II 

Calendar No. 643 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3278 

To protect children and other consumers against hazards associated with 

the accidental ingestion of button cell or coin batteries by requiring 

the Consumer Product Safety Commission to promulgate a consumer 

product safety standard to require child-resistant closures on consumer 

products that use such batteries, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 30, 2021 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. LUJA ́N, 

and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

DECEMBER 14, 2022 

Reported by Ms. CANTWELL, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To protect children and other consumers against hazards 

associated with the accidental ingestion of button cell 

or coin batteries by requiring the Consumer Product 

Safety Commission to promulgate a consumer product 

safety standard to require child-resistant closures on consumer products that use such batteries, and for other 

purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Reese’s Law’’. 

5 SEC. 2. CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY STANDARD FOR BUT6 TON CELL OR COIN BATTERIES AND CON7 SUMER PRODUCTS CONTAINING SUCH BAT8 TERIES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall, 

11 in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States 

12 Code, promulgate a final consumer product safety stand13 ard for button cell or coin batteries and consumer prod14 ucts containing button cell or coin batteries that includes 

15 at least— 

16 (1) a performance standard requiring the but17 ton cell or coin battery compartments of a consumer 

18 product containing button cell or coin batteries to be 

19 secured in a manner that prevents access to button 

20 cell or coin batteries by children that are 6 years of 

21 age or younger during reasonably foreseeable use or 

22 misuse conditions; and 

23 (2) warning label requirements— 

24 (A) to be included on the packaging of but25 ton cell or coin batteries and the packaging of 


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1 a consumer product containing button cell or 

2 coin batteries; 

3 (B) to be included in any literature, such 

4 as a user manual, that accompanies a consumer 

5 product containing button cell or coin batteries; 

6 and 

7 (C) to be included, as practicable, directly 

8 on a consumer product containing button cell or 

9 coin batteries in a manner that is visible to the 

10 consumer upon installation or replacement of 

11 the button cell or coin battery. 

12 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR WARNING LABELS.—Warn13 ing labels required under subsection (a)(2) shall— 

14 (1) clearly identify the hazard of ingestion; and 

15 (2) instruct consumers, as practicable, to keep 

16 new and used batteries out of the reach of children, 

17 to seek immediate medical attention if a battery is 

18 ingested, and to follow any other consensus medical 

19 advice. 

20 (c) TREATMENT OF STANDARD FOR ENFORCEMENT

21 PURPOSES.—A consumer product safety standard promul22 gated under subsection (a) shall be treated as a consumer 

23 product safety rule promulgated under section 9 of the 

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


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1 (d) EXCEPTION FOR RELIANCE ON VOLUNTARY

2 STANDARD.— 

3 (1) BEFORE PROMULGATION OF STANDARD BY

4 COMMISSION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply if the 

5 Commission determines, before the Commission pro6 mulgates a final consumer product safety standard 

7 under such subsection, that— 

8 (A) there is a voluntary consumer product 

9 safety standard that meets the requirements for 

10 a standard promulgated under subsection (a); 

11 and 

12 (B) the voluntary standard described in 

13 subparagraph (A)— 

14 (i) is in effect at the time of the de15 termination by the Commission; or 

16 (ii) will be in effect not later than the 

17 date that is 180 days after the date of the 

18 enactment of this Act. 

19 (2) AFTER PROMULGATION OF STANDARD BY

20 COMMISSION.—A final consumer product safety 

21 standard promulgated under subsection (a) shall 

22 cease to apply on the date described in subsection 

23 (e)(2) if the Commission determines that— 

24 (A) there is a voluntary consumer product 

25 safety standard that meets the requirements for 


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1 a standard promulgated under subsection (a); 

2 and 

3 (B) the voluntary standard described in 

4 subparagraph (A)— 

5 (i) is in effect at the time of the de6 termination by the Commission; or 

7 (ii) will be in effect not later than the 

8 date that is 180 days after the date of the 

9 determination by the Commission. 

10 (3) DETERMINATION REQUIRED TO BE PUB11 LISHED IN FEDERAL REGISTER.—Any determination 

12 made by the Commission under this subsection shall 

13 be published in the Federal Register. 

14 (e) TREATMENT OF VOLUNTARY STANDARD FOR EN15 FORCEMENT PURPOSES.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Commission makes a 

17 determination under subsection (d) with respect to a 

18 voluntary standard, the requirements of such vol19 untary standard shall be treated as a consumer 

20 product safety rule promulgated under section 9 of 

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

22 beginning on the date described in paragraph (2). 

23 (2) DATE DESCRIBED.—The date described in 

24 this paragraph is the later of— 


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1 (A) the date of the determination of the 

2 Commission under subsection (d) with respect 

3 to the voluntary standard described in para4 graph (1); or 

5 (B) the effective date contained in the vol6 untary standard described in paragraph (1). 

7 (f) REVISION OF VOLUNTARY STANDARD.— 

8 (1) NOTICE TO COMMISSION.—If a voluntary 

9 standard with respect to which the Commission has 

10 made a determination under subsection (d) is subse11 quently revised, the organization that revised the 

12 standard shall notify the Commission after the final 

13 approval of the revision. 

14 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE OF REVISION.—Beginning 

15 on the date that is 180 days after the Commission 

16 is notified of a revised voluntary standard described 

17 in paragraph (1) (or such later date as the Commis18 sion determines appropriate), such revised voluntary 

19 standard shall become enforceable as a consumer 

20 product safety rule promulgated under section 9 of 

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

22 in place of the prior version, unless, within 90 days 

23 after receiving the notice, the Commission deter24 mines that the revised voluntary standard does not 


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1 meet the requirements for a standard promulgated 

2 under subsection (a). 

3 (g) FUTURE RULEMAKING.—At any time after the 

4 promulgation of a final consumer product safety standard 

5 under subsection (a), a voluntary standard is treated as 

6 a consumer product safety rule under subsection (e), or 

7 a revised voluntary standard becomes enforceable as a 

8 consumer product safety rule under subsection (f), the 

9 Commission may initiate a rulemaking in accordance with 

10 section 553 of title 5, United States Code, to modify the 

11 requirements of the standard or revised standard or to in12 clude in the standard or revised standard any additional 

13 provision that the Commission determines is necessary to 

14 protect children from ingesting button cell or coin bat15 teries or that would lessen the severity of injury or risk 

16 of death in the event of ingestion. Any rule promulgated 

17 under this subsection shall be treated as a consumer prod18 uct safety rule promulgated under section 9 of the Con19 sumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2058). 

20 SEC. 3. CHILD-RESISTANT PACKAGING FOR BUTTON CELL 

21 OR COIN BATTERIES. 

22 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

23 the date of the enactment of this Act, any button cell or 

24 coin battery sold, offered for sale, manufactured for sale, 

25 distributed in commerce, or imported into the United 


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1 States, or included separately with a consumer product 

2 sold, offered for sale, manufactured for sale, distributed 

3 in commerce, or imported into the United States, shall be 

4 packaged in accordance with the standards provided in 

5 section 1700.15 of title 16, Code of Federal Regulations 

6 (or any successor regulation), as determined through test7 ing in accordance with the method described in section 

8 1700.20 of title 16, Code of Federal Regulations (or any 

9 successor regulation). 

10 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The requirement of subsection 

11 (a) shall be treated as a standard for the special packaging 

12 of a household substance established under section 3(a) 

13 of the Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970 (15 

14 U.S.C. 1472(a)). 

15 SEC. 4. EXEMPTION FOR COMPLIANCE WITH EXISTING 

16 STANDARD. 

17 The standards promulgated under this Act shall not 

18 apply with respect to any toy product that is in compliance 

19 with ASTM International’s Standard Consumer Safety 

20 Specification for Toy Safety (F963) on the date of enact21 ment of this Act. 

22 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this Act: 

24 (1) BUTTON CELL OR COIN BATTERY.—The 

25 term ‘‘button cell or coin battery’’ means— 


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1 (A) a single cell battery with a diameter 

2 greater than the height of the battery; or 

3 (B) any other battery, regardless of the 

4 technology used to produce an electrical charge, 

5 that is determined by the Commission to pose 

6 an ingestion hazard. 

7 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

8 means the Consumer Product Safety Commission. 

9 (3) CONSUMER PRODUCT.—The term ‘‘con10 sumer product’’ has the meaning given such term in 

11 section 3(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act 

12 (15 U.S.C. 2052(a)). 

13 (4) CONSUMER PRODUCT CONTAINING BUTTON

14 CELL OR COIN BATTERIES.—The term ‘‘consumer 

15 product containing button cell or coin batteries’’ 

16 means a consumer product containing or designed to 

17 use one or more button cell or coin batteries, regard18 less of whether such batteries are intended to be re19 placed by the consumer or are included with the 

20 product or sold separately. 

21 (5) TOY PRODUCT.—The term ‘‘toy product’’ 

22 means any object designed, manufactured, or mar23 keted as a plaything for children under 14 years of 

24 age. 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as ‘‘Reese’s Law’’. 

3 SEC. 2. CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY STANDARD FOR BUT4 TON CELL OR COIN BATTERIES AND CON5 SUMER PRODUCTS CONTAINING SUCH BAT6 TERIES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

8 of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall, in ac9 cordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code, 

10 promulgate a final consumer product safety standard for 

11 button cell or coin batteries and consumer products con12 taining button cell or coin batteries that shall only con13 tain— 

14 (1) a performance standard requiring the button 

15 cell or coin battery compartments of a consumer 

16 product containing button cell or coin batteries to be 

17 secured in a manner that would eliminate or ade18 quately reduce the risk of injury from button or coin 

19 cell battery ingestion by children that are 6 years of 

20 age or younger during reasonably foreseeable use or 

21 misuse conditions; and 

22 (2) warning label requirements— 

23 (A) to be included on the packaging of but24 ton cell or coin batteries and the packaging of a 

25 consumer product containing button cell or coin 

26 batteries; 


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1 (B) to be included in any literature, such as 

2 a user manual, that accompanies a consumer 

3 product containing button cell or coin batteries; 

4 and 

5 (C) to be included, as practicable, directly 

6 on a consumer product containing button cell or 

7 coin batteries in a manner that is visible to the 

8 consumer upon installation or replacement of the 

9 button cell or coin battery, or in the case of a 

10 product for which the battery is not intended to 

11 be replaced or installed by the consumer, to be 

12 included directly on the consumer product in a 

13 manner that is visible to the consumer upon ac14 cess to the battery compartment, except that if it 

15 is impracticable to label the product, this infor16 mation shall be placed on the packaging or in17 structions. 

18 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR WARNING LABELS.—Warn19 ing labels required under subsection (a)(2) shall— 

20 (1) clearly identify the hazard of ingestion; and 

21 (2) instruct consumers, as practicable, to keep 

22 new and used batteries out of the reach of children, 

23 to seek immediate medical attention if a battery is in24 gested, and to follow any other consensus medical ad25 vice. 


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1 (c) TREATMENT OF STANDARD FOR ENFORCEMENT

2 PURPOSES.—A consumer product safety standard promul3 gated under subsection (a) shall be treated as a consumer 

4 product safety rule promulgated under section 9 of the Con5 sumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2058). 

6 (d) EXCEPTION FOR RELIANCE ON VOLUNTARY STAND7 ARD.— 

8 (1) BEFORE PROMULGATION OF STANDARD BY

9 COMMISSION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply if the 

10 Commission determines, before the Commission pro11 mulgates a final consumer product safety standard 

12 under such subsection, that— 

13 (A) with respect to any consumer product 

14 where there is a voluntary consumer product 

15 safety standard that meets the requirements for 

16 a standard promulgated under subsection (a) 

17 with respect to such products; and 

18 (B) the voluntary standard described in 

19 subparagraph (A)— 

20 (i) is in effect at the time of the deter21 mination by the Commission; or 

22 (ii) will be in effect not later than the 

23 date that is 180 days after the date of the 

24 enactment of this Act. 


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1 (2) DETERMINATION REQUIRED TO BE PUB2 LISHED IN FEDERAL REGISTER.—Any determination 

3 made by the Commission under this subsection shall 

4 be published in the Federal Register. 

5 (e) TREATMENT OF VOLUNTARY STANDARD FOR EN6 FORCEMENT PURPOSES.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Commission makes a 

8 determination under subsection (d) with respect to a 

9 voluntary standard, the requirements of such vol10 untary standard shall be treated as a consumer prod11 uct safety rule promulgated under section 9 of the 

12 Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2058) begin13 ning on the date described in paragraph (2). 

14 (2) DATE DESCRIBED.—The date described in 

15 this paragraph is the later of— 

16 (A) the date of the determination of the 

17 Commission under subsection (d) with respect to 

18 the voluntary standard described in paragraph 

19 (1); or 

20 (B) the effective date contained in the vol21 untary standard described in paragraph (1). 

22 (f) REVISION OF VOLUNTARY STANDARD.— 

23 (1) NOTICE TO COMMISSION.—If a voluntary 

24 standard with respect to which the Commission has 

25 made a determination under subsection (d) is subseVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 Dec 15, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S3278.RS S3278

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1 quently revised, the organization that revised the 

2 standard shall notify the Commission after the final 

3 approval of the revision. 

4 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE OF REVISION.—Beginning 

5 on the date that is 180 days after the Commission is 

6 notified of a revised voluntary standard described in 

7 paragraph (1) (or such later date as the Commission 

8 determines appropriate), such revised voluntary 

9 standard in whole or in part shall be considered to 

10 be a consumer product safety rule promulgated under 

11 section 9 of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 

12 U.S.C. 2058), in place of the prior version, unless, 

13 within 90 days after receiving the notice, the Com14 mission notifies the organization that the revised vol15 untary standard, in whole or in part, does not im16 prove the safety of the consumer product covered by 

17 the standard and that the Commission is retaining 

18 all or part of the existing consumer product safety 

19 standard. 

20 (g) FUTURE RULEMAKING.—At any time after the pro21 mulgation of a final consumer product safety standard 

22 under subsection (a), a voluntary standard is treated as a 

23 consumer product safety rule under subsection (e), or a re24 vised voluntary standard becomes enforceable as a consumer 

25 product safety rule under subsection (f), the Commission 


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1 may initiate a rulemaking in accordance with section 553 

2 of title 5, United States Code, to modify the requirements 

3 of the standard or revised standard. Any rule promulgated 

4 under this subsection shall be treated as a consumer product 

5 safety rule promulgated under section 9 of the Consumer 

6 Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2058). 

7 SEC. 3. CHILD-RESISTANT PACKAGING FOR BUTTON CELL 

8 OR COIN BATTERIES. 

9 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 180 days after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, any button cell or coin 

11 battery sold, offered for sale, manufactured for sale, distrib12 uted in commerce, or imported into the United States, or 

13 included separately with a consumer product sold, offered 

14 for sale, manufactured for sale, distributed in commerce, or 

15 imported into the United States, shall be packaged in ac16 cordance with the standards provided in section 1700.15 of 

17 title 16, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regu18 lation), as determined through testing in accordance with 

19 the method described in section 1700.20 of title 16, Code 

20 of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation), or an21 other test method for button cell or coin battery packaging 

22 specified, by rule, by the Commission. 

23 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The requirement of subsection (a) 

24 shall be treated as a standard for the special packaging of 

25 a household substance established under section 3(a) of the 


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1 Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970 (15 U.S.C. 

2 1472(a)). 

3 SEC. 4. EXEMPTION FOR COMPLIANCE WITH EXISTING 

4 STANDARD. 

5 The standards promulgated under this Act shall not 

6 apply with respect to any toy product that is in compliance 

7 with the battery accessibility and labeling requirements of 

8 part 1250 of title 16, Code of Federal Regulations, and, in 

9 reference to section 3(a) shall not apply with respect to but10 ton cell or coin batteries that are in compliance with the 

11 marking and packaging provisions of the ANSI Safety 

12 Standard for Portable Lithium Primary Cells and Bat13 teries (ANSI C18.3M). 

14 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this Act: 

16 (1) BUTTON CELL OR COIN BATTERY.—The term 

17 ‘‘button cell or coin battery’’ means— 

18 (A) a single cell battery with a diameter 

19 greater than the height of the battery; or 

20 (B) any other battery, regardless of the tech21 nology used to produce an electrical charge, that 

22 is determined by the Commission to pose an in23 gestion hazard. 

24 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

25 means the Consumer Product Safety Commission. 


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1 (3) CONSUMER PRODUCT.—The term ‘‘consumer 

2 product’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

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

4 2052(a)). 

5 (4) CONSUMER PRODUCT CONTAINING BUTTON

6 CELL OR COIN BATTERIES.—The term ‘‘consumer 

7 product containing button cell or coin batteries’’ 

8 means a consumer product containing or designed to 

9 use one or more button cell or coin batteries, regard10 less of whether such batteries are intended to be re11 placed by the consumer or are included with the prod12 uct or sold separately. 

13 (5) TOY PRODUCT.—The term ‘‘toy product’’ 

14 means any object designed, manufactured, or mar15 keted as a plaything for children under 14 years of 

16 age. 

17 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

18 The standard promulgated under section 2(a) and the 

19 requirements of section 3(a) shall only apply to a product 

20 that is manufactured or imported after the effective date 

21 of such standard or requirement. 


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Calendar No. 643 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3278 

A BILL 

To protect children and other consumers against 

purposes. products that use such batteries, and for other require child-resistant closures on consumer mulgate a consumer product safety standard to Consumer Product Safety Commission to proof button cell or coin batteries by requiring the hazards associated with the accidental ingestion 

DECEMBER 14, 2022 

Reported with an amendment 


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