II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1660 

To amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to reduce the emissions of 

formaldehyde from composite wood products, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2009 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself and Mr. CRAPO) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

A BILL 

To amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to reduce the 

emissions of formaldehyde from composite wood products, 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 ‘‘Formaldehyde Stand5 ards for Composite Wood Products Act’’. 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1660 IS

1 SEC. 2. FORMALDEHYDE STANDARDS FOR COMPOSITE 

2 WOOD PRODUCTS. 

3 (a) AMENDMENT.—The Toxic Substances Control 

4 Act (15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

5 the end the following: 

6 ‘‘TITLE VI—FORMALDEHYDE 

7 STANDARDS FOR COMPOSITE 

8 WOOD PRODUCTS 

9 ‘‘SEC. 601. FORMALDEHYDE STANDARDS. 

10 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 ‘‘(1) FINISHED GOOD.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘finished 

13 good’ means any good or product (other than a 

14 panel) containing— 

15 ‘‘(i) hardwood plywood; 

16 ‘‘(ii) particleboard; or 

17 ‘‘(iii) medium-density fiberboard. 

18 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘finished 

19 good’ includes— 

20 ‘‘(i) manufactured housing; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) recreational vehicles. 

22 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘finished 

23 good’ does not include— 

24 ‘‘(i) any component part or other part 

25 used in the assembly of a finished good; or 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1660 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) any finished good that has pre2 viously been sold or supplied to an indi3 vidual or entity that purchased or acquired 

4 the finished good in good faith for pur5 poses other than resale, such as— 

6 ‘‘(I) an antique; or 

7 ‘‘(II) secondhand furniture. 

8 ‘‘(2) HARDWOOD PLYWOOD.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘hardwood 

10 plywood’ means a hardwood or decorative panel 

11 that is— 

12 ‘‘(i) intended for interior use; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) composed of (as determined 

14 under the standard numbered ANSI/ 

15 HPVA HP–1–2004 (or a successor stand16 ard)) an assembly of layers or plies of ve17 neer, joined by an adhesive with— 

18 ‘‘(I) lumber core; 

19 ‘‘(II) particleboard core; 

20 ‘‘(III) medium-density fiberboard 

21 core; 

22 ‘‘(IV) hardboard core; or 

23 ‘‘(V) any other special core or 

24 special back material. 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1660 IS

1 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘hardwood 

2 plywood’ does not include— 

3 ‘‘(i) a laminated product; 

4 ‘‘(ii) military-specified plywood; 

5 ‘‘(iii) curved plywood; or 

6 ‘‘(iv) any other product specified in— 

7 ‘‘(I) the standard entitled ‘Vol8 untary Product Standard–Structural 

9 Plywood’ and numbered PS 1–07 (or 

10 a successor standard); or 

11 ‘‘(II) the standard entitled ‘Vol12 untary Product Standard–Perform13 ance Standard for Wood-Based Struc14 tural-Use Panels’ and numbered PS 

15 2–04 (or a successor standard). 

16 ‘‘(3) LAMINATED PRODUCT.—The term ‘lami17 nated product’ means a product— 

18 ‘‘(A) in which a wood veneer is affixed 

19 to— 

20 ‘‘(i) a particleboard platform; 

21 ‘‘(ii) a medium-density fiberboard 

22 platform; or 

23 ‘‘(iii) a veneer-core platform; and 

24 ‘‘(B) that is— 

25 ‘‘(i) a component part; 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1660 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) used in the construction or as2 sembly of a finished good; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) produced by the manufacturer 

4 or fabricator of the finished good in which 

5 the product is incorporated. 

6 ‘‘(4) MEDIUM-DENSITY FIBERBOARD.—The 

7 term ‘medium-density fiberboard’ means a panel 

8 composed of cellulosic fibers made by dry forming 

9 and pressing a resinated fiber mat (as determined 

10 under the standard numbered ANSI A208.2–2009 

11 (or a successor standard)). 

12 ‘‘(5) NO-ADDED FORMALDEHYDE-BASED

13 RESIN.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘no-added 

15 formaldehyde-based resin’ means a resin formu16 lated with no added formaldehyde as part of the 

17 resin cross-linking structure that meets the per18 formance standard contained in section 

19 93120.3(c) of title 17, California Code of Regu20 lations (as in effect on July 28, 2009). 

21 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘no-added 

22 formaldehyde-based resin’ may include any 

23 resin made from— 

24 ‘‘(i) soy; 

25 ‘‘(ii) polyvinyl acetate; or 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1660 IS

1 ‘‘(iii) methylene diisocyanate. 

2 ‘‘(6) PARTICLEBOARD.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term 

4 ‘particleboard’ means a panel composed of cel5 lulosic material in the form of discrete particles 

6 (as distinguished from fibers, flakes, or 

7 strands) that are pressed together with resin 

8 (as determined under the standard numbered 

9 ANSI A208.1–2009 (or a successor standard)). 

10 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term 

11 ‘particleboard’ does not include any product 

12 specified in the standard entitled ‘Voluntary 

13 Product Standard–Performance Standard for 

14 Wood-Based Structural-Use Panels’ and num15 bered PS 2–04 (or a successor standard). 

16 ‘‘(7) ULTRA LOW-EMITTING FORMALDEHYDE

17 RESIN.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘ultra low19 emitting formaldehyde resin’ means a resin for20 mulated using a process the average formalde21 hyde emissions of which are consistently below 

22 the phase 2 emission standards contained in the 

23 airborne toxic control measure for composite 

24 wood products described in section 93120.3(d) 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1660 IS

1 of title 17, California Code of Regulations (as 

2 in effect on July 28, 2009). 

3 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘ultra low4 emitting formaldehyde resin’ may include— 

5 ‘‘(i) melamine-urea-formaldehyde 

6 resin; 

7 ‘‘(ii) phenol formaldehyde resin; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) resorcinol formaldehyde resin. 

9 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENT.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub11 section (d), effective beginning on the date that is 

12 180 days after the date of enactment of this section, 

13 the formaldehyde emission standard contained in 

14 table 1 of section 93120.2(a) of title 17, California 

15 Code of Regulations (relating to an airborne toxic 

16 control measure to reduce formaldehyde emissions 

17 from composite wood products) (as in effect on July 

18 28, 2009), shall apply to hardwood plywood, me19 dium-density fiberboard, and particleboard sold, sup20 plied, offered for sale, or manufactured in the 

21 United States. 

22 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.—The formaldehyde emis23 sion standard referred to in paragraph (1) shall 

24 apply regardless of whether an applicable hardwood 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 1660 IS

1 plywood, medium-density fiberboard, or 

2 particleboard is— 

3 ‘‘(A) in the form of an unfinished panel; or 

4 ‘‘(B) incorporated into a finished good. 

5 ‘‘(c) EXEMPTIONS.—The formaldehyde emission 

6 standard referred to in subsection (b)(1) shall not apply 

7 to— 

8 ‘‘(1) hardboard; 

9 ‘‘(2) structural plywood, as specified in the 

10 standard entitled ‘Voluntary Product Standard– 

11 Structural Plywood’ and numbered PS 1–07 (or a 

12 successor standard); 

13 ‘‘(3) structural panels, as specified in the stand14 ard entitled ‘Voluntary Product Standard–Perform15 ance Standard for Wood-Based Structural-Use Pan16 els’ and numbered PS 2–04 (or a successor stand17 ard); 

18 ‘‘(4) structural composite lumber, as specified 

19 in the standard entitled ‘Standard Specification for 

20 Evaluation of Structural Composite Lumber Prod21 ucts’ and numbered ASTM D 5456–06 (or a suc22 cessor standard); 

23 ‘‘(5) oriented strand board; 

24 ‘‘(6) glued laminated lumber, as specified in the 

25 standard entitled ‘Structural Glued Laminated TimVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:43 Sep 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1660.IS S1660

smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 1660 IS

1 ber’ and numbered ANSI A190.1–2002 (or a suc2 cessor standard); 

3 ‘‘(7) prefabricated wood I-joists, as specified in 

4 the standard entitled ‘Standard Specification for Es5 tablishing and Monitoring Structural Capacities of 

6 Prefabricated Wood I-Joists’ and numbered ASTM 

7 D 5055–05 (or a successor standard); 

8 ‘‘(8) finger-jointed lumber; 

9 ‘‘(9) wood packaging (including pallets, crates, 

10 spools, and dunnage); or 

11 ‘‘(10) composite wood products used inside new 

12 vehicles (as defined in section 430 of the California 

13 Vehicle Code) (excluding recreational vehicles), rail 

14 cars, boats, aerospace craft, or aircraft. 

15 ‘‘(d) REGULATIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 1, 

17 2011, the Administrator shall promulgate regula18 tions to implement the formaldehyde emission stand19 ard required under subsection (b) in a manner that 

20 ensures that compliance with the standard is equiva21 lent to compliance with the standard contained in 

22 table 1 of section 93120.2(a) of title 17, California 

23 Code of Regulations (as in effect on July 28, 2009). 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 1660 IS

1 ‘‘(2) INCLUSIONS.—The regulations promul2 gated pursuant to paragraph (1) shall include provi3 sions relating to— 

4 ‘‘(A) labeling; 

5 ‘‘(B) chain of custody requirements; 

6 ‘‘(C) sell-through provisions; 

7 ‘‘(D) ultra low-emitting formaldehyde res8 ins; 

9 ‘‘(E) no-added formaldehyde-based resins; 

10 ‘‘(F) finished goods; 

11 ‘‘(G) third-party testing and certification; 

12 ‘‘(H) auditing and reporting of third-party 

13 certifiers; 

14 ‘‘(I) recordkeeping; and 

15 ‘‘(J) enforcement. 

16 ‘‘(3) IMPORT REGULATIONS.—Not later than 

17 July 1, 2011, the Administrator, in coordination 

18 with the Commissioner of Customs and Border Pro19 tection and other appropriate Federal departments 

20 and agencies, shall revise regulations promulgated 

21 pursuant to section 13 as the Administrator deter22 mines to be necessary to ensure compliance with this 

23 section. 

24 ‘‘(4) MODIFICATION OF STANDARDS.—The Ad25 ministrator may modify, by regulation, any reference 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
11 

•S 1660 IS

1 to an industry standard contained in this subsection 

2 if the standard is subsequently updated. 

3 ‘‘(e) PROHIBITED ACTS.—An individual or entity 

4 that violates any requirement under this section (including 

5 any regulation promulgated pursuant to subsection (d)) 

6 shall be considered to have committed a prohibited act 

7 under section 15.’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con9 tents of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. prec. 

10 2601) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘TITLE VI—FORMALDEHYDE STANDARDS FOR COMPOSITE WOOD 

PRODUCTS 

‘‘Sec. 601. Formaldehyde standards.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

12 Not later than December 31, 2010, and annually 

13 thereafter through December 31, 2014, the Administrator 

14 of the Environmental Protection Agency shall submit to 

15 the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the 

16 Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 

17 the House of Representatives a report describing, with re18 spect to the preceding calendar year— 

19 (1) the status of the measures carried out or 

20 planned to be carried out pursuant to title VI of the 

21 Toxic Substances Control Act; and 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
12 

•S 1660 IS

1 (2) the extent to which relevant industries have 

2 achieved compliance with the requirements under 

3 that title. 

Æ 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS