Elimination of indoor residential mold in housing of Department of Defense

(a) Study and report on health impacts of indoor residential mold (1) Study (A) In general As soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall conduct a comprehensive study on the health effects of indoor residential mold growth in military unaccompanied housing or other housing on military installations, using the most up-to-date scientific peer-reviewed medical literature. (B) Elements The study conducted under subparagraph (A) shall ascertain— (i) detailed information about harmful or toxigenic mold that may impact the military departments and individuals living on military installations, as well as any toxin or toxic compound such mold can produce; (ii) the most accurate research-based methods of detecting harmful or toxigenic mold; (iii) improved understanding of the different health symptomology that can result from exposure to mold in indoor residential environments on military installations, including military unaccompanied housing; (iv) the ability to conduct and the cost of conducting ongoing surveillance of the prevalence of idiopathic pulmonary hemorrhage in infants living on military installations; and (v) longitudinal studies on the effects of indoor mold exposure in early childhood on the development of asthma and other respiratory illnesses of children living on military installations. (2) Reports required (A) Interim findings Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report that contains the interim findings of the study conducted under paragraph (1). (B) Final report Not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a final report detailing the results of the study conducted under paragraph (1). (b) Implementation actions The Secretary of Defense shall implement mitigation measures at military installations found to have hazardous mold conditions following the submission of the interim findings under subsection (a)(2)(A). (c) Construction requirements for new housing on military installations (1) In general The Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, may develop model construction standards and techniques for preventing and controlling indoor residential mold in new residential properties on a military installation if existing facilities at the military installation are found to be inappropriately constructed for the environment. (2) Contents The model standards and techniques developed under paragraph (1) shall provide for geographic differences in construction types and materials, geology, weather, and other variables that may affect indoor residential mold levels in new buildings and on various military installations. (3) Consultation To the maximum extent possible, model standards and techniques shall be developed under paragraph (1) with the assistance of organizations involved in establishing national building construction standards and techniques. (4) Applicability to new construction and rehabilitation If the Secretary of Defense develops model construction standards and techniques under paragraph (1), not later than one year after deciding to develop such standards and techniques, the Secretary shall include such model standards and techniques as a requirement for residential rehabilitation or new construction projects conducted by the Department of Defense with amounts appropriated to the Department. (d) Education for military health professionals The Secretary of Defense shall include education for military health professions on mold-related illness, including signs and symptoms of toxigenic mold exposure, in recurring training received by miliary health practitioners at such time and in such manner as the Secretary chooses. (e) Definitions In this section: (1) Indoor residential mold The term indoor residential mold means any form of multi-cellular fungi found in water-damaged indoor environments and building materials, including cladosporium, penicillium, alternaria, aspergillus, fusarium, trichoderma, memnoniella, mucor, stachybotrys chartarum, streptomyces, and epicoccumoften. (2) Military installation The term military installation has the meaning given that term in section 2801(c) of title 10, United States Code. (3) Military unaccompanied housing The term military unaccompanied housing has the meaning given that term in section 2871 of title 10, United States Code. (4) Toxigenic mold The term toxigenic mold means any indoor mold growth that may be capable of producing a toxin or toxic compound, including mycotoxins and microbial volatile organic compounds, that can cause pulmonary, respiratory, neurological, gastrointestinal, or dermatological illnesses, or other major adverse health impacts, as determined by the Secretary of Defense in consultation with the Director of the National Institutes of Health, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.