H. R. 965

One Hundred Third Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE SECOND SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,

the twenty-fifth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-four

An Act

To provide for toy safety and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Safety Protection Act’’.

TITLE I—TOY LABELING REQUIREMENTS

SEC. 101. REQUIREMENTS FOR LABELING CERTAIN TOYS AND GAMES.

(a) REQUIREMENT UNDER FEDERAL HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES

ACT.—The Federal Hazardous Substances Act (15 U.S.C. 1261 et

seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

‘‘SEC. 24. REQUIREMENTS FOR LABELING CERTAIN TOYS AND GAMES.

‘‘(a) TOYS OR GAMES FOR CHILDREN WHO ARE AT LEAST 3.—

‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—The packaging of any toy or game

intended for use by children who are at least 3 years old

but not older than 6 years (or such other upper age limit

as the Commission may determine, which may not be less

than 5 years old), any descriptive material which accompanies

such toy or game, and, in the case of bulk sales of such toy

or game when unpackaged, any bin, container for retail display,

or vending machine from which the unpackaged toy or game

is dispensed shall bear or contain the cautionary statement

described in paragraph (2) if the toy or game— ‘‘(A) is manufactured for sale, offered for sale, or

distributed in commerce in the United States, and

‘‘(B) includes a small part, as defined by the Commission.

‘‘(2) LABEL.—The cautionary statement required by para- graph (1) for a toy or game shall be as follows:

‘‘(b) BALLOONS, SMALL BALLS, AND MARBLES.—
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‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—In the case of any latex balloon, any

ball with a diameter of 1.75 inches or less intended for children

3 years of age or older, any marble intended for children 3

years of age or older, or any toy or game which contains

such a balloon, ball, or marble, which is manufactured for

sale, offered for sale, or distributed in commerce in the United

States—

‘‘(A) the packaging of such balloon, ball, marble, toy,

or game,

‘‘(B) any descriptive material which accompanies such

balloon, ball, marble, toy, or game, and

‘‘(C) in the case of bulk sales of any such product

when unpackaged, any bin, container for retail display,

or vending machine from which such unpackaged balloon,

ball, marble, toy, or game is dispensed,

shall bear or contain the cautionary statement described in

paragraph (2).

‘‘(2) LABEL.—The cautionary statement required under

paragraph (1) for a balloon, ball, marble, toy, or game shall

be as follows:

‘‘(A) BALLOONS.—In the case of balloons, or toys or

games that contain latex balloons, the following cautionary

statement applies:

‘‘(B) BALLS.—In the case of balls, the following cautionary statement applies:

‘‘(C) MARBLES.—In the case of marbles, the following

cautionary statement applies:
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‘‘(D) TOYS AND GAMES.—In the case of toys or games

containing balls, the following cautionary statement

applies:

In the case of toys or games containing marbles, the following cautionary statement applies:

‘‘(c) GENERAL LABELING REQUIREMENTS.—

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in paragraphs (2)

and (3), any cautionary statement required under subsection

(a) or (b) shall be—

‘‘(A) displayed in its entirety on the principal display

panel of the product’s package, and on any descriptive

material which accompanies the product, and, in the case

of bulk sales of such product when unpackaged, on the

bin, container for retail display of the product, and any

vending machine from which the unpackaged product is

dispensed, and

‘‘(B) displayed in the English language in conspicuous

and legible type in contrast by typography, layout, or color

with other printed matter on such package, descriptive

materials, bin, container, and vending machine, and in

a manner consistent with part 1500 of title 16, Code of

Federal Regulations (or successor regulations thereto).

‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR PRODUCTS MANUFACTURED OUTSIDE

UNITED STATES.—In the case of a product manufactured outside

the United States and directly shipped from the manufacturer

to the consumer by United States mail or other delivery service,

the accompanying material inside the package of the product
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may fail to bear the required statement if other accompanying

material shipped with the product bears such statement.

‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULES FOR CERTAIN PACKAGES.—(A) A cautionary statement required by subsection (a) or (b) may, in lieu

of display on the principal display panel of the product’s package, be displayed on another panel of the package if—

‘‘(i) the package has a principal display panel of 15

square inches or less and the required statement is displayed in three or more languages; and

‘‘(ii) the statement specified in subparagraph (B) is

displayed on the principal display panel and is accompanied

by an arrow or other indicator pointing toward the place

on the package where the statement required by subsection

(a) or (b) appears.

‘‘(B)(i) In the case of a product to which subsection (a),

subsection (b)(2)(B), subsection (b)(2)(C), or subsection (b)(2)(D)

applies, the statement specified by this subparagraph is as

follows:

‘‘(ii) In the case of a product to which subsection (b)(2)(A)

applies, the statement specified by this subparagraph is as

follows:

‘‘(d) TREATMENT AS MISBRANDED HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE.—A

balloon, ball, marble, toy, or game, that is not in compliance with

the requirements of this subsection shall be considered a misbranded hazardous substance under section 2(p).’’.

(b) OTHER SMALL BALLS.—A small ball—

(1) intended for children under the age of 3 years of age,

and

(2) with a diameter of 1.75 inches or less,

shall be considered a banned hazardous substance under section

2(q) of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (15 U.S.C. 1261(q)).

(c) REGULATIONS.—The Consumer Product Safety Commission (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’) shall promulgate regulations, under section 553 of title 5, United States Code, for the

implementation of this section and section 24 of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act by July 1, 1994, or the date that is 6 months

after the date of enactment of this Act, whichever occurs first.

Subsections (f) through (i) of section 3 of the Federal Hazardous

Substances Act (15 U.S.C. 1262) shall not apply with respect to

the issuance of regulations under this subsection.

(d) EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.—Subsections (a) and (b)

shall take effect January 1, 1995, and section 24 of the Federal

Hazardous Substances Act shall apply only to products entered

into commerce on or after January 1, 1995.

(e) PREEMPTION.—
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a State or political subdivision of a State may not establish or enforce a requirement relating to cautionary labeling of small parts hazards

or choking hazards in any toy, game, marble, small ball, or

balloon intended or suitable for use by children unless such

requirement is identical to a requirement established by amendments made by this section to the Federal Hazardous Substances Act or by regulations promulgated by the Commission.

(2) EXCEPTION.—A State or political subdivision of a State

may, until January 1, 1995, enforce a requirement described

in paragraph (1) if such requirement was in effect on October

2, 1993.

SEC. 102. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

(a) REPORTS TO CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION.—

(1) REQUIREMENT TO REPORT.—Each manufacturer,

distributor, retailer, and importer of a marble, small ball, or

latex balloon, or a toy or game that contains a marble, small

ball, latex balloon, or other small part, shall report to the

Commission any information obtained by such manufacturer,

distributor, retailer, or importer which reasonably supports the

conclusion that—

(A) an incident occurred in which a child (regardless

of age) choked on such a marble, small ball, or latex balloon

or on a marble, small ball, latex balloon, or other small

part contained in such toy or game; and

(B) as a result of that incident the child died, suffered

serious injury, ceased breathing for any length of time,

or was treated by a medical professional.

(2) TREATMENT UNDER CPSA.—For purposes of section

19(a)(3) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C.

2068(a)(3)), the requirement to report information under this

subsection is deemed to be a requirement under such Act.

(3) EFFECT ON LIABILITY.—A report by a manufacturer, distributor, retailer, or importer under paragraph (1) shall not

be interpreted, for any purpose, as an admission of liability

or of the truth of the information contained in the report.

(b) CONFIDENTIALITY PROTECTIONS.—The confidentiality protec- tions of section 6(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C.

2055(b)) apply to any information reported to the Commission under

subsection (a) of this section. For purposes of section 6(b)(5) of

such Act, information so reported shall be treated as information

submitted pursuant to section 15(b) of such Act respecting a

consumer product.

TITLE II—CHILDREN’S BICYCLE

HELMET SAFETY

SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.

This title may be cited as the ‘‘Children’s Bicycle Helmet Safety

Act of 1994’’.

SEC. 202. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the National Highway

Traffic Safety Administration may, in accordance with section 203,

make grants to States, political subdivisions of States, and nonprofit
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organizations for programs that require or encourage individuals

under the age of 16 to wear approved bicycle helmets. In making

those grants, the Administrator shall allow grantees to use wide

discretion in designing programs that effectively promote increased

bicycle helmet use. (b) FEDERAL SHARE.—The amount provided by a grant under this section shall not exceed 80 percent of the cost of the program

for which the grant is made. In crediting the recipient State, political subdivision, or nonprofit organization for the non-Federal share

of the cost of such a program (other than planning and administration), the aggregate of all expenditures made by such State, political

subdivision, or nonprofit organization (exclusive of Federal funds)

for the purposes described in section 203 (other than expenditures

for planning and administration) shall be available for such crediting, without regard to whether such expenditures were actually

made in connection with such program.

SEC. 203. PURPOSES FOR GRANTS.

A grant made under section 202 may be used by a grantee

to—

(1) enforce a law that requires individuals under the age

of 16 to wear approved bicycle helmets on their heads while

riding on bicycles; (2) provide assistance, to individuals under the age of 16

who may not be able to afford approved bicycle helmets, to

enable such individuals to acquire such helmets;

(3) develop and administer a program to educate individuals under the age of 16 and their families on the importance

of wearing such helmets in order to improve bicycle safety;

or

(4) carry out any combination of the activities described in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3).

The Administrator shall review grant applications for compliance

with this section prior to awarding grants.

SEC. 204. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

Not later than May 1, 1997, the Administrator of the National

Highway Traffic Safety Administration shall report to Congress

on the effectiveness of the grant program established by section

202. The report shall include a list of grant recipients, a summary

of the types of programs implemented by the grantees, and any

recommendation by the Administrator regarding how the program

should be changed in the future.

SEC. 205. STANDARDS.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Bicycle helmets manufactured 9 months or

more after the date of the enactment of this Act shall conform

to—

(1) any interim standard described under subsection (b),

pending the establishment of a final standard pursuant to

subsection (c); and

(2) the final standard, once it has been established under

subsection (c).

(b) INTERIM STANDARDS.—The interim standards are as follows:

(1) The American National Standards Institute standard

designated as ‘‘Z90.4–1984’’.

(2) The Snell Memorial Foundation standard designated

as ‘‘B–90’’.
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(3) The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)

standard designated as ‘‘F 1447’’.

(4) Any other standard that the Commission determines

is appropriate.

(c) FINAL STANDARD.—Not later than 60 days after the date

of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall begin a proceeding under section 553 of title 5, United States Code, to—

(1) review the requirements of the interim standards set

forth in subsection (a) and establish a final standard based

on such requirements;

(2) include in the final standard a provision to protect

against the risk of helmets coming off the heads of bicycle

riders;

(3) include in the final standard provisions that address

the risk of injury to children; and

(4) include additional provisions as appropriate.

Sections 7, 9, and 30(d) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15

U.S.C. 2056, 2058, 2079(d)) shall not apply to the proceeding under

this subsection and section 11 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 2060) shall

not apply with respect to any standard issued under such proceeding. The final standard shall take effect 1 year from the date

it is issued.

(d) FAILURE TO MEET STANDARDS.—

(1) FAILURE TO MEET INTERIM STANDARD.—Until the final

standard takes effect, a bicycle helmet that does not conform

to an interim standard as required under subsection (a)(1)

shall be considered in violation of a consumer product safety

standard promulgated under the Consumer Product Safety Act.

(2) STATUS OF FINAL STANDARD.—The final standard developed under subsection (c) shall be considered a consumer product safety standard promulgated under the Consumer Product

Safety Act.

SEC. 206. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

For the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to

carry out the grant program authorized by this title, there are

authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000 for fiscal year 1995,

$3,000,000 for fiscal year 1996, and $4,000,000 for fiscal year 1997.

SEC. 207. DEFINITION.

In this title, the term ‘‘approved bicycle helmet’’ means a bicycle

helmet that meets—

(1) any interim standard described in section 205(b), pending establishment of a final standard under section 205(c);

and
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(2) the final standard, once it is established under section

205(c).

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.