It also created the National Disaster Medical System, through which teams of health professionals, such as physicians, pharmacists, paramedics, and nurses, volunteer in emergency situations.

It is intended to establish new rules for registering the possession, use, and transfer of specific toxins and agents that could endanger the safety and health of people, animals, and plants.

Title I deals with preparation on the federal, state, and local level for bioterrorism and other public health emergencies such as epidemics.

It authorizes grants and cooperative agreements to provide loans, scholarships, fellowships, or other forms of assistance for training individuals in any category of health professions for which there is a shortage that the Secretary determines are necessary for proper preparation.

It directs the FDA to designate a "priority countermeasure" as a fast track product pursuant to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

It directs the DHHS, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of Defense, to provide assistance for security to facilities or people involved in countermeasures for bioterrorism and public health emergencies.

It directs the President to make potassium iodide tablets available to state and local governments through the national stockpile to provide protection for people living near a nuclear power plant, and requests that the National Academy of Sciences conduct a study to determine the most effective and safe way to distribute and administer potassium iodide tablets on a mass scale.

It provides extensions for certain reporting deadlines during a public health emergency and expands the authority of the Secretary, in consultation with the Surgeon General to specify communicable diseases that are subject to individual detention orders.

It amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to require information to be efficiently distributed to the public.

The Secretary of Energy and the Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration is to expand research relevant to rapid detection and identification of pathogens likely to be used in a bioterrorism attack, and the Secretary, acting through the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, is to expand research on the health and safety of workers who are at risk for bioterrorism threats.

Regulations should be established for transfers, registration and maintenance of a database of listed toxins, and security of persons possessing select agents.

It requires prompt notification of the Secretary and law enforcement agencies of the theft or loss of listed agents and toxins.

It amends the FFDCA to mandate electronic annual registration of foreign manufacturers and importers of drug and device products into United States.

It provides grants to universities with programs in food and agricultural sciences to review security standards and practices at their facilities in order to protect against bioterrorism.

It requires the review of current and future methods to prepare to respond to the intentional introduction of contaminants into community water systems.

Title V contains miscellaneous provisions, including a measure unrelated to public health and safety, in which the FCC is to direct the conversion to digital television.