[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2248 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2248

To establish a grant program to assist States in inspecting hotel rooms 
                 for bed bugs, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 5, 2009

 Mr. Butterfield (for himself, Mr. Young of Alaska, Mr. Chandler, Mr. 
Rush, Ms. McCollum, Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Miller 
 of North Carolina, and Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a 
 period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish a grant program to assist States in inspecting hotel rooms 
                 for bed bugs, 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 ``Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite Act of 
2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) on February 12, 2008, a thorough inspection of a hotel 
        in Nashua, New Hampshire, found that 16 of 117 rooms were 
        infested with bedbugs;
            (2) cimex lectularius, commonly known as bed bugs, travel 
        through the ventilation systems in multi-unit establishments 
        causing exponential infestations;
            (3) female bedbugs can lay up to 5 eggs in a day and 500 
        during a lifetime;
            (4) bedbug populations in the United States have increased 
        by 500 percent in the past few years;
            (5) in 2004, New York City had 377 bedbug violations and 
        from July to November of 2005, a 5-month span, there were 449 
        violations reported in the city, an alarming increase in 
        infestations over a short period of time;
            (6) in a study of 700 hotel rooms between 2002 and 2006, 25 
        percent of hotels were found to be in need of bedbug treatment;
            (7) bed bugs possess all of the necessary prerequisites for 
        being capable of passing diseases from one host to another; and
            (8) research on the public health implications of bed bugs 
        and their potential for spread of infectious disease is not 
        current.

SEC. 3. BED BUG INSPECTION GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Administration; Amount.--The Secretary of Commerce, in 
cooperation with the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, may provide 
grants to an eligible State to assist such State in carrying out the 
inspections described in subsection (c). The grants shall be in amounts 
determined by the Secretary, taking into consideration the relative 
needs of the State.
    (b) Eligibility.--A State is eligible for a grant under this Act if 
the State has established a program whereby--
            (1) not fewer than 20 percent of rooms in lodging 
        facilities in such State are inspected annually for cimex 
        lectularius, commonly known as the bed bug; and
            (2) inspections are conducted by individuals who meet the 
        minimum competency standard or requirement for inspecting or 
        treating rooms in lodging facilities for bed bugs, as adopted 
        by the State agency charged with regulating pest management 
        activities.
    (c) Federal Share.--The Federal share of funding for such a program 
shall not exceed 80 percent.
    (d) Use of Grants.--A State may use a grant received under this Act 
to--
            (1) conduct inspections of lodging facilities for cimex 
        lectularius, including transportation, lodging, and meal 
        expenses for inspectors;
            (2) train inspection personnel;
            (3) contract with a commercial applicator, as defined in 
        section 2(e) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and 
        Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 136(e)), to inspect and treat lodging 
        facilities for cimex lectularius; and
            (4) educate the proprietors and staff of lodging 
        establishments about methods to prevent and eradicate cimex 
        lectularius.
    (e) Application.--To receive a grant under this Act, an eligible 
State shall submit an application to the Secretary of Commerce in such 
form and containing such information as the Secretary shall determine.
    (f) Definition of Lodging Facility.--For purposes of this Act and 
the requirement under subsection (b) for State programs receiving 
funding under this Act, the term ``lodging facility'' means any 
individual hotel, motel, or inn that makes available for commercial 
lodging more than 10 individual rooms.
    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2013 to 
the Secretary of Commerce for the grants authorized under this Act.

SEC. 4. ADDING BED BUG PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT TO PUBLIC HOUSING 
              AGENCY PLANS.

    Paragraph (5) of section 5A(d) of the United States Housing Act of 
1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437c-1(d)(5)) is amended by inserting ``and bed bugs'' 
after ``cockroaches''.

SEC. 5. BED BUG PREVENTION AND CONTROL UNDER THE PREVENTATIVE HEALTH 
              AND HEALTH SERVICES BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM.

    Section 1904(a)(1)(B) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
300w-3(a)(1)(B)) is amended by inserting ``and bed bugs'' after 
``rodents''.

SEC. 6. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION INVESTIGATION AND 
              REPORT.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shall investigate 
the public health implications of bed bugs on lodging and housing. The 
investigation shall specifically consider the impacts on mental health 
of bed bugs, their potential for spreading infectious disease, and 
contributing to other diseases such as asthma. The Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention shall report their findings and recommend any 
potential solutions to Congress not later than December 31, 2010.

SEC. 7. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    The Secretary of Commerce shall transmit a report to Congress not 
later than 3 years after the issuance of the first grant authorized by 
section 3 of this Act, which shall contain an assessment of the 
effectiveness of the bed bug inspection grant program.
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