North Carolina § 130A-5 - Duties of the Secretary.

§ 130A-5. Duties of the Secretary.

The Secretary shall have the authority: To enforce the State health laws and the rules of the Commission; To investigate the causes of epidemics and of infectious, communicable and other diseases affecting the public health in order to control and prevent these diseases; to provide, under the rules of the Commission, for the prevention, detection, reporting and control of communicable, infectious or any other diseases or health hazards considered harmful to the public health; To develop and carry out reasonable health programs that may be necessary for the protection and promotion of the public health and the control of diseases. The Commission is authorized to adopt rules to carry out these programs; To make sanitary and health investigations and inspections; To investigate occupational health hazards and occupational diseases and to make recommendations for the elimination of the hazards and diseases. The Secretary shall work with the Industrial Commission and shall file sufficient reports with the Industrial Commission to enable it to carry out all of the provisions of the Workers' Compensation Act with respect to occupational disease. To receive donations of money, securities, equipment, supplies, realty or any other property of any kind or description which shall be used by the Department for the purpose of carrying out its public health programs; To acquire by purchase, devise or otherwise in the name of the Department equipment, supplies and other property, real or personal, necessary to carry out the public health programs; To use the official seal of the Department. Copies of documents in the possession of the Department may be authenticated with the seal of the Department, attested by the signature or a facsimile of the signature of the Secretary, and when authenticated shall have the same evidentiary value as the originals; To disseminate information to the general public on all matters pertaining to public health; to purchase, print, publish, and distribute free, or at cost, documents, reports, bulletins and health informational materials. Money collected from the distribution of these materials shall remain in the Department to be used to replace the materials; To be the health advisor of the State and to advise State officials in regard to the location, sanitary construction and health management of all State institutions; to direct the attention of the State to health matters which affect the industries, property, health and lives of the people of the State; to inspect at least annually State institutions and facilities; to make a report as to the health conditions of these institutions or facilities with suggestions and recommendations to the appropriate State agencies. It shall be the duty of the persons in immediate charge of these institutions or facilities to furnish all assistance necessary for a thorough inspection; To establish a schedule of fees based on income to be paid by a recipient for services provided by Migrant Health Clinics and Development Evaluation Centers; To establish fees for the sale of specimen containers, vaccines and other biologicals. The fees shall not exceed the actual cost of such items, plus transportation costs; To establish a fee to cover costs of responding to requests by employers for industrial hygiene consultation services and occupational consultation services. The fee shall not exceed two hundred dollars ($200.00) per on site inspection; and To establish a fee for companion animal certificate of examination forms to be distributed, upon request, by the Department to licensed veterinarians. The fee shall not exceed the cost of the form and shipping costs. To establish a fee not to exceed the cost of analyzing clinical Pap smear specimens sent to the State Laboratory by local health departments and State-owned facilities and for reporting the results of the analysis. This fee shall be in addition to the charge for the Pap smear test kit. To charge a fee of up to seventy-four dollars ($74.00) for analyzing private well-water samples sent to the State Laboratory of Public Health by local health departments. The fee shall be imposed for analyzing samples from newly constructed and existing wells. The fee shall be computed annually by the Director of the State Laboratory of Public Health by analyzing the previous year's testing at the State Laboratory of Public Health, and applying the amount of the total cost of the private well-water testing, minus State appropriations that support this effort. The fee includes the charge for the private well-water panel test kit. History (1957, c. 1357, s. 1; 1961, c. 51, s. 4; c. 833, s. 14; 1969, c. 982; 1973, c. 476, ss. 128, 138; 1979, c. 714, s. 2; 1981, c. 562, s. 4; 1983, c. 891, s. 2; 1985, c. 470, s. 1; 1991, c. 227, s. 1; 1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994), c. 715, s. 1; 2003-284, s. 34.13(a); 2006-66, s. 10.20(a); 2007-115, s. 2; 2014-100, s. 12E.3(a).) Cross References. - As to policy prohibiting tobacco use in community college buildings, grounds, and at community college-sponsored events, see G.S. 115D-20.1(c) . Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2003-284, s. 48.1, provides: "Parts 32 through 47 of this act do not affect the rights or liabilities of the State, a taxpayer, or another person arising under a statute amended or repealed by those parts before the effective date of its amendment or repeal; nor do they affect the right to any refund or credit of a tax that accrued under the amended or repealed statute before the effective date of its amendment or repeal." Session Laws 2003-284, s. 1.2, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2003'." Session Laws 2003-284, s. 49.5, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2014-100, s. 12E.3(b), made the amendment to subdivision (16) of this section by Session Laws 2014-100, s. 12E.3(a), applicable to private well-water samples analyzed on or after August 7, 2014. Session Laws 2014-100, s. 12E.3(c), provides: "The Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, shall, in consultation with local health departments and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, study options for reducing or waiving the private well-water testing fee established in subsection (a) of this section for households with incomes at or below three hundred percent (300%) of the current federal poverty level. The Department shall report its findings and recommendations, including any recommended legislation, to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services, the Environmental Review Commission, and the Fiscal Research Division by December 1, 2014." Session Laws 2014-100, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as 'The Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2014.'" Session Laws 2014-100, s. 38.4, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2014-2015 fiscal year, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2014-2015 fiscal year." Session Laws 2014-100, s. 38.7, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2020-3, s. 3A.1(a), provides: "Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the following definitions apply in this Part: "(1) CDC. - The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "(2) COVID-19. - Coronavirus disease 2019. "(3) COVID-19 diagnostic test. - A test the federal Food and Drug Administration has authorized for emergency use or approved to detect the presence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. "(4) COVID-19 emergency. - The period beginning March 10, 2020, and ending on the date the Governor signs an executive order rescinding Executive Order No. 116, Declaration of a State of Emergency to Coordinate Response and Protective Actions to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19. "(5) COVID-19 antibody test. - A serological blood test the federal Food and Drug Administration has authorized for emergency use or approved to measure the amount of antibodies or proteins present in the blood when the body is responding to an infection caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 3D.9(a), provides: "All health care providers, as defined under G.S. 130A-476(g) , shall receive and report the results, both positive and negative, of any COVID-19 diagnostic test or COVID-19 antibody test performed on an individual prior to any nonemergency surgery or procedure to the Commission for Public Health (Commission) and to the Division of Public Health. The Department of Health and Human Services shall report pre-procedure test result data on a county-by-county basis and update it daily on its Web site." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 5, is a severability clause. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2006-66, s. 10.20(a), effective July 1, 2006, added new subdivision (16). Session Laws 2007-115, s. 2, effective June 21, 2007, deleted the provisions in subdivision (2) pertaining to the obtaining of privileged patient medical records. Session Laws 2014-100, s. 12E.3(a), effective August 7, 2014, in subdivision (16), substituted "seventy-four dollars ($74.00)" for "fifty-five dollars ($55.00)" in the first sentence, and in the second sentence deleted "only" following "imposed" and inserted "and existing" following "constructed." See Editor's note for applicability.