Guaranteeing Equipment Safety for Firefighters Act of 2019

II Calendar No. 493 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 2525 To require the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology to conduct a study of personal protective equipment worn by firefighters to determine the prevalence and concentration of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself and Mr. GARDNER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation JULY 22, 2020 Reported by Mr. WICKER, with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To require the Director of the National Institute of Stand- ards and Technology to conduct a study of personal protective equipment worn by firefighters to determine the prevalence and concentration of per- and polyfluoroalkyl 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2525.RS S2525 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2525 RS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Guaranteeing Equip- 2 ment Safety for Firefighters Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECH- 4 NOLOGY STUDY ON PER- AND 5 POLYFLUOROALKYL SUBSTANCES IN PER- 6 SONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT WORN BY 7 FIREFIGHTERS. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 9 enactment of this Act, the Director of the National Insti- 10 tute of Standards and Technology shall, in consultation 11 with the Director of the National Institute for Occupa- 12 tional Safety and Health, commence a study of the con- 13 tents and composition of new and unused personal protec- 14 tive equipment worn by firefighters. 15 (b) CONTENTS OF STUDY.—In carrying out the study 16 required by subsection (a), the Director of the National 17 Institute of Standards and Technology shall examine— 18 (1) the identity, prevalence, and concentration 19 of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (commonly 20 known as ‘‘PFAS’’) in the personal protective equip- 21 ment worn by firefighters; 22 (2) the conditions and extent to which per- and 23 polyfluoroalkyl substances are released into the envi- 24 ronment over time from the degradation of personal 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2525.RS S2525 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2525 RS protective equipment from normal use by fire- 1 fighters; and 2 (3) the relative risk of exposure to per- and 3 polyfluoroalkyl substances faced by firefighters 4 from— 5 (A) their use of personal protective equip- 6 ment; and 7 (B) degradation of personal protective 8 equipment from normal use by firefighters. 9 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 10 of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall submit 11 to Congress a report describing— 12 (1) the findings of the Director with respect to 13 the study carried out under subsection (a); and 14 (2) recommendations on what additional re- 15 search or technical improvements to personal protec- 16 tive equipment materials or components should be 17 pursued to avoid unnecessary occupational exposure 18 among firefighters to per- and polyfluoroalkyl sub- 19 stances through personal protective equipment. 20 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2525.RS S2525 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2525 RS SEC. 3. RESEARCH ON PER- AND POLYFLUOROALKYL SUB- 1 STANCES IN PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIP- 2 MENT WORN BY FIREFIGHTERS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 540 days after the 4 date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Na- 5 tional Institute of Standards and Technology shall— 6 (1) issue a solicitation for research proposals to 7 carry out the research recommendations identified in 8 the report submitted under section 2(c); and 9 (2) award grants to applicants that submit re- 10 search proposals to develop safe alternatives to per- 11 and polyfluoroalkyl substances in personal protective 12 equipment. 13 (b) CRITERIA.—The Director shall select research 14 proposals to receive a grant under subsection (a) on the 15 basis of merit, using criteria identified by the Director, 16 including the likelihood that the research results will ad- 17 dress the findings of the Director with respect to the study 18 conducted under section 2(a). 19 (c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Any entity or group of 2 20 or more entities may submit to the Director a research 21 proposal in response to the solicitation for research pro- 22 posals under subsection (a), including— 23 (1) State and local agencies; 24 (2) public institutions, including public institu- 25 tions of higher education; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2525.RS S2525 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2525 RS (3) private corporations; and 1 (4) nonprofit organizations. 2 (d) FUNDING.— 3 (1) REQUESTS.—Beginning in the first full fis- 4 cal year following the date of the enactment of this 5 Act, and not less frequently than once each year 6 thereafter for 2 years, the Director may request 7 such funding as the Director considers necessary to 8 carry out this section. 9 (2) LIMITATION.—In carrying out this section, 10 the Director may not expend or obligate more than 11 $5,000,000 in any 1 fiscal year. 12 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY FOR DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL IN- 13 STITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY 14 TO CONSULT WITH EXPERTS ON MATTERS 15 RELATING TO PER- AND POLYFLUOROALKYL 16 SUBSTANCES. 17 In carrying out this Act, the Director of the National 18 Institute of Standards and Technology may consult with 19 Federal agencies, nongovernmental organizations, State 20 and local governments, and science and research institu- 21 tions determined by the Director to have scientific or ma- 22 terial interest in reducing unnecessary occupational expo- 23 sure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances by firefighters. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2525.RS S2525 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2525 RS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Guaranteeing Equip- 2 ment Safety for Firefighters Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECH- 4 NOLOGY STUDY ON PER- AND 5 POLYFLUOROALKYL SUBSTANCES IN PER- 6 SONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT WORN BY 7 FIREFIGHTERS. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after the 9 date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Na- 10 tional Institute of Standards and Technology shall, in part- 11 nership with the Director of the National Institute for Occu- 12 pational Safety and Health, complete a study of the con- 13 tents and composition of new and unused personal protec- 14 tive equipment worn by firefighters. 15 (b) CONTENTS OF STUDY.—In carrying out the study 16 required by subsection (a), the Director of the National In- 17 stitute of Standards and Technology shall examine— 18 (1) the identity, prevalence, and concentration of 19 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (commonly known 20 as ‘‘PFAS’’) in the personal protective equipment 21 worn by firefighters; 22 (2) the conditions and extent to which per- and 23 polyfluoroalkyl substances are released into the envi- 24 ronment over time from the degradation of personal 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2525.RS S2525 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2525 RS protective equipment from normal use by firefighters; 1 and 2 (3) the relative risk of exposure to per- and 3 polyfluoroalkyl substances faced by firefighters from— 4 (A) their use of personal protective equip- 5 ment; and 6 (B) degradation of personal protective 7 equipment from normal use by firefighters. 8 (c) REPORTS.— 9 (1) PROGRESS REPORTS.—Not less frequently 10 than once each year for the duration of the study con- 11 ducted under subsection (a), the Director shall submit 12 to Congress a report on the progress of the Director 13 in conducting such study. 14 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 90 days 15 after the date on which the Director completes the 16 study required by subsection (a), the Director shall 17 submit to Congress a report describing— 18 (A) the findings of the Director with respect 19 to the study; and 20 (B) recommendations on what additional 21 research or technical improvements to personal 22 protective equipment materials or components 23 should be pursued to avoid unnecessary occupa- 24 tional exposure among firefighters to per- and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2525.RS S2525 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2525 RS polyfluoroalkyl substances through personal pro- 1 tective equipment. 2 SEC. 3. RESEARCH ON PER- AND POLYFLUOROALKYL SUB- 3 STANCES IN PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIP- 4 MENT WORN BY FIREFIGHTERS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 6 date of the submittal of the report required by section 7 2(c)(2), the Director of the National Institute of Standards 8 and Technology shall— 9 (1) issue a solicitation for research proposals to 10 carry out the research recommendations identified in 11 the report submitted under section 2(c); and 12 (2) award grants to applicants that submit re- 13 search proposals to develop safe alternatives to per- 14 and polyfluoroalkyl substances in personal protective 15 equipment. 16 (b) CRITERIA.—The Director shall select research pro- 17 posals to receive a grant under subsection (a) on the basis 18 of merit, using criteria identified by the Director, including 19 the likelihood that the research results will address the find- 20 ings of the Director with respect to the study conducted 21 under section 2(a). 22 (c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Any entity or group of 2 or 23 more entities may submit to the Director a research pro- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2525.RS S2525 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2525 RS posal in response to the solicitation for research proposals 1 under subsection (a), including— 2 (1) State and local agencies; 3 (2) public institutions, including public institu- 4 tions of higher education; 5 (3) private corporations; and 6 (4) nonprofit organizations. 7 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be ap- 9 propriated to the Director such sums as may be nec- 10 essary to carry out this section. 11 (2) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds made 12 available to carry out this section shall supplement 13 and not supplant funds made available to the Direc- 14 tor for other purposes. 15 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY FOR DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL IN- 16 STITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY 17 TO CONSULT WITH EXPERTS ON MATTERS RE- 18 LATING TO PER- AND POLYFLUOROALKYL 19 SUBSTANCES. 20 In carrying out this Act, the Director of the National 21 Institute of Standards and Technology may consult with 22 Federal agencies, nongovernmental organizations, State 23 and local governments, and science and research institu- 24 tions determined by the Director to have scientific or mate- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2525.RS S2525 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2525 RS rial interest in reducing unnecessary occupational exposure 1 to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances by firefighters. 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2525.RS S2525 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2525.RS S2525 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS Calendar No. 493 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 2525 A BILL To require the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology to conduct a study of personal protective equipment worn by fire- fighters to determine the prevalence and con- centration of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, and for other purposes. JULY 22, 2020 Reported with an amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S2525.RS S2525 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS