Get Toxic Substances Out of Schools Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4277 To amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to reauthorize healthy high- performance schools, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 22, 2020 Mr. MARKEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to reauthorize healthy high-performance schools, 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 ‘‘Get Toxic Substances 4 Out of Schools Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF HEALTHY HIGH-PERFORM- 6 ANCE SCHOOLS. 7 (a) GRANTS FOR HEALTHY SCHOOL ENVIRON- 8 MENTS.—Section 501 of the Toxic Substances Control Act 9 (15 U.S.C. 2695) is amended— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:34 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4277.IS S4277 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4277 IS (1) in subsection (a)— 1 (A) by striking paragraph (1) and insert- 2 ing the following: 3 ‘‘(1) providing technical assistance to local edu- 4 cational agencies (as defined in section 8101 of the 5 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 6 (20 U.S.C. 7801)), State-licensed childcare facilities, 7 and schools in addressing environmental problems, 8 contaminants, hazardous substances, and pollutant 9 emissions, as described in section 504(a)(3)(A);’’; 10 (B) in paragraph (2)— 11 (i) in the matter preceding subpara- 12 graph (A), by striking ‘‘and implementa- 13 tion’’; and 14 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 15 (I) by inserting ‘‘as described in 16 section 504(a)(3)(A),’’ after ‘‘pollut- 17 ant emissions,’’; and 18 (II) by striking the period at the 19 end and inserting a semicolon; and 20 (C) by adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘(3) development of State-level interagency 22 memoranda of understanding for the implementation 23 of programs developed under paragraph (2); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:34 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4277.IS S4277 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4277 IS ‘‘(4) performing inspections, testing, and moni- 1 toring for contaminants, hazardous substances, and 2 pollutant emissions, as described in section 3 504(a)(3)(A), within schools; and 4 ‘‘(5) carrying out remediation measures for con- 5 taminants, hazardous substances, and pollutant 6 emissions, as described in section 504(a)(3)(A), 7 within schools.’’; and 8 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 9 following: 10 ‘‘(b) STATE PLAN.—To be eligible to receive a grant 11 under subsection (a), a State shall submit to the Adminis- 12 trator a plan that describes the means by which the State 13 will— 14 ‘‘(1) ensure coordinated programmatic and 15 funding efforts across relevant State-level agencies, 16 including education, environment, health, and en- 17 ergy-related agencies; and 18 ‘‘(2) use the grant to make long-term improve- 19 ments to— 20 ‘‘(A) schools; and 21 ‘‘(B) State-licensed childcare facilities, if 22 applicable. 23 ‘‘(c) GRANTEE DATA COLLECTION AND REPORT- 24 ING.—A State that receives a grant under subsection (a) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:34 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4277.IS S4277 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4277 IS shall submit to the Administrator an annual report de- 1 scribing— 2 ‘‘(1) the amount of the grant funds that were 3 used for the activities described in paragraphs (4) 4 and (5) of subsection (a) during the previous year; 5 and 6 ‘‘(2) any inspections, testing, and monitoring 7 performed, and remediation measures carried out, 8 during the previous year using the grant, including 9 the number of schools and the number of students 10 that were directly served. 11 ‘‘(d) REPORTS.— 12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 13 after the date of enactment of this subsection, and 14 every 2 years thereafter, the Administrator shall 15 submit to the Committee on Environment and Pub- 16 lic Works and the Committee on Health, Education, 17 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, and the Com- 18 mittee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee 19 on Education and Labor of the House of Represent- 20 atives, a report describing the results of the grant 21 program under this section, including a description 22 of— 23 ‘‘(A) the States that were awarded a grant 24 under subsection (a); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:34 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4277.IS S4277 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4277 IS ‘‘(B) the activities for which the States de- 1 scribed in subparagraph (A) used the grant. 2 ‘‘(2) PERIOD COVERED.—A report submitted 3 under paragraph (1) shall cover— 4 ‘‘(A) in the case of the initial report, the 5 period beginning on the date of enactment of 6 this section and ending on the date of submis- 7 sion of the report; and 8 ‘‘(B) in the case of each report thereafter, 9 the 2-year period preceding the date of submis- 10 sion of the report.’’. 11 (b) PUBLIC OUTREACH.—Section 503 of the Toxic 12 Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2695b) is amended— 13 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘, until the ex- 14 piration of authority described in section 501(b)’’; 15 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘children’’ and 16 inserting ‘‘students’’; and 17 (3) by adding at the end the following: 18 ‘‘(c) OUTREACH TO STATES.—The Administrator 19 shall— 20 ‘‘(1) carry out periodic outreach to States to 21 make available information relating to— 22 ‘‘(A) the exposure of school children to en- 23 vironmental hazards in school facilities; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:34 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4277.IS S4277 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4277 IS ‘‘(B) regulations and guidelines applicable 1 to environmental hazards in school facilities; 2 and 3 ‘‘(C) other materials that may assist 4 States in addressing environmental problems, 5 contaminants, hazardous substances, and pol- 6 lutant emissions, as described in section 7 504(a)(3)(A); and 8 ‘‘(2) annually convene school stakeholders, in- 9 cluding parents, child health experts, researchers, 10 nonprofit organizations, and States that receive 11 grants under section 501 to meet with employees of 12 the Environmental Protection Agency and other 13 Federal agencies to discuss topics relating to— 14 ‘‘(A) the environmental health of children 15 at school; and 16 ‘‘(B) the prevention, identification, and re- 17 mediation of contaminants in indoor air and 18 other environmental health risks and threats re- 19 lating to school buildings and grounds.’’. 20 (c) ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM.—Section 21 504 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 22 2695c) is amended— 23 (1) in subsection (a)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:34 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4277.IS S4277 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4277 IS (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 1 by inserting ‘‘and not less frequently than once 2 every 10 years thereafter,’’ after ‘‘section,’’; 3 (B) in paragraph (3)(A)— 4 (i) by redesignating clauses (v) 5 through (vii) as clauses (vi) through (viii), 6 respectively; and 7 (ii) by inserting after clause (iv) the 8 following: 9 ‘‘(v) polychlorinated biphenyls;’’; 10 (C) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 11 the end; 12 (D) in paragraph (7), by striking the pe- 13 riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 14 (E) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(8) provides technical assistance on best prac- 16 tices for the removal, remediation, and disposal of 17 polychlorinated biphenyls and other hazardous sub- 18 stances; and 19 ‘‘(9) collects an inventory of schools affected by 20 polychlorinated biphenyls and other hazardous sub- 21 stances.’’; and 22 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 23 following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:34 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4277.IS S4277 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4277 IS ‘‘(b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—To 1 the maximum extent practicable, the Administrator shall 2 make publicly available— 3 ‘‘(1) information relating to the exposure of 4 children to environmental hazards in school facili- 5 ties; and 6 ‘‘(2) an inventory of schools in which poly- 7 chlorinated biphenyls have been found in light bal- 8 lasts or other media.’’. 9 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 10 505 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 11 2695d) is amended by striking ‘‘There are authorized’’ 12 and all that follows through ‘‘2013’’ and inserting ‘‘There 13 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this title 14 $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2026’’. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:34 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4277.IS S4277 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS