entity other than a law enforcement officer shall not be subject to
13 criminal investigation.
14 (b) Information about overdose incidents reported to, and accessible
15 through, the overdose mapping and response system shall at all times
16 remain confidential pursuant to all applicable federal, state, and local
17 laws and regulations pertaining to the collection, storage, and dissem-
18 ination of protected health information and controlled unclassified
19 information.
20 5. Financial considerations. (a) Moneys shall be allocated for the
21 purpose of funding, in whole or in part, the initial start-up and ongo-
22 ing activities required by this section through the use of funds made
23 available from the opioid settlement fund established pursuant to
24 section ninety-nine-nn of the state finance law.
25 (b) The department shall pursue all federal funding, matching funds,
26 and foundation funding for the initial start-up and ongoing activities
27 required by this section.
28 (c) The department may receive such gifts, grants, and endowments from
29 public or private sources as may be made from time to time, in trust or
30 otherwise, for the use and benefit of the purposes of this section and
31 expend the same or any income derived from it according to the term of
32 such gifts, grants, or endowments.
33 § 4. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi-
34 sion, section or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of
35 competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect,
36 impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in
37 its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section
38 or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg-
39 ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of
40 the legislature that this act would have been enacted even if such
41 invalid provisions had not been included herein.
42 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
