Indoor Air Act of 1997 - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to publish: (1) a list of common significant indoor air health risks; and (2) concurrently with such list, voluntary guidelines for identifying, reducing, and preventing such risks.
Requires the Administrator to give priority to conducting and providing financial or other assistance to studies concerning indoor air quality.
Directs the Administrator to: (1) report to the Congress on persons operating contractor businesses engaged in the identification, reduction, and prevention of significant indoor air health risks and on the need for a program to certify contractors engaged in such activities; and (2) establish a voluntary certification program for contractors engaged in the identification of such risks. Imposes fees for certification. Authorizes the suspension or revocation of certifications for violations of certification requirements.
Directs the Administrator to publish and disseminate the list of common significant indoor air health risks, the guidelines for identifying, reducing, and preventing such risks, and indoor air health advisories addressing the health effects of such risks. Requires the Administrator to develop a voluntary program to provide Federal recognition to buildings that are operated and maintained to prevent or minimize such risks and that provide significant energy efficiency benefits.
Authorizes the Administrator to provide grants to States and local governments to implement programs to identify, reduce, and prevent such risks.
Requires the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to implement a Building Assessment Program to provide assistance and guidance to employers and employees on measures to reduce such risks. Authorizes the Director, at the request of an employer or employee, to conduct on-site assessments of buildings.
Directs the Administrator to ensure that the presentation of information on significant indoor air health risks is unbiased and informative.
Authorizes appropriations.
[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[H.R. 2952 Introduced in House (IH)]
105th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2952
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize a national program
to reduce the threat to human health posed by exposure to contaminants
in the air indoors, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 8, 1997
Mr. Kennedy of Massachusetts introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize a national program
to reduce the threat to human health posed by exposure to contaminants
in the air indoors, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Indoor Air Act of 1997''.
SEC. 2. COORDINATION.
The Administrator shall consult and coordinate with the Secretary
of Labor, the Secretary of Energy, the Director of the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the Consumer Product
Safety Commission, and other appropriate agencies in implementing this
Act.
SEC. 3. GUIDELINES FOR IDENTIFYING, REDUCING, AND PREVENTING
SIGNIFICANT INDOOR AIR HEALTH RISKS.
(a) List.--Not later than 4 years after the enactment of this Act,
the Administrator shall, after notice and opportunity of at least 90
days for public comment, publish a list of common significant indoor
air health risks. In identifying a common significant indoor air health
risk, the Administrator shall use the best reasonably available
scientific data.
(b) Guidelines.--Concurrently with the listing of each common
significant indoor air health risk under subsection (a), the
Administrator shall, after notice and opportunity of at least 90 days
for public comment, publish voluntary guidelines for identifying,
reducing, and preventing the common significant indoor air health risk.
Such guidelines may include information and a range of recommendations
for operation and maintenance of existing buildings, the design and
construction of new buildings, building renovation, and such other
activities as necessary to identify and reduce or prevent the common
significant indoor air health risks listed under subsection (a). The
guidelines shall achieve significant risk reduction, be technologically
achievable and readily implementable, take into consideration safety,
energy, and other relevant factors, include an assessment of their
effectiveness and cost, and be based on available research and
expertise and the study priorities established by the Administrator
pursuant to subsection (e).
(c) Review and Revision.--The Administrator shall periodically
review and, as necessary, after notice and opportunity of at least 90
days for public comment, revise the list of common significant indoor
air health risks and the guidelines published under this section. At a
minimum, a review and revision shall be completed not later than 4
years after the initial publication of the list and guidelines.
(d) Consistency With Indoor Air Regulations of Other Federal
Agencies.--The Administrator shall, after consultation with the
Secretary of Labor, insure that the guidelines under this section are
fully consistent with any Federal workplace regulations addressing
indoor air quality risks. The guidelines may recommend such additional
voluntary actions as may be necessary to protect persons other than
workers covered by such regulations from common significant indoor air
health risks listed under subsection (a). The Administrator shall,
after consultation with the Secretary of Energy, insure that the
guidelines under this section are consistent with applicable energy
conservation and efficiency laws and regulations administered by the
Secretary.
(e) Priority for Indoor Air Health Studies.--The Administrator
shall, subject to the availability of appropriations and using existing
authorities, give priority to conducting and providing financial or
other assistance to studies concerning indoor air quality, including
the following:
(1) Human exposure to indoor air pollutants, including
baseline levels of exposure in various types of buildings.
(2) The sources of indoor air pollutants.
(3) The effects on human health of indoor air pollutants,
including additive, cumulative, and synergistic effects on the
general population and subpopulations particularly at risk.
(4) Methods for identifying, reducing, and preventing
common significant indoor air health risks.
Appropriate studies, such as those under paragraph (1) and (3), shall
be subject to peer review.
SEC. 4. INDOOR AIR CONTRACTORS.
(a) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the commencement of
fiscal year 1996, and after notice and opportunity of at least 90 days
for public comment, the Administrator shall submit a report to Congress
on persons operating contractor businesses engaged in the
identification, reduction, and prevention of significant indoor air
health risks. Such report shall identify the types or classes of
contractors regularly engaged in identifying and reducing or preventing
significant indoor air health risks and shall determine the need for a
program to certify contractors engaged in 1 or more activities relating
to the identification and reduction or prevention of significant indoor
air health risks, taking into account costs, benefits, the availability
of persons with adequate training, experience, and expertise, the funds
needed for such a program, and other relevant factors. The report shall
also consider whether such a program should be carried out by the
Administrator directly or by contract, or by another Federal agency or
by State or local government.
(b) Certification.--(1) Based on the report under subsection (a),
not later than 2 years after the report required by subsection (a) is
submitted to Congress, and after notice and opportunity of at least 90
days for public comment, the Administrator shall establish a program to
provide for the certification of contractors engaged on a regular basis
in the identification of common significant indoor air health risks.
Based on the report under subsection (a), and after notice and
opportunity of at least 90 days for public comment, the Administrator
may also establish a program to certify appropriate contractors engaged
in the reduction or prevention of common significant indoor air health
risks.
(2) No person may be certified under any program established under
paragraph (1) unless, at a minimum--
(A) such person demonstrates an ability to comply with the
guidelines established under section 3; and
(B) individuals engaged in the identification, reduction,
or prevention of common significant indoor air health risks on
behalf of such person complete an appropriate course of
training, as defined by the Administrator.
Persons certified under this subsection shall comply with the
guidelines under section 3 when engaged in the identification,
reduction, or prevention of common significant indoor air health risks.
(c) Fees.--A reasonable nondiscriminatory annual fee for the
certification of persons under this section shall be imposed by the
Administrator or by such other agency or contractor that operates the
program. The fee shall be periodically established at such level as is
necessary to cover all costs of the certification program under this
section. Such fees shall be structured such that a person's liability
for such fees is reasonably based on the proportion of the program's
operating costs that relate to such person, and such person's liability
for such fees shall not be based on the income of such person. Such
fees, if collected by the Administrator, shall be available, subject to
appropriations, to the Administrator to pay for such costs or to
reimburse another Federal agency or a State or local government. The
collection and use of fees shall be audited by the Administrator.
(d) Suspension or Revocation.--The Administrator may suspend or
revoke any certification issued under this section whenever the
Administrator determines, after notice of at least 60 days to such
person, that the holder of the certification has violated any
requirement of this section or condition of such certification. Any
person whose certification is proposed to be suspended or revoked, or
whose certification is denied, by the Administrator shall be entitled
to an administrative hearing.
(e) Participation.--Participation in the certification program
under this section shall be voluntary.
SEC. 5. PUBLIC AWARENESS.
(a) Information.--The Administrator shall publish and disseminate--
(1) the list of common significant indoor air health risks
under section 3,
(2) the guidelines under section 3 for identifying,
reducing, and preventing common significant indoor air health
risks, and
(3) the indoor air health advisories under subsection (b).
(b) Indoor Air Health Advisories.--The Administrator shall, after
notice and opportunity of at least 90 days for public comment, and
after review and comment by the Science Advisory Board, publish health
advisories addressing the health effects of common significant indoor
air health risks. Each health advisory shall, at a minimum--
(1) describe the adverse human health effects of a common
significant indoor air health risk, including the risk to
vulnerable subpopulations;
(2) characterize the causes of the significant indoor air
health risk; and
(3) summarize the guidelines under section 3 for
identifying, reducing, and preventing the significant indoor
air health risk.
The Administrator shall publish a health advisory for a common
significant indoor air health risk at the same time that the
Administrator publishes guidelines for such health risk under section
3.
SEC. 6. HEALTHY BUILDINGS PROGRAM.
The Administrator shall, after notice and opportunity of at least
90 days for public comment, develop a voluntary program to provide
Federal recognition to buildings that are operated and maintained,
taking into consideration all uses of the building, to prevent or
minimize common significant indoor air health risks in an exemplary
manner while at the same time providing significant energy efficiency
benefits and for which there are no outstanding indoor air quality
citations by other agencies. Such recognition shall be based on
objective, nondiscriminatory criteria.
SEC. 7. STATE AND LOCAL INDOOR AIR HEALTH GRANTS.
(a) In General.--The Administrator may provide grants to States and
to local governments to develop and implement programs proposed by any
such State or local government to identify, reduce, and prevent common
significant indoor air health risks.
(b) Federal Share of Funding.--The Federal share of grants under
this section shall not exceed 75 percent of the costs incurred in
developing and implementing such programs. Such share shall be based on
the availability of funds appropriated annually and shall
supplement State funds for this purpose. The Administrator, in making
such grants, shall seek to treat all States equitably.
SEC. 8. BUILDING HEALTH ASSESSMENT PROGRAM.
(a) Authority.--The Director of the National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health shall implement a Building Assessment
Program to provide assistance and guidance to employers and employees
on measures to reduce significant indoor air health risks.
(b) Selection of Buildings for Assessment.--An assessment may be
initiated in response to a request from any employer or employee
(including an authorized representative of the employee) submitted to
the Director for a building assessment. In making such voluntary
assessment, the Director shall have the authority, pursuant to such
request, to conduct on-site assessments of individual buildings,
including Federal, State, and municipal buildings. In selecting a
building for assessment pursuant to such request, the Director shall
consider (1) the seriousness and extent of significant indoor air
health risks, and (2) the potential for the building assessment to
expand knowledge of building assessment methods and response measures.
(c) Assessment Elements.--Assessments shall include, at a minimum,
identification of (1) probable significant indoor air health risks, (2)
probable sources and health effects of identified significant indoor
air health risks, and (3) in cases where a probable health risk has
been identified, measures for eliminating, controlling, or reducing
significant indoor air health risks. If there are applicable guidelines
under section 3, the measures included in the assessment shall be
consistent with the guidelines, unless the Director adequately explains
otherwise.
(d) Reports.--The Director shall prepare and provide a report to
the employer, employees (and the authorized representative of the
employees), and the building owner or representative as promptly as
possible.
SEC. 9. DISCLAIMER.
Nothing in this Act shall affect the Administrator's authority
under other provisions of law to conduct research, development, or
demonstration projects relating to indoor air quality or be construed
as providing new authority to conduct research, development, or
demonstrations. Nothing in this Act shall be construed as applying to
motor vehicles of any kind.
SEC. 10. RELATION TO OTHER LAW.
(a) State and Local Authority.--Nothing in this Act shall preempt
any Federal, State, or local law or rule of law which is more
protective of human health than this Act.
(b) Occupational Safety and Health.--In exercising any authority
under this Act, the Administrator shall not, for purposes of section
4(b)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, be deemed to
be exercising statutory authority to prescribe or enforce standards or
regulations affecting occupational safety and health.
(c) Relationship to Other EPA Authorities.--The Administrator shall
insure that any action under this Act is consistent with, and does not
duplicate, actions of the Administrator under other authority of law
addressing indoor air quality. Except as provided in section 4, nothing
in this Act shall be construed as authorizing the Administrator to
exercise any authority to prescribe or enforce any standards or
regulations regarding common significant indoor air health risks.
SEC. 11. REPORTS.
Not later than 2 years after the commencement of fiscal year 1996
and every 2 years thereafter, the Administrator shall submit to the
Congress a report on the activities carried out by the Administrator
pursuant to this Act.
SEC. 12. RISK ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION.
(a) Goal.--It is the intent of Congress that risk assessments
conducted under this Act be conducted in accordance with sound,
unbiased, and objective scientific practices.
(b) Public Documents.--The Administrator, in carrying out the
Administrator's responsibilities under this Act, shall ensure that the
presentation of information on significant indoor air health risks is
unbiased and informative. To the extent feasible, documents made
available to the general public which describe the degree of risk from
exposure shall, at a minimum, characterize the population or
populations addressed by any risk estimates; state the expected risk
for the specific population; and state the reasonable range of
uncertainty.
SEC. 13. DEFINITIONS.
For the purposes of this Act:
(1) The term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of
the Environmental Protection Agency.
(2) The term ``significant indoor air health risk'' means a
level of indoor air pollutants, or a condition that may result
in a level of indoor air pollutants, that, based on adequate
scientific and technical evidence and measurement, is
reasonably anticipated to adversely affect human health.
(3) The term ``indoor air pollutant'' means any substance
or biological organism which is emitted into, or otherwise
enters, air of any kind in a building, structure, or facility.
(4) The term ``person'' includes an individual, a
corporation, partnership, association, State, municipality,
political subdivision of a State, and any agency, department,
or instrumentality of the executive, legislative or judicial
branch of the Government of the United States or of any State
and any officer, agent or employee thereof.
(5) The term ``State'' includes the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
SEC. 14. AUTHORIZATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be
necessary to carry out this Act.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Commerce.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health and Environment.
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