Correctional Facilities Occupational Safety and Health Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3220 To enhance coverage and oversight of occupational safety and health standards in correctional facilities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 11, 2023 Mr. CLEAVER (for himself, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. BROWN, Ms. NORTON, Ms. LEE of California, and Ms. JAYAPAL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addi- tion to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi- sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To enhance coverage and oversight of occupational safety and health standards in correctional facilities, 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 ‘‘Correctional Facilities 4 Occupational Safety and Health Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 May 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3220.IH H3220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3220 IH SEC. 2. COVERAGE OF INCARCERATED WORKERS UNDER 1 THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH 2 ACT OF 1970. 3 (a) DEFINITION OF CORRECTIONAL FACILITY.—Sec- 4 tion 3 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 5 (29 U.S.C. 652) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 6 lowing: 7 ‘‘(15) The term ‘correctional facility’ has the 8 meaning given the term in section 901(a) Omnibus 9 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 10 U.S.C. 10251(a)).’’. 11 (b) STATE PLANS.—Section 18 of the Occupational 12 Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 667) is amend- 13 ed— 14 (1) in subsection (c)— 15 (A) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘political 16 subdivisions,’’ and inserting ‘‘political subdivi- 17 sions and to all incarcerated workers,’’; and 18 (B) in paragraph (7)— 19 (i) by striking ‘‘(7) requires’’ and in- 20 serting ‘‘(7)(A) requires’’; and 21 (ii) by adding at the end the fol- 22 lowing: 23 ‘‘(B) requires the State to ensure that any pub- 24 lic agency of the State (or of a political subdivision 25 of the State) operating a correctional facility or con- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 May 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3220.IH H3220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3220 IH tracting with a private entity to operate such a facil- 1 ity, shall, not later than 2 years after the date of en- 2 actment of the Correctional Facilities Occupational 3 Safety and Health Act of 2023, and every year 4 thereafter, submit to the Attorney General and Con- 5 gress a report on— 6 ‘‘(i) the workplace safety and health condi- 7 tions at each such facility, and 8 ‘‘(ii) any potential noncompliance of each 9 such facility with the safety and health stand- 10 ards under the State plan, and’’; and 11 (2) by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION OF INCARCERATED WORKER.—In 13 this section, the term ‘incarcerated worker’ means an indi- 14 vidual, incarcerated or detained in a correctional facility 15 operated by a public agency of a State or political subdivi- 16 sion of a State (or by a private entity through a contract 17 with a State or political subdivision of a State), who per- 18 forms work offered or required by or through the correc- 19 tional facility, including work associated with prison work 20 programs, work release programs, State prison industries, 21 public works programs, restitution centers, correctional fa- 22 cility operations and maintenance, and private entities.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 May 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3220.IH H3220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3220 IH (c) FEDERAL PRISONS.—Section 19 of the Occupa- 1 tional Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 668) 2 is amended by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(e) BUREAU OF PRISONS.— 4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Bureau 5 of Prisons shall— 6 ‘‘(A) ensure that the occupational safety 7 and health program established and maintained 8 by the Director under subsection (a) shall apply 9 with respect to incarcerated workers in the 10 same manner as the program applies to employ- 11 ees of the Bureau of Prisons; and 12 ‘‘(B) agree to submit, not later than 2 13 years after the date of enactment of the Correc- 14 tional Facilities Occupational Safety and 15 Health Act of 2023, and every year thereafter, 16 to the Attorney General and Congress, a report 17 on— 18 ‘‘(i) the workplace safety and health 19 conditions at any correctional facility oper- 20 ated by the Bureau of Prisons or a private 21 entity contracting with Bureau of Prisons; 22 ‘‘(ii) any injury or death of any em- 23 ployee or incarcerated worker while per- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 May 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3220.IH H3220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3220 IH forming labor with respect to such facility; 1 and 2 ‘‘(iii) any potential noncompliance of 3 any such facility of such occupational safe- 4 ty and health program. 5 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION OF INCARCERATED WORK- 6 ER.—In this section, the term ‘incarcerated worker’ 7 means an individual, incarcerated or detained in a 8 correctional facility operated by the Bureau of Pris- 9 ons (or by a private entity through a contract with 10 the Bureau of Prisons), who performs work offered 11 or required by or through the correctional facility, 12 including work associated with prison work pro- 13 grams, work release programs, the UNICOR pro- 14 gram, public works programs, restitution centers, 15 correctional facility operations and maintenance, and 16 private entities.’’. 17 SEC. 3. INCENTIVES FOR STATES TO ENACT PROTECTIONS 18 FOR INCARCERATED WORKERS. 19 Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 20 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) is amend- 21 ed— 22 (1) in section 501 (34 U.S.C. 10152), by add- 23 ing at the end the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 May 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3220.IH H3220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3220 IH ‘‘(i) ANNUAL REPORT ON WORKPLACE SAFETY AND 1 HEALTH CONDITIONS.—Not later than 2 years after the 2 date of enactment of the Correctional Facilities Occupa- 3 tional Safety and Health Act of 2023 and annually there- 4 after, any State or unit of local government that receives 5 a grant under this section and operates a correctional fa- 6 cility or contracts with a private entity to operate a correc- 7 tional facility shall submit to the Attorney General and 8 Congress a report on— 9 ‘‘(1) the workplace safety and health conditions 10 at each such correctional facility; 11 ‘‘(2) any injury or death of any employee or in- 12 carcerated worker while performing work with re- 13 spect to any such correctional facility; and 14 ‘‘(3) any potential noncompliance of any such 15 correctional facility with the occupational safety and 16 health standards that apply to the correctional facil- 17 ity.’’; 18 (2) in section 502 (34 U.S.C. 10153)— 19 (A) by striking ‘‘(A) In general’’ and in- 20 serting ‘‘(a) In general’’; and 21 (B) in subsection (a), by adding at the end 22 the following: 23 ‘‘(7) A certification, to be verified by the Attor- 24 ney General, in consultation with the Assistant Sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 May 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3220.IH H3220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3220 IH retary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, 1 that— 2 ‘‘(A) the State or unit of local govern- 3 ment— 4 ‘‘(i) has provided workplace safety 5 and health protections for incarcerated 6 workers in correctional facilities, either by 7 legislative or executive action, that are at 8 least as effective in providing safe and 9 healthful employment and places of em- 10 ployment for incarcerated workers as the 11 comprehensive occupational safety and 12 health programs established by States 13 under section 18 of the Occupational Safe- 14 ty and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 15 667); or 16 ‘‘(ii) not later than the last day of the 17 fiscal year following the fiscal year to 18 which the application relates, will have pro- 19 vided the protections described in clause 20 (i), with the limitation that a certification 21 under this clause may only be submitted 22 one time; and 23 ‘‘(B) an appropriate State or local agency 24 monitors and enforces or will monitor or en- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 May 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3220.IH H3220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3220 IH force, as applicable, the safety and health pro- 1 tections described in subparagraph (A)(i).’’; 2 (3) in section 506 (34 U.S.C. 10157), by add- 3 ing at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(c) Of the total amount made available to carry out 5 this subpart for a fiscal year, the Attorney General, in con- 6 sultation with the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occu- 7 pational Safety and Health, shall reserve not less than 8 $20,000,000 for use by States and units of local govern- 9 ment to establish and implement workplace safety and 10 health protections for incarcerated workers in correctional 11 facilities.’’; and 12 (4) in section 901(a) (34 U.S.C. 10251(a))— 13 (A) in paragraph (27), by striking ‘‘and’’ 14 at the end; 15 (B) in paragraph (28), by striking the pe- 16 riod at the end and adding ‘‘; and’’; and 17 (C) by inserting after paragraph (28) the 18 following: 19 ‘‘(29) the term ‘incarcerated worker’ means an 20 individual, incarcerated or detained in a correctional 21 facility operated by a State or a political subdivision 22 of a State (or by a private entity through a contract 23 with a State or political subdivision of a State), who 24 performs work offered or required by or through the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 May 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3220.IH H3220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3220 IH correctional facility, including work associated with 1 prison work programs, work release programs, State 2 prison industries, public works programs, restitution 3 centers, correctional facility operations and mainte- 4 nance, and private entities.’’. 5 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO ASSIST STATES IN COVERING INCAR- 6 CERATED WORKERS. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor shall es- 8 tablish a grant program to award a grant to each State 9 that submits an application satisfying the requirements 10 under subsection (b) to assist the State in amending the 11 occupational safety and health laws of the State to cover 12 incarcerated workers and to enforce those laws as appro- 13 priate through inspections, investigations, citations, pen- 14 alties, and other enforcement mechanisms. 15 (b) APPLICATIONS.—A State seeking a grant under 16 this section shall submit an application to the Secretary 17 at such time, in such manner, and containing such infor- 18 mation as the Secretary may reasonably require. 19 (c) DEFINITION OF INCARCERATED WORKER.—In 20 this section, the term ‘‘incarcerated worker’’ has the 21 meaning given such term in section 18(i) of the Occupa- 22 tional Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 667(i)). 23 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 24 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 May 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3220.IH H3220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3220 IH $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2029, 1 to remain available until expended. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 May 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3220.IH H3220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS