[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

[[Page S5795]]

     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.
                                 ______