Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB331 Latest Draft

Bill / Engrossed Version Filed 03/14/2025

                            119THCONGRESS 
1
STSESSION S. 331 
AN ACT 
To amend the Controlled Substances Act with respect to 
the scheduling of fentanyl-related substances, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 2 
†S 331 ES
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Halt All Lethal Traf-2
ficking of Fentanyl Act’’ or the ‘‘HALT Fentanyl Act’’. 3
SEC. 2. CLASS SCHEDULING OF FENTANYL-RELATED SUB-4
STANCES. 5
Section 202(c) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 6
U.S.C. 812(c)) is amended by adding at the end of sched-7
ule I the following: 8
‘‘(e)(1) Unless specifically exempted or unless listed 9
in another schedule, any material, compound, mixture, or 10
preparation which contains any quantity of a fentanyl-re-11
lated substance, or which contains the salts, isomers, and 12
salts of isomers of a fentanyl-related substance whenever 13
the existence of such salts, isomers, and salts of isomers 14
is possible within the specific chemical designation. 15
‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), except as pro-16
vided in paragraph (3), the term ‘fentanyl-related sub-17
stance’ means any substance that is structurally related 18
to fentanyl by 1 or more of the following modifications: 19
‘‘(A) By replacement of the phenyl portion of 20
the phenethyl group by any monocycle, whether or 21
not further substituted in or on the monocycle. 22
‘‘(B) By substitution in or on the phenethyl 23
group with alkyl, alkenyl, alkoxyl, hydroxyl, halo, 24
haloalkyl, amino, or nitro groups. 25 3 
†S 331 ES
‘‘(C) By substitution in or on the piperidine 1
ring with alkyl, alkenyl, alkoxyl, ester, ether, 2
hydroxyl, halo, haloalkyl, amino, or nitro groups. 3
‘‘(D) By replacement of the aniline ring with 4
any aromatic monocycle whether or not further sub-5
stituted in or on the aromatic monocycle. 6
‘‘(E) By replacement of the N-propionyl group 7
with another acyl group. 8
‘‘(3) A substance that satisfies the definition of the 9
term ‘fentanyl-related substance’ in paragraph (2) shall 10
nonetheless not be treated as a fentanyl-related substance 11
subject to this schedule if the substance— 12
‘‘(A) is controlled by action of the Attorney 13
General under section 201; or 14
‘‘(B) is otherwise expressly listed in a schedule 15
other than this schedule. 16
‘‘(4)(A) The Attorney General may by order publish 17
in the Federal Register a list of substances that satisfy 18
the definition of the term ‘fentanyl-related substance’ in 19
paragraph (2). 20
‘‘(B) The absence of a substance from a list published 21
under subparagraph (A) does not negate the control status 22
of the substance under this schedule if the substance satis-23
fies the definition of the term ‘fentanyl-related substance’ 24
in paragraph (2).’’. 25 4 
†S 331 ES
SEC. 3. REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO RE-1
SEARCH. 2
(a) A
LTERNATIVE REGISTRATIONPROCESS FOR 3
S
CHEDULEI RESEARCH.—Section 303 of the Controlled 4
Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 823) is amended— 5
(1) by redesignating the second subsection (l) 6
(relating to required training for prescribers) as sub-7
section (m); and 8
(2) by adding at the end the following: 9
‘‘(n) S
PECIALPROVISIONS FOR PRACTITIONERS 10
C
ONDUCTINGCERTAINRESEARCHWITHSCHEDULEI 11
C
ONTROLLEDSUBSTANCES.— 12
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection 13
(g), a practitioner may conduct research described in 14
paragraph (2) of this subsection with 1 or more 15
schedule I substances in accordance with subpara-16
graph (A) or (B) of paragraph (3) of this sub-17
section. 18
‘‘(2) R
ESEARCH SUBJECT TO EXPEDITED PRO -19
CEDURES.—Research described in this paragraph is 20
research that— 21
‘‘(A) is with respect to a drug that is the 22
subject of an investigational use exemption 23
under section 505(i) of the Federal Food, Drug, 24
and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 355(i)); or 25
‘‘(B) is— 26 5 
†S 331 ES
‘‘(i) conducted by the Department of 1
Health and Human Services, the Depart-2
ment of Defense, or the Department of 3
Veterans Affairs; or 4
‘‘(ii) funded partly or entirely by a 5
grant, contract, cooperative agreement, or 6
other transaction from the Department of 7
Health and Human Services, the Depart-8
ment of Defense, or the Department of 9
Veterans Affairs. 10
‘‘(3) E
XPEDITED PROCEDURES .— 11
‘‘(A) R
ESEARCHER WITH A CURRENT 12
SCHEDULE I OR II RESEARCH REGISTRATION .— 13
‘‘(i) I
N GENERAL.—If a practitioner is 14
registered to conduct research with a con-15
trolled substance in schedule I or II, the 16
practitioner may conduct research under 17
this subsection on and after the date that 18
is 30 days after the date on which the 19
practitioner sends a notice to the Attorney 20
General containing the following informa-21
tion, with respect to each substance with 22
which the practitioner will conduct the re-23
search: 24 6 
†S 331 ES
‘‘(I) The chemical name of the 1
substance. 2
‘‘(II) The quantity of the sub-3
stance to be used in the research. 4
‘‘(III) Demonstration that the re-5
search is in the category described in 6
paragraph (2), which demonstration 7
may be satisfied— 8
‘‘(aa) in the case of a grant, 9
contract, cooperative agreement, 10
or other transaction, or intra-11
mural research project, by identi-12
fying the sponsoring agency and 13
supplying the number of the 14
grant, contract, cooperative 15
agreement, other transaction, or 16
project; or 17
‘‘(bb) in the case of an ap-18
plication under section 505(i) of 19
the Federal Food, Drug, and 20
Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 355(i)), 21
by supplying the application 22
number and the sponsor of 23
record on the application. 24 7 
†S 331 ES
‘‘(IV) Demonstration that the re-1
searcher is authorized to conduct re-2
search with respect to the substance 3
under the laws of the State in which 4
the research will take place. 5
‘‘(ii) V
ERIFICATION OF INFORMATION 6
BY HHS OR VA.—Upon request from the 7
Attorney General, the Secretary of Health 8
and Human Services, the Department of 9
Defense, or the Secretary of Veterans Af-10
fairs, as appropriate, shall verify informa-11
tion submitted by an applicant under 12
clause (i)(III). 13
‘‘(B) R
ESEARCHER WITHOUT A CURRENT 14
SCHEDULE I OR II RESEARCH REGISTRATION .— 15
‘‘(i) I
N GENERAL.—If a practitioner is 16
not registered to conduct research with a 17
controlled substance in schedule I or II, 18
the practitioner may send a notice to the 19
Attorney General containing the informa-20
tion listed in subparagraph (A)(i), with re-21
spect to each substance with which the 22
practitioner will conduct the research. 23
‘‘(ii) A
TTORNEY GENERAL ACTION .— 24
The Attorney General shall— 25 8 
†S 331 ES
‘‘(I) treat notice received under 1
clause (i) as a sufficient application 2
for a research registration; and 3
‘‘(II) not later than 45 days of 4
receiving such a notice that contains 5
all information required under sub-6
paragraph (A)(i)— 7
‘‘(aa) register the applicant; 8
or 9
‘‘(bb) serve an order to show 10
cause upon the applicant in ac-11
cordance with section 304(c). 12
‘‘(4) E
LECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS .—The Attorney 13
General shall provide a means to permit a practi-14
tioner to submit a notification under paragraph (3) 15
electronically. 16
‘‘(5) L
IMITATION ON AMOUNTS .—A practitioner 17
conducting research with a schedule I substance 18
under this subsection may only possess the amounts 19
of schedule I substance identified in— 20
‘‘(A) the notification to the Attorney Gen-21
eral under paragraph (3); or 22
‘‘(B) a supplemental notification that the 23
practitioner may send if the practitioner needs 24 9 
†S 331 ES
additional amounts for the research, which sup-1
plemental notification shall include— 2
‘‘(i) the name of the practitioner; 3
‘‘(ii) the additional quantity needed of 4
the substance; and 5
‘‘(iii) an attestation that the research 6
to be conducted with the substance is con-7
sistent with the scope of the research that 8
was the subject of the notification under 9
paragraph (3). 10
‘‘(6) I
MPORTATION AND EXPORTATION RE -11
QUIREMENTS NOT AFFECTED .—Nothing in this sub-12
section alters the requirements of part A of title III, 13
regarding the importation and exportation of con-14
trolled substances. 15
‘‘(7) I
NSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT .—Not later 16
than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Halt 17
All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act, the Inspec-18
tor General of the Department of Justice shall com-19
plete a study, and submit to Congress a report 20
thereon, about research described in paragraph (2) 21
of this subsection with fentanyl.’’. 22
(b) S
EPARATEREGISTRATIONSNOTREQUIRED FOR 23
A
DDITIONALRESEARCHER INSAMEINSTITUTION.— 24 10 
†S 331 ES
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 302(c) of the Con-1
trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 822(c)) is amend-2
ed by adding at the end the following: 3
‘‘(4) An agent or employee of a research insti-4
tution that is conducting research with a controlled 5
substance if— 6
‘‘(A) the agent or employee is acting with-7
in the scope of the professional practice of the 8
agent or employee; 9
‘‘(B) another agent or employee of the in-10
stitution is registered to conduct research with 11
a controlled substance in the same schedule; 12
‘‘(C) the researcher who is so registered— 13
‘‘(i) informs the Attorney General of 14
the name, position title, and employing in-15
stitution of the agent or employee who is 16
not separately registered; 17
‘‘(ii) authorizes that agent or em-18
ployee to perform research under the reg-19
istration of the registered researcher; and 20
‘‘(iii) affirms that any act taken by 21
that agent or employee involving a con-22
trolled substance shall be attributable to 23
the registered researcher, as if the re-24
searcher had directly committed the act, 25 11 
†S 331 ES
for purposes of any proceeding under sec-1
tion 304(a) to suspend or revoke the reg-2
istration of the registered researcher; and 3
‘‘(D) the Attorney General does not, within 4
30 days of receiving the information, authoriza-5
tion, and affirmation described in subparagraph 6
(C), refuse, for a reason listed in section 7
304(a), to allow the agent or employee to pos-8
sess the substance without a separate registra-9
tion.’’. 10
(2) T
ECHNICAL CORRECTION .—Section 11
302(c)(3) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 12
U.S.C. 822(c)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘(25)’’ 13
and inserting ‘‘(27)’’. 14
(c) S
INGLEREGISTRATION FORRELATEDRESEARCH 15
S
ITES.—Section 302(e) of the Controlled Substances Act 16
(21 U.S.C. 822(e)) is amended by adding at the end the 17
following: 18
‘‘(4)(A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a person 19
registered to conduct research with a controlled substance 20
under section 303(g) may conduct the research under a 21
single registration if— 22
‘‘(i) the research occurs exclusively on sites all 23
of which are— 24
‘‘(I) within the same city or county; and 25 12 
†S 331 ES
‘‘(II) under the control of the same institu-1
tion, organization, or agency; and 2
‘‘(ii) before commencing the research, the re-3
searcher notifies the Attorney General of each site 4
where— 5
‘‘(I) the research will be conducted; or 6
‘‘(II) the controlled substance will be 7
stored or administered. 8
‘‘(B) A site described in subparagraph (A) shall be 9
included in a registration described in that subparagraph 10
only if the researcher has notified the Attorney General 11
of the site— 12
‘‘(i) in the application for the registration; or 13
‘‘(ii) before the research is conducted, or before 14
the controlled substance is stored or administered, at 15
the site. 16
‘‘(C) The Attorney General may, in consultation with 17
the Secretary, issue regulations addressing, with respect 18
to research sites described in subparagraph (A)— 19
‘‘(i) the manner in which controlled substances 20
may be delivered to the research sites; 21
‘‘(ii) the storage and security of controlled sub-22
stances at the research sites; 23
‘‘(iii) the maintenance of records for the re-24
search sites; and 25 13 
†S 331 ES
‘‘(iv) any other matters necessary to ensure ef-1
fective controls against diversion at the research 2
sites.’’. 3
(d) N
EWINSPECTIONNOTREQUIRED INCERTAIN 4
S
ITUATIONS.—Section 302(f) of the Controlled Sub-5
stances Act (21 U.S.C. 822(f)) is amended— 6
(1) by striking ‘‘(f) The’’ and inserting ‘‘(f)(1) 7
The’’; and 8
(2) by adding at the end the following: 9
‘‘(2)(A) If a person is registered to conduct research 10
with a controlled substance and applies for a registration, 11
or for a modification of a registration, to conduct research 12
with a second controlled substance that is in the same 13
schedule as the first controlled substance, or is in a sched-14
ule with a higher numerical designation than the schedule 15
of the first controlled substance, a new inspection by the 16
Attorney General of the registered location is not required. 17
‘‘(B) Nothing in subparagraph (A) shall prohibit the 18
Attorney General from conducting an inspection that the 19
Attorney General determines necessary to ensure that a 20
registrant maintains effective controls against diversion.’’. 21
(e) C
ONTINUATION OF RESEARCH ONSUBSTANCES 22
N
EWLYADDED TOSCHEDULEI.—Section 302 of the 23
Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 822) is amended 24
by adding at the end the following: 25 14 
†S 331 ES
‘‘(h) CONTINUATION OFRESEARCH ONSUBSTANCES 1
N
EWLYADDED TOSCHEDULEI.—If a person is con-2
ducting research on a substance when the substance is 3
added to schedule I, and the person is already registered 4
to conduct research with a controlled substance in sched-5
ule I— 6
‘‘(1) not later than 90 days after the scheduling 7
of the newly scheduled substance, the person shall 8
submit a completed application for registration or 9
modification of existing registration, to conduct re-10
search on the substance, in accordance with regula-11
tions issued by the Attorney General for purposes of 12
this paragraph; 13
‘‘(2) the person may, notwithstanding sub-14
sections (a) and (b), continue to conduct the re-15
search on the substance until— 16
‘‘(A) the person withdraws the application 17
described in paragraph (1) of this subsection; 18
or 19
‘‘(B) the Attorney General serves on the 20
person an order to show cause proposing the 21
denial of the application under section 304(c); 22
‘‘(3) if the Attorney General serves an order to 23
show cause as described in paragraph (2)(B) and 24
the person requests a hearing, the hearing shall be 25 15 
†S 331 ES
held on an expedited basis and not later than 45 1
days after the request is made, except that the hear-2
ing may be held at a later time if so requested by 3
the person; and 4
‘‘(4) if the person sends a copy of the applica-5
tion described in paragraph (1) to a manufacturer or 6
distributor of the substance, receipt of the copy by 7
the manufacturer or distributor shall constitute suf-8
ficient evidence that the person is authorized to re-9
ceive the substance.’’. 10
(f) T
REATMENT OF CERTAINMANUFACTURING AC-11
TIVITIES ASCOINCIDENT TORESEARCH.—Section 302 of 12
the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 822), as amend-13
ed by subsection (e), is amended by adding at the end 14
the following: 15
‘‘(i) T
REATMENT OFCERTAINMANUFACTURINGAC-16
TIVITIES ASCOINCIDENT TORESEARCH.— 17
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-18
graph (3), a person who is registered to perform re-19
search on a controlled substance may perform manu-20
facturing activities with small quantities of that sub-21
stance, including activities described in paragraph 22
(2), without being required to obtain a manufac-23
turing registration, if— 24 16 
†S 331 ES
‘‘(A) the activities are performed for the 1
purpose of the research; and 2
‘‘(B) the activities and the quantities of 3
the substance involved in the activities are stat-4
ed in— 5
‘‘(i) a notification submitted to the 6
Attorney General under section 303(n); 7
‘‘(ii) a research protocol filed with an 8
application for registration approval under 9
section 303(g); or 10
‘‘(iii) a notification to the Attorney 11
General that includes— 12
‘‘(I) the name of the registrant; 13
and 14
‘‘(II) an attestation that the re-15
search to be conducted with the small 16
quantities of manufactured substance 17
is consistent with the scope of the re-18
search that is the basis for the reg-19
istration. 20
‘‘(2) A
CTIVITIES INCLUDED.—Activities per-21
mitted under paragraph (1) include— 22
‘‘(A) processing the substance to create ex-23
tracts, tinctures, oils, solutions, derivatives, or 24
other forms of the substance consistent with— 25 17 
†S 331 ES
‘‘(i) the information provided as part 1
of a notification submitted to the Attorney 2
General under section 303(n); or 3
‘‘(ii) a research protocol filed with an 4
application for registration approval under 5
section 303(g); and 6
‘‘(B) dosage form development studies per-7
formed for the purpose of requesting an inves-8
tigational new drug exemption under section 9
505(i) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cos-10
metic Act (21 U.S.C. 355(i)). 11
‘‘(3) E
XCEPTION REGARDING MARIHUANA .— 12
The authority under paragraph (1) to manufacture 13
substances does not include the authority to grow 14
marihuana.’’. 15
(g) T
RANSPARENCY REGARDINGSPECIALPROCE-16
DURES.—Section 303 of the Controlled Substances Act 17
(21 U.S.C. 823), as amended by subsection (a), is amend-18
ed by adding at the end the following: 19
‘‘(o) T
RANSPARENCY REGARDINGSPECIALPROCE-20
DURES.— 21
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—If the Attorney General de-22
termines, with respect to a controlled substance, that 23
an application by a practitioner to conduct research 24
with the substance should be considered under a 25 18 
†S 331 ES
process, or subject to criteria, different from the 1
process or criteria applicable to applications to con-2
duct research with other controlled substances in the 3
same schedule, the Attorney General shall make 4
public, including by posting on the website of the 5
Drug Enforcement Administration— 6
‘‘(A) the identities of all substances for 7
which such determinations have been made; 8
‘‘(B) the process and criteria that shall be 9
applied to applications to conduct research with 10
those substances; and 11
‘‘(C) how the process and criteria described 12
in subparagraph (B) differ from the process 13
and criteria applicable to applications to con-14
duct research with other controlled substances 15
in the same schedule. 16
‘‘(2) T
IMING OF POSTING.—The Attorney Gen-17
eral shall make information described in paragraph 18
(1) public upon making a determination described in 19
that paragraph, regardless of whether a practitioner 20
has submitted such an application at that time.’’. 21
SEC. 4. TECHNICAL CORRECTION ON CONTROLLED SUB-22
STANCES DISPENSING. 23
Effective as if included in the enactment of Public 24
Law 117–328— 25 19 
†S 331 ES
(1) section 1252(a) of division FF of Public 1
Law 117–328 (136 Stat. 5681) is amended, in the 2
matter being inserted into section 302(e) of the Con-3
trolled Substances Act, by striking ‘‘303(g)’’ and in-4
serting ‘‘303(h)’’; 5
(2) section 1262 of division FF of Public Law 6
117–328 (136 Stat. 5681) is amended— 7
(A) in subsection (a)— 8
(i) in the matter preceding paragraph 9
(1), by striking ‘‘303(g)’’ and inserting 10
‘‘303(h)’’; 11
(ii) in the matter being stricken by 12
subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘(g)(1)’’ and 13
inserting ‘‘(h)(1)’’; and 14
(iii) in the matter being inserted by 15
subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘(g) Practi-16
tioners’’ and inserting ‘‘(h) Practitioners’’; 17
and 18
(B) in subsection (b)— 19
(i) in the matter being stricken by 20
paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘303(g)(1)’’ 21
and inserting ‘‘303(h)(1)’’; 22
(ii) in the matter being inserted by 23
paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘303(g)’’ and 24
inserting ‘‘303(h)’’; 25 20 
†S 331 ES
(iii) in the matter being stricken by 1
paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘303(g)(2)’’ 2
and inserting ‘‘303(h)(2)’’; 3
(iv) in the matter being stricken by 4
paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘303(g)(2)(B)’’ 5
and inserting ‘‘303(h)(2)(B)’’; 6
(v) in the matter being stricken by 7
paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘303(g)’’ and 8
inserting ‘‘303(h)’’; and 9
(vi) in the matter being stricken by 10
paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘303(g)’’ and 11
inserting ‘‘303(h)’’; and 12
(3) section 1263(b) of division FF of Public 13
Law 117–328 (136 Stat. 5685) is amended— 14
(A) by striking ‘‘303(g)(2)’’ and inserting 15
‘‘303(h)(2)’’; and 16
(B) by striking ‘‘(21 U.S.C. 823(g)(2))’’ 17
and inserting ‘‘(21 U.S.C. 823(h)(2))’’. 18
SEC. 5. RULEMAKING. 19
(a) I
NTERIMFINALRULES.—The Attorney Gen-20
eral— 21
(1) shall, not later than 6 months after the date 22
of enactment of this Act, issue rules to implement 23
this Act and the amendments made by this Act; and 24 21 
†S 331 ES
(2) may issue the rules under paragraph (1) as 1
interim final rules. 2
(b) P
ROCEDURE FORFINALRULE.— 3
(1) E
FFECTIVENESS OF INTERIM FINAL 4
RULES.—A rule issued by the Attorney General as 5
an interim final rule under subsection (a) shall be-6
come immediately effective as an interim final rule 7
without requiring the Attorney General to dem-8
onstrate good cause therefor, notwithstanding sub-9
paragraph (B) of the undesignated matter following 10
paragraph (4) of section 553(b) of title 5, United 11
States Code. 12
(2) O
PPORTUNITY FOR COMMENT AND HEAR -13
ING.—An interim final rule issued under subsection 14
(a) shall give interested persons the opportunity to 15
comment and to request a hearing. 16
(3) F
INAL RULE.—After the conclusion of such 17
proceedings, the Attorney General shall issue a final 18
rule to implement this Act and the amendments 19
made by this Act in accordance with section 553 of 20
title 5, United States Code. 21
SEC. 6. PENALTIES. 22
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Section 401(b)(1) of the Con-23
trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)) is amend-24
ed— 25 22 
†S 331 ES
(1) in subparagraph (A)(vi), by inserting ‘‘or a 1
fentanyl-related substance’’ after ‘‘any analogue of 2
N-phenyl-N-[1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-piperidinyl] 3
propanamide’’; and 4
(2) in subparagraph (B)(vi), by inserting ‘‘or a 5
fentanyl-related substance’’ after ‘‘any analogue of 6
N-phenyl-N-[1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-piperidinyl] 7
propanamide’’. 8
(b) I
MPORTATION AND EXPORTATION.—Section 9
1010(b) of the Controlled Substances Import and Export 10
Act (21 U.S.C. 960(b)) is amended— 11
(1) in paragraph (1)(F), by inserting ‘‘or a 12
fentanyl-related substance’’ after ‘‘any analogue of 13
N-phenyl-N-[1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-piperidinyl] 14
propanamide’’; and 15
(2) in paragraph (2)(F), by inserting ‘‘or a 16
fentanyl-related substance’’ after ‘‘any analogue of 17
N-phenyl-N-[1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-piperidinyl] 18
propanamide’’. 19
(c) D
EFINITION OF FENTANYL-RELATED SUB-20
STANCE.—Section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act 21
(21 U.S.C. 802) is amended by adding at the end the fol-22
lowing: 23 23 
†S 331 ES
‘‘(60) The term ‘fentanyl-related substance’ has the 1
meaning given the term in subsection (e)(2) of schedule 2
I of section 202(c).’’. 3
SEC. 7. APPLICABILITY; OTHER MATTERS. 4
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Irrespective of the date on which 5
the rules required by section 5 are finalized, the amend-6
ments made by this Act apply beginning as of the date 7
of enactment of this Act. 8
(b) R
ULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in the 9
amendments made by this Act may be construed as evi-10
dence that, in applying sections 401(b)(1) of the Con-11
trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)) and 1010(b) 12
of the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act (21 13
U.S.C. 960(b)) with respect to conduct occurring before 14
the date of the enactment of this Act, a fentanyl-related 15
substance (as defined by such amendments) is not an ana-16
logue of N-phenyl-N-[1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-piperidinyl] 17
propanamide. 18
(c) S
ENSE OFCONGRESS.—Congress agrees with the 19
interpretation of the Controlled Substances Act (21 20 24 
†S 331 ES
U.S.C. 801 et seq.) in United States v. McCray, 346 F. 1
Supp. 3d 363 (W.D.N.Y. 2018). 2
Passed the Senate March 14, 2025. 
Attest: 
Secretary.   119
TH
CONGRESS 
1
ST
S
ESSION
 
S. 331 
AN ACT 
To amend the Controlled Substances Act with re-
spect to the scheduling of fentanyl-related sub-
stances, and for other purposes.