[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8739 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8739

   To amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to ensure 
 labels or other appropriate forms of warning are provided in English 
and in the language indicated by each employee exposed to the hazard as 
     the primary language of such employee, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 13, 2024

  Mr. Schiff (for himself, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. Carson, Mr. Mullin, 
 Mrs. Dingell, Ms. Norton, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Lynch, and Mr. Grijalva) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                      Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to ensure 
 labels or other appropriate forms of warning are provided in English 
and in the language indicated by each employee exposed to the hazard as 
     the primary language of such employee, 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 ``Language Access for Workers Act''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO OSHA.

    Section 6(b)(7) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 
(29 U.S.C. 655(b)(7)) is amended in the first sentence by inserting 
before the period the following: ``, including by requiring that such 
labels or other appropriate forms of warning be provided in English and 
a language understood by employees reasonably expected to be exposed to 
the hazard and prepared appropriately for the vocabulary, educational 
level, and literacy of such employees''.

SEC. 3. RULEMAKING.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary shall amend any standards promulgated pursuant to section 
6 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 655) as 
necessary to comply with the amendment made by section 2.

SEC. 4. GRANTS AUTHORIZED FOR TRANSLATION SERVICES.

    (a) In General.--From the amounts appropriated under subsection 
(e), the Secretary of Labor shall award grants, on a competitive basis, 
to eligible entities to provide translation or related services to 
covered individuals to ensure that such individuals receive any 
contracts, manuals, or training or other instruction related to the 
employment of such individuals in a language and manner that is 
understandable to such individuals, including translating any labels or 
other appropriate forms of warning required by the first sentence of 
section 6(b)(7).
    (b) Priority.--In awarding grants under this section, the Secretary 
shall give priority to eligible entities that--
            (1) serve or employ covered individuals in a geographic 
        area with a high population of migrant employees; or
            (2) serve or employ covered individuals in the agricultural 
        or service industry.
    (c) Application.--To be eligible to receive a grant under this 
section, an eligible entity shall prepare and submit to the Secretary 
an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such 
information as the Secretary may require, which shall include a 
description of how the eligible entity proposes to use the grant to 
assist covered individuals.
    (d) Reports.--
            (1) Report to the secretary.--An eligible entity that 
        receives a grant under this section shall submit to the 
        Secretary, and the Bureau of the Census, a report, on a annual 
        basis, on the number of covered individuals assisted with such 
        grant, disaggregated by the occupation or industry sector, and 
        the type of assistance provided to such individuals with such 
        grant.
            (2) Report to congress.--The Secretary shall submit to 
        Congress each report received under paragraph (1).
    (e) Definitions.--In this Act:
            (1) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means an 
        employer, nonprofit organization, an employment provider, an 
        employer association, or a labor organization, for which 
        covered individuals comprise at least 40 percent of the 
        individuals who are employed or served by such employer or 
        other entity.
            (2) Covered individual.--The term ``covered individual'' 
        means an individual--
                    (A) who is employed or is seeking employment;
                    (B) who has limited ability in reading, writing, 
                speaking, or comprehending the English language; and
                    (C)(i) whose native language is a language other 
                than English; or
                    (ii) who lives in a family or community environment 
                where a language other than English is the dominant 
                language.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Labor.
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