Chai Suthammanont Remembrance Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 978 To require the head of each agency to establish a safety plan relating to COVID–19 for any worksite at which employees or contractors are re- quired to be physically present during the COVID–19 pandemic, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 11, 2021 Mr. CONNOLLY (for himself, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. NORTON, and Mr. LYNCH) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Over- sight and Reform A BILL To require the head of each agency to establish a safety plan relating to COVID–19 for any worksite at which employees or contractors are required to be physically present during the COVID–19 pandemic, 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Chai Suthammanont 4 Remembrance Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Mar 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H978.IH H978 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 978 IH SEC. 2. WORKSITE SAFETY FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES AND 1 CONTRACTORS. 2 (a) ISSUANCE OF POLICIES AND PROCEDURES BY 3 AGENCIES.—Not later than 60 days after the date of the 4 enactment of this Act, the head of each agency, in con- 5 sultation with the Chief Human Capital Officer of the 6 agency and the Assistant Director of Administration of 7 the agency (or any individual holding an equivalent posi- 8 tion) shall— 9 (1) establish, and publish on the website of that 10 agency, a safety plan containing procedures and 11 policies for— 12 (A) covered worksites; and 13 (B) being present at a covered worksite; 14 and 15 (2) communicate such plan to each employee of 16 the agency and contractor of the agency (and any 17 subcontractor thereof at any tier) in such a manner 18 as to ensure that each such employee and contractor 19 acknowledges receipt and understanding of the plan. 20 (b) PLAN.—The safety plan required under sub- 21 section (a) shall, at a minimum, include the following: 22 (1) A description of the efforts of the agency 23 with respect to mitigating the spread of COVID–19 24 at covered worksites, including the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Mar 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H978.IH H978 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 978 IH (A) A description of any personal protec- 1 tive equipment that is being or will be provided 2 by the agency to any employee of the agency 3 and contractor of the agency (and any subcon- 4 tractor thereof at any tier) physically present at 5 a covered worksite. 6 (B) A description of any procedures estab- 7 lished by the agency for— 8 (i) testing employees of the agency 9 and contractors of the agency (and any 10 subcontractor thereof at any tier) required 11 to be present at a covered worksite; 12 (ii) contact-tracing at covered work- 13 sites, including procedures by which such 14 employees and contractors (and any sub- 15 contractor thereof at any tier) will be noti- 16 fied of a potential exposure to an indi- 17 vidual who is diagnosed with COVID–19; 18 and 19 (iii) administering the COVID–19 20 vaccine to employees of the agency. 21 (2) Guidance on— 22 (A) any cleaning protocols to be imple- 23 mented at covered worksites; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Mar 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H978.IH H978 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 978 IH (B) occupancy limits for covered worksites; 1 and 2 (C) the use of appropriate face coverings 3 by employees of the agency and contractors of 4 the agency (and any subcontractor thereof at 5 any tier) while physically present at a covered 6 worksite. 7 (3) A description of the actions the agency is or 8 will be taking to protect from exposure to COVID– 9 19 employees of the agency who conduct activities in 10 an official capacity while not physically present at a 11 covered worksite, including employees of the agen- 12 cy— 13 (A) who are required to travel in an official 14 capacity; or 15 (B) perform audits or inspections. 16 (4) A description of any requirements that 17 members of the public are required to meet in order 18 to enter a facility in which covered worksites are lo- 19 cated. 20 (5) A description of any alternative option to 21 being physically present at a covered worksite that 22 are available for employees who— 23 (A) have a high risk of contracting 24 COVID–19 (as determined by the Director of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Mar 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H978.IH H978 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 978 IH the Centers for Disease Control and Preven- 1 tion); or 2 (B) live in a household with individuals 3 that have a high risk of contracting COVID–19 4 (as determined by the Director of the Centers 5 for Disease Control and Prevention). 6 (6) A description of any rule or protocol regard- 7 ing whether employees of the agency required to be 8 physically present at covered worksites are— 9 (A) required to be fully vaccinated before 10 being present at covered worksites; or 11 (B) allowed to take leave— 12 (i) to get each dose of the vaccine; or 13 (ii) upon experiencing severe side-ef- 14 fects as a result of receiving any dose of 15 such vaccine. 16 (7) Protocols that ensure the continuity of oper- 17 ations, including a plan to reverse any requirement 18 for an employee or contractor (or subcontractor 19 thereof at any tier) to be present at a facility in 20 which covered worksites are located if there is a 21 surge in COVID–19 cases in the geographic area of 22 such facility. 23 (8) The hotline website and hotline telephone 24 number of the Inspector General of the agency for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Mar 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H978.IH H978 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 978 IH employees of the agency and contractors of the agen- 1 cy (and any subcontractor thereof at any tier) to re- 2 port to the Inspector General any instance in which 3 the agency is not implementing the plan required by 4 this section. 5 (c) DELAYED APPLICABILITY FOR CERTAIN WORK- 6 SITES.—For any worksite that the head of the agency has 7 temporarily closed due to COVID–19, the requirements of 8 subsection (a) shall be carried out not later than 30 days 9 before any employee of the agency or contractor of any 10 agency (or any subcontractor thereof at any tier) is re- 11 quired to be physically present at such worksite. 12 (d) INSPECTORS GENERAL REPORTS.—Not later 13 than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, 14 the Inspector General of each agency shall submit to the 15 Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House of Rep- 16 resentatives and the Committee on Homeland Security 17 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report on 18 whether that agency— 19 (1) has published and communicated the public 20 safety plan required by subsection (a), in accordance 21 with such subsection; and 22 (2) implemented such plan. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Mar 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H978.IH H978 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 978 IH (e) APPLICATION.—Nothing in this Act shall be con- 1 strued to alter or otherwise limit the rights and obligations 2 afforded under chapter 71 of title 5, United States Code. 3 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 4 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 5 meaning given that term in section 551 of title 5, 6 United States Code. 7 (2) COVERED PERIOD.—The term ‘‘covered pe- 8 riod’’ means the period beginning on the date of the 9 enactment of this Act and ending on the date on 10 which the public health emergency declared by the 11 Secretary of Health and Human Services under sec- 12 tion 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 13 U.S.C. 247) as a result of the COVID–19, or any 14 renewal thereof, terminates. 15 (3) COVERED WORKSITE.—The term ‘‘covered 16 worksite’’ means a worksite at which an employee of 17 the agency or a contractor of the agency (or subcon- 18 tractor thereof at any tier) is required to be present 19 during the covered period. 20 (4) WORKSITE.—The term ‘‘worksite’’ means— 21 (A) in the case of an employee of the agen- 22 cy, the location of the employee’s position of 23 record where the employee regularly performs 24 his or her duties, but does not include any loca- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Mar 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H978.IH H978 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 978 IH tion where the employee teleworks (as that term 1 is defined in section 6501 of title 5, United 2 States Code); and 3 (B) in the case of a contractor of the agen- 4 cy (or subcontractor thereof at any tier), the lo- 5 cation in a facility of the agency where the con- 6 tractor or subcontractor performs his or her du- 7 ties under a contract with the agency, or a sub- 8 contract thereof at any tier, as applicable. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Mar 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H978.IH H978 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS