Ensuring Safe Housing for Our Military Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 703 To amend title 10, United States Code, to address health, safety, and environ- mental hazards at private military housing units, to prohibit the payment by members of the Armed Forces of deposits or other fees relating to such housing units, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 7, 2019 Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. WARNER, Mr. KAINE, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Mrs. SHAHEEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To amend title 10, United States Code, to address health, safety, and environmental hazards at private military housing units, to prohibit the payment by members of the Armed Forces of deposits or other fees relating to such housing units, 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 ‘‘Ensuring Safe Hous- 4 ing for Our Military Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:47 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S703.IS S703 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 703 IS SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF HEALTH, SAFETY, AND ENVIRON- 1 MENTAL HAZARDS AT PRIVATE MILITARY 2 HOUSING UNITS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter IV of chapter 169 of 4 title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 5 end the following new section: 6 ‘‘§ 2887. Health, safety, and environmental hazards 7 ‘‘(a) COMMON CREDENTIALS.—The Secretary of De- 8 fense shall require credentials that are the same through- 9 out the Department of Defense for all inspectors of health, 10 safety, and environmental hazards at housing units ac- 11 quired or constructed under this subchapter, including in- 12 spectors contracted by the Department. 13 ‘‘(b) REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF MOLD MANAGE- 14 MENT AND PEST CONTROL PLAN.—Not less frequently 15 than annually, the commander of each military installation 16 shall review and approve the mold management plan and 17 pest control plan for any housing unit acquired or con- 18 structed under this subchapter for members of the armed 19 forces stationed at such military installation before such 20 plan is implemented. 21 ‘‘(c) WITHHOLDING OF AMOUNTS.—(1) After notifi- 22 cation of a potential mold bloom, water intrusion, infesta- 23 tion, or any other health, safety, or environmental hazard 24 at a housing unit acquired or constructed under this sub- 25 chapter for a member of the armed forces stationed at 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:47 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S703.IS S703 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 703 IS a military installation, the commander of the military in- 1 stallation shall withhold payment to the landlord respon- 2 sible for such unit of the basic allowance for housing re- 3 ceived by the member (and any dependents of the member 4 in the member’s household) under section 403 of title 37 5 until— 6 ‘‘(A) a military housing official of the Depart- 7 ment assesses the potential hazard; 8 ‘‘(B) steps have been taken by the landlord to 9 remediate the hazard; 10 ‘‘(C) the military housing official determines, 11 and submits such determination to the Secretary 12 concerned in writing, that the steps taken to reme- 13 diate the hazard have cured the hazard; and 14 ‘‘(D) the member agrees with the determination 15 under subparagraph (C). 16 ‘‘(2) The Secretary of Defense shall withhold incen- 17 tive fees paid to a landlord for persistent failure to remedy 18 a health, safety, or environmental hazard, as determined 19 by the Secretary. 20 ‘‘(d) PAYMENT OF RELOCATION COSTS.—(1) A land- 21 lord responsible for a housing unit acquired or constructed 22 under this subchapter shall pay for the reasonable reloca- 23 tion costs, including costs for temporary relocation, of a 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:47 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S703.IS S703 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 703 IS member of the armed forces and their family in connection 1 with a health, safety, or environmental hazard at the unit. 2 ‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘reasonable reloca- 3 tion costs’ has the meaning given that term by the Sec- 4 retary of Defense. 5 ‘‘(e) PAYMENT FOR DAMAGED PERSONAL PROP- 6 ERTY.—A landlord responsible for a housing unit acquired 7 or constructed under this subchapter shall reimburse a 8 tenant of the unit for any personal property damaged as 9 a result of a health, safety, or environmental hazard. 10 ‘‘§ 2888. Electronic work order system 11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense shall 12 maintain an electronic work order system through which 13 a member of the armed forces or family member of a mem- 14 ber of the armed forces who is a tenant of a housing unit 15 acquired or constructed under this subchapter may re- 16 quest work to be done on the unit and track the progress 17 of the work. 18 ‘‘(b) ACCESSIBILITY.—The electronic work order sys- 19 tem under subsection (a) shall be accessible— 20 ‘‘(1) to a member of the armed forces or family 21 member of a member of the armed forces to track 22 a work request made through such system by such 23 an individual; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:47 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S703.IS S703 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 703 IS ‘‘(2) to a military housing official of the De- 1 partment of Defense or a commander of a military 2 installation to track a work request made through 3 such system by a member of the armed forces or 4 family member of a member of the armed forces sta- 5 tioned at the military installation under the jurisdic- 6 tion of that official or commander; and 7 ‘‘(3) to landlord responsible for a housing unit 8 acquired or constructed under this subchapter to 9 track a work request made through such system by 10 a member of the armed forces or family member of 11 a member of the armed forces living in such unit. 12 ‘‘(c) INFORMATION.—The system maintained under 13 subsection (a) shall include such relevant information as 14 the Secretary considers necessary. 15 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 16 is authorized to be appropriated to the Department of De- 17 fense $5,000,000 to carry out this section. 18 ‘‘§ 2889. Investigation of allegations of retaliation re- 19 lating to complaints 20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General of the 21 Department of Defense and the Inspector General of each 22 military department may investigate allegations of retalia- 23 tion against a member of the armed forces in connection 24 with that member reporting a complaint relating to a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:47 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S703.IS S703 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 703 IS housing unit acquired or constructed under this sub- 1 chapter. 2 ‘‘(b) SUBMITTAL TO CONGRESS.—The Inspector 3 General of the Department and the Inspector General of 4 each military department shall submit to Congress the re- 5 sults of any investigation conducted by that person under 6 subsection (a).’’. 7 (b) LANDLORD DEFINED.—Section 2871 of such title 8 is amended— 9 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (7) and (8) as 10 paragraphs (8) and (9), respectively; and 11 (2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol- 12 lowing new paragraph (7): 13 ‘‘(7) The term ‘landlord’ means an eligible enti- 14 ty or lessor who owns, manages, or is otherwise re- 15 sponsible for a housing unit under this subchapter.’’. 16 (c) ESTABLISHMENT OF SYSTEM.—The electronic 17 work order system to be maintained under section 2888 18 of such title, as added by subsection (a), shall be— 19 (1) created and tested not later than two years 20 after the date of the enactment of this Act; and 21 (2) implemented throughout the Department of 22 Defense not later than three years after such date 23 of enactment. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:47 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S703.IS S703 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 703 IS (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 1 at the beginning of chapter 169 of such title is amended 2 by adding at the end the following new items: 3 ‘‘2887. Health, safety, and environmental hazards. ‘‘2888. Electronic work order system. ‘‘2889. Investigation of allegations of retaliation relating to complaints.’’. SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF PAY REQUIRED BY MEMBERS 4 OF THE ARMED FORCES RELATING TO PRI- 5 VATE MILITARY HOUSING UNITS. 6 Section 2886 of title 10, United States Code, is 7 amended by adding at the end the following new sub- 8 section: 9 ‘‘(d) TREATMENT OF DEPOSITS AND RELATED 10 FEES.—(1) The prohibition on imposing supplemental 11 payments under subsection (a) shall include a prohibition 12 on requiring the payment of the following: 13 ‘‘(A) A deposit. 14 ‘‘(B) Any fee or penalty associated with ending 15 a lease except for a fee relating to normal wear and 16 tear. 17 ‘‘(2)(A) Any fee relating to normal wear and tear de- 18 scribed in paragraph (1)(B) shall be reviewed and ap- 19 proved by a military housing official of the Department 20 of Defense before being imposed. 21 ‘‘(B) A member of the armed forces who is subject 22 to a fee described in subparagraph (A) may participate 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:47 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S703.IS S703 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 703 IS in the review conducted under such subparagraph and 1 may appeal the decision made under such review.’’. 2 SEC. 4. INFORMATION ON LEGAL SERVICES PROVIDED TO 3 MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES HARMED 4 BY HEALTH, SAFETY, OR ENVIRONMENTAL 5 HAZARDS AT MILITARY HOUSING. 6 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 7 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 8 shall submit to Congress a report on the legal services that 9 the Secretary may provide to members of the Armed 10 Forces who have been harmed by a health, safety, or envi- 11 ronmental hazard while living in military housing. 12 (b) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—The Secretary 13 of each military department shall make the information 14 contained in the report submitted under subsection (a) 15 available to members of the Armed Forces on all military 16 installations in the United States. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:47 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S703.IS S703 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS