Preventing Hoarding of Health and Medical Resources To Respond to the Spread of COVID-19
The order delegates to the Secretary of Health and Human Services presidential authority under the Defense Production Act to prevent hoarding of health and medical resources — such as personal protective equipment and sanitizing products — needed to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It empowers the Secretary to designate specific materials as scarce, prescribe limits on accumulation, and gather supply-chain information, with the Federal Emergency Management Agency required to be consulted throughout.
What this order does
What it orders
The order delegates to the HHS Secretary the President's authority under section 102 of the Defense Production Act to prevent hoarding of COVID-19-related health and medical resources. The Secretary may designate any material as scarce or as a material whose supply is threatened by excessive accumulation or resale at inflated prices, and may prescribe conditions on how much of such materials individuals or businesses may accumulate. The Secretary is also delegated information-gathering authority under section 705 of the Act to track how supplies are distributed nationally, and must consult the FEMA Administrator when exercising these powers.
The Secretary is required to adopt and revise rules and regulations to implement the order, and must periodically reassess whether designations remain necessary, publishing a formal withdrawal notice in the Federal Register when a designation is no longer needed. The order does not itself impose any hoarding restrictions; those restrictions take effect only through subsequent designations and rulemaking by the Secretary.
Who it affects
Individuals, businesses, and distributors who accumulate or resell designated health and medical resources such as personal protective equipment and sanitizing products. The HHS Secretary and FEMA Administrator are the primary federal actors directed to act.
Why it matters
Businesses or individuals stockpiling designated medical supplies for resale at inflated prices could face federal restrictions or penalties once the Secretary issues designations and rules. The order provides a legal mechanism to address supply shortages that strain hospitals and healthcare workers during the pandemic.
What must happen and when
How the order is supposed to work
The order activates in stages: the Secretary first identifies and designates specific materials as scarce under section 102, then adopts rules and regulations to enforce accumulation limits, consulting FEMA throughout. The information-gathering authority under section 705 enables the Secretary to map where supplies are held before acting. Designations are not permanent — the Secretary must periodically review them and publish a Federal Register notice withdrawing any that are no longer necessary. Enforcement teeth come from the Defense Production Act's existing criminal and civil penalty provisions, which the order does not modify but does invoke.
Actions and deadlines
- Adopt and revise rules and regulations necessary to implement hoarding prevention authority
- Periodically review whether material designations remain necessary and publish Federal Register withdrawal notice when no longer needed