I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2420 

To amend the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 to ensure a uniform 

Federal scheme of regulation of restrictions in the use of certain substances in electrical products and equipment in interstate and foreign 

commerce, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 14, 2009 

Mr. BURGESS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 to 

ensure a uniform Federal scheme of regulation of restrictions in the use of certain substances in electrical products and equipment in interstate and foreign commerce, 

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 ‘‘Environmental Design 

5 of Electrical Equipment Act (EDEE) Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds and declares that— 


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1 (1) assisting in meeting the essential needs of 

2 the United States for adequate supplies of electrical 

3 products and equipment is in the national interest; 

4 (2) ensuring a uniform Federal scheme of regu5 lation of restrictions in the use of certain substances 

6 in electrical products and equipment in interstate 

7 and foreign commerce is crucial to the economic, en8 vironmental, and social well-being of the people of 

9 the United States in the global marketplace; 

10 (3) potential disparities among State laws and 

11 implementing regulations that may be enacted by 

12 the several States regarding the restriction of the 

13 use of substances in electrical products and equip14 ment could create barriers to interstate commerce, 

15 domestic and foreign trade, and distort competition, 

16 and may thereby have a direct impact on the estab17 lishment and functioning of global markets; and 

18 (4) technological and industrial innovation for 

19 electrical products and equipment can offer an im20 proved standard of living, increased public and pri21 vate sector productivity, and creation of new indus22 tries and employment opportunities, while providing 

23 for environmentally compatible production, use, and 

24 end of life disposition of such equipment. 


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1 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

2 It is the purpose of this Act to enhance the economic, 

3 environmental, and social well-being of the people of the 

4 United States in the global marketplace by— 

5 (1) ensuring efficient technological development 

6 and innovation in the manufacture of electrical prod7 ucts and equipment through the prevention of poten8 tial disparities among State laws and implementing 

9 regulations that may be enacted by the several 

10 States regarding the restriction of the use of toxic 

11 substances in electrical products and equipment that 

12 could create barriers to interstate commerce, domes13 tic and foreign trade, and distort global competition; 

14 and 

15 (2) applying the regulatory and law enforce16 ment process and penalties of the Toxic Substances 

17 Control Act of 1976 to establish uniform Federal 

18 regulation and enforcement of toxic substances in 

19 electrical products and equipment. 

20 SEC. 4. UNIFORM FEDERAL SCHEME OF REGULATION. 

21 (a) Section 6 of the Toxic Substances Control Act 

22 of 1976 (15 U.S.C. 2605) is amended by adding at the 

23 end the following: 

24 ‘‘(f) CERTAIN APPLICATIONS.— 

25 ‘‘(1) ELECTROINDUSTRY PRODUCTS.—As used 

26 in subsection (e), the term ‘electroindustry product’ 


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1 means any product or equipment that is directly 

2 used to facilitate the transmission, distribution, or 

3 control of electricity, or that uses electrical power for 

4 arc welding, lighting, signaling protection and com5 munication, or medical imaging, or electrical motors 

6 and generators. 

7 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL STANDARDS.—Except for those 

8 electroindustry products and product categories set 

9 forth in paragraph (3), no electroindustry product 

10 shall be manufactured after July 1, 2010, that con11 tains a concentration value greater than 0.1 percent 

12 by weight of lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, 

13 polybrominated biphenyls (PBB), and 

14 polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) as meas15 ured in any homogeneous material contained in the 

16 electroindustry product, or a concentration value 

17 greater than 0.01 percent of cadmium as measured 

18 in any homogeneous material contained in the 

19 electroindustry product. For purposes of this section, 

20 ‘homogeneous material’ means a material of uniform 

21 composition throughout that cannot be mechanically 

22 disjointed into different materials. 

23 ‘‘(3) ELECTROINDUSTRY PRODUCTS AND PROD24 UCT CATEGORIES.—The processing and/or use of the 

25 specified chemical substances in any of the following 


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1 electroindustry products and equipment shall not be 

2 subject to any restriction or requirement that is de3 signed to protect against a risk of injury to health 

4 or the environment, and shall in no manner be re5 stricted, by the States or any political subdivision of 

6 a State in accordance with section 2617(c)(1)(B): 

7 ‘‘(A) Lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent 

8 chromium, polybrominated biphenyls, and 

9 polybrominated diphenyl ethers contained in— 

10 ‘‘(i) products or equipment designed 

11 for use with a voltage rating of 300 volts 

12 or above; 

13 ‘‘(ii) products or equipment used in 

14 fixed installations; øFor purposes of this 

15 subsection, ‘fixed installation’ means a 

16 combination of equipment, systems, fin17 ished products and/or components, not in18 cluding lighting equipment that encom19 passes lighting fixtures and lamps, assem20 bled and/or erected by an assembler/in21 staller at a given place to operate together 

22 in an expected environment to perform a 

23 specific task, but not intended to be placed 

24 in commerce as a single functional or com25 mercial unit¿; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) signaling protection and commu2 nication systems and products, including 

3 healthcare communications and emergency 

4 call systems; 

5 ‘‘(iv) surface transportation informa6 tion management and control systems, sub7 systems, equipment, components, and serv8 ices, including equipment used to design, 

9 install, operate, and maintain such sys10 tems; 

11 ‘‘(v) medical diagnostic imaging and 

12 therapy equipment and devices, commu13 nications and emergency call systems and 

14 products, modular walls, consoles, systems, 

15 products, panels, meters, and monitors 

16 used in healthcare facilities; 

17 ‘‘(vi) shunt capacitors and series ca18 pacitors; 

19 ‘‘(vii) electro-mechanical and solid20 state equipment and systems for measure21 ment, display recording, processing, and 

22 telemetry for electricity metering and asso23 ciated information; 

24 ‘‘(viii) distribution and power trans25 formers and special purpose transformers; 


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1 ‘‘(ix) equipment used for mounting or 

2 testing watt-hour or demand meters such 

3 as sockets, boxes, enclosures, test blocks, 

4 test tables, and test kits; 

5 ‘‘(x) high voltage fuses, high current 

6 connectors, power circuit breakers, 

7 switchgear assemblies, surge arrestors, and 

8 insulating equipment, products, and hard9 ware; 

10 ‘‘(xi) steam turbine generators and 

11 units; 

12 ‘‘(xii) electrical wire and cable prod13 ucts and accessories, not including fixture 

14 wires, appliance wires, and flexible cords as 

15 so classified by the National Electrical 

16 Code, by Underwriters Laboratories, Inc., 

17 or by the Canadian Standards Association; 

18 ‘‘(xiii) electrical conduit; 

19 ‘‘(xiv) high intensity discharge lamps; 

20 ‘‘(xv) arc welding and plasma cutting 

21 equipment designed for industrial or pro22 fessional use; or 

23 ‘‘(xvi) arc welding and cutting equip24 ment driven by mechanical means, e.g., a 

25 gasoline or diesel engine. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Lead when used or contained in— 

2 ‘‘(i) steel alloys containing up to 0.35 

3 percent lead by weight, aluminum alloys 

4 containing up to 0.4 percent lead by 

5 weight and copper alloys containing up to 

6 4 percent lead by weight; 

7 ‘‘(ii) solders with high melting tem8 peratures, including lead-based alloys con9 taining 85 percent or more lead by weight, 

10 and solders for— 

11 ‘‘(I) die mounting in Light Emit12 ting Diode applications; 

13 ‘‘(II) the electrical connection 

14 within integrated-circuit flip-chip 

15 packages; 

16 ‘‘(III) machined through-hole dis17 coidal and planar array ceramic multi18 layer capacitors; and 

19 ‘‘(IV) printed circuit board as20 semblies and point-to-point soldered 

21 assemblies, up to 40 percent lead by 

22 weight, and when used in trans23 mission, distribution, power supply, or 

24 control devices designed to be in25 stalled in electrical outlet boxes and/or 


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1 switch boxes, in emergency lighting 

2 equipment, in trip units in circuit 

3 breakers, or in sensors used for light4 ing control; 

5 ‘‘(iii) glass used in plasma display 

6 panels or surface conduction electron emit7 ter displays or for flat fluorescent lamps in 

8 liquid crystal displays, or in incandescent 

9 lamps; 

10 ‘‘(iv) finishes of fine-pitch components 

11 other than connectors with a pitch of 0.65 

12 millimeters or less with nickel-iron lead 

13 frames or copper-lead frames; 

14 ‘‘(v) coatings not exceeding 0.5 per15 cent by weight for tin babbitt alloy coated 

16 sleeve bearings; 

17 ‘‘(vi) gateway hardware between light18 ing controls protocols and building man19 agement protocols; 

20 ‘‘(vii) red ink used in exit signs not 

21 exceeding 0.005 milligrams per lens; 

22 ‘‘(viii) fluorescent lamps; 

23 ‘‘(ix) electrical connector coatings; or 

24 ‘‘(x) lead-bronze bearing shells and 

25 bushes. 


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1 ‘‘(C) Cadmium and its compounds when 

2 used or contained in— 

3 ‘‘(i) electrical contacts, cadmium plat4 ing and switch contacts, including those 

5 used in thermal protectors in lighting bal6 lasts, and luminaires containing such bal7 lasts; or 

8 ‘‘(ii) cadmium-copper alloys for wire 

9 conductors. 

10 ‘‘(D) Hexavalent chromium when used or 

11 contained in electrical connectors, corrosion-pre12 vention coatings for fasteners and metals in 

13 emergency lighting equipment or electro14 magnetic interference shielding, and noncurrent 

15 carrying electrical devices. 

16 ‘‘(E) Mercury when used or contained in— 

17 ‘‘(i) straight fluorescent lamps for 

18 general purposes, but not exceeding 10 

19 milligrams in halophosphate lamps, 5 milli20 grams in triphosphate lamps with a normal 

21 lifetime, and 8 milligrams in triphosphate 

22 lamps with a long lifetime; 

23 ‘‘(ii) straight fluorescent lamps for 

24 special purposes; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) compact fluorescent lamps equal 

2 to or greater than 9 inches; 

3 ‘‘(iv) compact fluorescent lamps less 

4 than 25 watts, not exceeding 5 milligrams 

5 per lamp; 

6 ‘‘(v) compact fluorescent lamps equal 

7 to or greater than 25 watts, not exceeding 

8 6 milligrams per lamp; 

9 ‘‘(vi) high output/very high output lin10 ear fluorescent lamps greater than 32 mil11 limeters in diameter; 

12 ‘‘(vii) preheat linear fluorescent 

13 lamps; or 

14 ‘‘(viii) luminaires when containing any 

15 mercury-added lamps identified under 

16 øsubsection (f)(3)(E)(i)–(vii)¿. 

17 ‘‘(F) Any processing and/or use of a speci18 fied chemical substance in an electroindustry 

19 product other than those identified in this sub20 section as the Administrator may establish by 

21 rule.’’. 

22 (b) Section 18 of the Toxic Substances Control Act 

23 of 1976 (15 U.S.C. 2617) is amended by adding at the 

24 end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(c) PREEMPTION.—(1) Notwithstanding any other 

2 provision of this section, no State or political subdivision 

3 of a State may, after the effective date of this Act, adopt 

4 or continue in effect any requirement that is designed to 

5 protect against a risk of injury to health or the environ6 ment— 

7 ‘‘(A) for any electroindustry product as defined 

8 in section 2605(f)(1) that is inconsistent with or 

9 more stringent than the national standards set forth 

10 in section 2605(f)(2); or 

11 ‘‘(B) that is applicable to the processing and/or 

12 use of the specified chemical substances in any of 

13 the electroindustry products or electroindustry prod14 uct categories set forth in section 2605(f)(3). 

15 ‘‘(2) Upon application of a State or political subdivi16 sion of a State, the Administrator may, by rule, exempt 

17 from section 2605(f)(3), under such conditions as may be 

18 prescribed in such rule, a requirement of such State or 

19 political subdivision designed to protect against an unrea20 sonable risk of injury to health or the environment associ21 ated with any of the uses of any chemical substance, mix22 ture, or article containing such chemical substance or mix23 ture specified in section 2605(f)(3) if— 

24 ‘‘(A) compliance with the requirement would 

25 not cause the processing, distribution in commerce, 


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1 or use of the substance, mixture, or article to be in 

2 violation of the Act; and 

3 ‘‘(B) the State or political subdivision require4 ment does not, through difficulties in manufac5 turing, marketing, distribution, or other factors, un6 duly burden interstate commerce, or does not lessen 

7 the reliability of an electrical grid or of any product 

8 or system which is the subject of any such require9 ment of a State or political subdivision of a State. 

10 ‘‘(3) Compliance with the national standards set forth 

11 in section 2605(f)(2) may be demonstrated based on any 

12 appropriate method for a particular electroindustry prod13 uct, including without limitation, certifications of compli14 ance by product manufacturers or testing performed in ac15 cordance with the guidelines promulgated by the Adminis16 trator under this subsection. The Administrator shall, 

17 within one year from the effective date of this Act, promul18 gate guidelines establishing test procedures for deter19 mining the concentration of lead, mercury, hexavalent 

20 chromium, cadmium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) 

21 and/or polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) contained 

22 in an electroindustry product.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 For fiscal year 2009, there is authorized to be appro3 priated $1,000,000 for the Administrator to implement 

4 the provisions of this Act. 

Æ 


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