[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 126 (Thursday, August 1, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5794-S5795]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 3219. Mr. BLUMENTHAL submitted an amendment intended to be
proposed by him to the bill S. 4638, to authorize appropriations for
fiscal year 2025 for military activities of the Department of Defense,
for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department
of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal
year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as
follows:
At the end of subtitle B of title XXVIII, add the
following:
SEC. 2823. ELIMINATION OF INDOOR RESIDENTIAL MOLD IN HOUSING
OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.
(a) Study on Health Impacts of Indoor Residential Mold.--
(1) 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 barracks or other housing on
military installations, using the most up-to-date scientific
peer-reviewed medical literature.
(2) Contents.--The study conducted under paragraph (1)
shall ascertain, among other things--
(A) detailed information about harmful or toxigenic mold
that may impact the military departments and individuals
living on
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military installations, as well as any toxin or toxic
compound such mold can produce;
(B) the most accurate research-based methods of detecting
harmful or toxigenic mold;
(C) potential dangers of prolonged or chronic exposure to
indoor residential mold growth in residential areas on
military installations;
(D) the hazards involved with inadequate mold inspections
on military installations and improper indoor residential
mold remediation in barracks on military installations;
(E) 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;
(F) improved understanding of the different health
symptomology that can result from exposure to mold in indoor
residential environments on military installations, including
military barracks;
(G) ongoing surveillance of the prevalence of idiopathic
pulmonary hemorrhage in infants living on military
installations; and
(H) 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.
(3) Availability.--Not later than three years after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense--
(A) submit to Congress and the President the results of the
study conducted under paragraph (1); and
(B) make the results of such study available to the public.
(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 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 barracks;
(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 model
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 model
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 5 years based on the
latest scientific advances and published studies relating to
indoor residential mold growth; and
(B) update such model 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.--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), 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) 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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