SEC.
22.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(a)

It is the purpose of this section to establish a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in the Department of Health and Human Services in order to carry out the policy set forth in section 2 of this Act and to perform the functions of the Secretary of Health and Human Services under sections 20 and 21 of this Act.

(b)

There is hereby established in the Department of Health and Human Services a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The Institute shall be headed by a Director who shall be appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and who shall serve for a term of six years unless previously removed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

(c)

The Institute is authorized to --

(1)

develop and establish recommended occupational safety and health standards; and

(2)

perform all functions of the Secretary of Health and Human Services under sections 20 and 21 of this Act.

(d)

Upon his own initiative, or upon the request of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Director is authorized (1) to conduct such research and experimental programs as he determines are necessary for the development of criteria for new and improved occupational safety and health standards, and (2) after consideration of the results of such research and experimental programs make recommendations concerning new or improved occupational safety and health standards. Any occupational safety and health standard recommended pursuant to this section shall immediately be forwarded to the Secretary of Labor, and to the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

(e)

In addition to any authority vested in the Institute by other provisions of this section, the Director, in carrying out the functions of the Institute, is authorized to --

(1)

prescribe such regulations as he deems necessary governing the manner in which its functions shall be carried out;

(2)

receive money and other property donated, bequeathed, or devised, without condition or restriction other than that it be used for the purposes of the Institute and to use, sell, or otherwise dispose of such property for the purpose of carrying out its functions;

(3)

receive (and use, sell, or otherwise dispose of, in accordance with paragraph (2)), money and other property donated, bequeathed, or devised to the Institute with a condition or restriction, including a condition that the Institute use other funds of the Institute for the purposes of the gift;

(4)

in accordance with the civil service laws, appoint and fix the compensation of such personnel as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this section;

(5)

obtain the services of experts and consultants in accordance with the provisions of section 3109 of title 5, United States Code;

(6)

accept and utilize the services of voluntary and noncompensated personnel and reimburse them for travel expenses, including per diem, as authorized by section 5703 of title 5, United States Code;

(7)

enter into contracts, grants or other arrangements, or modifications thereof to carry out the provisions of this section, and such contracts or modifications thereof may be entered into without performance or other bonds, and without regard to section 3709 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (41 U.S.C. 5), or any other provision of law relating to competitive bidding;

(8)

make advance, progress, and other payments which the Director deems necessary under this title without regard to the provisions of section 3324 (a) and (b) of Title 31; and

(9)

make other necessary expenditures.

(f)

The Director shall submit to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to the President, and to the Congress an annual report of the operations of the Institute under this Act, which shall include a detailed statement of all private and public funds received and expended by it, and such recommendations as he deems appropriate.

(g)

Lead-Based Paint Activities.

(1)

Training Grant Program.

(A)

The Institute, in conjunction with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, may make grants for the training and education of workers and supervisors who are or may be directly engaged in lead-based paint activities.

(B)

Grants referred to in subparagraph (A) shall be awarded to nonprofit organizations (including colleges and universities, joint labor-management trust funds, States, and nonprofit government employee organizations) --

(i)

which are engaged in the training and education of workers and supervisors who are or who may be directly engaged in lead-based paint activities (as defined in Title IV of the Toxic Substances Control Act),

(ii)

which have demonstrated experience in implementing and operating health and safety training and education programs, and

(iii)

with a demonstrated ability to reach, and involve in lead-based paint training programs, target populations of individuals who are or will be engaged in lead-based paint activities. Grants under this subsection shall be awarded only to those organizations that fund at least 30 percent of their lead-based paint activities training programs from non-Federal sources, excluding in-kind contributions. Grants may also be made to local governments to carry out such training and education for their employees.

(C)

There are authorized to be appropriated, a minimum, $10,000,000 to the Institute for each of the fiscal years 1994 through 1997 to make grants under this paragraph.

(2)

Evaluation of Programs. The Institute shall conduct periodic and comprehensive assessments of the efficacy of the worker and supervisor training programs developed and offered by those receiving grants under this section. The Director shall prepare reports on the results of these assessments addressed to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to include recommendations as may be appropriate for the revision of these programs. The sum of $500,000 is authorized to be appropriated to the Institute for each of the fiscal years 1994 through 1997 to carry out this paragraph.

WORKERS' FAMILY PROTECTION

(a)

Short title

This section may be cited as the "Workers' Family Protection Act''.

(b)

Findings and purpose

(1)

Findings Congress finds that--

(A)

hazardous chemicals and substances that can threaten the health and safety of workers are being transported out of industries on workers' clothing and persons;

(B)

these chemicals and substances have the potential to pose an additional threat to the health and welfare of workers and their families;

(C)

additional information is needed concerning issues related to employee transported contaminant releases; and

(D)

additional regulations may be needed to prevent future releases of this type.

(2)

Purpose It is the purpose of this section to--

(A)

increase understanding and awareness concerning the extent and possible health impacts of the problems and incidents described in paragraph (1);

(B)

prevent or mitigate future incidents of home contamination that could adversely affect the health and safety of workers and their families;

(C)

clarify regulatory authority for preventing and responding to such incidents; and

(D)

assist workers in redressing and responding to such incidents when they occur.

(c)

Evaluation of employee transported contaminant releases

(1)

Study

(A)

In general Not later than 18 months after October 26, 1992, the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (hereafter in this section referred to as the "Director"), in cooperation with the Secretary of Labor, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and the heads of other Federal Government agencies as determined to be appropriate by the Director, shall conduct a study to evaluate the potential for, the prevalence of, and the issues related to the contamination of workers' homes with hazardous chemicals and substances, including infectious agents, transported from the workplaces of such workers.

(B)

Matters to be evaluated In conducting the study and evaluation under subparagraph (A), the Director shall--

(i)

conduct a review of past incidents of home contamination through the utilization of literature and of records concerning past investigations and enforcement actions undertaken by--

(I)

the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health;

(II)

the Secretary of Labor to enforce the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.);

(III)

States to enforce occupational safety and health standards in accordance with section 18 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 667); and

(IV)

other government agencies (including the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency), as the Director may determine to be appropriate;

(ii)

evaluate current statutory, regulatory, and voluntary industrial hygiene or other measures used by small, medium and large employers to prevent or remediate home contamination;

(iii)

compile a summary of the existing research and case histories conducted on incidents of employee transported contaminant releases, including--  

(I)

the effectiveness of workplace housekeeping practices and personal protective equipment in preventing such incidents;

(II)

the health effects, if any, of the resulting exposure on workers and their families;

(III)

the effectiveness of normal house cleaning and laundry procedures for removing hazardous materials and agents from workers' homes and personal clothing;

(IV)

indoor air quality, as the research concerning such pertains to the fate of chemicals transported from a workplace into the home environment; and

(V)

methods for differentiating exposure health effects and relative risks associated with specific agents from other sources of exposure inside and outside the home;

(iv)

identify the role of Federal and State agencies in responding to incidents of home contamination;

(v)

prepare and submit to the Task Force established under paragraph (2) and to the appropriate committees of Congress, a report concerning the results of the matters studied or evaluated under clauses (i) through (iv); and

(vi)

study home contamination incidents and issues and worker and family protection policies and practices related to the special circumstances of firefighters and prepare and submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report concerning the findings with respect to such study.

(2)

Development of investigative strategy

(A)

Task Force Not later than 12 months after October 26, 1992, the Director shall establish a working group, to be known as the "Workers' Family Protection Task Force". The Task Force shall--

(i)

be composed of not more than 15 individuals to be appointed by the Director from among individuals who are representative of workers, industry, scientists, industrial hygienists, the National Research Council, and government agencies, except that not more than one such individual shall be from each appropriate government agency and the number of individuals appointed to represent industry and workers shall be equal in number;

(ii)

review the report submitted under paragraph (1)(B)(v);

(iii)

determine, with respect to such report, the additional data needs, if any, and the need for additional evaluation of the scientific issues related to and the feasibility of developing such additional data; and

(iv)

if additional data are determined by the Task Force to be needed, develop a recommended investigative strategy for use in obtaining such information.

(B)

Investigative strategy

(i)

Content The investigative strategy developed under subparagraph (A)(iv) shall identify data gaps that can and cannot be filled, assumptions and uncertainties associated with various components of such strategy, a timetable for the implementation of such strategy, and methodologies used to gather any required data.

(ii)

Peer review The Director shall publish the proposed investigative strategy under subparagraph (A)(iv) for public comment and utilize other methods, including technical conferences or seminars, for the purpose of obtaining comments concerning the proposed strategy.

(iii)

Final strategy After the peer review and public comment is conducted under clause (ii), the Director, in consultation with the heads of other government agencies, shall propose a final strategy for investigating issues related to home contamination that shall be implemented by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and other Federal agencies for the period of time necessary to enable such agencies to obtain the information identified under subparagraph (A)(iii).

(C)

Construction Nothing in this section shall be construed as precluding any government agency from investigating issues related to home contamination using existing procedures until such time as a final strategy is developed or from taking actions in addition to those proposed in the strategy after its completion.

(3)

Implementation of investigative strategy Upon completion of the investigative strategy under subparagraph (B)(iii), each Federal agency or department shall fulfill the role assigned to it by the strategy.

(d)

Regulations

(1)

In general Not later than 4 years after October 26, 1992, and periodically thereafter, the Secretary of Labor, based on the information developed under subsection (c) of this section and on other information available to the Secretary, shall--

(A)

determine if additional education about, emphasis on, or enforcement of existing regulations or standards is needed and will be sufficient, or if additional regulations or standards are needed with regard to employee transported releases of hazardous materials; and

(B)

prepare and submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report concerning the result of such determination.

(2)

Additional regulations or standards If the Secretary of Labor determines that additional regulations or standards are needed under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall promulgate, pursuant to the Secretary's authority under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.), such regulations or standards as determined to be appropriate not later than 3 years after such determination.

(e)

Authorization of appropriations There are authorized to be appropriated from sums otherwise authorized to be appropriated, for each fiscal year such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.