IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1690 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

AN ACT 

To require carbon monoxide alarms or detectors in certain 

federally assisted 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Carbon Monoxide 

3 Alarms Leading Every Resident To Safety Act of 2019’’ 

4 or the ‘‘CO ALERTS Act of 2019’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds that— 

7 (1) carbon monoxide alarms are not required by 

8 federally assisted housing programs, when not re9 quired by State or local codes; 

10 (2) numerous federally assisted housing resi11 dents have lost their lives due to carbon monoxide 

12 poisoning; 

13 (3) the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning 

14 occur immediately and can result in death in a mat15 ter of minutes; 

16 (4) carbon monoxide exposure can cause perma17 nent brain damage, life-threatening cardiac com18 plications, fetal death or miscarriage, and death, 

19 among other harmful health conditions; 

20 (5) carbon monoxide poisoning is especially 

21 dangerous for unborn babies, children, elderly indi22 viduals, and individuals with cardiovascular disease, 

23 among others with chronic health conditions; 

24 (6) the majority of the 4,600,000 families re25 ceiving Federal housing assistance are families with 

26 young children, elderly individuals, or individuals 


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1 with disabilities, making them especially vulnerable 

2 to carbon monoxide poisoning; 

3 (7) more than 400 people die and 50,000 addi4 tional people visit the emergency room annually as 

5 a result of carbon monoxide poisoning; 

6 (8) carbon monoxide poisoning is entirely pre7 ventable and early detection is possible with the use 

8 of carbon monoxide alarms; 

9 (9) the Centers for Disease Control and Preven10 tion warns that carbon monoxide poisoning is en11 tirely preventable and recommends the installation 

12 of carbon monoxide alarms; 

13 (10) the Office of Lead Hazard Control and 

14 Healthy Homes of the Department of Housing and 

15 Urban Development recommends the installation of 

16 carbon monoxide alarms as a best practice to keep 

17 families and individuals safe and to protect health; 

18 and 

19 (11) in order to safeguard the health and well20 being of tenants in federally assisted housing, the 

21 Federal Government should consider best practices 

22 for primary prevention of carbon monoxide-related 

23 incidents. 


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1 SEC. 3. CARBON MONOXIDE ALARMS OR DETECTORS IN 

2 FEDERALLY ASSISTED HOUSING. 

3 (a) PUBLIC HOUSING, TENANT-BASED ASSISTANCE, 

4 AND PROJECT-BASED ASSISTANCE.—The United States 

5 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.) is amend6 ed— 

7 (1) in section 3(a) (42 U.S.C. 1437a(a)), by 

8 adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(8) CARBON MONOXIDE ALARMS.—Each public 

10 housing agency shall ensure that carbon monoxide 

11 alarms or detectors are installed in each dwelling 

12 unit in public housing owned or operated by the 

13 public housing agency in a manner that meets or ex14 ceeds— 

15 ‘‘(A) the standards described in chapters 9 

16 and 11 of the 2018 publication of the Inter17 national Fire Code, as published by the Inter18 national Code Council; or 

19 ‘‘(B) any other standards as may be adopt20 ed by the Secretary, including any relevant up21 dates to the International Fire Code, through a 

22 notice published in the Federal Register.’’; and 

23 (2) in section 8 (42 U.S.C. 1437f)— 

24 (A) by inserting after subsection (i) the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(j) CARBON MONOXIDE ALARMS.—Each owner of a 

2 dwelling unit receiving project-based assistance under this 

3 section shall ensure that carbon monoxide alarms or detec4 tors are installed in the dwelling unit in a manner that 

5 meets or exceeds— 

6 ‘‘(1) the standards described in chapters 9 and 

7 11 of the 2018 publication of the International Fire 

8 Code, as published by the International Code Coun9 cil; or 

10 ‘‘(2) any other standards as may be adopted by 

11 the Secretary, including any relevant updates to the 

12 International Fire Code, through a notice published 

13 in the Federal Register.’’; and 

14 (B) in subsection (o), by adding at the end 

15 the following: 

16 ‘‘(21) CARBON MONOXIDE ALARMS.—Each 

17 dwelling unit receiving tenant-based assistance or 

18 project-based assistance under this subsection shall 

19 have carbon monoxide alarms or detectors installed 

20 in the dwelling unit in a manner that meets or ex21 ceeds— 

22 ‘‘(A) the standards described in chapters 9 

23 and 11 of the 2018 publication of the Inter24 national Fire Code, as published by the Inter25 national Code Council; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) any other standards as may be adopt2 ed by the Secretary, including any relevant up3 dates to the International Fire Code, through a 

4 notice published in the Federal Register.’’. 

5 (b) SUPPORTIVE HOUSING FOR THE ELDERLY.— 

6 Section 202(j) of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 

7 1701q(j)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(9) CARBON MONOXIDE ALARMS.—Each owner 

9 of a dwelling unit assisted under this section shall 

10 ensure that carbon monoxide alarms or detectors are 

11 installed in the dwelling unit in a manner that meets 

12 or exceeds— 

13 ‘‘(A) the standards described in chapters 9 

14 and 11 of the 2018 publication of the Inter15 national Fire Code, as published by the Inter16 national Code Council; or 

17 ‘‘(B) any other standards as may be adopt18 ed by the Secretary, including any relevant up19 dates to the International Fire Code, through a 

20 notice published in the Federal Register.’’. 

21 (c) SUPPORTIVE HOUSING FOR PERSONS WITH DIS22 ABILITIES.—Section 811(j) of the Cranston-Gonzalez Na23 tional Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013(j)) is 

24 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(7) CARBON MONOXIDE ALARMS.—Each dwell2 ing unit assisted under this section shall contain in3 stalled carbon monoxide alarms or detectors that 

4 meet or exceed— 

5 ‘‘(A) the standards described in chapters 9 

6 and 11 of the 2018 publication of the Inter7 national Fire Code, as published by the Inter8 national Code Council; or 

9 ‘‘(B) any other standards as may be adopt10 ed by the Secretary, including any relevant up11 dates to the International Fire Code, through a 

12 notice published in the Federal Register.’’. 

13 (d) HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES FOR PERSONS WITH

14 AIDS.—Section 856 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National 

15 Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12905) is amended by 

16 adding at the end the following new subsection: 

17 ‘‘(i) CARBON MONOXIDE ALARMS.—Each dwelling 

18 unit assisted under this subtitle shall contain installed car19 bon monoxide alarms or detectors that meet or exceed— 

20 ‘‘(1) the standards described in chapters 9 and 

21 11 of the 2018 publication of the International Fire 

22 Code, as published by the International Code Coun23 cil; or 

24 ‘‘(2) any other standards as may be adopted by 

25 the Secretary, including any relevant updates to the 


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1 International Fire Code, through a notice published 

2 in the Federal Register.’’. 

3 (e) RURAL HOUSING.—Title V of the Housing Act 

4 of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.) is amended— 

5 (1) in section 514 (42 U.S.C. 1484), by adding 

6 at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(j) Housing and related facilities constructed with 

8 loans under this section shall contain installed carbon 

9 monoxide alarms or detectors that meet or exceed— 

10 ‘‘(1) the standards described in chapters 9 and 

11 11 of the 2018 publication of the International Fire 

12 Code, as published by the International Code Coun13 cil; or 

14 ‘‘(2) any other standards as may be adopted by 

15 the Secretary, in collaboration with the Secretary of 

16 Housing and Urban Development, including any rel17 evant updates to the International Fire Code, 

18 through a notice published in the Federal Register.’’; 

19 and 

20 (2) in section 515 (42 U.S.C. 1485)— 

21 (A) in subsection (m), by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ 

22 before ‘‘The Secretary shall establish’’; and 

23 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(2) Housing and related facilities rehabilitated or 

25 repaired with amounts received under a loan made or inVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1690.RFS H1690

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1 sured under this section shall contain installed carbon 

2 monoxide alarms or detectors that meet or exceed— 

3 ‘‘(A) the standards described in chapters 9 and 

4 11 of the 2018 publication of the International Fire 

5 Code, as published by the International Code Coun6 cil; or 

7 ‘‘(B) any other standards as may be adopted by 

8 the Secretary, in collaboration with the Secretary of 

9 Housing and Urban Development, including any rel10 evant updates to the International Fire Code, 

11 through a notice published in the Federal Register.’’. 

12 (f) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary of Housing and 

13 Urban Development shall provide guidance to public hous14 ing agencies (as defined in section 3(b)(6) of the United 

15 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)(6)) on 

16 how to educate tenants on health hazards in the home, 

17 including to carbon monoxide poisoning, lead poisoning, 

18 asthma induced by housing-related allergens, and other 

19 housing-related preventable outcomes, to help advance pri20 mary prevention and prevent future deaths and other 

21 harms. 

22 (g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

23 subsections (a) through (d) shall take effect on the date 

24 that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 


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1 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

2 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act, 

3 $101,400,000 per year for each of fiscal years 2020, 2021, 

4 and 2022. 

5 (i) NO PREEMPTION.—Nothing in the amendments 

6 made by this section shall be construed to preempt or limit 

7 the applicability of any State or local law relating to the 

8 installation and maintenance of carbon monoxide alarms 

9 or detectors in housing that requires standards that are 

10 more stringent than the standards described in the amend11 ments made by this section. 

12 SEC. 4. STUDY ON INCLUSION OF CARBON MONOXIDE 

13 ALARMS OR DETECTORS IN OTHER UNITS. 

14 The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 

15 in consultation with the Consumer Product Safety Com16 mission, shall conduct a study and issue a publicly avail17 able report on requiring carbon monoxide alarms or detec18 tors in federally assisted housing that is not covered in 

19 the amendments made by section 3. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 10, 

2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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