II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1617 

To establish the Council on Healthy Housing and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011 

Mr. REED (for himself, Mr. JOHANNS, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. 

FRANKEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish the Council on Healthy Housing 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 ‘‘Healthy Housing 

5 Council Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) In the United States— 

9 (A) 5,757,000 households live in homes 

10 with moderate or severe physical hazards; 


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1 (B) 23,000,000 homes have significant 

2 lead-based paint hazards; 

3 (C) 6,000,000 homes have had signs of 

4 mice in the last 3 months; and 

5 (D) 1 in 15 homes have dangerous levels 

6 of radon. 

7 (2) Residents of housing that is poorly de8 signed, constructed, or maintained are at risk for 

9 cancer, carbon monoxide poisoning, burns, falls, ro10 dent bites, childhood lead poisoning, asthma, and 

11 other illnesses and injuries. Vulnerable subpopula12 tions, such as children and the elderly, are at ele13 vated risk for housing-related illnesses and injuries. 

14 (3) Because substandard housing typically 

15 poses the greatest risks, the disparities in the dis16 tribution of housing-related health hazards are strik17 ing. One million two hundred thousand housing 

18 units with significant lead-based paint hazards house 

19 low-income families with children under 6 years of 

20 age. 

21 (4) Housing-related illnesses, including asthma 

22 and lead poisoning, disproportionately affect children 

23 from lower-income families and from specific racial 

24 and ethnic groups. The prevalence of being diag25 nosed with asthma in a lifetime is 24 percent among 


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1 Puerto Rican children, 10.1 percent for Mexican2 American children, 12.4 percent for non-Hispanic 

3 White children, and 21.8 percent for non-Hispanic 

4 Black children. Black children are twice as likely to 

5 die from residential injuries as White children, and 

6 3 percent of Black children and 2 percent of Mexi7 can-American children have elevated blood lead lev8 els, as compared to only 1.3 percent of White chil9 dren. 

10 (5) The annual costs for environmentally attrib11 utable childhood diseases in the United States, in12 cluding lead poisoning, asthma, and cancer, total 

13 $76,000,000,000 in 2008 dollars. This amount is 

14 approximately 3.5 percent of total health care costs. 

15 (6) Appropriate housing design, construction, 

16 and maintenance, timely correction of deficiencies, 

17 planning efforts, and low-cost preventive measures 

18 can reduce the incidence of serious injury or death, 

19 improve the ability of residents to survive in the 

20 event of a major catastrophe, and contribute to over21 all well-being and mental health. Lead hazard con22 trol in homes with lead-based paint hazards can re23 duce children’s blood lead levels by as much as 34 

24 percent. Properly installed and maintained smoke 

25 alarms reduce the risk of fire deaths by 50 percent. 


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1 (7) Providing healthy housing to families and 

2 individuals in the United States will help prevent an 

3 estimated 250,000 children from having elevated 

4 blood lead levels, 18,000 injury deaths, 12,000,000 

5 nonfatal injuries, 3,000 deaths in house fires, 9,600 

6 emergency department visits for carbon monoxide 

7 exposure, and 21,000 radon-associated lung cancer 

8 deaths that occur in United States housing each 

9 year, as well as 12,300,000 asthma attacks, and 

10 14,000,000 missed school days. 

11 (8) While there are many programs in place to 

12 address housing-related health hazards, these pro13 grams are fragmented and spread across many agen14 cies, making it difficult for at-risk families and indi15 viduals to access assistance or to receive comprehen16 sive information. 

17 (9) Better coordination among Federal agencies 

18 is needed, as is better coordination at State and 

19 local levels, to ensure that families and individuals 

20 can access government programs and services in an 

21 effective and efficient manner. 

22 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this Act, the following definitions shall apply: 


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1 (1) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the 

2 Interagency Council on Healthy Housing established 

3 under section 4. 

4 (2) HEALTHY HOUSING.—The term ‘‘healthy 

5 housing’’ means housing that is designed, con6 structed, rehabilitated, and maintained in a manner 

7 that supports the health of the occupants of such 

8 housing. 

9 (3) HOUSING.—The term ‘‘housing’’ means any 

10 form of residence, including rental housing, home11 ownership, group home, or supportive housing ar12 rangement. 

13 (4) HOUSING-RELATED HEALTH HAZARD.—The 

14 term ‘‘housing-related health hazard’’ means any bi15 ological, physical, or chemical source of exposure or 

16 condition either in, or immediately adjacent to, hous17 ing, that can adversely affect human health. 

18 (5) LOW-INCOME FAMILIES AND INDIVID19 UALS.—The term ‘‘low-income families and individ20 uals’’ means any household or individual with an in21 come at or below 200 percent of the Federal poverty 

22 line. 

23 (6) POVERTY LINE.—The term ‘‘poverty line’’ 

24 means the official poverty line defined by the Office 


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1 of Management and Budget based on the most re2 cent data available from the Bureau of the Census. 

3 (7) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ includes 

4 any Federal, State, or local program providing hous5 ing or financial assistance, health care, mortgages, 

6 bond and tax financing, homebuyer support courses, 

7 financial education, mortgage insurance or loan 

8 guarantees, housing counseling, supportive services, 

9 energy assistance, or other assistance related to 

10 healthy housing. 

11 (8) SERVICE.—The term ‘‘service’’ includes 

12 public and environmental health services, housing 

13 services, energy efficiency services, human services, 

14 and any other services needed to ensure that fami15 lies and individuals in the United States have access 

16 to healthy housing. 

17 SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON HEALTHY HOUSING. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the ex19 ecutive branch an independent council to be known as the 

20 Interagency Council on Healthy Housing. 

21 (b) OBJECTIVES.—The objectives of the Council are 

22 as follows: 

23 (1) To promote the supply of and demand for 

24 healthy housing in the United States through capacVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:40 Sep 26, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1617.IS S1617

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1 ity building, technical assistance, education, and 

2 public policy. 

3 (2) To promote coordination and collaboration 

4 among the Federal departments and agencies in5 volved with housing, public health, energy efficiency, 

6 emergency preparedness and response, and the envi7 ronment to improve services for families and individ8 uals residing in inadequate or unsafe housing and to 

9 make recommendations about needed changes in 

10 programs and services with an emphasis on— 

11 (A) maximizing the impact of existing pro12 grams and services by transitioning the focus of 

13 such programs and services from categorical ap14 proaches to comprehensive approaches that con15 sider and address multiple housing-related 

16 health hazards; 

17 (B) reducing or eliminating areas of over18 lap and duplication in the provision and accessi19 bility of such programs and services; 

20 (C) ensuring that resources, including as21 sistance with capacity building, are targeted to 

22 and sufficient to meet the needs of high-risk 

23 communities, families, and individuals; and 


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1 (D) facilitating access by families and indi2 viduals to programs and services that help re3 duce health hazards in housing. 

4 (3) To identify knowledge gaps, research needs, 

5 and policy and program deficiencies associated with 

6 inadequate housing conditions and housing-related 

7 illnesses and injuries. 

8 (4) To help identify best practices for achieving 

9 and sustaining healthy housing. 

10 (5) To help improve the quality of existing and 

11 newly constructed housing and related programs and 

12 services, including those programs and services 

13 which serve low-income families and individuals. 

14 (6) To establish an ongoing system of coordina15 tion among and within such agencies or organiza16 tions so that the healthy housing needs of families 

17 and individuals are met in a more effective and effi18 cient manner. 

19 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—The Council shall be composed of 

20 the following members: 

21 (1) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv22 ices. 

23 (2) The Secretary of Housing and Urban Devel24 opment. 


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1 (3) The Administrator of the Environmental 

2 Protection Agency. 

3 (4) The Secretary of Energy. 

4 (5) The Secretary of Labor. 

5 (6) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

6 (7) The Secretary of the Treasury. 

7 (8) The Secretary of Agriculture. 

8 (9) The Secretary of Education. 

9 (10) The head of any other Federal agency as 

10 the Council considers appropriate. 

11 (11) Six additional non-Federal employee mem12 bers, as appointed by the President to serve terms 

13 not to exceed 2 years, of whom— 

14 (A) 1 shall be a State or local Government 

15 Director of Health or the Environment; 

16 (B) 1 shall be a State or local Government 

17 Director of Housing or Community Develop18 ment; 

19 (C) 2 shall represent nonprofit organiza20 tions involved in housing or health issues; and 

21 (D) 2 shall represent for-profit entities in22 volved in the housing, banking, or health insur23 ance industries. 

24 (d) CO-CHAIRPERSONS.—The co-Chairpersons of the 

25 Council shall be the Secretary of Housing and Urban DeVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:40 Sep 26, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1617.IS S1617

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1 velopment and the Secretary of Health and Human Serv2 ices. 

3 (e) VICE CHAIR.—Every 2 years, the Council shall 

4 elect a Vice Chair from among its members. 

5 (f) MEETINGS.—The Council shall meet at the call 

6 of either co-Chairperson or a majority of its members at 

7 any time, and no less often than annually. 

8 SEC. 5. FUNCTIONS OF THE COUNCIL. 

9 (a) RELEVANT ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out the ob10 jectives described in section 4(b), the Council shall— 

11 (1) review Federal programs and services that 

12 provide housing, health, energy, or environmental 

13 services to families and individuals; 

14 (2) monitor, evaluate, and recommend improve15 ments in programs and services administered, fund16 ed, or financed by Federal, State, and local agencies 

17 to assist families and individuals in accessing 

18 healthy housing and make recommendations about 

19 how such agencies can better work to meet the 

20 healthy housing and related needs of low-income 

21 families and individuals; and 

22 (3) recommend ways to— 

23 (A) reduce duplication among programs 

24 and services by Federal agencies that assist 


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1 families and individuals in meeting their 

2 healthy housing and related service needs; 

3 (B) ensure collaboration among and within 

4 agencies in the provision and availability of pro5 grams and services so that families and individ6 uals are able to easily access needed programs 

7 and services; 

8 (C) work with States and local govern9 ments to better meet the needs of families and 

10 individuals for healthy housing by— 

11 (i) holding meetings with State and 

12 local representatives; and 

13 (ii) providing ongoing technical assist14 ance and training to States and localities 

15 in better meeting the housing-related needs 

16 of such families and individuals; 

17 (D) identify best practices for programs 

18 and services that assist families and individuals 

19 in accessing healthy housing, including model— 

20 (i) programs linking housing, health, 

21 environmental, human, and energy serv22 ices; 

23 (ii) housing and remodeling financing 

24 products offered by government, quasi-gov25 ernment, and private sector entities; 


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1 (iii) housing and building codes and 

2 regulatory practices; 

3 (iv) existing and new consensus speci4 fications and work practices documents; 

5 (v) capacity building and training pro6 grams that help increase and diversify the 

7 supply of practitioners who perform assess8 ments of housing-related health hazards 

9 and interventions to address housing-re10 lated health hazards; and 

11 (vi) programs that increase commu12 nity awareness of, and education on, hous13 ing-related health hazards and available 

14 assessments and interventions; 

15 (E) develop a comprehensive healthy hous16 ing research agenda that considers health, safe17 ty, environmental, and energy factors, to— 

18 (i) identify cost-effective assessments 

19 and treatment protocols for housing-re20 lated health hazards in existing housing; 

21 (ii) establish links between housing 

22 hazards and health outcomes; 

23 (iii) track housing-related health prob24 lems including injuries, illnesses, and 

25 death; 


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1 (iv) track housing conditions that may 

2 be associated with health problems; 

3 (v) identify cost-effective protocols for 

4 construction of new healthy housing; and 

5 (vi) identify replicable and effective 

6 programs or strategies for addressing 

7 housing-related health hazards; 

8 (4) hold biannual meetings with stakeholders 

9 and other interested parties in a location convenient 

10 for such stakeholders, or hold open Council meet11 ings, to receive input and ideas about how to best 

12 meet the healthy housing needs of families and indi13 viduals; 

14 (5) maintain an updated website of policies, 

15 meetings, best practices, programs and services, 

16 making use of existing websites as appropriate, to 

17 keep people informed of the activities of the Council; 

18 and 

19 (6) work with member agencies to collect and 

20 maintain data on housing-related health hazards, ill21 nesses, and injuries so that all data can be accessed 

22 in 1 place and to identify and address unmet data 

23 needs. 

24 (b) REPORTS.— 


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1 (1) BY MEMBERS.—Each year the head of each 

2 agency who is a member of the Council shall prepare 

3 and transmit to the Council a report that briefly 

4 summarizes— 

5 (A) each healthy housing-related program 

6 and service administered by the agency and the 

7 number of families and individuals served by 

8 each program or service, the resources available 

9 in each program or service, and a breakdown of 

10 where each program and service can be 

11 accessed; 

12 (B) the barriers and impediments, includ13 ing statutory or regulatory, to the access and 

14 use of such programs and services by families 

15 and individuals, with particular attention to the 

16 barriers and impediments experienced by low17 income families and individuals; 

18 (C) the efforts made by the agency to in19 crease opportunities for families and individ20 uals, including low-income families and individ21 uals, to reside in healthy housing, including how 

22 the agency is working with other agencies to 

23 better coordinate programs and services; and 


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1 (D) any new data collected by the agency 

2 relating to the healthy housing needs of families 

3 and individuals. 

4 (2) BY THE COUNCIL.—Each year, the Council 

5 shall prepare and transmit to the President and the 

6 Congress, a report that— 

7 (A) summarizes the reports required in 

8 paragraph (1); 

9 (B) utilizes recent data to assess the na10 ture of housing-related health hazards, and as11 sociated illnesses and injuries, in the United 

12 States; 

13 (C) provides a comprehensive and detailed 

14 description of the programs and services of the 

15 Federal Government in meeting the needs and 

16 problems described in subparagraph (B); 

17 (D) describes the activities and accomplish18 ments of the Council in working with Federal, 

19 State, and local governments, nonprofit organi20 zations and for-profit entities in coordinating 

21 programs and services to meet the needs de22 scribed in subparagraph (B) and the resources 

23 available to meet those needs; 


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1 (E) assesses the level of Federal assistance 

2 required to meet the needs described in sub3 paragraph (B); and 

4 (F) makes recommendations for appro5 priate legislative and administrative actions to 

6 meet the needs described in subparagraph (B) 

7 and for coordinating programs and services de8 signed to meet those needs. 

9 SEC. 6. POWERS OF THE COUNCIL. 

10 (a) HEARINGS.—The Council may hold such hear11 ings, sit and act at such times and places, take such testi12 mony, and receive such evidence as the Council considers 

13 advisable to carry out the purposes of this Act. 

14 (b) INFORMATION FROM AGENCIES.—Agencies which 

15 are represented on the Council shall provide all requested 

16 information and data to the Council as requested. 

17 (c) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Council may use the 

18 United States mails in the same manner and under the 

19 same conditions as other departments and agencies of the 

20 Federal Government. 

21 (d) CONTRACTS AND INTERAGENCY AGREEMENTS.— 

22 The Council may enter into contracts with State, Tribal, 

23 and local governments, public agencies and private-sector 

24 entities, and into interagency agreements with Federal 


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1 agencies. Such contracts and interagency agreements may 

2 be single-year or multi-year in duration. 

3 SEC. 7. COUNCIL PERSONNEL MATTERS. 

4 (a) STAFF.— 

5 (1) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—The Council shall 

6 appoint an Executive Director at its initial meeting. 

7 The Executive Director shall be compensated at a 

8 rate not to exceed the rate of basic pay payable for 

9 level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 

10 of title 5, United States Code. 

11 (2) COMPENSATION.—With the approval of the 

12 Council, the Executive Director may appoint and fix 

13 the compensation of such additional personnel as the 

14 Executive Director considers necessary to carry out 

15 the duties of the Council, except that the rate of pay 

16 for any such additional personnel may not exceed 

17 the rate of basic pay payable for level V of the Exec18 utive Schedule under section 5316 of such title. 

19 (b) TEMPORARY AND INTERMITTENT SERVICES.—In 

20 carrying out its objectives, the Executive Director with the 

21 approval of the Council, may procure temporary and inter22 mittent services of consultants and experts under section 

23 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, at rates for individ24 uals which do not exceed the daily equivalent of the annual 


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1 rate of basic pay payable for level V of the Executive 

2 Schedule under section 5316 of such title. 

3 (c) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—Upon 

4 request of the Council, any Federal Government employee 

5 may be detailed to the Council with reimbursement, and 

6 such detail shall be without interruption or loss of civil 

7 service status or privilege. 

8 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—The Secretary of 

9 Housing and Urban Development shall provide the Coun10 cil with such administrative (including office space) and 

11 support services as are necessary to ensure that the Coun12 cil can carry out its functions in an efficient and expedi13 tious manner. 

14 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro16 priated to carry out this Act, $750,000 for each of fiscal 

17 years 2012 through 2016. 

18 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts authorized to be appro19 priated by subsection (a) shall remain available for the 2 

20 fiscal years following such appropriation. 

Æ 


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