29 U.S.C. § 671a — Workers’ family protection

Page 186 TITLE 29—LABOR § 671a annually thereafter, the Director of the Insti- tute shall submit to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives a report that, with respect to the year involved, describes the new mine safety technologies and equipment that have been studied, tested, and certified for use, and with respect to those instances of technologies and equipment that have been considered but not yet certified for use, the reasons therefore. (7) Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated, such sums as may be necessary to enable the Insti- tute and the Office of Mine Safety and Health to carry out this subsection. (Pub. L. 91–596, § 22, Dec. 29, 1970, 84 Stat. 1612; Pub. L. 96–88, title V, § 509(b), Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 695; Pub. L. 102–550, title X, § 1033, Oct. 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 3924; Pub. L. 109–236, § 6(a), June 15, 2006, 120 Stat. 498.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The Toxic Substances Control Act, referred to in sub- sec. (g)(1)(B)(i), is Pub. L. 94–469, Oct. 11, 1976, 90 Stat. 2003. Title IV of the Act is classified generally to sub- chapter IV (§ 2681 et seq.) of chapter 53 of Title 15, Com- merce and Trade. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under sec- tion 2601 of Title 15 and Tables. CODIFICATION In subsec. (e)(7), ‘‘section 6101 of title 41’’ substituted for ‘‘section 3709 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (41 U.S.C. 5),’’ on authority of Pub. L. 111–350, § 6(c), Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3854, which Act enacted Title 41, Public Contracts. In subsec. (e)(8), ‘‘section 3324(a) and (b) of title 31’’ substituted for ‘‘section 3648 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (31 U.S.C. 529)’’ on authority of Pub. L. 97–258, § 4(b), Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 1067, the first section of which enacted Title 31, Money and Finance. AMENDMENTS 2006—Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 109–236 added subsec. (h). 1992—Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 102–550 added subsec. (g). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries CHANGE OF NAME ‘‘Secretary of Health and Human Services’’ sub- stituted for ‘‘Secretary of Health, Education, and Wel- fare’’ in subsecs. (a) to (d) and (f) pursuant to section 509(b) of Pub. L. 96–88 which is classified to section 3508(b) of Title 20, Education. TERMINATION OF REPORTING REQUIREMENTS For termination, effective May 15, 2000, of provisions in subsec. (f) of this section relating to submitting an- nual report to Congress, see section 3003 of Pub. L. 104–66, set out as a note under section 1113 of Title 31, Money and Finance, and page 97 of House Document No. 103–7. § 671a. 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 indus- tries 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 con- cerning issues related to employee trans- ported 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 de- scribed 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 pre- venting and responding to such incidents; and (D) assist workers in redressing and re- sponding to such incidents when they occur. (c) Evaluation of employee transported contami- nant 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 (here- after in this section referred to as the ‘‘Di- rector’’), in cooperation with the Secretary of Labor, the Administrator of the Environ- mental Protection Agency, the Adminis- trator 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 con- duct 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, includ- ing 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 utiliza- tion of literature and of records con- cerning past investigations and enforce- ment actions undertaken by— (I) the National Institute for Occupa- tional 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 accord- ance with section 18 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 667); and (IV) other government agencies (in- cluding the Department of Energy and Page 187 TITLE 29—LABOR § 671a the Environmental Protection Agency), as the Director may determine to be ap- propriate; (ii) evaluate current statutory, regu- latory, and voluntary industrial hygiene or other measures used by small, medium and large employers to prevent or reme- diate home contamination; (iii) compile a summary of the existing research and case histories conducted on incidents of employee transported con- taminant releases, including— (I) the effectiveness of workplace housekeeping practices and personal pro- tective equipment in preventing such in- cidents; (II) the health effects, if any, of the re- sulting exposure on workers and their families; (III) the effectiveness of normal house cleaning and laundry procedures for re- moving hazardous materials and agents from workers’ homes and personal cloth- ing; (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 expo- sure health effects and relative risks as- sociated 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 re- port 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 protec- tion policies and practices related to the special circumstances of firefighters and prepare and submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report con- cerning 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 indi- viduals to be appointed by the Director from among individuals who are represent- ative of workers, industry, scientists, in- dustrial 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 ap- pointed 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 re- port, the additional data needs, if any, and the need for additional evaluation of the scientific issues related to and the feasi- bility of developing such additional data; and (iv) if additional data are determined by the Task Force to be needed, develop a rec- ommended 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, as- sumptions 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 con- ferences or seminars, for the purpose of ob- taining comments concerning the proposed strategy. (iii) Final strategy After the peer review and public com- ment is conducted under clause (ii), the Director, in consultation with the heads of other government agencies, shall propose a final strategy for investigating issues re- lated 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 ob- tain the information identified under sub- paragraph (A)(iii). (C) Construction Nothing in this section shall be construed as precluding any government agency from investigating issues related to home con- tamination using existing procedures until such time as a final strategy is developed or from taking actions in addition to those pro- posed in the strategy after its completion. (3) Implementation of investigative strategy Upon completion of the investigative strat- egy under subparagraph (B)(iii), each Federal agency or department shall fulfill the role as- signed 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) and on other information available to the Secretary, shall— (A) determine if additional education about, emphasis on, or enforcement of exist- ing regulations or standards is needed and will be sufficient, or if additional regula- tions or standards are needed with regard to Page 188 TITLE 29—LABOR § 672 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 pro- mulgate, pursuant to the Secretary’s author- ity under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.), such regula- tions or standards as determined to be appro- priate not later than 3 years after such deter- mination. (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 nec- essary to carry out this section. (Pub. L. 102–522, title II, § 209, Oct. 26, 1992, 106 Stat. 3420.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, re- ferred to in subsecs. (c)(1)(B)(i)(II) and (d)(2), is Pub. L. 91–596, Dec. 29, 1970, 84 Stat. 1590, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 651 of this title and Tables. CODIFICATION Section was enacted as part of the Fire Administra- tion Authorization Act of 1992, and not as part of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 which com- prises this chapter. § 672. Grants to States (a) Designation of State agency to assist State in identifying State needs and responsibilities and in developing State plans The Secretary is authorized, during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1971, and the two suc- ceeding fiscal years, to make grants to the States which have designated a State agency under section 667 of this title to assist them— (1) in identifying their needs and responsibil- ities in the area of occupational safety and health, (2) in developing State plans under section 667 of this title, or (3) in developing plans for— (A) establishing systems for the collection of information concerning the nature and frequency of occupational injuries and dis- eases; (B) increasing the expertise and enforce- ment capabilities of their personnel engaged in occupational safety and health programs; or (C) otherwise improving the administra- tion and enforcement of State occupational safety and health laws, including standards thereunder, consistent with the objectives of this chapter. (b) Experimental and demonstration projects The Secretary is authorized, during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1971, and the two suc- ceeding fiscal years, to make grants to the States for experimental and demonstration projects consistent with the objectives set forth in subsection (a) of this section. (c) Designation by Governor of appropriate State agency for receipt of grant The Governor of the State shall designate the appropriate State agency for receipt of any grant made by the Secretary under this section. (d) Submission of application Any State agency designated by the Governor of the State desiring a grant under this section shall submit an application therefor to the Sec- retary. (e) Approval or rejection of application The Secretary shall review the application, and shall, after consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, approve or reject such application. (f) Federal share The Federal share for each State grant under subsection (a) or (b) of this section may not ex- ceed 90 per centum of the total cost of the appli- cation. In the event the Federal share for all States under either such subsection is not the same, the differences among the States shall be established on the basis of objective criteria. (g) Administration and enforcement of programs contained in approved State plans; Federal share The Secretary is authorized to make grants to the States to assist them in administering and enforcing programs for occupational safety and health contained in State plans approved by the Secretary pursuant to section 667 of this title. The Federal share for each State grant under this subsection may not exceed 50 per centum of the total cost to the State of such a program. The last sentence of subsection (f) shall be appli- cable in determining the Federal share under this subsection. (h) Report to President and Congress Prior to June 30, 1973, the Secretary shall, after consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, transmit a report to the President and to the Congress, describing the experience under the grant programs authorized by this section and making any recommenda- tions he may deem appropriate. (Pub. L. 91–596, § 23, Dec. 29, 1970, 84 Stat. 1613; Pub. L. 96–88, title V, § 509(b), Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 695.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries CHANGE OF NAME ‘‘Secretary of Health and Human Services’’ sub- stituted for ‘‘Secretary of Health, Education, and Wel- fare’’ in subsec. (c), pursuant to section 509(b) of Pub. L. 96–88 which is classified to section 3508(b) of Title 20, Education. § 673. Statistics (a) Development and maintenance of program of collection, compilation, and analysis; employ- ments subject to coverage; scope In order to further the purposes of this chap- ter, the Secretary, in consultation with the Sec-