Barriers to Suicide Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3759 To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a grant program to facilitate the installation, on bridges, of evidence-based suicide deter- rents, including suicide prevention nets and barriers, and for other pur- poses. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 31, 2023 Mr. BEYER (for himself, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. TRONE, Ms. WILD, Ms. OCASIO-COR- TEZ, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. BOWMAN, and Ms. CROCK- ETT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a grant program to facilitate the installation, on bridges, of evidence-based suicide deterrents, including suicide prevention nets and barriers, 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 ‘‘Barriers to Suicide 4 Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3759.IH H3759 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3759 IH SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 2 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Trans- 3 portation shall establish a program (in this section re- 4 ferred to as the ‘‘Program’’) to facilitate the installation 5 of evidence-based suicide deterrents on bridges, including 6 suicide prevention nets and barriers. 7 (b) GRANT AUTHORITY.—In carrying out the Pro- 8 gram, the Secretary may make grants on a competitive 9 basis in accordance with this section. 10 (c) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—The Secretary may 11 make a grant under the Program to a State or a political 12 subdivision of a State. 13 (d) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for a grant under 14 the Program, an entity described in subsection (c) shall 15 submit to the Secretary an application in such form, at 16 such time, and containing such information as the Sec- 17 retary determines appropriate. 18 (e) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—The Secretary may make 19 a grant under the Program only for a project that facili- 20 tates the installation on a bridge of— 21 (1) a suicide prevention net; 22 (2) a suicide prevention barrier; or 23 (3) any other evidence-based suicide deterrent 24 that is determined by the Secretary to be appro- 25 priate. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3759.IH H3759 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3759 IH (f) PRIORITY.—In making a grant under the Pro- 1 gram, the Secretary shall give priority to a project located 2 in an area with a high rate of suicide, taking into consider- 3 ation the number of suicides and rate of suicides per cap- 4 ita in an area, or other priority characteristics, as deter- 5 mined by the Secretary. 6 (g) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost 7 of a project assisted with a grant under the Program may 8 not exceed 80 percent. 9 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 10 (1) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each 11 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 12 each commonwealth, territory, or possession of the 13 United States, and each federally recognized Indian 14 Tribe. 15 (2) EVIDENCE-BASED SUICIDE DETERRENT.— 16 The term ‘‘evidence-based suicide deterrent’’ means 17 a suicide deterrent that demonstrates a rationale 18 based on high-quality research findings or positive 19 evaluation that such deterrent is likely to reduce or 20 prevent suicide, and includes ongoing efforts to ex- 21 amine the effects of such deterrent. 22 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 23 authorized to be appropriated to carry out the Program 24 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3759.IH H3759 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3759 IH SEC. 3. TITLE 23 AMENDMENT. 1 Section 119(d)(2)(I) of title 23, United States Code, 2 is amended by striking ‘‘Highway System.’’ and adding 3 ‘‘Highway System, including installation of safety barriers 4 and nets on bridges of the National Highway System.’’. 5 SEC. 4. STUDY ON EFFECTIVENESS OF SUICIDE PREVEN- 6 TION NETS AND BARRIERS FOR STRUCTURES 7 OTHER THAN BRIDGES. 8 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 9 States shall conduct a study to identify— 10 (1) the types of structures, other than bridges, 11 that attract a high number of individuals attempting 12 suicide-by-jumping; 13 (2) the characteristics that distinguish struc- 14 tures identified under paragraph (1) from similar 15 structures that do not attract a high number of indi- 16 viduals attempting suicide-by-jumping; 17 (3) the types of nets or barriers that are effec- 18 tive at reducing suicide-by-jumping with respect to 19 the structures identified under paragraph (1); 20 (4) methods of reducing suicide-by-jumping 21 with respect to the structures identified under para- 22 graph (1) other than nets and barriers; 23 (5) quantitative measures of the effectiveness of 24 the nets and barriers identified under paragraph (3); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3759.IH H3759 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3759 IH (6) quantitative measures of the effectiveness of 1 the additional methods identified under paragraph 2 (4); 3 (7) the entities that typically install the nets 4 and barriers identified under paragraph (3); and 5 (8) the costs of the nets and barriers identified 6 under paragraph (3). 7 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 8 of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 9 submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infra- 10 structure and the Committee on Energy and Commerce 11 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 12 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Com- 13 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 14 Senate a report on the results of the study conducted 15 under subsection (a). 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3759.IH H3759 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS