II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2160 

To require carbon monoxide alarms in certain federally assisted housing, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 18, 2019 

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina (for himself and Mr. MENENDEZ) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To require carbon monoxide alarms 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

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

6 or the ‘‘CO ALERTS Act of 2019’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) carbon monoxide alarms are not required by 

2 federally assisted housing programs, when not re3 quired by State or local codes; 

4 (2) numerous federally assisted housing resi5 dents have lost their lives due to carbon monoxide 

6 poisoning; 

7 (3) the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning 

8 occur immediately and can result in death in a mat9 ter of minutes; 

10 (4) carbon monoxide exposure can cause perma11 nent brain damage, life-threatening cardiac com12 plications, fetal death or miscarriage, and death, 

13 among other harmful health conditions; 

14 (5) carbon monoxide poisoning is especially 

15 dangerous for unborn babies, children, elderly indi16 viduals, and individuals with cardiovascular disease, 

17 among others with chronic health conditions; 

18 (6) the majority of the 4,600,000 families re19 ceiving Federal housing assistance are families with 

20 young children, elderly individuals, or individuals 

21 with disabilities, making them especially vulnerable 

22 to carbon monoxide poisoning; 

23 (7) more than 400 people die and 50,000 addi24 tional people visit the emergency room annually as 

25 a result of carbon monoxide poisoning; 


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1 (8) carbon monoxide poisoning is entirely pre2 ventable and early detection is possible with the use 

3 of carbon monoxide alarms; 

4 (9) the Centers for Disease Control and Preven5 tion warns that carbon monoxide poisoning is en6 tirely preventable and recommends the installation 

7 of carbon monoxide alarms; 

8 (10) the Office of Lead Hazard Control and 

9 Healthy Homes of the Department of Housing and 

10 Urban Development recommends the installation of 

11 carbon monoxide alarms as a best practice to keep 

12 families and individuals safe and to protect health; 

13 and 

14 (11) in order to safeguard the health and well15 being of tenants in federally assisted housing, the 

16 Federal Government should consider best practices 

17 for primary prevention of carbon monoxide-related 

18 incidents. 

19 SEC. 3. CARBON MONOXIDE ALARMS IN FEDERALLY AS20 SISTED HOUSING. 

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

22 AND PROJECT-BASED ASSISTANCE.—The United States 

23 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.) is amend24 ed— 


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

2 adding at the end the following: 

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

4 housing agency shall ensure that carbon monoxide 

5 alarms are installed in each dwelling unit in public 

6 housing owned or operated by the public housing 

7 agency in a manner that meets or exceeds— 

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

9 and 11 of the 2018 publication of the Inter10 national Fire Code, as published by the Inter11 national Code Council; or 

12 ‘‘(B) any other standards as may be adopt13 ed by the Secretary, including any relevant up14 dates to the International Fire Code, through a 

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

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

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

18 following: 

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

20 dwelling unit receiving project-based assistance under this 

21 section shall ensure that carbon monoxide alarms are in22 stalled in the dwelling unit in a manner that meets or ex23 ceeds— 

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

25 11 of the 2018 publication of the International Fire 


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1 Code, as published by the International Code Coun2 cil; or 

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

4 the Secretary, including any relevant updates to the 

5 International Fire Code, through a notice published 

6 in the Federal Register.’’; and 

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

8 the following: 

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

10 dwelling unit receiving tenant-based assistance or 

11 project-based assistance under this subsection shall 

12 have carbon monoxide alarms installed in the dwell13 ing unit in a manner that meets or exceeds— 

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

15 and 11 of the 2018 publication of the Inter16 national Fire Code, as published by the Inter17 national Code Council; or 

18 ‘‘(B) any other standards as may be adopt19 ed by the Secretary, including any relevant up20 dates to the International Fire Code, through a 

21 notice published in the Federal Register.’’. 

22 (b) SUPPORTIVE HOUSING FOR THE ELDERLY.— 

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

24 1701q(j)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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

2 of a dwelling unit assisted under this section shall 

3 ensure that carbon monoxide alarms are installed in 

4 the dwelling unit in a manner that meets or ex5 ceeds— 

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

7 and 11 of the 2018 publication of the Inter8 national Fire Code, as published by the Inter9 national Code Council; or 

10 ‘‘(B) any other standards as may be adopt11 ed by the Secretary, including any relevant up12 dates to the International Fire Code, through a 

13 notice published in the Federal Register.’’. 

14 (c) SUPPORTIVE HOUSING FOR PERSONS WITH DIS15 ABILITIES.—Section 811(j) of the Cranston-Gonzalez Na16 tional Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013(j)) is 

17 amended by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(7) CARBON MONOXIDE ALARMS.—Each dwell19 ing unit assisted under this section shall contain in20 stalled carbon monoxide alarms that meet or ex21 ceed— 

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

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

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

8 at the end the following: 

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

10 loans under this section shall contain installed carbon 

11 monoxide alarms that meet or exceed— 

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

13 11 of the 2018 publication of the International Fire 

14 Code, as published by the International Code Coun15 cil; or 

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

17 the Secretary, including any relevant updates to the 

18 International Fire Code, through a notice published 

19 in the Federal Register.’’; 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 23:14 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2160.IS S2160

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1 sured under this section shall contain installed carbon 

2 monoxide alarms 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, including any relevant updates to the 

9 International Fire Code, through a notice published 

10 in the Federal Register.’’. 

11 (e) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary of Housing and 

12 Urban Development shall provide guidance to public hous13 ing agencies (as defined in section 3(b)(6) of the United 

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

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

16 including to carbon monoxide poisoning, lead poisoning, 

17 asthma induced by housing-related allergens, and other 

18 housing-related preventable outcomes, to help advance pri19 mary prevention and prevent future deaths and other 

20 harms. 

21 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

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

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

24 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

25 authorized to be appropriated to implement the provisions 


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1 of this section such sums as may be necessary for each 

2 of fiscal years 2020 through 2024. 

3 (h) NO PREEMPTION.—Nothing in the amendments 

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

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

6 installation and maintenance of carbon monoxide alarms 

7 in housing that requires standards that are more stringent 

8 than the standards described in the amendments made by 

9 this section. 

10 SEC. 4. STUDY ON INCLUSION OF CARBON MONOXIDE 

11 ALARMS IN OTHER UNITS. 

12 The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 

13 in consultation with the Consumer Product Safety Com14 mission, shall conduct a study and issue a publicly avail15 able report on requiring carbon monoxide alarms in feder16 ally assisted housing that is not covered in the amend17 ments made by section 3. 

Æ 


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