[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 967 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 967

To amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 and 
  the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to support 
   efforts to control and eradicate bed bugs with respect to public 
                    health, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 9, 2011

 Mrs. Schmidt introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                        Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 and 
  the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to support 
   efforts to control and eradicate bed bugs with respect to public 
                    health, 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 ``Bed Bug Management, Prevention, and 
Research Act''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF RESEARCH PROGRAM TO CONTROL AND ERADICATE BED 
              BUGS.

    (a) Bed Bug Research Program.--Section 1672 of the Food, 
Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5925) is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (j) as subsection (k); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (h) the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(j) Bed Bug Control.--
            ``(1) Authorization and use of grants.--The Secretary, in 
        consultation with the task force appointed under paragraph (2), 
        shall award grants under this subsection for only for the 
        following purposes:
                    ``(A) Developing more efficacious chemicals and 
                chemical methods of detecting, preventing, and managing 
                bed bugs.
                    ``(B) Identifying or discovering affordable and 
                effective methods of managing bed bugs, including basic 
                and applied biology and demonstration research 
                projects.
            ``(2) Task force.--
                    ``(A) Establishment.--Pursuant to subsection 
                (b)(2)(C), the Secretary shall, not later than 90 days 
                after the date of the enactment of the Bed Bug 
                Management, Prevention, and Research Act, appoint a bed 
                bug task force (referred to in this subsection as the 
                `task force') to assist the Secretary in awarding 
                grants under this section.
                    ``(B) Composition.--The task force shall be 
                composed of members or representatives of the 
                following:
                            ``(i) The pest management industry.
                            ``(ii) The hospitality industry (including 
                        hotels, motels, and other forms of lodging or 
                        accommodation).
                            ``(iii) The multi-family housing management 
                        industry.
                            ``(iv) Public health organizations.
                            ``(v) Any other group or industry the 
                        Secretary determines is significantly impacted 
                        by bed bugs.
            ``(3) Initial grants.--
                    ``(A) Requests for proposals.--The Secretary shall, 
                not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 
                of the Bed Bug Management, Prevention, and Research Act 
                and in consultation with the task force, publish a 
                request for grant proposals for research projects for 
                the purposes described in paragraph (1).
                    ``(B) Award of grants.--Not later than 180 days 
                after the date of such publication, the Secretary 
                shall--
                            ``(i) evaluate such proposals in 
                        consultation with the task force; and
                            ``(ii) award grants to entities that 
                        submitted grant proposals for research projects 
                        the Secretary determines are meritorious for 
                        the purposes described in paragraph (1).
                    ``(C) Notification requirement.--The Secretary 
                shall notify the task force of any award made under 
                subparagraph (B) not later than 30 days after awarding 
                such grant.
            ``(4) Subsequent grants.--
                    ``(A) Evaluation of initial grants.--The Secretary 
                shall, in consultation with the task force, evaluate 
                each research project conducted under any grant awarded 
                under paragraph (3)(B).
                    ``(B) Award of grants.--The Secretary shall, in 
                consultation with the task force, award grants to fund 
                additional research projects that the Secretary 
                determines to be promising or necessary based on the 
                evaluation conducted under subparagraph (A).
                    ``(C) Notification requirement.--The Secretary 
                shall notify the task force of any award made under 
                subparagraph (B) not later than 30 days after awarding 
                such grant.
            ``(5) Consultation and coordination.--To expedite the 
        approval or registration under section 3, section 18, or 
        section 24 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and 
        Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 136a, 136p, and 136v) of the methods 
        identified or discovered through research projects funded under 
        this section, the Secretary shall consult and coordinate with 
        the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 
        regarding--
                    ``(A) the awarding of grants under this section; 
                and
                    ``(B) the evaluation of the results of such 
                research projects.''.
    (b) Waiver of Matching Funds Requirement.--Subsection (c)(2) of 
such section is amended--
            (1) by striking ``or'' at the end of subparagraph (A);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (B) 
        and inserting ``; or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(C) the project involves a pest that has been 
                designated as a pest of public health significance by 
                the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for 
                Disease Control and Prevention, as described in section 
                2(nn) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and 
                Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 136(nn)).''.
    (c) Conforming Amendments.--Such section is further amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``through (i)'' and 
        inserting ``through (j)''; and
            (2) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ``through (i)'' and 
        inserting ``through (j)''.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO FEDERAL INSECTICIDE, FUNGICIDE, AND RODENTICIDE 
              ACT TO IMPROVE EFFORTS TO CONTROL AND ERADICATE BED BUGS.

    (a) Inclusion of Bed Bugs in Definition of Vector Organisms.--
Section 2(oo) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide 
Act (7 U.S.C. 136(oo)) is amended by inserting ``bed bugs,'' after 
``cockroaches,''.
    (b) Definition of Adverse Effects.--Section 2(bb) of the Federal 
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 136(bb)) is 
amended by adding before the period at the end of the last sentence the 
following: ``, such as whether there are insufficient efficacious 
alternative registered pesticides available for the use, whether the 
lack of sufficient efficacious alternative registered pesticides will 
reasonably lead to the misuse of other pesticides or other 
inappropriate pest management strategies that pose risks to the 
environment or human health, and whether the registration or approval 
of use of the public health pesticide will play a significant part in 
managing pest resistance''.
    (c) Efficacy Data for Exempted Pesticides.--Section 25(b) of the 
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 136w(b)) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new sentences: 
``Notwithstanding the exemption of a pesticide under this subsection, 
the Administrator shall require the submission of efficacy data (and 
evaluate such data) if the pesticide is labeled for or proposed to be 
labeled for the control of a pest of public health significance. The 
Administrator shall not permit the sale or distribution of any product 
that is marketed, distributed, or sold with a claim that such product 
will control a public health pest if the efficacy data submitted under 
this subsection does not support such claim.''.
    (d) Bed Bug Prevention and Mitigation Pilot Program.--The Federal 
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act is amended by inserting 
after section 20 (7 U.S.C. 136r) the following new section:

``SEC. 20A. BED BUG PREVENTION AND MITIGATION PILOT PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Grant Authority.--Using funds appropriated to carry out this 
Act, the Administrator shall award grants to three State agencies whose 
plans have been approved by the Administrator in accordance with the 
requirements of section 11 for the purposes of conducting a pilot 
program under which political subdivisions of the State and housing 
authorities in the State use the grant funds to supplement on-going bed 
bug prevention and mitigation activities. At least one of the three 
grants shall be awarded to one such State agency that, before November 
1, 2009, submitted a public health exemption request under section 18, 
which proposed a use of a pesticide to control bed bugs, but which was 
voluntarily canceled under section 6(f).
    ``(b) Distribution of Funds.--As a condition on the receipt of the 
grant under subsection (a), the recipient State agency, working in 
conjunction with the State department of health, shall agree to 
distribute the grant funds to political subdivisions and housing 
authorities--
            ``(1) addressing persistent bed bug infestations; and
            ``(2) whose residents lack the financial resources to 
        adequately mitigate bed bug infestations without assistance.
    ``(c) Time for Award and Distribution.--The grants under subsection 
(a) for a fiscal year shall be awarded within 180 days after the 
appropriation of funds for that fiscal year to carry out this Act. 
Recipient State agencies shall begin disseminating grants within 120 
days receiving the grant funds.
    ``(d) Use of Funds.--Grant funds may be used--
            ``(1) to retain commercial applicators to perform bed bug 
        prevention and mitigation activities that are proven to 
        effectively control bed bugs;
            ``(2) to purchase and distribute mattress covers;
            ``(3) to conduct bed bug monitoring activities; and
            ``(4) to treat used mattresses and furniture using methods 
        proven to control all life stages of bed bugs.
    ``(e) Data Collection.--After the end of fiscal year 2016, the 
Administrator shall collect from the recipient State agencies the 
following data:
            ``(1) The number of political subdivisions and housing 
        authorities receiving grant funds and total funds awarded to 
        each political subdivision and housing authority.
            ``(2) The criteria used to award funds to such political 
        subdivisions and housing authorities.
            ``(3) The success achieved in reducing bed bug infestation 
        and the methods used to manage bed bug infestation.
            ``(4) Documented results of intervention efforts with some 
        measurement of infestation rates both before and after 
        intervention.
    ``(f) Report to Congress.--Not later than January 1, 2017, the 
Administrator shall submit to Congress a report setting forth the data 
collected under subsection (e).
    ``(g) Expiration of Grant Authority.--No grants may be made under 
subsection (a) after September 30, 2017.''.
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