Enacts the "public health resilience, early-warning, and planning (PREP) act"; requires the commissioner of health to establish and maintain within the department a public health resilience, early-warning, and planning framework to identify, assess, and prepare for public health threats that may affect the residents of the state.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10186
IN ASSEMBLY
February 12, 2026
___________
Introduced by M. of A. DE LOS SANTOS -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to enacting the
"public health resilience, early-warning, and planning (PREP) 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 "public health resilience, early-warning, and planning (PREP) act".
3 § 2. Legislative findings and intent. 1. The legislature finds that
4 public health threats to the residents of the state increasingly arise
5 from environmental conditions, climate-related impacts, emerging infec-
6 tious diseases, and interconnected global systems that affect health
7 care capacity, emergency response, and community well-being.
8 2. The legislature further finds that early detection of public health
9 threats, coordinated preparedness planning, and timely response reduces
10 illness and loss of life, limits strain on health care systems, and
11 protects critical infrastructure and essential services.
12 3. The legislature further finds that access to domestic and interna-
13 tional public health surveillance information, when used in a non-bind-
14 ing and advisory capacity, enhances the state's ability to anticipate
15 and prepare for public health threats without creating binding legal or
16 financial obligations.
17 4. It is therefore the intent of the legislature to establish a dura-
18 ble statutory framework to strengthen public health resilience, early-
19 warning, and planning through coordinated surveillance, preparedness,
20 and response activities, while preserving state sovereignty, protecting
21 individual privacy, and ensuring consistency with state and federal law.
22 § 3. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 206-c to
23 read as follows:
24 § 206-c. Public health resilience, early-warning, and planning frame-
25 work. 1. The commissioner shall establish and maintain within the
26 department a public health resilience, early-warning, and planning
27 framework to identify, assess, and prepare for public health threats
28 that may affect the residents of the state.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14611-01-6
A. 10186 2
1 2. The framework shall include but not be limited to public health
2 risks associated with:
3 (a) extreme heat events;
4 (b) degraded air quality, including air quality related to smoke and
5 the ozone;
6 (c) vector-borne and zoonotic diseases;
7 (d) flooding, severe weather, and related environmental conditions;
8 (e) emerging infectious diseases; and
9 (f) other conditions that may strain public health systems or emergen-
10 cy response capacity.
11 3. (a) The department is authorized to utilize public health surveil-
12 lance data, analyses, and technical information from domestic and inter-
13 national sources to inform preparedness, planning, and response activ-
14 ities under this section.
15 (b) Such sources may include, but are not limited to, federal public
16 health agencies, academic and research institutions, and non-binding
17 international public health surveillance and outbreak response networks,
18 including the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network coordinated by
19 the World Health Organization.
20 (c) Utilization of information pursuant to this subdivision shall be
21 limited to technical cooperation, situational awareness, and advisory
22 purposes and shall not constitute membership in an international organ-
23 ization or create any binding legal or financial obligation.
24 4. (a) The commissioner shall establish within the department a
25 climate and global health surveillance unit responsible for:
26 (i) monitoring domestic and international public health signals rele-
27 vant to the state;
28 (ii) translating such information into early-warning indicators and
29 preparedness guidance;
30 (iii) coordinating surveillance and preparedness activities with state
31 agencies and local health departments; and
32 (iv) advising the commissioner on emerging public health threats.
33 (b) The unit shall serve as the primary point of coordination for
34 participation in any non-binding international public health surveil-
35 lance or outbreak response network utilized pursuant to this section.
36 5. The department shall use information generated under this section
37 to support:
38 (a) public health preparedness and response planning;
39 (b) hospital and health system surge readiness;
40 (c) advisory guidance to local health departments, health care provid-
41 ers, and other relevant entities; and
42 (d) coordination with emergency management authorities, as appropri-
43 ate.
44 6. The commissioner may coordinate activities under this section with
45 other state agencies, including but not limited to the division of home-
46 land security and emergency services, the department of environmental
47 conservation, the department of agriculture and markets, and transporta-
48 tion or infrastructure authorities, as necessary to support public
49 health preparedness and response.
50 7. (a) Any guidance, recommendations, or technical standards utilized
51 or received pursuant to this section shall be advisory only and shall
52 not have the force of law unless otherwise adopted pursuant to state
53 statute or regulation.
54 (b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the
55 execution of any treaty or binding international agreement, supersede
A. 10186 3
1 state or federal law, or permit the department to act on behalf of the
2 United States in foreign affairs.
3 8. Any sharing or use of data pursuant to this section shall comply
4 with all applicable state and federal laws governing privacy, confiden-
5 tiality, and data security and shall not require the disclosure of
6 personally identifiable information except as otherwise authorized by
7 law.
8 9. The commissioner shall submit an annual report to the governor and
9 the legislature summarizing activities conducted pursuant to this
10 section, including preparedness efforts, interagency coordination, and
11 any recommendations for legislative or regulatory action.
12 § 4. Severability. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision,
13 section or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of competent
14 jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or
15 invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation
16 to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or part thereof
17 directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have
18 been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of the legislature
19 that this act would have been enacted even if such invalid provisions
20 had not been included herein.
21 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
