§ 130A-5. Duties of the Secretary.
§ 130A‑5. Duties of theSecretary.
The Secretary shall have theauthority:
(1) To enforce the Statehealth laws and the rules of the Commission;
(2) To investigate thecauses of epidemics and of infectious, communicable and other diseasesaffecting the public health in order to control and prevent these diseases; toprovide, under the rules of the Commission, for the prevention, detection,reporting and control of communicable, infectious or any other diseases orhealth hazards considered harmful to the public health;
(3) To develop and carryout reasonable health programs that may be necessary for the protection andpromotion of the public health and the control of diseases. The Commission isauthorized to adopt rules to carry out these programs;
(4) To make sanitary andhealth investigations and inspections;
(5) To investigateoccupational health hazards and occupational diseases and to makerecommendations for the elimination of the hazards and diseases. The Secretaryshall work with the Industrial Commission and shall file sufficient reportswith the Industrial Commission to enable it to carry out all of the provisionsof the Workers' Compensation Act with respect to occupational disease.
(6) To receive donationsof money, securities, equipment, supplies, realty or any other property of anykind or description which shall be used by the Department for the purpose ofcarrying out its public health programs;
(7) To acquire bypurchase, devise or otherwise in the name of the Department equipment, suppliesand other property, real or personal, necessary to carry out the public healthprograms;
(8) To use the officialseal of the Department. Copies of documents in the possession of the Departmentmay be authenticated with the seal of the Department, attested by the signatureor a facsimile of the signature of the Secretary, and when authenticated shallhave the same evidentiary value as the originals;
(9) To disseminateinformation 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 thedistribution of these materials shall remain in the Department to be used toreplace the materials;
(10) To be the healthadvisor of the State and to advise State officials in regard to the location,sanitary construction and health management of all State institutions; todirect the attention of the State to health matters which affect theindustries, property, health and lives of the people of the State; to inspectat least annually State institutions and facilities; to make a report as to thehealth conditions of these institutions or facilities with suggestions andrecommendations to the appropriate State agencies. It shall be the duty of thepersons in immediate charge of these institutions or facilities to furnish allassistance necessary for a thorough inspection;
(11) To establish aschedule of fees based on income to be paid by a recipient for servicesprovided by Migrant Health Clinics and Development Evaluation Centers;
(12) To establish fees forthe sale of specimen containers, vaccines and other biologicals. The fees shallnot exceed the actual cost of such items, plus transportation costs;
(13) To establish a fee tocover costs of responding to requests by employers for industrial hygieneconsultation services and occupational consultation services. The fee shall notexceed two hundred dollars ($200.00) per on site inspection; and
(14) To establish a feefor companion animal certificate of examination forms to be distributed, uponrequest, by the Department to licensed veterinarians. The fee shall not exceedthe cost of the form and shipping costs.
(15) To establish a feenot to exceed the cost of analyzing clinical Pap smear specimens sent to theState Laboratory by local health departments and State‑owned facilitiesand for reporting the results of the analysis. This fee shall be in addition tothe charge for the Pap smear test kit.
(16) To charge a fee of upto fifty‑five dollars ($55.00) for analyzing private well‑watersamples sent to the State Laboratory of Public Health by local healthdepartments. The fee shall be imposed only for analyzing samples from newlyconstructed wells. The fee shall be computed annually by the Director of theState Laboratory of Public Health by analyzing the previous year's testing atthe State Laboratory of Public Health, and applying the amount of the totalcost of the private well‑water testing, minus State appropriations thatsupport this effort. The fee includes the charge for the private well‑waterpanel test kit. (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.)