Reintroduction of the Cabin Air Safety Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, today I reintroduce the ``Cabin Air Safety Act,'' with U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Congressman Brian K. Fitzpatrick (R-PA).

All Americans have the right to expect safe, clean air when travelling or reporting to work. I am deeply concerned by the documented cases where pilots, flight attendants, and airline passengers have been incapacitated or even hospitalized following exposure to toxic cabin air.

The ``Cabin Air Safety Act'' takes commonsense steps to protect airline crewmembers and the traveling public from toxic fume events, which occur when air contaminated by engine exhaust, fuel fumes, deicing fluids, and ozone enters the aircraft cabin through the jet- engine intake or the auxiliary air intake at the stern of the aircraft when on the ground. Exposure to even low levels of these contaminants can incapacitate passengers and crew. Long-term exposure could lead to serious, debilitating health issues.

Our bicameral, bipartisan legislation would better protect airline passengers and crew by mandating training on how to respond to toxic fumes, requiring the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to record and monitor reports of toxic fume events, ensuring that investigations occur following reported toxic fume events, and installing air quality monitoring equipment such as carbon monoxide sensors on commercial aircraft as standard equipment. Lastly, the ``Cabin Air Safety Act'' makes clear that the FAA can indeed set standards for cabin air quality to safeguard the health of airline crewmembers and the traveling public.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members of the House to join me in cosponsoring this bicameral, bipartisan legislation. As a senior member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, I plan to make the ``Cabin Air Safety Act'' a major priority in the coming FAA reauthorization.

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