Pandemic Effects on Home Safety and Tourism Act

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8121 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 18, 2020 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation AN ACT To require the Consumer Product Safety Commission to study the effect of the COVID–19 pandemic on injuries and deaths associated with consumer products and to direct the Secretary of Commerce to study and report on the effects of the COVID–19 pandemic on the travel and tourism industry in the United States. 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 21:40 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8121.RFS H8121 2 HR 8121 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 2 ‘‘Pandemic Effects on Home Safety and Tourism Act’’. 3 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 4 this Act is as follows: 5 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I—COVID–19 HOME SAFETY Sec. 101. Short title. Sec. 102. Study and report on the effect of the COVID–19 public health emer- gency on injuries and deaths from consumer products. TITLE II—PROTECTING TOURISM IN THE UNITED STATES Sec. 201. Short title. Sec. 202. Study and report on effects of COVID–19 pandemic on travel and tourism industry in United States. TITLE I—COVID–19 HOME 6 SAFETY 7 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 8 This title may be cited as the ‘‘COVID–19 Home 9 Safety Act’’. 10 SEC. 102. STUDY AND REPORT ON THE EFFECT OF THE 11 COVID–19 PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY ON 12 INJURIES AND DEATHS FROM CONSUMER 13 PRODUCTS. 14 (a) COVID–19 REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 15 3 months after the date of enactment of this section and 16 every 3 months thereafter for the duration of the COVID– 17 19 public health emergency, the Consumer Product Safety 18 Commission shall submit to the Committee on Energy and 19 Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Com- 20 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:40 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8121.RFS H8121 3 HR 8121 RFS mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 1 Senate, and make publicly available, a report on the effect 2 of the COVID–19 public health emergency on injuries and 3 deaths from consumer products. 4 (b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report shall include 5 the following: 6 (1) Relevant data and statistics from— 7 (A) the data sources of the Commission; 8 (B) other appropriate agencies; 9 (C) media reports; 10 (D) poison control centers, to the extent 11 practical; and 12 (E) any other relevant data sources. 13 (2) An identification of trends in injuries and 14 deaths from consumer products, comparing data 15 from representative time periods before and during 16 the COVID–19 public health emergency. 17 (3) An identification of subpopulations that 18 have experienced elevated risk of injury or death 19 from consumer products during the COVID–19 pub- 20 lic health emergency, such as minorities, infants, 21 people with disabilities, children, or the elderly. 22 (4) An identification of where most injuries or 23 deaths from consumer products during the COVID– 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:40 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8121.RFS H8121 4 HR 8121 RFS 19 public health emergency are taking place, such as 1 the type of building or outdoor environment. 2 (5) A specification about whether consumer 3 products associated with a substantial number of in- 4 juries or deaths during the COVID–19 public health 5 emergency are— 6 (A) under recall; 7 (B) subject to a voluntary consumer prod- 8 uct safety standard; or 9 (C) subject to a mandatory consumer prod- 10 uct safety standard. 11 (6) An identification of emerging consumer 12 products that are posing new risks to consumers. 13 (c) COVID–19 PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY DE- 14 FINED.—The term ‘‘COVID–19 public health emergency’’ 15 means a public health emergency declared pursuant to sec- 16 tion 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 17 247d) as a result of confirmed cases of 2019 novel 18 coronavirus (COVID–19), including any renewal thereof. 19 TITLE II—PROTECTING TOUR- 20 ISM IN THE UNITED STATES 21 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 22 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Tourism 23 in the United States Act’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:40 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8121.RFS H8121 5 HR 8121 RFS SEC. 202. STUDY AND REPORT ON EFFECTS OF COVID–19 1 PANDEMIC ON TRAVEL AND TOURISM INDUS- 2 TRY IN UNITED STATES. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 4 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consulta- 5 tion with the United States Travel and Tourism Advisory 6 Board and the head of any other Federal agency the Sec- 7 retary considers appropriate, shall complete a study on the 8 effects of the COVID–19 pandemic on the travel and tour- 9 ism industry, including various segments of the travel and 10 tourism industry, such as domestic, international, leisure, 11 business, conventions, meetings, and events. 12 (b) MATTERS FOR CONSIDERATION.—In conducting 13 the study required by subsection (a) and the interim study 14 required by subsection (e)(1), the Secretary shall con- 15 sider— 16 (1) changes in employment rates in the travel 17 and tourism industry during the pandemic period; 18 (2) changes in revenues of businesses in the 19 travel and tourism industry during the pandemic pe- 20 riod; 21 (3) changes in employment and sales in indus- 22 tries related to the travel and tourism industry, and 23 changes in contributions of the travel and tourism 24 industry to such related industries, during the pan- 25 demic period; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:40 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8121.RFS H8121 6 HR 8121 RFS (4) the effects attributable to the changes de- 1 scribed in paragraphs (1) through (3) in the travel 2 and tourism industry and such related industries on 3 the overall economy of the United States during the 4 pandemic period and the projected effects of such 5 changes on the overall economy of the United States 6 following the pandemic period; and 7 (5) any additional matters the Secretary con- 8 siders appropriate. 9 (c) CONSULTATION AND PUBLIC COMMENT.—In con- 10 ducting the study required by subsection (a), the Secretary 11 shall— 12 (1) consult with representatives of— 13 (A) the small business sector; 14 (B) the restaurant or food service sector; 15 (C) the hotel and alternative accommoda- 16 tions sector; 17 (D) the attractions or recreations sector; 18 (E) the travel distribution services sector; 19 (F) destination marketing organizations; 20 (G) State tourism offices; and 21 (H) the passenger air, railroad, and rental 22 car sectors; and 23 (2) provide an opportunity for public comment 24 and advice relevant to conducting the study. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:40 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8121.RFS H8121 7 HR 8121 RFS (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 6 1 months after the date on which the study required by sub- 2 section (a) is completed, the Secretary, in consultation 3 with the United States Travel and Tourism Advisory 4 Board and the head of any other Federal agency the Sec- 5 retary considers appropriate, shall submit to the Com- 6 mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep- 7 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 8 and Transportation of the Senate, and make publicly 9 available on the website of the Department of Commerce, 10 a report that contains— 11 (1) the results of such study; and 12 (2) policy recommendations for promoting and 13 assisting the travel and tourism industry. 14 (e) INTERIM STUDY AND REPORT.—Not later than 15 3 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 16 retary, after consultation with relevant stakeholders, in- 17 cluding the United States Travel and Tourism Advisory 18 Board, shall— 19 (1) complete an interim study, which shall be 20 based on data available at the time when the study 21 is conducted and provide a framework for the study 22 required by subsection (a), on the effects of the 23 COVID–19 pandemic (as of such time) on the travel 24 and tourism industry, including various segments of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:40 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8121.RFS H8121 8 HR 8121 RFS the travel and tourism industry, such as domestic, 1 international, leisure, business, conventions, meet- 2 ings, and events; and 3 (2) submit to the Committee on Energy and 4 Commerce of the House of Representatives and the 5 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor- 6 tation of the Senate, and make publicly available on 7 the website of the Department of Commerce, an in- 8 terim report that contains the results of the interim 9 study required by paragraph (1). 10 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 11 (1) the term ‘‘pandemic period’’ has the mean- 12 ing given the term ‘‘emergency period’’ in section 13 1135(g)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 14 1320b–5(g)(1)(B)), excluding any portion of such 15 period after the date that is 1 year after the date 16 of the enactment of this Act; 17 (2) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 18 of Commerce; and 19 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:40 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8121.RFS H8121 9 HR 8121 RFS (3) the term ‘‘travel and tourism industry’’ 1 means the travel and tourism industry in the United 2 States. 3 Passed the House of Representatives November 17, 2020. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:40 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8121.RFS H8121