II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2820

To provide for a public interest determination by the Consumer Product

Safety Commission with respect to repair, replacement, or refund actions,

and to revise the civil and criminal penalties, under both the Consumer

Product Safety Act and the Federal Hazardous Substances Act.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 29, 2000

Mr. HOLLINGS (by request) introduced the following bill; which was read twice

and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To provide for a public interest determination by the Consumer Product Safety Commission with respect to repair,

replacement, or refund actions, and to revise the civil

and criminal penalties, under both the Consumer Product

Safety Act and the Federal Hazardous Substances Act.

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 ‘‘Consumer Product

5 Safety Commission Enhanced Enforcement Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. COMMISSION PUBLIC INTEREST DETERMINATION

2 WITH REGARD TO REPAIR, REPLACEMENT,

3 OR REFUND ACTIONS.

4 (a) PRODUCT SAFETY AMENDMENT.—Section 15(d)

5 of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2064(d))

6 is amended—

7 (1) by striking ‘‘(d) If’’ and inserting ‘‘(d)(1)

8 Except as provided in paragraph (3), if’’;

9 (2) by striking ‘‘(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘(A) CON10 FORM OR REPAIR.—’’;

11 (3) by striking ‘‘(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘(B) RE12 PLACEMENT.—’’;

13 (4) by striking ‘‘(3)’’ and inserting ‘‘(C) RE14 FUND.—’’;

15 (5) by striking ‘‘(A) at the time’’ and inserting

16 ‘‘(i) at the time’’;

17 (6) by striking ‘‘(B) at the time’’ and inserting

18 ‘‘(ii) at the time’’;

19 (7) by striking ‘‘An order’’ the first place it ap20 pears and inserting ‘‘(2) An order’’;

21 (8) by striking ‘‘paragraph (3).’’ and inserting

22 ‘‘paragraph (1)(C)’’; and

23 (9) by adding at the end thereof the following:

24 ‘‘(3) If the Commission determines, after af25 fording opportunity for an informal hearing, that the

26 action elected by a manufacturer, distributor, or re-
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1 tailer under paragraph (1)(A), (B), or (C) is not in

2 the public interest, the Commission shall order the

3 manufacturer, distributor, or retailer to take any

4 other action described in paragraph that the Com5 mission determines to be in the public interest. If

6 the Commission determines that both of the remain7 ing actions for election under paragraph (1) are in

8 the public interest, then the manufacturer, dis9 tributor, or retailer shall elect to take one of those

10 actions.’’.

11 (b) HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES AMENDMENT.—Sec12 tion 15(b) of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (15

13 U.S.C. 1274(b)) is amended—

14 (1) by striking ‘‘REFUND.—If’’ and inserting

15 ‘‘REFUND.—Except as provided in paragraph (3),

16 if’’;

17 (2) by striking ‘‘(1) If’’ and inserting ‘‘(A) RE18 PAIR.—If’’;

19 (3) by striking ‘‘(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘(B)

20 REPLACMENT.—’’;

21 (4) by striking ‘‘(3)’’ and inserting ‘‘(C) RE22 FUND.—’’;

23 (5) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and

24 (B) of paragraph (3) as clauses (i) and (ii), respec25 tively;
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1 (6) by striking ‘‘An order’’ the first place it ap2 pears and inserting ‘‘(2) An order’’;

3 (7) by striking ‘‘paragraph (3).’’ and inserting

4 ‘‘paragraph (1)(C)’’; and

5 (8) by adding at the end thereof the following:

6 ‘‘(3) If the Commission determines, after af7 fording opportunity for an informal hearing, that the

8 action elected by a manufacturer, distributor, or re9 tailer under paragraph (1)(A), (B), or (C) is not in

10 the public interest, the Commission shall order the

11 manufacturer, distributor, or retailer to take any

12 other action described in paragraph that the Com13 mission determines to be in the public interest. If

14 the Commission determines that both of the remain15 ing actions for election under paragraph (1) are in

16 the public interest, then the manufacturer, dis17 tributor, or retailer shall elect to take one of those

18 actions.’’.

19 (c) DISCRETIONARY REMEDIAL ACTION UNDER THE

20 FHSA.—Section 1274(c) of the Federal Hazardous Sub21 stances Act (15 U.S.C. 1274(c) is amended—

22 (1) by striking ‘‘(2) If’’ and inserting ‘‘(2) Ex23 cept as provided in paragraph (3), if’’; and

24 (2) adding at the end thereof the following:
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1 ‘‘(3) If the Commission determines, after af2 fording opportunity for an informal hearing, that the

3 action elected by a manufacturer, distributor, or re4 tailer under paragraph (2)(A), (B), or (C) is not in

5 the public interest, the Commission shall order the

6 manufacturer, distributor, or retailer to take any

7 other action described in paragraph that the Com8 mission determines to be in the public interest. If

9 the Commission determines that both of the remain10 ing actions for election under paragraph (2) are in

11 the public interest, then the manufacturer, dis12 tributor, or retailer shall elect to take one of those

13 actions.’’.

14 SEC. 3. CIVIL PENALTIES.

15 (a) PRODUCT SAFETY CIVIL PENALTY.—

16 (1) INCREASE; REMOVAL OF CAP ON PENALTY

17 FOR CONTINUING OFFENSE.—Section 20(a)(1) of

18 the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C.

19 2069(a)(1)) is amended—

20 (A) by striking ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting

21 ‘‘$7,000’’;

22 (B) by striking ‘‘involved, except that the

23 maximum civil penalty shall not exceed

24 $1,250,000 for any related series of violations.’’

25 and inserting ‘‘involved.’’; and
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1 (C) by striking ‘‘offense, except that the

2 maximum civil penalty shall not exceed

3 $1,250,000 for any related series of violations.’’

4 and inserting ‘‘offense.’’.

5 (2) CONFORMING CHANGES TO INFLATION AD6 JUSTMENT.—Section 20(a)(3) of that Act (15

7 U.S.C. 2069(a)(3)) is amended—

8 (A) by striking ‘‘maximum penalty

9 amounts’’ in subparagraph (A) and inserting

10 ‘‘penalty’’;

11 (B) by striking ‘‘December 1, 1994,’’ in

12 subparagraph (B) and inserting ‘‘December 1,

13 2005,’’; and

14 (C) by striking subparagraph (C) and in15 serting the following:

16 ‘‘(C) The authorized penalty amount shall

17 be prescribed by increasing the amount in para18 graph (1) by the cost-of-living adjustment for

19 the preceding five years, rounded to the nearest

20 $1,000.’’.

21 (b) HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES CIVIL PENALTY.—

22 (1) INCREASE; REMOVAL OF CAP ON PENALTY

23 FOR CONTINUING VIOLATIONS.—Section 5(c)(1) of

24 the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (15 U.S.C.

25 1264(c)(1)) is amended—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting

2 ‘‘$7,000’’;

3 (B) by striking ‘‘involved, except that the

4 maximum civil penalty shall not exceed

5 $1,250,000 for any related series of violations.’’

6 and inserting ‘‘involved.’’; and

7 (C) by striking ‘‘offense, except that the

8 maximum civil penalty shall not exceed

9 $1,250,000 for any related series of violations.’’

10 and inserting ‘‘offense.’’.

11 (2) CONFORMING CHANGES TO INFLATION AD12 JUSTMENT.—Section 5(c)(6) of that Act (15 U.S.C.

13 1264(c)(6)) is amended—

14 (A) by striking ‘‘maximum penalty

15 amounts’’ in subparagraph (A) and inserting

16 ‘‘penalty’’;

17 (B) by striking ‘‘December 1, 1994,’’ in

18 subparagraph (B) and inserting ‘‘December 1,

19 2005,’’; and

20 (C) by striking subparagraph (C) and in21 serting the following:

22 ‘‘(C) The authorized penalty amount shall

23 be prescribed by increasing the amount in para24 graph (1) by the cost-of-living adjustment for
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1 the preceding five years, rounded to the nearest

2 $1,000.’’.

3 SEC. 4. CRIMINAL PENALTIES.

4 (a) PRODUCT SAFETY CRIMINAL PENALTY.—Section

5 21 of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2070)

6 is amended—

7 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the

8 following:

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—

10 ‘‘(1) KNOWING VIOLATIONS.—Any individual

11 who knowingly violates section 19 of this Act shall

12 be fined under title 18, United States Code, or be

13 imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both. Any orga14 nization (as defined in section 18 of title 18, United

15 States Code) that knowingly violates section 19 of

16 this Act shall be fined under title 18, United States

17 Code.

18 ‘‘(2) KNOWING AND WILLFUL VIOLATIONS.—

19 Any individual who knowingly and willfully violates

20 section 19 of this Act shall be fined under title 18,

21 United States Code, or be imprisoned not more than

22 3 years, or both. Any organization (as defined in

23 section 18 of title 18, United States Code) that

24 knowingly and willfully violates section 19 of this
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1 Act shall be fined under title 18, United States

2 Code.’’;

3 (2) by inserting ‘‘ACTIONS BY DIRECTORS, OF4 FICERS, AND AGENTS.—; and

5 (3) by striking ‘‘knowingly and willfully’’ in

6 subsection (b).

7 (b) HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES CRIMINAL PEN8 ALTY.—Section 5(a) of the Federal Hazardous Substances

9 Act (15 U.S.C. 1264(a)) is amended to read as follows:

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—

11 ‘‘(1) KNOWING VIOLATIONS.—Any individual

12 who knowingly violates section 4 of this Act shall be

13 fined under title 18, United States Code, or be im14 prisoned not more than 1 year, or both. Any organi15 zation (as defined in section 18 of title 18, United

16 States Code) that knowingly violates section 4 of

17 this Act shall be fined under title 18, United States

18 Code.

19 ‘‘(2) KNOWING AND WILLFUL VIOLATIONS; RE20 PEAT OFFENDERS.—Any individual who knowingly

21 and willfully violates section 4 of this Act shall be

22 fined under title 18, United States Code, or be im23 prisoned not more than 3 years, or both. Any orga24 nization (as defined in section 18 of title 18, United

25 States Code) that knowingly and willfully violates
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1 section 4 of this Act shall be fined under title 18,

2 United States Code. If an individual or organization

3 commits a second or subsequent violation of section

4 4 of this Act, then that second or subsequent viola5 tion is deemed to be a knowing and willful viola6 tion.’’.

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