[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5318 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5318
To direct the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the heads of
certain agencies and organizations, to conduct a study on the health
effects of indoor residential mold growth in military unaccompanied
housing or other housing on military installations, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 14, 2024
Mr. Blumenthal (for himself and Mr. Murphy) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed
Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the heads of
certain agencies and organizations, to conduct a study on the health
effects of indoor residential mold growth in military unaccompanied
housing or other housing on military installations, 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 ``Healthy at Home on Base Act of
2024''.
SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF INDOOR RESIDENTIAL MOLD IN HOUSING OF DEPARTMENT
OF DEFENSE.
(a) Study and Report on Health Impacts of Indoor Residential
Mold.--
(1) Study.--
(A) In general.--As soon as practicable after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
Defense, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary
of Defense for Health Affairs, the Secretary of Housing
and Urban Development, the Director of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, the Administrator of
the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of
Energy, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the
President of the National Academy of Sciences, and the
Chair of the board of directors of the National
Institute of Building Sciences shall conduct a
comprehensive study on the health effects of indoor
residential mold growth in military unaccompanied
housing or other housing on military installations,
using the most up-to-date scientific peer-reviewed
medical literature.
(B) Elements.--The study conducted under
subparagraph (A) shall ascertain--
(i) detailed information about harmful or
toxigenic mold that may impact the military
departments and individuals living on military
installations, as well as any toxin or toxic
compound such mold can produce;
(ii) the most accurate research-based
methods of detecting harmful or toxigenic mold;
(iii) potential dangers of prolonged or
chronic exposure to indoor residential mold
growth in residential areas on military
installations;
(iv) the hazards involved with inadequate
mold inspections on military installations and
improper indoor residential mold remediation in
military unaccompanied housing;
(v) the estimated current public health
burden of new or exacerbated physical illness
resulting from exposure to indoor residential
mold and the effect of such exposure on the
military departments and quality of life for
members of the Armed Forces, including with
respect to readiness of the Armed Forces and
the impact on children in military families;
(vi) improved understanding of the
different health symptomology that can result
from exposure to mold in indoor residential
environments on military installations,
including military unaccompanied housing;
(vii) ongoing surveillance of the
prevalence of idiopathic pulmonary hemorrhage
in infants living on military installations;
and
(viii) longitudinal studies on the effects
of indoor mold exposure in early childhood on
the development of asthma and other respiratory
illnesses of children living on military
installations.
(2) Report.--
(A) In general.--Not later than three years after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
Defense shall submit to Congress and the President a
report that contains the results of the study conducted
under paragraph (1).
(B) Form.--The report required by subparagraph (A)
shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may
include a classified index.
(b) Health, Safety, and Habitability Standards and Model
Standards.--
(1) Model standards for preventing, detecting, and
remediating indoor residential mold growth.--Based on the
results of the interagency health study conducted under
subsection (a), the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with
the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Director of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Assistant
Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, the
Secretary of Energy, the Executive Director of the National
Institute of Building Sciences, and the President of the
National Academy of Sciences shall, in accordance with section
12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act
of 1995 (Public Law 104-113; 15 U.S.C. 272 note), jointly issue
model health, safety, and habitability standards for
preventing, detecting, and remediating indoor residential mold
growth on military installations, including--
(A) model residential mold inspection standards for
military unaccompanied housing;
(B) model indoor residential mold remediation
standards for military installations;
(C) standards for testing the toxicity of indoor
residential mold and any toxin or toxic compound
produced by indoor residential mold on military
installations;
(D) health and safety standards for the protection
of those inspecting for and remediating mold in housing
on military installations;
(E) standards for indoor residential mold testing
labs that serve military installations;
(F) model ventilation standards for the design,
installation, and maintenance of air ventilation or
air-conditioning systems in housing on military
installations to prevent indoor residential mold growth
or the creation of conditions that foster indoor mold
growth in housing on military installations; and
(G) model building code standards for housing on
military installations to control moisture and prevent
mold growth.
(2) Consultation.--To the maximum extent possible, model
standards issued under paragraph (1) shall be developed with
the assistance of--
(A) organizations that develop mold and water
damage standards and work with military installations;
(B) organizations involved in establishing national
building construction standards and work with military
installations;
(C) organizations involved in improving indoor air
quality;
(D) public health advocates that serve the military
community; and
(E) health and medical professionals that serve
members of the Armed Forces and their families,
including practitioners that care for children of
members of the Armed Forces.
(3) Resiliency.--Model standards issued under paragraph (1)
shall take into account geographic diversity, propensity for
extreme weather or flooding, and other resiliency metrics
impacting military housing.
(4) Deadlines.--
(A) Public review and comment.--The officials
identified in paragraph (1) shall make draft standards
issued under such paragraph available for public review
and comment not later than 90 days prior to publication
of the final standards pursuant to subparagraph (B).
(B) Publication.--Not later than three years after
the date on which the results of the study conducted
under subsection (a) are submitted to Congress in
accordance with such subsection, the officials
identified in paragraph (1) shall issue, and make
available to the public, final standards under this
subsection.
(5) Review and updates.--The officials identified in
paragraph (1) shall--
(A) review the model standards issued under this
subsection not less frequently than once every five
years based on the latest scientific advances and
published studies relating to indoor residential mold
growth; and
(B) update such standards as necessary to preserve
and improve the quality of housing on military
installations and prevent the displacement of those
currently living on military installations.
(c) Construction Requirements for New Housing on Military
Installations.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Defense, in consultation
with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the
Executive Director of the National Institute of Building
Sciences, and the President of the National Academy of
Sciences, to the extent such Director and President agree to
participate, shall develop model construction standards and
techniques for preventing and controlling indoor residential
mold in new residential properties on military installations.
(2) Contents.--The model standards and techniques developed
under paragraph (1) shall provide for geographic differences in
construction types and materials, geology, weather, and other
variables that may affect indoor residential mold levels in new
buildings and on various military installations.
(3) Consultation.--To the maximum extent possible, model
standards and techniques shall be developed under paragraph (1)
with the assistance of--
(A) organizations involved in establishing national
building construction standards and techniques,
especially organizations that do that work on military
installations;
(B) organizations that develop mold and water
damage standards on military installations; and
(C) public health advocates that serve the military
community.
(4) Publication.--
(A) Draft standards and techniques.--The Secretary
of Defense shall make a draft of the document
containing the model standards and techniques developed
under paragraph (1) available for public review and
comment.
(B) Final standards and techniques.--The Secretary
shall make the final model standards and techniques
developed under paragraph (1) available to the public
not later than one year after the date of the enactment
of this Act.
(5) Applicability to new construction and rehabilitation.--
Not later than one year after the publication of the final
model standards and techniques required by paragraph (4)(B),
the Secretary of Defense shall include such model standards and
techniques as a requirement for residential rehabilitation or
new construction projects conducted by the Department of
Defense with amounts appropriated to the Department.
(d) Education for Military Health Professionals.--The Secretary of
Defense shall include education for military health professions on
mold-related illness, including signs and symptoms of toxigenic mold
exposure, in recurring training received by miliary health
practitioners at such time and in such manner as the Secretary chooses.
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Indoor residential mold.--The term ``indoor residential
mold'' means any form of multi-cellular fungi found in water-
damaged indoor environments and building materials, including
cladosporium, penicillium, alternaria, aspergillus, fusarium,
trichoderma, memnoniella, mucor, stachybotrys chartarum,
streptomyces, and epicoccumoften.
(2) Military installation.--The term ``military
installation'' has the meaning given the term in section
2801(c) of title 10, United States Code.
(3) Military unaccompanied housing.--The term ``military
unaccompanied housing'' has the meaning given that term in
section 2871 of title 10, United States Code.
(4) Toxigenic mold.--The term ``toxigenic mold'' means any
indoor mold growth that may be capable of producing a toxin or
toxic compound, including mycotoxins and microbial volatile
organic compounds, that can cause pulmonary, respiratory,
neurological, gastrointestinal, or dermatological illnesses, or
other major adverse health impacts, as determined by the
Secretary of Defense in consultation with the Director of the
National Institutes of Health, the Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development, the Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency, and the Director of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
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