H. R. 4212 

One Hundred Twelfth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and twelve 

An Act 

To prevent the introduction into commerce of unsafe drywall, to ensure the manufacturer of drywall is readily identifiable, to ensure that problematic drywall removed 

from homes is not reused, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Drywall Safety Act of 2012’’. 

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

It is the sense of Congress that— 

(1) the Secretary of Commerce should insist that the 

Government of the People’s Republic of China, which has ownership interests in the companies that manufactured and exported 

problematic drywall to the United States, facilitate a meeting 

between the companies and representatives of the United States 

Government on remedying homeowners that have problematic 

drywall in their homes; and 

(2) the Secretary of Commerce should insist that the 

Government of the People’s Republic of China direct the companies that manufactured and exported problematic drywall to 

submit to jurisdiction in United States Federal Courts and 

comply with any decisions issued by the Courts for homeowners 

with problematic drywall. 

SEC. 3. DRYWALL LABELING REQUIREMENT. 

(a) LABELING REQUIREMENT.—Beginning 180 days after the 

date of the enactment of this Act, the gypsum board labeling provisions of standard ASTM C1264–11 of ASTM International, as in 

effect on the day before the date of the enactment of this Act, 

shall be treated as a rule promulgated by the Consumer Product 

Safety Commission under section 14(c) of the Consumer Product 

Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2063(c)). 

(b) REVISION OF STANDARD.—If the gypsum board labeling 

provisions of the standard referred to in subsection (a) are revised 

on or after the date of the enactment of this Act, ASTM International shall notify the Commission of such revision no later 

than 60 days after final approval of the revision by ASTM International. The revised provisions shall be treated as a rule promulgated by the Commission under section 14(c) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 

2063(c)), in lieu of the prior version, effective 180 days after the 

Commission is notified of the revision (or such later date as the 

Commission considers appropriate), unless within 90 days after 

receiving that notice the Commission determines that the revised 
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provisions do not adequately identify gypsum board by manufacturer and month and year of manufacture, in which case the 

Commission shall continue to enforce the prior version. 

SEC. 4. SULFUR CONTENT IN DRYWALL STANDARD. 

(a) RULE ON SULFUR CONTENT IN DRYWALL REQUIRED.—Except 

as provided in subsection (c), not later than 2 years after the 

date of the enactment of this Act, the Consumer Product Safety 

Commission shall promulgate a final rule pertaining to drywall 

manufactured or imported for use in the United States that limits 

sulfur content to a level not associated with elevated rates of 

corrosion in the home. 

(b) RULE MAKING; CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY STANDARD.— 

A rule under subsection (a)— 

(1) shall be promulgated in accordance with section 553 

of title 5, United States Code; and 

(2) shall be treated as a consumer product safety rule 

promulgated under section 9 of the Consumer Product Safety 

Act (15 U.S.C. 2058). 

(c) EXCEPTION.— 

(1) VOLUNTARY STANDARD.—Subsection (a) shall not apply 

if the Commission determines that— 

(A) a voluntary standard pertaining to drywall manufactured or imported for use in the United States limits 

sulfur content to a level not associated with elevated rates 

of corrosion in the home; 

(B) such voluntary standard is or will be in effect 

not later than two years after the date of enactment of 

this Act; and 

(C) such voluntary standard is developed by Subcommittee C11.01 on Specifications and Test Methods for 

Gypsum Products of ASTM International. 

(2) FEDERAL REGISTER.—Any determination made under 

paragraph (1) shall be published in the Federal Register. 

(d) TREATMENT OF VOLUNTARY STANDARD FOR PURPOSES OF

ENFORCEMENT.—If the Commission determines that a voluntary 

standard meets the conditions in subsection (c)(1), the sulfur content 

limit in such voluntary standard shall be treated as a consumer 

product safety rule promulgated under section 9 of the Consumer 

Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2058) beginning on the date that 

is the later of— 

(1) 180 days after publication of the Commission’s determination under subsection (c); or 

(2) the effective date contained in the voluntary standard. 

(e) REVISION OF VOLUNTARY STANDARD.—If the sulfur content 

limit of a voluntary standard that met the conditions of subsection 

(c)(1) is subsequently revised, the organization responsible for the 

standard shall notify the Commission no later than 60 days after 

final approval of the revision. The sulfur content limit of the revised 

voluntary standard shall become enforceable as a Commission rule 

promulgated under section 9 of the Consumer Product Safety Act 

(15 U.S.C. 2058), in lieu of the prior version, effective 180 days 

after the Commission is notified of the revision (or such later 

date as the Commission considers appropriate), unless within 90 

days after receiving that notice the Commission determines that 

the sulfur content limit of the revised voluntary standard does 
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not meet the requirements of subsection (c)(1)(A), in which case 

the Commission shall continue to enforce the prior version. 

(f) FUTURE RULEMAKING.—The Commission, at any time subsequent to publication of the consumer product safety rule required 

by subsection (a) or a determination under subsection (c), may 

initiate a rulemaking in accordance with section 553 of title 5, 

United States Code, to modify the sulfur content limit or to include 

any provision relating only to the composition or characteristics 

of drywall that the Commission determines is reasonably necessary 

to protect public health or safety. Any rule promulgated under 

this subsection shall be treated as a consumer product safety rule 

promulgated under section 9 of the Consumer Product Safety Act 

(15 U.S.C. 2058). 

SEC. 5. REVISION OF REMEDIATION GUIDANCE FOR DRYWALL DISPOSAL REQUIRED. 

Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of 

this Act, the Consumer Product Safety Commission shall revise 

its guidance entitled ‘‘Remediation Guidance for Homes with Corrosion from Problem Drywall’’ to specify that problematic drywall 

removed from homes pursuant to the guidance should not be reused 

or used as a component in production of new drywall. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.