II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1976 

To prohibit the distribution in commerce of children’s products and upholstered furniture containing certain flame retardants, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 5, 2015 

Mr. SCHUMER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To prohibit the distribution in commerce of children’s products and upholstered furniture containing certain flame 

retardants, 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 ‘‘Children and Fire5 fighters Protection Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON SALE OF CERTAIN PRODUCTS 

2 CONTAINING SPECIFIED FLAME RETAR3 DANTS. 

4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘chil5 dren’s product’’, ‘‘consumer product’’, ‘‘distribute in com6 merce’’, ‘‘distributor’’, ‘‘import’’, ‘‘manufacturer’’, ‘‘re7 tailer’’, and ‘‘United States’’ have the meanings given 

8 such terms in section 3(a) of the Consumer Product Safe9 ty Act (15 U.S.C. 2052(a)). 

10 (b) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful for any man11 ufacturer, distributor, or retailer to sell, offer for sale, 

12 manufacture for sale, distribute in commerce, or import 

13 into the United States any children’s product or uphol14 stered furniture that contains a flame retardant specified 

15 in subsection (c) that exceeds 1,000 parts per million total 

16 chemical content by weight for any part of the product 

17 or furniture. 

18 (c) SPECIFIED FLAME RETARDANTS.—The flame 

19 retardants specified in this subsection are the following: 

20 (1) Tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl)phosphate 

21 (TDCPP) (chemical abstracts service number 

22 13674–87–8). 

23 (2) Tris(2-chloroethyl)phosphate (TCEP) 

24 (chemical abstracts service number 115–1496–8). 

25 (3) Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) (chemical 

26 abstracts service number 79–94–7). 


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1 (4) Decabromodiphenyl ether (chemical ab2 stracts service number 1163–19–5). 

3 (5) Antimony trioxide (chemical abstracts serv4 ice number 1309–64–4). 

5 (6) Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) (chem6 ical abstracts service number 25637–99–4). 

7 (7) Bis(2-Ethylhexyl)-3,4,5,6-tetrabromophtha8 late (TBPH) (chemical abstract service number 

9 26040–51–7). 

10 (8) 2-EthylhexYl-2,3,4,5-tetrabromobenzoate 

11 (TBB) (chemical abstract service number 183658– 

12 27–7). 

13 (9) Chlorinated paraffins (chemical abstract 

14 services number 85535–84–8). 

15 (10) Tris (1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TCPP) 

16 (chemical abstract service number 13674–84–5). 

17 (11) Such other chemical flame retardants as 

18 the Commission may specify by rule under sub19 section (d)(5). 

20 (d) CHRONIC HAZARD ADVISORY PANEL.— 

21 (1) APPOINTMENT.—Not later than 180 days 

22 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

23 Commission shall appoint a chronic hazard advisory 

24 panel pursuant to the procedures of section 28 of 

25 the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2077) 


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1 to study the effects on human health of all chemical 

2 flame retardants as used in children’s products or 

3 upholstered furniture. 

4 (2) EXAMINATION.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The panel shall, not 

6 later than 540 days after the date on which the 

7 panel is appointed under paragraph (1), com8 plete an examination of the potential hazards 

9 and exposures for the full range of chemical 

10 flame retardants that may be used in children’s 

11 products or upholstered furniture to meet appli12 cable fire safety standards and shall— 

13 (i) examine potential health effects of 

14 the chemical flame retardants, including— 

15 (I) developmental toxicity; 

16 (II) carcinogenicity, genetic dam17 age, or reproductive toxicity; 

18 (III) endocrine disruption; 

19 (IV) toxicity related to the nerv20 ous system, immune system, or organs 

21 or cause other systemic toxicity; and 

22 (V) whether they are— 

23 (aa) persistent, bioaccumula24 tive, and toxic; or 


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1 (bb) very persistent and very 

2 bioaccumulative; 

3 (ii) consider the potential health ef4 fects of such chemical flame retardants, 

5 both in isolation and in combination with 

6 other flame retardants; 

7 (iii) examine biomonitoring studies 

8 that document existing levels and likely fu9 ture levels of chemical flame retardants in 

10 children, pregnant women, firefighters (in11 cluding combustion by-products of chem12 ical flame retardants), and others; 

13 (iv) examine data and analysis regard14 ing the chemical flame retardants in house15 hold dust, indoor air, or elsewhere in the 

16 home environment; 

17 (v) consider the cumulative effects of 

18 total exposure to flame retardants, both 

19 from children’s products, upholstered fur20 niture, and from other sources, such as 

21 food, commercial furniture, building insula22 tion, and electronics; 

23 (vi) review all relevant data, including 

24 the most recent, best-available, peer-re25 viewed, scientific studies of these chemical 


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1 flame retardants that employ objective 

2 data collection practices or employ other 

3 objective methods; 

4 (vii) consider the amounts of chemical 

5 flame retardants used in consumer prod6 ucts and the total volumes manufactured 

7 for use; and 

8 (viii) consider possible similar health 

9 effects of chemical flame retardants used 

10 in children’s products or upholstered fur11 niture. 

12 (3) DE NOVO.—The panel’s examinations pur13 suant to this subsection shall be conducted de novo. 

14 The findings and conclusions of any previous chronic 

15 hazard advisory panel on chemical flame retardants 

16 and other studies conducted by the Commission shall 

17 be reviewed by the panel but shall not be considered 

18 determinative. 

19 (4) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 

20 completing its examination, the panel appointed 

21 under paragraph (1) shall submit to the Commission 

22 a report on the results of the examination conducted 

23 under this section and shall make recommendations 

24 to the Commission regarding any chemical flame 

25 retardants (or combinations of chemical flame 


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1 retardants) in addition to those identified in para2 graphs (1) through (10) of subsection (c) that the 

3 panel determines should be prohibited under sub4 section (b). 

5 (5) SPECIFICATION OF ADDITIONAL CHEMICAL

6 FLAME RETARDANTS.—Not later than 180 days 

7 after receiving the report of the panel under para8 graph (4), the Commission shall— 

9 (A) evaluate the findings of the chronic 

10 hazard advisory panel regarding the examina11 tion carried out under paragraph (2); 

12 (B) evaluate the recommendations sub13 mitted by the chronic hazard advisory panel 

14 under paragraph (4); and 

15 (C) promulgate a final rule, based on the 

16 evaluations carried out under subparagraphs 

17 (A) and (B) of this paragraph, that specifies 

18 such chemical flame retardants that are not 

19 listed in paragraphs (1) through (10) of sub20 section (c) as the Commission determines that 

21 the presence of such chemical flame retardant 

22 in any part of a children’s product or uphol23 stered furniture may cause substantial personal 

24 injury or substantial illness, including— 


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1 (i) developmental or learning disabil2 ities; 

3 (ii) cancer; 

4 (iii) endocrine disruption; 

5 (iv) reproductive harm; or 

6 (v) damage to the nervous system, im7 mune system, or organs or cause other sys8 temic toxicity. 

9 (e) TREATMENT OF VIOLATION.—A violation of sub10 section (b) shall be treated as a violation of section 

11 19(a)(1) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 

12 2068(a)(1)). 

13 (f) PRODUCT CERTIFICATION AND LABELING.—A 

14 product subject to subsection (b) of this section shall not 

15 be subject to section 14(a)(2) of the Consumer Product 

16 Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2063(a)(2)) with respect to testing 

17 for compliance with the requirements of this section. 

18 (g) RULEMAKING.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Consumer Product 

20 Safety Commission shall promulgate rules to carry 

21 out this section in accordance with section 553 of 

22 title 5, United States Code. 

23 (2) EXEMPTION FROM CERTAIN REQUIRE24 MENTS.—The requirements of sections 7 and 9 of 

25 the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2056 


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1 and 2058) shall not apply to a rulemaking under 

2 this section. 

3 (h) RELATION TO STATE LAW.—This section shall 

4 not annul, alter, or affect a provision of law of a State 

5 relating to the presence of a chemical flame retardant in 

6 a children’s product or upholstered furniture except to the 

7 extent that such provision of law is inconsistent with a 

8 provision of this section, and then only to the extent of 

9 the inconsistency. For purposes of this section, a provision 

10 of law of a State is not inconsistent with the provisions 

11 of this section if the protection such provision of law af12 fords any person is greater than the protection provided 

13 under this section. 

14 (i) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—This Act shall take effect on 

16 the date of the enactment of this Act, except sub17 section (b) shall take effect on the date that is 1 

18 year after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

19 (2) APPLICABILITY.—Subsection (b) shall apply 

20 with respect to children’s products and upholstered 

21 furniture manufactured after the date that is 1 year 

22 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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