Nicholas and Zachary Burt Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act of 2019

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1618 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation AN ACT To encourage States to require the installation of residential carbon monoxide detectors in homes, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1618.RFS H1618 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 HR 1618 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nicholas and Zachary 2 Burt Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act of 3 2019’’. 4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS. 5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 6 (1) Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas 7 produced by burning any fuel. Exposure to un- 8 healthy levels of carbon monoxide can lead to carbon 9 monoxide poisoning, a serious health condition that 10 could result in death. 11 (2) Unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning 12 from motor vehicles and the abnormal operation of 13 fuel-burning appliances, such as furnaces, water 14 heaters, portable generators, and stoves, kills more 15 than 400 people each year and sends more than 16 15,000 to hospital emergency rooms for treatment. 17 (3) Research shows that purchasing and install- 18 ing carbon monoxide alarms close to the sleeping 19 areas in residential homes and other dwelling units 20 can help avoid fatalities. 21 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 22 gress that Congress should promote the purchase and in- 23 stallation of carbon monoxide alarms in residential homes 24 and dwelling units nationwide in order to promote the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1618.RFS H1618 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 HR 1618 RFS health and public safety of citizens throughout the United 1 States. 2 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 3 In this Act: 4 (1) CARBON MONOXIDE ALARM.—The term 5 ‘‘carbon monoxide alarm’’ means a device or system 6 that— 7 (A) detects carbon monoxide; and 8 (B) is intended to alarm at carbon mon- 9 oxide concentrations below those that could 10 cause a loss of ability to react to the dangers 11 of carbon monoxide exposure. 12 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 13 means the Consumer Product Safety Commission. 14 (3) COMPLIANT CARBON MONOXIDE ALARM.— 15 The term ‘‘compliant carbon monoxide alarm’’ 16 means a carbon monoxide alarm that complies with 17 the most current version of— 18 (A) the American National Standard for 19 Single and Multiple Station Carbon Monoxide 20 Alarms (ANSI/UL 2034); or 21 (B) the American National Standard for 22 Gas and Vapor Detectors and Sensors (ANSI/ 23 UL 2075). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1618.RFS H1618 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 HR 1618 RFS (4) DWELLING UNIT.—The term ‘‘dwelling 1 unit’’ means a room or suite of rooms used for 2 human habitation, and includes a single family resi- 3 dence as well as each living unit of a multiple family 4 residence (including apartment buildings) and each 5 living unit in a mixed use building. 6 (5) FIRE CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS.— 7 The term ‘‘fire code enforcement officials’’ means of- 8 ficials of the fire safety code enforcement agency of 9 a State or local government. 10 (6) INTERNATIONAL FIRE CODE.—The term 11 ‘‘IFC’’ means— 12 (A) the 2015 or 2018 edition of the Inter- 13 national Fire Code published by the Inter- 14 national Code Council; or 15 (B) any amended or similar successor code 16 pertaining to the proper installation of carbon 17 monoxide alarms in dwelling units. 18 (7) INTERNATIONAL RESIDENTIAL CODE.—The 19 term ‘‘IRC’’ means— 20 (A) the 2015 or 2018 edition of the Inter- 21 national Residential Code published by the 22 International Code Council; or 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1618.RFS H1618 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 HR 1618 RFS (B) any amended or similar successor code 1 pertaining to the proper installation of carbon 2 monoxide alarms in dwelling units. 3 (8) NFPA 72.—The term ‘‘NFPA 72’’ 4 means— 5 (A) the National Fire Alarm and Signaling 6 Code issued in 2019 by the National Fire Pro- 7 tection Association; or 8 (B) any amended or similar successor 9 standard pertaining to the proper installation of 10 carbon monoxide alarms in dwelling units. 11 (9) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean- 12 ing given such term in section 3 of the Consumer 13 Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2052) and includes 14 the Northern Mariana Islands and any political sub- 15 division of a State. 16 SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM FOR CARBON MONOXIDE POI- 17 SONING PREVENTION. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap- 19 propriations authorized under subsection (f), the Commis- 20 sion shall establish a grant program to provide assistance 21 to eligible States to carry out the carbon monoxide poi- 22 soning prevention activities described in subsection (e). 23 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—For purposes of this section, an 24 eligible State is any State that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1618.RFS H1618 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 HR 1618 RFS (1) demonstrates to the satisfaction of the 1 Commission that the State has adopted a statute or 2 a rule, regulation, or similar measure with the force 3 and effect of law, requiring compliant carbon mon- 4 oxide alarms to be installed in dwelling units in ac- 5 cordance with NFPA 72, the IFC, or the IRC; and 6 (2) submits an application to the Commission 7 at such time, in such form, and containing such ad- 8 ditional information as the Commission may require, 9 which application may be filed on behalf of the State 10 by the fire code enforcement officials for such State. 11 (c) GRANT AMOUNT.—The Commission shall deter- 12 mine the amount of the grants awarded under this section. 13 (d) SELECTION OF GRANT RECIPIENTS.—In select- 14 ing eligible States for the award of grants under this sec- 15 tion, the Commission shall give favorable consideration to 16 an eligible State that— 17 (1) requires the installation of compliant carbon 18 monoxide alarms in new or existing educational fa- 19 cilities, childcare facilities, health care facilities, 20 adult dependent care facilities, government build- 21 ings, restaurants, theaters, lodging establishments, 22 or dwelling units— 23 (A) within which a fuel-burning appliance 24 is installed, including a furnace, boiler, water 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1618.RFS H1618 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 HR 1618 RFS heater, fireplace, or any other apparatus, appli- 1 ance, or device that burns fuel; or 2 (B) which has an attached garage; and 3 (2) has developed a strategy to protect vulner- 4 able populations such as children, the elderly, or 5 low-income households. 6 (e) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible State receiving a 8 grant under this section may use such grant— 9 (A) to purchase and install compliant car- 10 bon monoxide alarms in the dwelling units of 11 low-income families or elderly persons, facilities 12 that commonly serve children or the elderly, in- 13 cluding childcare facilities, public schools, and 14 senior centers, or student dwelling units owned 15 by public universities; 16 (B) to train State or local fire code en- 17 forcement officials in the proper enforcement of 18 State or local laws concerning compliant carbon 19 monoxide alarms and the installation of such 20 alarms in accordance with NFPA 72, the IFC, 21 or the IRC; 22 (C) for the development and dissemination 23 of training materials, instructors, and any other 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1618.RFS H1618 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 HR 1618 RFS costs related to the training sessions authorized 1 by this subsection; and 2 (D) to educate the public about the risk 3 associated with carbon monoxide as a poison 4 and the importance of proper carbon monoxide 5 alarm use. 6 (2) LIMITATIONS.— 7 (A) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more 8 than 10 percent of any grant amount received 9 under this section may be used to cover admin- 10 istrative costs not directly related to training 11 described in paragraph (1)(B). 12 (B) PUBLIC OUTREACH.—Not more than 13 25 percent of any grant amount received under 14 this section may be used to cover costs of activi- 15 ties described in paragraph (1)(D). 16 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 18 there is authorized to be appropriated to the Com- 19 mission, for each of the fiscal years 2020 through 20 2024, $2,000,000, which shall remain available until 21 expended to carry out this Act. 22 (2) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EX- 23 PENSES.—Not more than 10 percent of the amounts 24 appropriated or otherwise made available to carry 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1618.RFS H1618 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 HR 1618 RFS out this section may be used for administrative ex- 1 penses. 2 (3) RETENTION OF AMOUNTS.—Any amounts 3 appropriated pursuant to this subsection that re- 4 main unexpended and unobligated on September 30, 5 2024, shall be retained by the Commission and cred- 6 ited to the appropriations account that funds the en- 7 forcement of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 8 U.S.C. 2051). 9 (g) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the last 10 day of each fiscal year for which grants are awarded under 11 this section, the Commission shall submit to Congress a 12 report that evaluates the implementation of the grant pro- 13 gram required by this section. 14 Passed the House of Representatives September 17, 2019. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1618.RFS H1618 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS