II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1815 

To establish an occupational safety and health standard to protect 

farmworkers from wildfire smoke, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 12, 2019 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish an occupational safety and health standard to 

protect farmworkers from wildfire smoke, 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 ‘‘Farmworker Smoke 

5 Protection Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that, as of the date of enactment of 

8 this Act— 


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1 (1) the wildfire season has increased by over 2 

2 months since the 1970s, and wildfires have become 

3 increasingly prevalent across the United States due 

4 to prolonged droughts and extreme temperatures; 

5 (2) the average annual temperatures in the 

6 western United States have increased by 1.9 degrees 

7 Fahrenheit since 1970; 

8 (3) wildfire smoke often contains toxic chemi9 cals and particulates, creating hazardous air quality 

10 conditions; 

11 (4) wildfire smoke often persists for extended 

12 periods of time and can travel hundreds of miles; 

13 and 

14 (5) wildfire smoke inhalation is harmful to 

15 human health, particularly for vulnerable popu16 lations, including outdoor workers. 

17 SEC. 3. OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARD 

18 TO PROTECT FARMWORKERS FROM WILD19 FIRE SMOKE. 

20 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 (1) AGRICULTURAL OPERATION EMPLOYER.— 

22 The term ‘‘agricultural operation employer’’ means 

23 an employer, as defined in section 3 of the Occupa24 tional Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 

25 652), engaged in farming or agricultural operation. 


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1 (2) FARMWORKER.—The term ‘‘farmworker’’ 

2 means an employee, as defined in section 3 of the 

3 Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 

4 U.S.C. 652), engaged in farming or other agricul5 tural work for an agricultural operation employer. 

6 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

7 the Secretary of Labor. 

8 (4) UNIFORM AIR QUALITY INDEX.—The term 

9 ‘‘uniform air quality index’’ means the PM–2.5 cat10 egory of the uniform air quality index for the air 

11 quality monitoring system required under section 

12 319(a) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7619(a)). 

13 (b) INITIAL OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH

14 STANDARD.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—During the period beginning 

16 on the date of enactment of this Act and ending on 

17 the date of the promulgation of the occupational 

18 safety and health standard under subsection (c), the 

19 Secretary shall deem the initial standard to protect 

20 farmworkers from wildfire smoke described in para21 graph (2) to be an occupational safety and health 

22 standard under section 6 of the Occupational Safety 

23 and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 655). 


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1 (2) CONTENTS OF INITIAL STANDARD.—The 

2 initial standard described in this subsection shall re3 quire that an agricultural operation employer— 

4 (A) provide farmworkers with appropriate 

5 equipment to protect from wildfire smoke when 

6 air quality at the workplace reaches a level of 

7 151 or greater, as determined by the uniform 

8 air quality index; 

9 (B) ensure that the equipment provided 

10 under subparagraph (A) includes an N95 mask 

11 or N100 mask or other equipment certified by 

12 the National Institute for Occupational Safety 

13 and Health to protect from wildfire smoke ex14 posure; 

15 (C) require mandatory use of the equip16 ment described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) 

17 when air quality at the workplace reaches a 

18 level of 201 or greater, as determined by the 

19 uniform air quality index; and 

20 (D) provide, with the equipment described 

21 in subparagraphs (A) and (B), training and 

22 education materials to farmworkers, in a lan23 guage understood by the farmworkers, regard24 ing— 


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1 (i) how to properly use the protective 

2 equipment; 

3 (ii) how long and under what condi4 tions the protective equipment is effective; 

5 and 

6 (iii) the potential health impacts of 

7 breathing wildfire smoke without proper 

8 protection. 

9 (3) ENFORCEMENT.—The initial standard de10 scribed in this subsection shall be enforced in the 

11 same manner as a standard promulgated under sec12 tion 6 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 

13 1970 (29 U.S.C. 655), including the prohibition on 

14 discrimination under section 11(c) of such Act (29 

15 U.S.C. 660(c)). 

16 (c) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH STAND17 ARD.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—By not later than 90 days 

19 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec20 retary shall begin promulgating an occupational 

21 safety and health standard under section 6 of the 

22 Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 

23 U.S.C. 655) to protect farmworkers from wildfire 

24 smoke. 


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1 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The standard promul2 gated under paragraph (1) shall— 

3 (A) provide safety and health protections 

4 for farmworkers working for agricultural oper5 ation employers that provide at least the same 

6 level of health and safety protection as the re7 quirements under subsection (b)(2); and 

8 (B) detail the potential health impacts of 

9 breathing wildfire smoke without proper protec10 tion. 

11 (d) COLLABORATION AND TECHNICAL ASSIST12 ANCE.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—An agricultural operation 

14 employer may seek advice or assistance from the 

15 Secretary of Labor or a State or local health depart16 ment regarding the equipment and training and edu17 cation materials needed to meet the requirements 

18 under subsection (b)(2) (or any similar requirement 

19 of a standard promulgated under subsection (c)). 

20 (2) DEPARTMENT OF LABOR DUTIES.—The 

21 Secretary shall— 

22 (A) provide technical assistance, upon the 

23 request of an agricultural operation employer, 

24 regarding how to meet the employer require25 ments of this section; and 


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1 (B) develop sample training and education 

2 materials that may be used by agricultural op3 eration employers to meet the requirements of 

4 subsection (b)(2)(D) (or any similar require5 ment of a standard promulgated under sub6 section (c)). 

7 (3) COLLABORATION WITH COMMUNITY ORGA8 NIZATIONS.—The Secretary may, upon request, pro9 vide the training and educational materials devel10 oped under paragraph (2)(B) to relevant community 

11 and nonprofit organizations. 

Æ 


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