The Overdose Response Action Data for Actionable Reforms Act, or Overdose RADAR Act, seeks to enhance the national response to the opioid and fentanyl crisis through several key initiatives. It authorizes grants for States, territories, and localities to improve data and surveillance on opioid-related overdoses, including better postmortem toxicology testing, data linkage, and electronic death reporting. This aims to provide more comprehensive information on both fatal and nonfatal overdose incidents.

The bill also proposes reforms to the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), advocating for its Director to hold a Cabinet-level position. ONDCP would be required to document strategies to prevent duplication of services among National Drug Control Program agencies and collaborate with health and justice entities to establish national standards for data submission, including guidance to record certain overdose deaths as homicides. Furthermore, it amends State Opioid Response grants to require assessments of challenges and the provision of best practices for addressing overdoses.

To further combat the crisis, the legislation directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to establish a 3-year wastewater pilot program. This program would award grants to municipal facilities for analyzing wastewater to determine the prevalence of illicit substances like fentanyl and xylazine in communities. Additionally, the bill expands existing grants to include the administration of overdose reversal drugs and creates new grants specifically for elementary and secondary schools.

These new school grants would enable public and private schools to provide for the administration of drugs and devices for emergency treatment of suspected opioid overdoses. Schools receiving these grants must certify they have trained personnel, maintain supplies of reversal drugs, and have a plan for personnel presence, with State Attorney General certification on civil liability protection. Finally, the Act explicitly amends the Controlled Substances Act to exclude fentanyl test strips from the definition of drug paraphernalia, thereby legalizing their use.