Breath of Fresh Air Act
Bill: H.R.136 | Sponsor: Rep. Jackson Lee, Sheila (D-TX)
Policy area: Education

Summary:
Breath of Fresh Air Act
This bill establishes a grant program for local educational agencies to purchase, and train school personnel to use, nebulizers.

To establish a grant program for nebulizers in elementary and secondary 
                                schools.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Breath of Fresh Air Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) 25,000,000 people, including 7,000,000 children, have 
        asthma.
            (2) Almost 13,000,000 people report having an asthma attack 
        in the past year and asthma accounts for nearly 2,000,000 
        emergency department visits each year.
            (3) Every day in the United States--
                    (A) 30,000 people have an asthma attack; and
                    (B) 11 people die from asthma.
            (4) Nearly 5,000,000 asthma sufferers are under 18 years of 
        age, and 1 out of every 10 school-aged children has asthma.
            (5) Minorities are adversely affected by asthma, as--
                    (A) African Americans are 3 times more likely to 
                die from asthma; and
                    (B) Hispanics may have an elevated risk for 
                exposure to air pollution since a disproportionate 
                number live in areas failing to meet one or more 
                national standards for air pollutants. (It is estimated 
                that 80 percent of Hispanics live in areas that failed 
                to meet one United States Environmental Protection 
                Agency air quality standard, compared to 65 percent of 
                African Americans and 57 percent of Whites.)

SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM FOR NEBULIZERS.

    (a) Program Required.--The Secretary of Education shall carry out a 
program under which the Secretary makes grants to local educational 
agencies, to be used by the local educational agencies for one or both 
of the following:
            (1) To purchase nebulizers for use in elementary and 
        secondary schools served by the local educational agency.
            (2) To provide training to enable elementary and secondary 
        schools served by the local educational agency to meet the 
        requirements of subsection (d)(1), but only if nebulizers are 
        already in use at such schools or are acquired through this 
        program.
    (b) Eligibility.--
            (1) Local educational agencies.--To be eligible to receive 
        a grant under this section, a local educational agency shall 
        submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such 
        form, and containing such information as the Secretary may 
        require.
            (2) Elementary and secondary schools.--To be eligible to 
        receive a nebulizer through a grant under this section, a 
        school may be any public or private school served by the local 
        educational agency, except that an internet- or computer-based 
        community school is not eligible.
    (c) Matching Funds Required.--
            (1) In general.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
        this section, the local educational agency must provide 
        matching funds from non-Federal sources equal to not less than 
        25 percent of the amount of the grant.
            (2) Waiver.--The Secretary shall waive the requirement of 
        paragraph (1) for a local educational agency if the number of 
        children counted under section 1124(c)(1)(A) of the Elementary 
        and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6333(c)(1)(A)) 
        is 20 percent or more of the total number of children aged 5 to 
        17, inclusive, served by the local educational agency.
    (d) Training and Coordination Required.--A local educational agency 
that receives a grant under this section shall demonstrate that, for 
each elementary and secondary school at which the nebulizers are to be 
used--
            (1) there is a full-time certified school nurse on staff;
            (2) the school has the trained personnel and other 
        resources necessary to use the nebulizers;
            (3) local paramedics and other emergency services personnel 
        are notified where on school grounds the nebulizers are to be 
        located;
            (4) the nebulizer will be integrated into the school's 
        emergency response plan or procedures; and
            (5) the school has procedures in place to ensure that 
        parents are notified of the availability of the nebulizers, how 
        to provide their child's prescription asthma medication to the 
        school, and how to authorize use of a nebulizer to assist their 
        child when medically appropriate.
    (e) Priority.--In making grants under this section, the Secretary 
shall give priority to local educational agencies--
            (1) having jurisdiction over a geographic area with respect 
        to which the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 
        Prevention has determined that the prevalence of asthma is at 
        least 10 percent higher than the national average;
            (2) that do not already have at least one nebulizer in each 
        school served by the local educational agency;
            (3) that serve schools at which a significant number of 
        students, staff, and visitors are present on school grounds 
        during a typical day; and
            (4) that have not received funds under the Rural Access to 
        Emergency Devices Act (42 U.S.C. 254c note).
    (f) ESEA Definitions.--The terms used in this section shall have 
the meanings given to such terms in section 9101 of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section such sums as may be necessary 
for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2021.

SEC. 4. CONSTRUCTION.

    Nothing in this Act shall be construed--
            (1) to create liability for use of a nebulizer or affect 
        liability for such use that exists under other law; or
            (2) to supersede a State law regulating nursing.
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