I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2248 

To establish a grant program to assist States in inspecting hotel rooms 

for bed bugs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 5, 2009 

Mr. BUTTERFIELD (for himself, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. CHANDLER, Mr. 

RUSH, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. COHEN, 

Mr. MILLER of North Carolina, and Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of 

Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Financial 

Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish a grant program to assist States in inspecting 

hotel rooms for bed bugs, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Don’t Let the Bed 

5 Bugs Bite Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) on February 12, 2008, a thorough inspec2 tion of a hotel in Nashua, New Hampshire, found 

3 that 16 of 117 rooms were infested with bedbugs; 

4 (2) cimex lectularius, commonly known as bed 

5 bugs, travel through the ventilation systems in 

6 multi-unit establishments causing exponential infes7 tations; 

8 (3) female bedbugs can lay up to 5 eggs in a 

9 day and 500 during a lifetime; 

10 (4) bedbug populations in the United States 

11 have increased by 500 percent in the past few years; 

12 (5) in 2004, New York City had 377 bedbug 

13 violations and from July to November of 2005, a 5- 

14 month span, there were 449 violations reported in 

15 the city, an alarming increase in infestations over a 

16 short period of time; 

17 (6) in a study of 700 hotel rooms between 2002 

18 and 2006, 25 percent of hotels were found to be in 

19 need of bedbug treatment; 

20 (7) bed bugs possess all of the necessary pre21 requisites for being capable of passing diseases from 

22 one host to another; and 

23 (8) research on the public health implications of 

24 bed bugs and their potential for spread of infectious 

25 disease is not current. 


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1 SEC. 3. BED BUG INSPECTION GRANT PROGRAM. 

2 (a) ADMINISTRATION; AMOUNT.—The Secretary of 

3 Commerce, in cooperation with the Travel and Tourism 

4 Advisory Board, may provide grants to an eligible State 

5 to assist such State in carrying out the inspections de6 scribed in subsection (c). The grants shall be in amounts 

7 determined by the Secretary, taking into consideration the 

8 relative needs of the State. 

9 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—A State is eligible for a grant 

10 under this Act if the State has established a program 

11 whereby— 

12 (1) not fewer than 20 percent of rooms in lodg13 ing facilities in such State are inspected annually for 

14 cimex lectularius, commonly known as the bed bug; 

15 and 

16 (2) inspections are conducted by individuals 

17 who meet the minimum competency standard or re18 quirement for inspecting or treating rooms in lodg19 ing facilities for bed bugs, as adopted by the State 

20 agency charged with regulating pest management 

21 activities. 

22 (c) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of funding 

23 for such a program shall not exceed 80 percent. 

24 (d) USE OF GRANTS.—A State may use a grant re25 ceived under this Act to— 


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1 (1) conduct inspections of lodging facilities for 

2 cimex lectularius, including transportation, lodging, 

3 and meal expenses for inspectors; 

4 (2) train inspection personnel; 

5 (3) contract with a commercial applicator, as 

6 defined in section 2(e) of the Federal Insecticide, 

7 Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 136(e)), 

8 to inspect and treat lodging facilities for cimex 

9 lectularius; and 

10 (4) educate the proprietors and staff of lodging 

11 establishments about methods to prevent and eradi12 cate cimex lectularius. 

13 (e) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant under this 

14 Act, an eligible State shall submit an application to the 

15 Secretary of Commerce in such form and containing such 

16 information as the Secretary shall determine. 

17 (f) DEFINITION OF LODGING FACILITY.—For pur18 poses of this Act and the requirement under subsection 

19 (b) for State programs receiving funding under this Act, 

20 the term ‘‘lodging facility’’ means any individual hotel, 

21 motel, or inn that makes available for commercial lodging 

22 more than 10 individual rooms. 

23 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

24 authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000 for each of fisVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:36 May 06, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2248.IH H2248

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1 cal years 2010 through 2013 to the Secretary of Com2 merce for the grants authorized under this Act. 

3 SEC. 4. ADDING BED BUG PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT 

4 TO PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCY PLANS. 

5 Paragraph (5) of section 5A(d) of the United States 

6 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437c–1(d)(5)) is 

7 amended by inserting ‘‘and bed bugs’’ after ‘‘cock8 roaches’’. 

9 SEC. 5. BED BUG PREVENTION AND CONTROL UNDER THE 

10 PREVENTATIVE HEALTH AND HEALTH SERV11 ICES BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM. 

12 Section 1904(a)(1)(B) of the Public Health Service 

13 Act (42 U.S.C. 300w–3(a)(1)(B)) is amended by inserting 

14 ‘‘and bed bugs’’ after ‘‘rodents’’. 

15 SEC. 6. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVEN16 TION INVESTIGATION AND REPORT. 

17 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shall 

18 investigate the public health implications of bed bugs on 

19 lodging and housing. The investigation shall specifically 

20 consider the impacts on mental health of bed bugs, their 

21 potential for spreading infectious disease, and contributing 

22 to other diseases such as asthma. The Centers for Disease 

23 Control and Prevention shall report their findings and rec24 ommend any potential solutions to Congress not later than 

25 December 31, 2010. 


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1 SEC. 7. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

2 The Secretary of Commerce shall transmit a report 

3 to Congress not later than 3 years after the issuance of 

4 the first grant authorized by section 3 of this Act, which 

5 shall contain an assessment of the effectiveness of the bed 

6 bug inspection grant program. 

Æ 


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