IIB 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4212 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 20, 2012 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

and Transportation 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Drywall Safety Act 

3 of 2012’’. 

4 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

5 It is the sense of Congress that— 

6 (1) the Secretary of Commerce should insist 

7 that the Government of the People’s Republic of 

8 China, which has ownership interests in the compa9 nies that manufactured and exported problematic 

10 drywall to the United States, facilitate a meeting be11 tween the companies and representatives of the 

12 United States Government on remedying home13 owners that have problematic drywall in their homes; 

14 and 

15 (2) the Secretary of Commerce should insist 

16 that the Government of the People’s Republic of 

17 China direct the companies that manufactured and 

18 exported problematic drywall to submit to jurisdic19 tion in United States Federal Courts and comply 

20 with any decisions issued by the Courts for home21 owners with problematic drywall. 

22 SEC. 3. DRYWALL LABELING REQUIREMENT. 

23 (a) LABELING REQUIREMENT.—Except as provided 

24 in subsection (b), not later than one year after the date 

25 of enactment of this Act, the Consumer Product Safety 

26 Commission shall promulgate a final rule under section 


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1 14(c) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 

2 2063(c)) requiring that each sheet of drywall manufac3 tured or imported for use in the United States be perma4 nently marked with the name of the manufacturer and the 

5 month and year of manufacture. 

6 (b) EXCEPTION.— 

7 (1) VOLUNTARY STANDARD.—Subsection (a) 

8 shall not apply if the Consumer Product Safety 

9 Commission determines that— 

10 (A) a voluntary standard pertaining to 

11 drywall manufactured or imported for use in 

12 the United States is adequate to permit the 

13 identification of the manufacturer of such 

14 drywall and the month and year of manufac15 ture; and 

16 (B) such voluntary standard is or will be 

17 in effect not later than 2 years after the date 

18 of enactment of this Act. 

19 (2) FEDERAL REGISTER.—Any determination 

20 made under paragraph (1) shall be published in the 

21 Federal Register. 

22 (c) TREATMENT OF VOLUNTARY STANDARD FOR

23 PURPOSES OF ENFORCEMENT.—Except as provided in 

24 subsection (d), if the Commission determines that a vol25 untary standard meets the conditions under subsection 


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1 (b)(1), then the labeling requirement of that standard 

2 shall be enforceable as a Commission rule promulgated 

3 under section 14(c) of the Consumer Product Safety Act 

4 (15 U.S.C. 2063(c)) beginning on the date that is the later 

5 of— 

6 (1) 180 days after publication of the determina7 tion under subsection (b); or 

8 (2) the effective date contained in the voluntary 

9 standard. 

10 (d) REVISION OF VOLUNTARY STANDARD.—If the la11 beling requirement of a voluntary standard that met the 

12 conditions of subsection (b)(1) is subsequently revised, the 

13 organization responsible for the standard shall notify the 

14 Commission no later than 60 days after final approval of 

15 the revision. The labeling requirement of the revised vol16 untary standard shall become enforceable as a Commis17 sion rule promulgated under section 14(c) of the Con18 sumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2063(c)), in lieu of 

19 the prior version, effective 180 days after the Commission 

20 is notified of the revision (or such later date the Commis21 sion may specify), unless within 90 days after receiving 

22 that notice the Commission determines that the labeling 

23 requirement of the revised voluntary standard does not 

24 meet the requirements of subsection (b)(1)(A), in which 


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1 case the Commission shall continue to enforce the prior 

2 version. 

3 SEC. 4. SULFUR CONTENT IN DRYWALL STANDARD. 

4 (a) RULE ON SULFUR CONTENT IN DRYWALL RE5 QUIRED.—Except as provided in subsection (c), not later 

6 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

7 Consumer Product Safety Commission shall promulgate a 

8 final rule pertaining to drywall manufactured or imported 

9 for use in the United States that limits sulfur content to 

10 a level not associated with elevated rates of corrosion in 

11 the home. 

12 (b) RULE MAKING; CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY

13 STANDARD.—A rule under subsection (a)— 

14 (1) shall be promulgated in accordance with 

15 section 553 of title 5, United States Code; and 

16 (2) shall be treated as a consumer product safe17 ty rule promulgated under section 9 of the Con18 sumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2058). 

19 (c) EXCEPTION.— 

20 (1) VOLUNTARY STANDARD.—Subsection (a) 

21 shall not apply if the Commission determines that— 

22 (A) a voluntary standard pertaining to 

23 drywall manufactured or imported for use in 

24 the United States limits sulfur content to a 


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1 level not associated with elevated rates of corro2 sion in the home; and 

3 (B) such voluntary standard is or will be 

4 in effect not later than two years after the date 

5 of enactment of this Act. 

6 (2) FEDERAL REGISTER.—Any determination 

7 made under paragraph (1) shall be published in the 

8 Federal Register. 

9 (d) TREATMENT OF VOLUNTARY STANDARD FOR

10 PURPOSES OF ENFORCEMENT.—If the Commission deter11 mines that a voluntary standard meets the conditions in 

12 subsection (c)(1), the sulfur content limit in such vol13 untary standard shall be treated as a consumer product 

14 safety rule promulgated under section 9 of the Consumer 

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

16 date that is the later of— 

17 (1) 180 days after publication of the Commis18 sion’s determination under subsection (c); or 

19 (2) the effective date contained in the voluntary 

20 standard. 

21 (e) REVISION OF VOLUNTARY STANDARD.—If the 

22 sulfur content limit of a voluntary standard that met the 

23 conditions of subsection (c)(1) is subsequently revised, the 

24 organization responsible for the standard shall notify the 

25 Commission no later than 60 days after final approval of 


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1 the revision. The sulfur content limit of the revised vol2 untary standard shall become enforceable as a Commis3 sion rule promulgated under section 9 of the Consumer 

4 Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2058), in lieu of the prior 

5 version, effective 180 days after the Commission is noti6 fied of the revision (or such later date as the Commission 

7 may specify), unless within 90 days after receiving that 

8 notice the Commission determines that the sulfur content 

9 limit of the revised voluntary standard does not meet the 

10 requirements of subsection (c)(1)(A), in which case the 

11 Commission shall continue to enforce the prior version. 

12 (f) FUTURE RULEMAKING.—Notwithstanding any 

13 other provision of this Act, the Commission, at any time 

14 subsequent to publication of the consumer product safety 

15 rule required by subsection (a) or a determination under 

16 subsection (c), may initiate a rulemaking in accordance 

17 with section 553 of title 5, United States Code, to reduce 

18 the sulfur content limit or to include any provision relating 

19 to the composition or characteristics of drywall that the 

20 Commission determines is reasonably necessary to protect 

21 public health or safety. Any rule promulgated under this 

22 subsection shall be treated as a consumer product safety 

23 rule promulgated under section 9 of the Consumer Prod24 uct Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2058). 


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1 SEC. 5. REVISION OF REMEDIATION GUIDANCE FOR 

2 DRYWALL DISPOSAL REQUIRED. 

3 Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment 

4 of this Act, the Consumer Product Safety Commission 

5 shall revise its ‘‘Remediation Guidance for Homes with 

6 Corrosion from Problem Drywall’’ to specify that problem7 atic drywall removed from homes pursuant to the guidance 

8 should not be reused or used as a component in production 

9 of new drywall. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 19, 

2012. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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