I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 836

To authorize the Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue a standard

for bleacher safety.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 24, 1999

Mr. LUTHER (for himself and Mr. RAMSTAD) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To authorize the Consumer Product Safety Commission to

issue a standard for bleacher safety.

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 ‘‘Bleacher Safety Act

5 of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:

8 (1) Many bleachers and grandstand facilities in

9 the United States do not pass current State and

10 local building code standards.
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1 (2) Infants and children have been injured and

2 killed in recent years by falling between bleacher

3 guardrails and gaps between seats. Injuries have

4 also occurred because older bleacher facilities do not

5 have back and side barriers which prevent children

6 from climbing or falling off the structure.

7 (3) Many of the nation’s bleacher systems are

8 older units and may be structurally unsound thereby

9 increasing the possibility of collapse. State and local

10 governments should provide for the regular inspec11 tions of such facilities to ensure their structural in12 tegrity.

13 (4) As a result of these accidents, the Inter14 national Code Council is currently working on a pro15 posed uniform International Building Code and has

16 included provisions in its initial draft requiring gaps

17 between the seat and footboard in bleachers and

18 grandstand facilities to be no greater than 4 inches.

19 (5) In Minnesota, the State Department of Ad20 ministration has recognized the seriousness of this

21 problem and issued bulletins to 500 local govern22 ments urging them to assess the safety of bleachers

23 and grandstand facilities in their jurisdiction.
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1 (6) It is appropriate for the Congress to provide

2 for national standards for the manufacture and ret3 rofitting of bleachers and grandstand facilities.

4 (7) The regulatory expertise of the Consumer

5 Product Safety Commission should be used to issue

6 and implement bleacher safety standards.

7 SEC. 3. BLEACHER SAFETY STANDARD.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the

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

10 Safety Commission shall by rule issue a bleacher safety

11 standard for the production, erection, and retrofitting of

12 bleacher and grandstand facilities to reduce the risk of

13 children falling between guardrails and gaps in the seats

14 of bleachers and grandstand facilities. Such standard shall

15 be issued in accordance with the procedures specified in

16 section 9 of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C.

17 2058). The Commission shall have the inspection and rec18 ordkeeping authority authorized by section 16 of such Act

19 (15 U.S.C. 2065) and a violation of the standard shall

20 be considered a violation of section 19 of such Act (15

21 U.S.C. 2068) for which the civil penalties of section 20

22 (15 U.S.C. 2069) may be imposed.

23 (b) CONSULTATION.—In establishing a bleacher safe24 ty standard under subsection (a), the Commission shall

25 consult with the Injury Center at the Centers for Disease
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1 Control and Prevention upon completion of its current

2 study to determine the national scope of bleacher injuries.

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