[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1771 Placed on Calendar Senate (PCS)]







                                                       Calendar No. 223
109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1771

To express the sense of Congress and to improve reporting with respect 
   to the safety of workers in the response and recovery activities 
         related to Hurricane Katrina, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 26, 2005

 Mr. Enzi (for himself and Mr. Kennedy) introduced the following bill; 
                     which was read the first time

                           September 27, 2005

            Read the second time and placed on the calendar

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To express the sense of Congress and to improve reporting with respect 
   to the safety of workers in the response and recovery activities 
         related to Hurricane Katrina, 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 ``Katrina Worker Safety and Filing 
Flexibility Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS CONCERNING THE SAFETY AND HEALTH OF EMERGENCY 
              RESPONSE, RECOVERY, AND RECONSTRUCTION WORKERS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) individuals working in emergency response, recovery, 
        and reconstruction in the disaster areas in Louisiana, 
        Mississippi, and Alabama in the wake of Hurricane Katrina face 
        numerous and uncommon worksite and environmental hazards;
            (2) workers may be facing hazards with which they have 
        little prior experience or training, and typical communication 
        channels may not be as effective as they are under normal 
        circumstances;
            (3) the Occupational Safety and Health Administration 
        (referred to in this section as ``OSHA'') has deployed safety 
        and health professionals to Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama 
        to provide technical assistance to emergency response, 
        recovery, and reconstruction workers in their ongoing cleanup 
        efforts along the Gulf Coast of the United States; and
            (4) OSHA's efforts to protect first responders and 
        emergency response, recovery and reconstruction workers are 
        being guided by the Worker Health and Safety Annex plan, as 
        established in the National Response Plan that was recently 
        adopted by the Department of Homeland Security.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) as soon as practicable after the date of enactment of 
        this Act OSHA should--
                    (A) implement all of the relevant provisions of the 
                Worker Health and Safety Annex plan;
                    (B) in addition to making public service 
                announcements, develop additional methods to provide 
                workers and employers with the information they need to 
                maintain a safe workplace, including their rights and 
                obligations under health and safety laws, such as 
                working through OSHA's Strategic Partnerships, and 
                working with contractors and labor organizations to 
                reach all employers and workers involved in the 
                emergency response, recovery, and reconstruction;
                    (C) work to communicate with immigrant and non-
                English speaking workers and employers about safety 
                rights, resources, and requirements;
                    (D) deploy sufficient personnel to the region to 
                successfully carry out their mission, including 
                enforcement of and education about safety standards and 
                rights;
                    (E) work with State, local, and tribal governments 
                to ensure the availability and management of all 
                available safety resources for emergency response, 
                recovery, and reconstruction workers;
                    (F) work with other Federal agencies such as 
                Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National 
                Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, the 
                Environmental Protection Agency, the Chemical Safety 
                Hazard Board, the National Institute of Environmental 
                Health Sciences, the Department of Energy, the 
                Department of Health and Human Services, and the 
                Department of Transportation to identify hazards, 
                determine the optimum hazard abatement solutions and 
                communicate those solutions to potentially endangered 
                workers and employers, and to identify the need for 
                personal protective equipment for employees engaged in 
                clean-up of hazardous materials and, when possible, 
                coordinate and facilitate distribution of such 
                equipment; and
                    (G) work with the Environmental Protection Agency 
                and the National Institute of Environmental Health 
                Sciences to provide technical assistance and training 
                for workers covered by Hazardous Waste Operations and 
                Emergency Response Standards; and
            (2) records of the identity of individuals involved in the 
        recovery and rebuilding efforts should be maintained, and 
        therefore all entities engaged in these efforts are encouraged 
        to maintain such records, and, if maintained, to forward such 
        records and rosters to OSHA or the appropriate agency for 
        collection and central storage.

SEC. 3. COMMUNICATIONS, ENFORCEMENT, AND TRAINING.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to enable the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety 
and Health Administration to pay for needed communications, including 
public service announcements on radio and television, to provide for 
additional personnel, to enforce safety standards, and to provide 
needed health and safety training and resources to affected workers and 
employers.

SEC. 4. REPORTING.

    Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Labor jointly with the Administrator of the Occupational 
Safety and Health Administration, shall provide a briefing to the 
members of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and 
the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the members of the 
Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on 
Appropriations of the House of Representatives concerning the progress 
made toward providing necessary personnel to enforce safety standards 
providing needed health and safety training and resources to affected 
workers and employers relating to Hurricane Katrina reconstruction and 
coordinating efforts with other agencies including Federal Emergency 
Management Agency, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and 
Health, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Institute 
of Environmental Health Sciences. Such briefing shall include a report 
on the resources expended or needed to implement such measures. Not 
later than 9 months after such date of enactment, the Secretary of 
Labor and the Administrator of the Occupational Safety and Health 
Administration shall deliver a written report to Congress summarizing 
the success in achieving such goals.

SEC. 5. EXTENSION OF DEADLINES FOR LMRDA.

    With respect to--
            (1) any labor organization or employer, the principal place 
        of business of which is located in an area declared a disaster 
        area by the President under section 401 of the Robert T. 
        Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 
        U.S.C. 5170), related to Hurricane Katrina, or whose financial 
        records, or any potion thereof, are located in such an area; or
            (2) any officer or employee of a labor organization who 
        resides in such an area or whose financial records, or any 
        potion thereof, are located in such an area; and
that is required to file an annual financial report pursuant to Title 
II of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (29 U.S.C. 431 
et seq.) by September 30, 2005, the Secretary of Labor shall extend the 
deadline for filing such reports as appropriate, but in no case to a 
date that is earlier than March 31, 2006.

SEC. 6. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR INSPECTOR GENERAL AUDIT AND REPORT.

    (a) In General.--The Inspector General of the Department of Labor 
(referred to in this section as the ``Inspector General'') shall 
conduct an audit and investigation of each program carried out by the 
Department of Labor that includes response and recovery activities 
related to Hurricane Katrina.
    (b) Weekly Report.--Not less frequently than once a week, the 
Inspector General shall provide a report to the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on 
Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives listing the 
audits and investigations initiated pursuant to subsection (a).
    (c) Status Report.--Not later than 6 months after the date of 
enactment of this section, and biannually thereafter until the audits 
and investigations described in subsection (a) are complete, the 
Inspector General shall report to the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Education and 
the Workforce of the House of Representatives on the full status of the 
activities of the Inspector General under this section.
    (d) Cooperative Ventures.--In carrying out this section, the 
Inspector General is encouraged to enter into cooperative ventures with 
Inspectors General of other Federal agencies.
                                                       Calendar No. 223

109th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                                S. 1771

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To express the sense of Congress and to improve reporting with respect 
   to the safety of workers in the response and recovery activities 
         related to Hurricane Katrina, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                           September 27, 2005

            Read the second time and placed on the calendar