I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3629

To amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and the 

Solid Waste Disposal Act to establish prohibitions and requirements 

relating to arsenic-treated wood, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 21, 2003

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY (for herself, Ms. SOLIS, Ms. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Ms. DELAURO, and Mr. HINCHEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and 

Rodenticide Act and the Solid Waste Disposal Act to 

establish prohibitions and requirements relating to arsenic-treated wood, 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Arsenic-Treated Wood 

5 Prohibition Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN USES OF ARSENIC2 TREATED WOOD; AMENDMENT TO FEDERAL 

3 INSECTICIDE, FUNGICIDE, AND RODENTICIDE 

4 ACT. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Insecticide, Fun6 gicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 136a et seq.) is 

7 amended—

8 (1) by redesignating sections 33 and 34 as sec9 tions 34 and 35, respectively; and 

10 (2) by inserting after section 32 the following: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 33. PROHIBITION AGAINST USE OF ARSENIC-TREAT12 ED WOOD TO MANUFACTURE CERTAIN PROD13 UCTS OR STRUCTURES. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro15 vision of law, not later than 90 days after the date of the 

16 enactment of this section, the Administrator shall promul17 gate regulations that prohibit—

18 ‘‘(1) the use of arsenic-treated wood to manu19 facture any product or structure that may be used 

20 for or by children, including—

21 ‘‘(A) playground equipment, play houses, 

22 or other structures designed for frequent use 

23 specifically by children; 

24 ‘‘(B) fences; 

25 ‘‘(C) walkways; 

26 ‘‘(D) decks; 
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1 ‘‘(E) docks and boat houses; and 

2 ‘‘(F) structures or products used in resi3 dential landscaping; 

4 ‘‘(2) the use of arsenic-treated wood to manu5 facture mulch, compost, or soil-amendment products; 

6 ‘‘(3) the use of arsenic-treated wood to manu7 facture railroad ties, marine pilings, or utility poles, 

8 except that this subsection does not apply to such a 

9 product or structure to the extent that the Adminis10 trator determines that the use of arsenic-treated 

11 wood in the product or structure is safe; and 

12 ‘‘(4) such additional uses of arsenic-treated 

13 wood to manufacture products or structures as the 

14 Administrator determines to be appropriate, whether 

15 such products or structures are intended for residen16 tial use or commercial use. 

17 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

18 ‘‘(1) ARSENIC-TREATED WOOD.—The term ‘ar19 senic-treated wood’ means wood that is treated with 

20 a pesticide that is a chromated copper arsenical or 

21 is treated with any other arsenical pesticide. 

22 ‘‘(2) MANUFACTURE.—The term ‘manufacture’, 

23 with respect to the use of arsenic-treated wood in 

24 products and structures described in subsection (a), 

25 includes—
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1 ‘‘(A) the creation of a product designed to 

2 be assembled by a consumer; and 

3 ‘‘(B) the building of a product on behalf of 

4 a consumer in accordance with specifications 

5 given by the consumer.’’. 

6 (b) RISK ASSESSMENT.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than March 15, 

8 2004, the Administrator, in consultation with the 

9 Consumer Products Safety Commission, shall pub10 lish in the Federal Register an assessment of the 

11 risks posed by the production, cutting, milling, sand12 ing, mulching, and use of CCA-treated wood. 

13 (2) METHODOLOGY.—In conducting the risk as14 sessment, the Administrator shall follow the method15 ology recommended by the Scientific Advisory Panels 

16 that were organized by the Environmental Protec17 tion Agency and that met in October 2001. 

18 (3) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub19 section:

20 (A) The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the 

21 Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

22 Agency. 

23 (B) The term ‘‘CCA-treated wood’’ means 

24 wood that is treated with a pesticide that is a 

25 chromated copper arsenical. 
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1 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con2 tents in section 1(b) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, 

3 and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. prec. 121) is amended by 

4 striking the items relating to sections 30 and 31 and in5 serting the following:

‘‘Sec. 30. Minimum requirements for training of maintenance applicators and 

service technicians. 

‘‘Sec. 31. Environmental Protection Agency minor use program. 

‘‘Sec. 32. Department of Agriculture minor use program. 

‘‘(a) In general. 

‘‘(b)(1) Minor use pesticide data. 

‘‘(2) Minor Use Pesticide Data Revolving Fund. 

‘‘Sec. 33. Prohibition of certain uses of arsenic-treated lumber. 

‘‘(a) In general. 

‘‘(b) Definitions. 

‘‘(1) Arsenic-treated wood. 

‘‘(2) Manufacture. 

‘‘Sec. 34. Severability. 

‘‘Sec. 35. Authorization for appropriations.’’.

6 SEC. 3. DISPOSAL OF ARSENIC-TREATED WOOD; AMEND7 MENT TO SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL ACT. 

8 Section 3001(e) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 6921(e)) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(3)(A) Discarded arsenic-treated wood and sawdust 

12 from such wood shall be deemed, for purposes of this Act, 

13 to be a listed hazardous waste under subsection (b)(1) and 

14 shall be disposed of in a lined landfill with a leachate col15 lection system and groundwater monitoring system (or 

16 such other system as the Administrator determines is ap17 propriate to capture arsenic and prevent arsenic from con18 taminating groundwater). 

19 ‘‘(B) As used in subparagraph (A): 
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1 ‘‘(i) The term ‘arsenic-treated wood’ means 

2 wood that is treated with a pesticide that is a 

3 chromated copper arsenical or is treated with any 

4 other arsenical pesticide. 

5 ‘‘(ii) The term ‘pesticide’ has the meaning given 

6 such term in section 2 of the Federal Insecticide, 

7 Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 136).’’. 

8 SEC. 4. ASSISTANCE TO CONSUMERS, STATE AND LOCAL 

9 GOVERNMENTS, AND SCHOOL SYSTEMS. 

10 (a) EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM.—Not later than 180 

11 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Ad12 ministrator, in consultation with the Consumer Product 

13 Safety Commission, shall develop and conduct an edu14 cational program to assist consumers, State and local gov15 ernments, school systems, and other institutions in—

16 (1) testing arsenic levels in arsenic-treated 

17 wood and soil surrounding arsenic-treated wood; 

18 (2) making decisions relating to the contain19 ment and removal of arsenic-treated wood from 

20 homes, playgrounds, schools, and other facilities de21 signed primarily for use by children; and 

22 (3) providing guidance regarding the decon23 tamination of soils, mulches, and other media under 

24 structures made of arsenic-treated wood where chil25 dren or pets may be exposed to arsenic. 
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1 (b) ASSISTANCE FOR SCHOOLS.—

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

3 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis4 trator shall establish a pilot program to provide 

5 grants and technical assistance to school systems to 

6 assist the school systems in—

7 (A) removing playground and other equip8 ment containing arsenic-treated wood from 

9 grounds of the school systems; 

10 (B) applying sealant to arsenic-treated 

11 wood structures; and 

12 (C) conducting any necessary remediation 

13 relating to use of arsenic-treated wood. 

14 (2) CERTAIN USES OF GRANT.—The Adminis15 trator may authorize a grant under paragraph (1) to 

16 be used for the purpose of replacing playground 

17 equipment and related items that are removed be18 cause the equipment or items contain arsenic-treated 

19 wood. With respect to any portion of a grant under 

20 such paragraph that is authorized to be used for 

21 such purpose, the Administrator may require that 

22 the applicant involved make non-Federal contribu23 tions toward the cost of replacing the equipment or 

24 items. 

25 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
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1 (1) The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad2 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. 

3 (2) The term ‘‘arsenic-treated wood’’ means 

4 wood that is treated with a pesticide that is a 

5 chromated copper arsenical or is treated with any 

6 other arsenical pesticide. 

7 (3) The term ‘‘pesticide’’ has the meaning given 

8 such term in section 2 of the Federal Insecticide, 

9 Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 136). 

10 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 

11 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized 

12 to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for fis13 cal year 2004 and each subsequent fiscal year. 

14 SEC. 5. CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION; RE15 PORT ON MITIGATION MEASURES REGARD16 ING CHILDREN AND ARSENIC-TREATED 

17 WOOD. 

18 Not later than August 1, 2004, the Consumer Prod19 uct Safety Commission shall submit to the Congress a re20 port on the status of the efforts of the Commission to 

21 identify stains, sealants, or other measures for reducing 

22 the exposure of children to arsenic from products or struc23 tures that—

24 (1) are constructed in whole or part with ar25 senic-treated wood, as defined in section 33 of the 
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1 Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, 

2 as added by section 2 of this Act; 

3 (2) may be used for or by children; and 

4 (3) will remain in use after the effective date of 

5 the prohibition established in regulations under such 

6 section 33.

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