CO ALERTS Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2160 To require carbon monoxide alarms in certain federally assisted housing, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 18, 2019 Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina (for himself and Mr. MENENDEZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To require carbon monoxide alarms in certain federally assisted housing, 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 ‘‘Carbon Monoxide 4 Alarms Leading Every Resident To Safety Act of 2019’’ 5 or the ‘‘CO ALERTS Act of 2019’’. 6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7 Congress finds that— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2160.IS S2160 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2160 IS (1) carbon monoxide alarms are not required by 1 federally assisted housing programs, when not re- 2 quired by State or local codes; 3 (2) numerous federally assisted housing resi- 4 dents have lost their lives due to carbon monoxide 5 poisoning; 6 (3) the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning 7 occur immediately and can result in death in a mat- 8 ter of minutes; 9 (4) carbon monoxide exposure can cause perma- 10 nent brain damage, life-threatening cardiac com- 11 plications, fetal death or miscarriage, and death, 12 among other harmful health conditions; 13 (5) carbon monoxide poisoning is especially 14 dangerous for unborn babies, children, elderly indi- 15 viduals, and individuals with cardiovascular disease, 16 among others with chronic health conditions; 17 (6) the majority of the 4,600,000 families re- 18 ceiving Federal housing assistance are families with 19 young children, elderly individuals, or individuals 20 with disabilities, making them especially vulnerable 21 to carbon monoxide poisoning; 22 (7) more than 400 people die and 50,000 addi- 23 tional people visit the emergency room annually as 24 a result of carbon monoxide poisoning; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2160.IS S2160 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2160 IS (8) carbon monoxide poisoning is entirely pre- 1 ventable and early detection is possible with the use 2 of carbon monoxide alarms; 3 (9) the Centers for Disease Control and Preven- 4 tion warns that carbon monoxide poisoning is en- 5 tirely preventable and recommends the installation 6 of carbon monoxide alarms; 7 (10) the Office of Lead Hazard Control and 8 Healthy Homes of the Department of Housing and 9 Urban Development recommends the installation of 10 carbon monoxide alarms as a best practice to keep 11 families and individuals safe and to protect health; 12 and 13 (11) in order to safeguard the health and well- 14 being of tenants in federally assisted housing, the 15 Federal Government should consider best practices 16 for primary prevention of carbon monoxide-related 17 incidents. 18 SEC. 3. CARBON MONOXIDE ALARMS IN FEDERALLY AS- 19 SISTED HOUSING. 20 (a) PUBLIC HOUSING, TENANT-BASED ASSISTANCE, 21 AND PROJECT-BASED ASSISTANCE.—The United States 22 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.) is amend- 23 ed— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2160.IS S2160 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2160 IS (1) in section 3(a) (42 U.S.C. 1437a(a)), by 1 adding at the end the following: 2 ‘‘(8) CARBON MONOXIDE ALARMS.—Each public 3 housing agency shall ensure that carbon monoxide 4 alarms are installed in each dwelling unit in public 5 housing owned or operated by the public housing 6 agency in a manner that meets or exceeds— 7 ‘‘(A) the standards described in chapters 9 8 and 11 of the 2018 publication of the Inter- 9 national Fire Code, as published by the Inter- 10 national Code Council; or 11 ‘‘(B) any other standards as may be adopt- 12 ed by the Secretary, including any relevant up- 13 dates to the International Fire Code, through a 14 notice published in the Federal Register.’’; and 15 (2) in section 8 (42 U.S.C. 1437f)— 16 (A) by inserting after subsection (i) the 17 following: 18 ‘‘(j) CARBON MONOXIDE ALARMS.—Each owner of a 19 dwelling unit receiving project-based assistance under this 20 section shall ensure that carbon monoxide alarms are in- 21 stalled in the dwelling unit in a manner that meets or ex- 22 ceeds— 23 ‘‘(1) the standards described in chapters 9 and 24 11 of the 2018 publication of the International Fire 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2160.IS S2160 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2160 IS Code, as published by the International Code Coun- 1 cil; or 2 ‘‘(2) any other standards as may be adopted by 3 the Secretary, including any relevant updates to the 4 International Fire Code, through a notice published 5 in the Federal Register.’’; and 6 (B) in subsection (o), by adding at the end 7 the following: 8 ‘‘(21) CARBON MONOXIDE ALARMS.—Each 9 dwelling unit receiving tenant-based assistance or 10 project-based assistance under this subsection shall 11 have carbon monoxide alarms installed in the dwell- 12 ing unit in a manner that meets or exceeds— 13 ‘‘(A) the standards described in chapters 9 14 and 11 of the 2018 publication of the Inter- 15 national Fire Code, as published by the Inter- 16 national Code Council; or 17 ‘‘(B) any other standards as may be adopt- 18 ed by the Secretary, including any relevant up- 19 dates to the International Fire Code, through a 20 notice published in the Federal Register.’’. 21 (b) SUPPORTIVE HOUSING FOR THE ELDERLY.— 22 Section 202(j) of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 23 1701q(j)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2160.IS S2160 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2160 IS ‘‘(9) CARBON MONOXIDE ALARMS.—Each owner 1 of a dwelling unit assisted under this section shall 2 ensure that carbon monoxide alarms are installed in 3 the dwelling unit in a manner that meets or ex- 4 ceeds— 5 ‘‘(A) the standards described in chapters 9 6 and 11 of the 2018 publication of the Inter- 7 national Fire Code, as published by the Inter- 8 national Code Council; or 9 ‘‘(B) any other standards as may be adopt- 10 ed by the Secretary, including any relevant up- 11 dates to the International Fire Code, through a 12 notice published in the Federal Register.’’. 13 (c) SUPPORTIVE HOUSING FOR PERSONS WITH DIS- 14 ABILITIES.—Section 811(j) of the Cranston-Gonzalez Na- 15 tional Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013(j)) is 16 amended by adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(7) CARBON MONOXIDE ALARMS.—Each dwell- 18 ing unit assisted under this section shall contain in- 19 stalled carbon monoxide alarms that meet or ex- 20 ceed— 21 ‘‘(A) the standards described in chapters 9 22 and 11 of the 2018 publication of the Inter- 23 national Fire Code, as published by the Inter- 24 national Code Council; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2160.IS S2160 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2160 IS ‘‘(B) any other standards as may be adopt- 1 ed by the Secretary, including any relevant up- 2 dates to the International Fire Code, through a 3 notice published in the Federal Register.’’. 4 (d) RURAL HOUSING.—Title V of the Housing Act 5 of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.) is amended— 6 (1) in section 514 (42 U.S.C. 1484), by adding 7 at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(j) Housing and related facilities constructed with 9 loans under this section shall contain installed carbon 10 monoxide alarms that meet or exceed— 11 ‘‘(1) the standards described in chapters 9 and 12 11 of the 2018 publication of the International Fire 13 Code, as published by the International Code Coun- 14 cil; or 15 ‘‘(2) any other standards as may be adopted by 16 the Secretary, including any relevant updates to the 17 International Fire Code, through a notice published 18 in the Federal Register.’’; and 19 (2) in section 515 (42 U.S.C. 1485)— 20 (A) in subsection (m), by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ 21 before ‘‘The Secretary shall establish’’; and 22 (B) by adding at the end the following: 23 ‘‘(2) Housing and related facilities rehabilitated or 24 repaired with amounts received under a loan made or in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2160.IS S2160 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2160 IS sured under this section shall contain installed carbon 1 monoxide alarms that meet or exceed— 2 ‘‘(A) the standards described in chapters 9 and 3 11 of the 2018 publication of the International Fire 4 Code, as published by the International Code Coun- 5 cil; or 6 ‘‘(B) any other standards as may be adopted by 7 the Secretary, including any relevant updates to the 8 International Fire Code, through a notice published 9 in the Federal Register.’’. 10 (e) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary of Housing and 11 Urban Development shall provide guidance to public hous- 12 ing agencies (as defined in section 3(b)(6) of the United 13 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)(6)) on 14 how to educate tenants on health hazards in the home, 15 including to carbon monoxide poisoning, lead poisoning, 16 asthma induced by housing-related allergens, and other 17 housing-related preventable outcomes, to help advance pri- 18 mary prevention and prevent future deaths and other 19 harms. 20 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 21 subsections (a) through (d) shall take effect on the date 22 that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 23 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 24 authorized to be appropriated to implement the provisions 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2160.IS S2160 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2160 IS of this section such sums as may be necessary for each 1 of fiscal years 2020 through 2024. 2 (h) NO PREEMPTION.—Nothing in the amendments 3 made by this section shall be construed to preempt or limit 4 the applicability of any State or local law relating to the 5 installation and maintenance of carbon monoxide alarms 6 in housing that requires standards that are more stringent 7 than the standards described in the amendments made by 8 this section. 9 SEC. 4. STUDY ON INCLUSION OF CARBON MONOXIDE 10 ALARMS IN OTHER UNITS. 11 The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 12 in consultation with the Consumer Product Safety Com- 13 mission, shall conduct a study and issue a publicly avail- 14 able report on requiring carbon monoxide alarms in feder- 15 ally assisted housing that is not covered in the amend- 16 ments made by section 3. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2160.IS S2160 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS