II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1640 

To require compliant flame mitigation devices to be used on portable fuel 

containers for flammable liquid fuels, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 23 (legislative day, MAY 22), 2019 

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

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require compliant flame mitigation devices to be used 

on portable fuel containers for flammable liquid fuels, 

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 ‘‘Portable Fuel Con5 tainer Safety Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PERFORMANCE STANDARDS TO PROTECT AGAINST 

2 PORTABLE FUEL CONTAINER EXPLOSIONS 

3 NEAR OPEN FLAMES OR OTHER IGNITION 

4 SOURCES. 

5 (a) RULE ON SAFETY PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

6 REQUIRED.—Not later than 30 months after the date of 

7 enactment of this section, the Consumer Product Safety 

8 Commission (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Commission’’) 

9 shall promulgate a final rule to require flame mitigation 

10 devices in portable fuel containers that impede the propa11 gation of flame into the container, except as provided in 

12 subsection (c). 

13 (b) RULEMAKING; CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY

14 STANDARD.—A rule under subsection (a)— 

15 (1) shall be promulgated in accordance with 

16 section 553 of title 5, United States Code; and 

17 (2) shall be treated as a consumer product safe18 ty rule promulgated under section 9 of the Con19 sumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2058). 

20 (c) EXCEPTION.— 

21 (1) VOLUNTARY STANDARD.—Subsection (a) 

22 shall not apply if the Commission determines that— 

23 (A) there is a voluntary standard for flame 

24 mitigation devices in portable fuel containers 

25 that impedes the propagation of flame into the 

26 container, or a combination of more than one 


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1 voluntary standard which taken together serve 

2 such purpose for the full scope of this Act; 

3 (B) the voluntary standard or combination 

4 of voluntary standards described in subpara5 graph (A) is or will be in effect not later than 

6 18 months after the date of enactment of this 

7 Act; and 

8 (C) the voluntary standard or combination 

9 of voluntary standards described in subpara10 graph (A) is developed by ASTM International 

11 or such other standard development organiza12 tion that the Commission determines to have 

13 met the intent of this Act. 

14 (2) DETERMINATION REQUIRED TO BE PUB15 LISHED IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER.—Any deter16 mination made by the Commission under this sub17 section shall be published in the Federal Register. 

18 (d) TREATMENT OF VOLUNTARY STANDARD FOR

19 PURPOSE OF ENFORCEMENT.—If the Commission deter20 mines that a voluntary standard meets the conditions de21 scribed in subsection (c), the requirements of such vol22 untary standard shall be treated as a consumer product 

23 safety rule promulgated under section 9 of the Consumer 

24 Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2058) beginning on the 

25 date which is the later of— 


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1 (1) 180 days after publication of the Commis2 sion’s determination under subsection (c); or 

3 (2) the effective date contained in the voluntary 

4 standard. 

5 (e) REVISION OF VOLUNTARY STANDARD.— 

6 (1) NOTICE TO COMMISSION.—If the require7 ments of a voluntary standard that meet the condi8 tions of subsection (c) are subsequently revised, the 

9 organization that revised the standard shall notify 

10 the Commission after the final approval of the revi11 sion. 

12 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE OF REVISION.—Not later 

13 than 180 days after the Commission is notified of a 

14 revised voluntary standard described in paragraph 

15 (1) (or such later date as the Commission deter16 mines appropriate), such revised voluntary standard 

17 shall become enforceable as a consumer product 

18 safety rule promulgated under section 9 of the Con19 sumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2058), in 

20 place of the prior version, unless within 90 days 

21 after receiving the notice the Commission determines 

22 that the revised voluntary standard does not meet 

23 the requirements described in subsection (c). 

24 (f) FUTURE RULEMAKING.—The Commission, at any 

25 time after publication of the consumer product safety rule 


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1 required by subsection (a), a voluntary standard is treated 

2 as a consumer product safety rule under subsection (d), 

3 or a revision is enforceable as a consumer product safety 

4 rule under subsection (e) may initiate a rulemaking in ac5 cordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code, 

6 to modify the requirements or to include any additional 

7 provision that the Commission determines is reasonably 

8 necessary to protect public health or safety. Any rule pro9 mulgated under this subsection shall be treated as a con10 sumer product safety rule promulgated under section 9 of 

11 the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2058). 

12 (g) ACTION REQUIRED.— 

13 (1) EDUCATION CAMPAIGN.—Not later than 1 

14 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

15 Commission shall undertake a campaign to educate 

16 consumers about the dangers associated with using 

17 or storing portable fuel containers for flammable liq18 uids near an open flame or any other source of igni19 tion. 

20 (2) SUMMARY OF ACTIONS.—Not later than 2 

21 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

22 Commission shall submit to Congress a summary of 

23 actions taken by the Commission in such campaign. 

24 (h) PORTABLE FUEL CONTAINER DEFINED.—In this 

25 section, the term ‘‘portable fuel container’’ means any conVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:11 Jun 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1640.IS S1640

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1 tainer or vessel (including any spout, cap, and other clo2 sure mechanism or component of such container or vessel 

3 or any retrofit or aftermarket spout or component in4 tended or reasonably anticipated to be for use with such 

5 container)— 

6 (1) intended for flammable liquid fuels with a 

7 flash point less than 140 degrees Fahrenheit, includ8 ing gasoline, kerosene, diesel, ethanol, methanol, de9 natured alcohol, or biofuels; 

10 (2) that is a consumer product with a capacity 

11 of 5 gallons or less; and 

12 (3) that the manufacturer knows or reasonably 

13 should know is used by consumers for receiving, 

14 transporting, storing, and dispensing flammable liq15 uid fuels. 

16 (i) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—This section may not 

17 be interpreted to conflict with the Children’s Gasoline 

18 Burn Prevention Act (Public Law 110–278; 122 Stat. 

19 2602). 

20 SEC. 3. CHILDREN’S GASOLINE BURN PREVENTION ACT. 

21 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 2(c) of the Children’s 

22 Gasoline Burn Prevention Act (15 U.S.C. 2056 note; Pub23 lic Law 110–278) is amended by inserting after ‘‘for use 

24 by consumers’’ the following: ‘‘and any receptacle for gaso25 line, kerosene, or diesel fuel, including any spout, cap, and 


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1 other closure mechanism and component of such recep2 tacle or any retrofit or aftermarket spout or component 

3 intended or reasonably anticipated to be for use with such 

4 receptacle, produced or distributed for sale to or use by 

5 consumers for transport of, or refueling of internal com6 bustion engines with, gasoline, kerosene, or diesel fuel’’. 

7 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sub8 section (a) shall take effect 6 months after the date of 

9 enactment of this section. 

Æ 


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