II 

Calendar No. 373 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1110 

[Report No. 109–220] 

To amend the Federal Hazardous Substances Act to require engine coolant 

and antifreeze to contain a bittering agent in order to render the coolant 

or antifreeze unpalatable. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 24, 2005 

Mr. ALLEN (for himself, Mr. PRYOR, Mr. SANTORUM, Mr. STEVENS, Ms. 

MURKOWSKI, Mr. WARNER, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. ENSIGN, Mr. DOMENICI, 

Ms. COLLINS, Mr. INOUYE, and Mr. BAUCUS) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

MARCH 14, 2006 

Reported by Mr. STEVENS, with amendments 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Hazardous Substances Act to require 

engine coolant and antifreeze to contain a bittering agent 

in order to render the coolant or antifreeze unpalatable. 

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 ‘‘Engine Coolant and 

3 Antifreeze Bittering Agent Act of 2005’’. 

4 SEC. 2. ADDITION OF BITTERING AGENT IN ANTIFREEZE. 

5 The Federal Hazardous Substances Act (15 U.S.C. 

6 1261 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 25. ADDITION OF BITTERING AGENT IN ANTIFREEZE. 

9 ‘‘(a) BITTERING AGENT.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any engine coolant or anti11 freeze that is manufactured on or after the date that 

12 is 180 days after the date of enactment of this sec13 tion, and that contains more than 10 percent ethyl14 ene glycol, shall include not less than 30 parts per 

15 million, and not more than 50 parts per million, 

16 denatonium benzoate as a bittering agent in order to 

17 render the coolant or antifreeze unpalatable. 

18 ‘‘(a) BITTERING AGENT.— 

19 ‘‘(1) ENVIRONMENTAL EVALUATION REQUIRED.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Within 30 days after 

21 the date of enactment of the Engine Coolant and 

22 Antifreeze Bittering Agent Act of 2005, the Con23 sumer Product Safety Commission shall com24 mence an evaluation, in consultation with the 

25 Environmental Protection Agency and appro26 priate State health and environmental officials 


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1 in Oregon and California, to determine whether 

2 there is evidence that the use of the bittering 

3 agent denatonium benzoate in engine coolant or 

4 antifreeze has an unreasonable adverse effect on 

5 the environment. 

6 ‘‘(B) CERTAIN TESTS MAY NOT BE USED.— 

7 The evaluation may not include any new animal 

8 or human testing. 

9 ‘‘(C) DEADLINE.—The Commission shall 

10 complete the evaluation within 90 days after the 

11 date of enactment of that Act and publish its 

12 findings in the Federal Register. 

13 ‘‘(2) USE OF BITTERING AGENT.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Unless the Commission, 

15 in its evaluation under paragraph (1), finds 

16 there is evidence of an unreasonable adverse ef17 fect on the environment, any engine coolant or 

18 antifreeze that is manufactured on or after the 

19 date that is 180 days after the date of publica20 tion of the Commission’s finding in the Federal 

21 Register, and that contains more than 10 percent 

22 ethylene glycol, shall include not less than 30 

23 parts per million, and not more than 50 parts 

24 per million, denatonium benzoate as a bittering 


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1 agent in order to render the coolant or antifreeze 

2 unpalatable. 

3 ‘‘(B) ALTERNATIVE AGENT.—If the inclu4 sion of denatonium benzoate in engine coolant or 

5 antifreeze is required under subparagraph (A) 

6 and the Commission finds that— 

7 ‘‘(i) an alternative bittering additive is 

8 as effective as denatonium benzoate in ren9 dering coolant or antifreeze unpalatable in 

10 terms of both its bittering capacity and its 

11 compatibility with motor vehicle engine 

12 coolant and antifreeze, and 

13 ‘‘(ii) there is no evidence that the use 

14 of the alternative bittering additive has an 

15 unreasonable adverse effect on the environ16 ment, 

17 then the Commission may initiate a rulemaking 

18 to permit the use of the alternative bittering ad19 ditive in lieu of denatonium benzoate. 

20 ‘‘(3) UNREASONABLE ADVERSE EFFECT DE21 FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘unreasonable 

22 adverse effect on the environment’ means an unrea23 sonable risk to human health or the environment, tak24 ing into account the economic, social, and environ25 mental costs and benefits. 


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1 ‘‘(2) (4) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—Any engine 

2 coolant or antifreeze described in paragraph (1) (2) 

3 that is not in compliance with that paragraph shall 

4 be— 

5 ‘‘(A) considered to be a banned hazardous 

6 substance; and 

7 ‘‘(B) subject to section 5. 

8 ‘‘(b) RECORDKEEPING.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A manufacturer of an en10 gine coolant or antifreeze described in subsection 

11 (a)(1) shall maintain a record of the trade name, 

12 scientific name, and any active ingredient of a 

13 bittering agent used under this section. 

14 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY TO PUBLIC.—Any record 

15 maintained under paragraph (1) shall be made avail16 able to the public on receipt by the manufacturer of 

17 a request from any person. 

18 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a 

20 manufacturer, processor, distributor, recycler, or 

21 seller of an engine coolant or antifreeze described in 

22 subsection (a)(1) shall not be liable to a person for 

23 any personal injury, death, property damage, dam24 age to the environment (including natural re25 sources), or economic loss that results from the inVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:44 Mar 14, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1110.RS S1110

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1 clusion in the engine coolant or antifreeze of 

2 denatonium benzoate in accordance with subsection 

3 (a)(1). (a). 

4 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

5 apply in any case in which a cause of liability re6 ferred to in that paragraph is unrelated to the inclu7 sion in an engine coolant or antifreeze of 

8 denatonium benzoate. Nothing in this subsection 

9 shall be construed to exempt any manufacturer or dis10 tributor of denatonium benzoate, or an alternative 

11 bittering additive the use of which is permitted under 

12 subsection (a)(2), from any liability related to 

13 denatonium benzoate or the alternative bittering ad14 ditive. 

15 ‘‘(d) PREEMPTION.—No State or political subdivision 

16 of a State shall establish or continue to enforce, with re17 spect to retail containers containing less than 55 gallons 

18 of engine coolant or antifreeze, any prohibition, limitation, 

19 standard, or other requirement relating to the inclusion 

20 of a bittering agent in engine coolant or antifreeze that 

21 is different from, or in addition to, the requirements of 

22 this section. 

23 ‘‘(e) EXEMPTION.—This section does not apply to— 

24 ‘‘(1) the sale of a motor vehicle that contains 

25 engine coolant or antifreeze; or 


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1 ‘‘(2) a wholesale container of engine coolant or 

2 antifreeze that contains 55 gallons or more of engine 

3 coolant or antifreeze.’’. 


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Calendar No. 373 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1110 

[Report No. 109

–220] 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Hazardous Substances Act 

ant or antifreeze unpalatable. tain a bittering agent in order to render the coolto require engine coolant and antifreeze to conMARCH 14, 2006 

Reported with amendments 


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