II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1185

To provide small businesses certain protections from litigation excesses and

to limit the product liability of non-manufacturer product sellers.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 27, 1999

Mr. ABRAHAM (for himself, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. HATCH, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr.

MCCONNELL, Mr. LOTT, Mr. BOND, Mr. ASHCROFT, Mr. COVERDELL,

Mr. NICKLES, Mr. BROWNBACK, Mr. GORTON, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. BURNS, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. HELMS, Mr. ALLARD, Mr. HAGEL,

Mr. MACK, Mr. BUNNING, Mr. JEFFORDS, Mr. DEWINE, Mr. CRAIG,

Mrs. HUTCHISON, and Mr. ENZI) introduced the following bill; which was

read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To provide small businesses certain protections from litigation excesses and to limit the product liability of nonmanufacturer product sellers.

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 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Small Business Liability Reform Act of 1999’’.

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for

7 this Act is as follows:
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Sec. 1. Short title.

TITLE I—SMALL BUSINESS LAWSUIT ABUSE PROTECTION

Sec. 101. Findings.

Sec. 102. Definitions.

Sec. 103. Limitation on punitive damages for small businesses.

Sec. 104. Limitation on several liability for noneconomic loss for small businesses.

Sec. 105. Exceptions to limitations on liability.

Sec. 106. Preemption and election of State nonapplicability.

Sec. 107. Effective date.

TITLE II—PRODUCT SELLER FAIR TREATMENT

Sec. 201. Findings; purposes.

Sec. 202. Definitions.

Sec. 203. Applicability; preemption.

Sec. 204. Liability rules applicable to product sellers, renters, and lessors.

Sec. 205. Federal cause of action precluded.

Sec. 206. Effective date.

1 TITLE I—SMALL BUSINESS

2 LAWSUIT ABUSE PROTECTION

3 SEC. 101. FINDINGS.

4 Congress finds that—

5 (1) the United States civil justice system is in6 efficient, unpredictable, unfair, costly, and impedes

7 competitiveness in the marketplace for goods, serv8 ices, business, and employees;

9 (2) the defects in the civil justice system have

10 a direct and undesirable effect on interstate com11 merce by decreasing the availability of goods and

12 services in commerce;

13 (3) there is a need to restore rationality, cer14 tainty, and fairness to the legal system;

15 (4) the spiralling costs of litigation and the

16 magnitude and unpredictability of punitive damage
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1 awards and noneconomic damage awards have con2 tinued unabated for at least the past 30 years;

3 (5) the Supreme Court of the United States has

4 recognized that a punitive damage award can be un5 constitutional if the award is grossly excessive in re6 lation to the legitimate interest of the government in

7 the punishment and deterrence of unlawful conduct;

8 (6) just as punitive damage awards can be

9 grossly excessive, so can it be grossly excessive in

10 some circumstances for a party to be held respon11 sible under the doctrine of joint and several liability

12 for damages that party did not cause;

13 (7) as a result of joint and several liability, en14 tities including small businesses are often brought

15 into litigation despite the fact that their conduct

16 may have little or nothing to do with the accident

17 or transaction giving rise to the lawsuit, and may

18 therefore face increased and unjust costs due to the

19 possibility or result of unfair and disproportionate

20 damage awards;

21 (8) the costs imposed by the civil justice system

22 on small businesses are particularly acute, since

23 small businesses often lack the resources to bear

24 those costs and to challenge unwarranted lawsuits;
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1 (9) due to high liability costs and unwarranted

2 litigation costs, small businesses face higher costs in

3 purchasing insurance through interstate insurance

4 markets to cover their activities;

5 (10) liability reform for small businesses will

6 promote the free flow of goods and services, lessen

7 burdens on interstate commerce, and decrease liti8 giousness; and

9 (11) legislation to address these concerns is an

10 appropriate exercise of the powers of Congress under

11 clauses 3, 9, and 18 of section 8 of article I of the

12 Constitution of the United States, and the 14

13 amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

14 SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS.

15 In this title:

16 (1) ACT OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM.—The

17 term ‘‘act of international terrorism’’ has the same

18 meaning as in section 2331 of title 18, United

19 States Code.

20 (2) CRIME OF VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘crime of

21 violence’’ has the same meaning as in section 16 of

22 title 18, United States Code.

23 (3) DRUG.—The term ‘‘drug’’ means any con24 trolled substance (as defined in section 102 of the

25 Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802(b)) that
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1 was not legally prescribed for use by the defendant

2 or that was taken by the defendant other than in ac3 cordance with the terms of a lawfully issued pre4 scription.

5 (4) ECONOMIC LOSS.—The term ‘‘economic

6 loss’’ means any pecuniary loss resulting from harm

7 (including the loss of earnings or other benefits re8 lated to employment, medical expense loss, replace9 ment services loss, loss due to death, burial costs,

10 and loss of business or employment opportunities) to

11 the extent recovery for such loss is allowed under ap12 plicable State law.

13 (5) HARM.—The term ‘‘harm’’ includes phys14 ical, nonphysical, economic, and noneconomic losses.

15 (6) HATE CRIME.—The term ‘‘hate crime’’

16 means a crime described in section 1(b) of the Hate

17 Crime Statistics Act (28 U.S.C. 534 note).

18 (7) NONECONOMIC LOSS.—The term ‘‘non19 economic loss’’ means loss for physical or emotional

20 pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment,

21 mental anguish, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of

22 life, loss of society and companionship, loss of con23 sortium (other than loss of domestic service), injury

24 to reputation, or any other nonpecuniary loss of any

25 kind or nature.
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1 (8) SMALL BUSINESS.—

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘small busi3 ness’’ means any unincorporated business, or

4 any partnership, corporation, association, unit

5 of local government, or organization that has

6 less than 25 full-time employees.

7 (B) CALCULATION OF NUMBER OF EM8 PLOYEES.—For purposes of subparagraph (A),

9 the number of employees of a subsidiary of a

10 wholly owned corporation includes the employ11 ees of—

12 (i) a parent corporation; and

13 (ii) any other subsidiary corporation

14 of that parent corporation.

15 (9) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of

16 the several States, the District of Columbia, the

17 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands,

18 Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Is19 lands, any other territory or possession of the

20 United States, or any political subdivision of any

21 such State, territory, or possession.

22 SEC. 103. LIMITATION ON PUNITIVE DAMAGES FOR SMALL

23 BUSINESSES.

24 (a) GENERAL RULE.—Except as provided in section

25 105, in any civil action against a small business, punitive
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1 damages may, to the extent permitted by applicable State

2 law, be awarded against the small business only if the

3 claimant establishes by clear and convincing evidence that

4 conduct carried out by that defendant through willful mis5 conduct or with a conscious, flagrant indifference to the

6 rights or safety of others was the proximate cause of the

7 harm that is the subject of the action.

8 (b) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT.—In any civil action

9 against a small business, punitive damages shall not ex10 ceed the lesser of—

11 (1) 2 times the total amount awarded to the

12 claimant for economic and noneconomic losses; or

13 (2) $250,000.

14 (c) APPLICATION BY COURT.—This section shall be

15 applied by the court and shall not be disclosed to the jury.

16 SEC. 104. LIMITATION ON SEVERAL LIABILITY FOR NON17 ECONOMIC LOSS FOR SMALL BUSINESSES.

18 (a) GENERAL RULE.—Except as provided in section

19 105, in any civil action against a small business, the liabil20 ity of each defendant that is a small business, or the agent

21 of a small business, for noneconomic loss shall be deter22 mined in accordance with subsection (b).

23 (b) AMOUNT OF LIABILITY.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—In any civil action described

25 in subsection (a)—
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1 (A) each defendant described in that sub2 section shall be liable only for the amount of

3 noneconomic loss allocated to that defendant in

4 direct proportion to the percentage of responsi5 bility of that defendant (determined in accord6 ance with paragraph (2)) for the harm to the

7 claimant with respect to which the defendant is

8 liable; and

9 (B) the court shall render a separate judg10 ment against each defendant described in that

11 subsection in an amount determined under sub12 paragraph (A).

13 (2) PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSIBILITY.—For

14 purposes of determining the amount of noneconomic

15 loss allocated to a defendant under this section, the

16 trier of fact shall determine the percentage of re17 sponsibility of each person responsible for the harm

18 to the claimant, regardless of whether or not the

19 person is a party to the action.

20 SEC. 105. EXCEPTIONS TO LIMITATIONS ON LIABILITY.

21 The limitations on liability under sections 103 and

22 104 do not apply to any misconduct of a defendant—

23 (1) that constitutes—

24 (A) a crime of violence;

25 (B) an act of international terrorism; or
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1 (C) a hate crime;

2 (2) that results in liability for damages relating

3 to the injury to, destruction of, loss of, or loss of use

4 of, natural resources described in—

5 (A) section 1002(b)(2)(A) of the Oil Pollu6 tion Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2702(b)(2)(A)); or

7 (B) section 107(a)(4)(C) of the Com8 prehensive Environmental Response, Compensa9 tion, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C.

10 9607(a)(4)(C));

11 (3) that involves—

12 (A) a sexual offense, as defined by applica13 ble State law; or

14 (B) a violation of a Federal or State civil

15 rights law; or

16 (4) if the defendant was under the influence (as

17 determined under applicable State law) of intoxi18 cating alcohol or a drug at the time of the mis19 conduct, and the fact that the defendant was under

20 the influence was the cause of any harm alleged by

21 the plaintiff in the subject action.

22 SEC. 106. PREEMPTION AND ELECTION OF STATE NON23 APPLICABILITY.

24 (a) PREEMPTION.—Subject to subsection (b), this

25 title preempts the laws of any State to the extent that
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1 State laws are inconsistent with this title, except that this

2 title shall not preempt any State law that provides addi3 tional protections from liability for small businesses.

4 (b) ELECTION OF STATE REGARDING NONAPPLICA5 BILITY.—This title does not apply to any action in a State

6 court against a small business in which all parties are citi7 zens of the State, if the State enacts a statute—

8 (1) citing the authority of this subsection;

9 (2) declaring the election of such State that this

10 title does not apply as of a date certain to such ac11 tions in the State; and

12 (3) containing no other provision.

13 SEC. 107. EFFECTIVE DATE.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—This title shall take effect 90 days

15 after the date of enactment of this Act.

16 (b) APPLICATION.—This title applies to any claim for

17 harm caused by an act or omission of a small business,

18 if the claim is filed on or after the effective date of this

19 title, without regard to whether the harm that is the sub20 ject of the claim or the conduct that caused the harm oc21 curred before such effective date.

22 TITLE II—PRODUCT SELLER

23 FAIR TREATMENT

24 SEC. 201. FINDINGS; PURPOSES.

25 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
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1 (1) although damage awards in product liability

2 actions may encourage the production of safer prod3 ucts, they may also have a direct effect on interstate

4 commerce and consumers of the United States by in5 creasing the cost of, and decreasing the availability

6 of products;

7 (2) some of the rules of law governing product

8 liability actions are inconsistent within and among

9 the States, resulting in differences in State laws that

10 may be inequitable with respect to plaintiffs and de11 fendants and may impose burdens on interstate com12 merce;

13 (3) product liability awards may jeopardize the

14 financial well-being of individuals and industries,

15 particularly the small businesses of the United

16 States;

17 (4) because the product lability laws of a State

18 may have adverse effects on consumers and busi19 nesses in many other States, it is appropriate for the

20 Federal Government to enact national, uniform

21 product liability laws that preempt State laws; and

22 (5) under clause 3 of section 8 of article I of

23 the United States Constitution, it is the constitu24 tional role of the Federal Government to remove

25 barriers to interstate commerce.
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1 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act, based on

2 the powers of the United States under clause 3 of section

3 8 of article I of the United States Constitution, are to

4 promote the free flow of goods and services and lessen the

5 burdens on interstate commerce, by—

6 (1) establishing certain uniform legal principles

7 of product liability that provide a fair balance among

8 the interests of all parties in the chain of production,

9 distribution, and use of products; and

10 (2) reducing the unacceptable costs and delays

11 in product liability actions caused by excessive litiga12 tion that harms both plaintiffs and defendants.

13 SEC. 202. DEFINITIONS.

14 In this title:

15 (1) ALCOHOL PRODUCT.—The term ‘‘alcohol

16 product’’ includes any product that contains not less

than 1 17 ⁄2 of 1 percent of alcohol by volume and is in18 tended for human consumption.

19 (2) CLAIMANT.—The term ‘‘claimant’’ means

20 any person who brings an action covered by this title

21 and any person on whose behalf such an action is

22 brought. If such an action is brought through or on

23 behalf of an estate, the term includes the claimant’s

24 decedent. If such an action is brought through or on
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1 behalf of a minor or incompetent, the term includes

2 the claimant’s legal guardian.

3 (3) COMMERCIAL LOSS.—The term ‘‘commercial

4 loss’’ means—

5 (A) any loss or damage solely to a product

6 itself;

7 (B) loss relating to a dispute over the

8 value of a product; or

9 (C) consequential economic loss, the recov10 ery of which is governed by applicable State

11 commercial or contract laws that are similar to

12 the Uniform Commercial Code.

13 (4) COMPENSATORY DAMAGES.—The term

14 ‘‘compensatory damages’’ means damages awarded

15 for economic and noneconomic losses.

16 (5) DRAM-SHOP.—The term ‘‘dram-shop’’

17 means a drinking establishment where alcoholic bev18 erages are sold to be consumed on the premises.

19 (6) ECONOMIC LOSS.—The term ‘‘economic

20 loss’’ means any pecuniary loss resulting from harm

21 (including the loss of earnings or other benefits re22 lated to employment, medical expense loss, replace23 ment services loss, loss due to death, burial costs,

24 and loss of business or employment opportunities) to
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1 the extent recovery for that loss is allowed under ap2 plicable State law.

3 (7) HARM.—The term ‘‘harm’’ includes phys4 ical, nonphysical, economic, and noneconomic loss.

5 (8) MANUFACTURER.—The term ‘‘manufac6 turer’’ means—

7 (A) any person who—

8 (i) is engaged in a business to

9 produce, create, make, or construct any

10 product (or component part of a product);

11 and

12 (ii)(I) designs or formulates the prod13 uct (or component part of the product); or

14 (II) has engaged another person to

15 design or formulate the product (or compo16 nent part of the product);

17 (B) a product seller, but only with respect

18 to those aspects of a product (or component

19 part of a product) that are created or affected

20 when, before placing the product in the stream

21 of commerce, the product seller—

22 (i) produces, creates, makes, con23 structs and designs, or formulates an as24 pect of the product (or component part of

25 the product) made by another person; or
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1 (ii) has engaged another person to de2 sign or formulate an aspect of the product

3 (or component part of the product) made

4 by another person; or

5 (C) any product seller not described in

6 subparagraph (B) that holds itself out as a

7 manufacturer to the user of the product.

8 (9) NONECONOMIC LOSS.—The term ‘‘non9 economic loss’’ means loss for physical or emotional

10 pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment,

11 mental anguish, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of

12 life, loss of society and companionship, loss of con13 sortium (other than loss of domestic service), injury

14 to reputation, or any other nonpecuniary loss of any

15 kind or nature.

16 (10) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means any

17 individual, corporation, company, association, firm,

18 partnership, society, joint stock company, or any

19 other entity (including any governmental entity).

20 (11) PRODUCT.—

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘product’’

22 means any object, substance, mixture, or raw

23 material in a gaseous, liquid, or solid state

24 that—
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1 (i) is capable of delivery itself or as an

2 assembled whole, in a mixed or combined

3 state, or as a component part or ingre4 dient;

5 (ii) is produced for introduction into

6 trade or commerce;

7 (iii) has intrinsic economic value; and

8 (iv) is intended for sale or lease to

9 persons for commercial or personal use.

10 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘product’’

11 does not include—

12 (i) tissue, organs, blood, and blood

13 products used for therapeutic or medical

14 purposes, except to the extent that such

15 tissue, organs, blood, and blood products

16 (or the provision thereof) are subject,

17 under applicable State law, to a standard

18 of liability other than negligence; or

19 (ii) electricity, water delivered by a

20 utility, natural gas, or steam.

21 (12) PRODUCT LIABILITY ACTION.—The term

22 ‘‘product liability action’’ means a civil action

23 brought on any theory for any physical injury, ill24 ness, disease, death, or damage to property that is

25 caused by a product.
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1 (13) PRODUCT SELLER.—

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘product sell3 er’’ means a person who in the course of a busi4 ness conducted for that purpose—

5 (i) sells, distributes, rents, leases, pre6 pares, blends, packages, labels, or other7 wise is involved in placing a product in the

8 stream of commerce; or

9 (ii) installs, repairs, refurbishes, re10 conditions, or maintains the harm-causing

11 aspect of the product.

12 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘product sell13 er’’ does not include—

14 (i) a seller or lessor of real property;

15 (ii) a provider of professional services

16 in any case in which the sale or use of a

17 product is incidental to the transaction and

18 the essence of the transaction is the fur19 nishing of judgment, skill, or services; or

20 (iii) any person who—

21 (I) acts in only a financial capac22 ity with respect to the sale of a prod23 uct; or

24 (II) leases a product under a

25 lease arrangement in which the lessor
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1 does not initially select the leased

2 product and does not during the lease

3 term ordinarily control the daily oper4 ations and maintenance of the prod5 uct.

6 (14) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of

7 the several States, the District of Columbia, the

8 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands,

9 Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Is10 lands, any other territory or possession of the

11 United States, or any political subdivision of any

12 such State, territory, or possession.

13 SEC. 203. APPLICABILITY; PREEMPTION.

14 (a) PREEMPTION.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para16 graph (2), this title governs any product liability ac17 tion brought in any Federal or State court.

18 (2) ACTIONS EXCLUDED.—

19 (A) ACTIONS FOR COMMERCIAL LOSS.—A

20 civil action brought for commercial loss shall be

21 governed only by applicable State commercial or

22 contract laws that are similar to the Uniform

23 Commercial Code.
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1 (B) ACTIONS FOR NEGLIGENT ENTRUST2 MENT; NEGLIGENCE PER SE CONCERNING FIRE3 ARMS AND AMMUNITION; DRAM-SHOP.—

4 (i) NEGLIGENT ENTRUSTMENT.—A

5 civil action for negligent entrustment shall

6 not be subject to the provisions of this title

7 governing product liability actions, but

8 shall be subject to any applicable Federal

9 or State law.

10 (ii) NEGLIGENCE PER SE CON11 CERNING FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION.—A

12 civil action brought under a theory of neg13 ligence per se concerning the use of a fire14 arm or ammunition shall not be subject to

15 the provisions of this title governing prod16 uct liability actions, but shall be subject to

17 any applicable Federal or State law.

18 (iii) DRAM-SHOP.—A civil action

19 brought under a theory of dram-shop or

20 third-party liability arising out of the sale

21 or providing of an alcoholic product to an

22 intoxicated person or minor shall not be

23 subject to the provisions of this title, but

24 shall be subject to any applicable Federal

25 or State law.
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1 (b) RELATIONSHIP TO STATE LAW.—This title su2 persedes a State law only to the extent that the State law

3 applies to an issue covered by this title. Any issue that

4 is not governed by this title, including any standard of

5 liability applicable to a manufacturer, shall be governed

6 by any applicable Federal or State law.

7 (c) EFFECT ON OTHER LAW.—Nothing in this title

8 shall be construed to—

9 (1) waive or affect any defense of sovereign im10 munity asserted by any State under any State law;

11 (2) supersede or alter any Federal law;

12 (3) waive or affect any defense of sovereign im13 munity asserted by the United States;

14 (4) affect the applicability of any provision of

15 chapter 97 of title 28, United States Code;

16 (5) preempt State choice-of-law rules with re17 spect to claims brought by a foreign nation or a cit18 izen of a foreign nation;

19 (6) affect the right of any court to transfer

20 venue or to apply the law of a foreign nation or to

21 dismiss a claim of a foreign nation or of a citizen

22 of a foreign nation on the ground of inconvenient

23 forum; or

24 (7) supersede or modify any statutory or com25 mon law, including any law providing for an action
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1 to abate a nuisance, that authorizes a person to in2 stitute an action for civil damages or civil penalties,

3 cleanup costs, injunctions, restitution, cost recovery,

4 punitive damages, or any other form of relief, for re5 mediation of the environment (as defined in section

6 101(8) of the Comprehensive Environmental Re7 sponse, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42

8 U.S.C. 9601(8))).

9 SEC. 204. LIABILITY RULES APPLICABLE TO PRODUCT

10 SELLERS, RENTERS, AND LESSORS.

11 (a) GENERAL RULE.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—In any product liability ac13 tion covered under this Act, a product seller other

14 than a manufacturer shall be liable to a claimant

15 only if the claimant establishes that—

16 (A)(i) the product that allegedly caused the

17 harm that is the subject of the complaint was

18 sold, rented, or leased by the product seller;

19 (ii) the product seller failed to exercise rea20 sonable care with respect to the product; and

21 (iii) the failure to exercise reasonable care

22 was a proximate cause of the harm to the

23 claimant;

24 (B)(i) the product seller made an express

25 warranty applicable to the product that alleg-
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1 edly caused the harm that is the subject of the

2 complaint, independent of any express warranty

3 made by a manufacturer as to the same prod4 uct;

5 (ii) the product failed to conform to the

6 warranty; and

7 (iii) the failure of the product to conform

8 to the warranty caused the harm to the claim9 ant; or

10 (C)(i) the product seller engaged in inten11 tional wrongdoing, as determined under applica12 ble State law; and

13 (ii) the intentional wrongdoing caused the

14 harm that is the subject of the complaint.

15 (2) REASONABLE OPPORTUNITY FOR INSPEC16 TION.—For purposes of paragraph (1)(A)(ii), a

17 product seller shall not be considered to have failed

18 to exercise reasonable care with respect to a product

19 based upon an alleged failure to inspect the product,

20 if—

21 (A) the failure occurred because there was

22 no reasonable opportunity to inspect the prod23 uct; or

24 (B) the inspection, in the exercise of rea25 sonable care, would not have revealed the as-
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1 pect of the product that allegedly caused the

2 claimant’s harm.

3 (b) SPECIAL RULE.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—A product seller shall be

5 deemed to be liable as a manufacturer of a product

6 for harm caused by the product, if—

7 (A) the manufacturer is not subject to

8 service of process under the laws of any State

9 in which the action may be brought; or

10 (B) the court determines that the claimant

11 is or would be unable to enforce a judgment

12 against the manufacturer.

13 (2) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—For purposes

14 of this subsection only, the statute of limitations ap15 plicable to claims asserting liability of a product sell16 er as a manufacturer shall be tolled from the date

17 of the filing of a complaint against the manufacturer

18 to the date that judgment is entered against the

19 manufacturer.

20 (c) RENTED OR LEASED PRODUCTS.—

21 (1) DEFINITION.—For purposes of paragraph

22 (2), and for determining the applicability of this title

23 to any person subject to that paragraph, the term

24 ‘‘product liability action’’ means a civil action
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1 brought on any theory for harm caused by a product

2 or product use.

3 (2) LIABILITY.—Notwithstanding any other

4 provision of law, any person engaged in the business

5 of renting or leasing a product (other than a person

6 excluded from the definition of product seller under

7 section 202(13)(B)) shall be subject to liability in a

8 product liability action under subsection (a), but any

9 person engaged in the business of renting or leasing

10 a product shall not be liable to a claimant for the

11 tortious act of another solely by reason of ownership

12 of that product.

13 SEC. 205. FEDERAL CAUSE OF ACTION PRECLUDED.

14 The district courts of the United States shall not

15 have jurisdiction under this title based on section 1331

16 or 1337 of title 28, United States Code.

17 SEC. 206. EFFECTIVE DATE.

18 This title shall apply with respect to any action com19 menced on or after the date of enactment of this Act with20 out regard to whether the harm that is the subject of the

21 action or the conduct that caused the harm occurred be22 fore that date of enactment.

Æ