I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4155 

To provide for fire safety standards for cigarettes, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 2, 2004 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. MEEHAN, Mrs. 

CHRISTENSEN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. OLVER, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. MCNULTY, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. CONYERS, 

Mr. HOLT, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. 

MORAN of Virginia, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. 

PALLONE, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. WEINER, Mr. WYNN, Mr. 

LIPINSKI, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. JONES of 

Ohio, Mr. ACKERMAN, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. 

SERRANO, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. BLUMENAUER, and 

Mr. ROTHMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To provide for fire safety standards for cigarettes, 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 ‘‘Cigarette Fire Safety 

5 Act of 2004’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) Cigarette ignited fires are the leading cause 

4 of fire deaths in the United States. 

5 (2) In 1999 there were 807 deaths from ciga6 rette ignited fires, 2,193 civilian injuries from such 

7 fires, and $559,100,000 in property damage caused 

8 by such fires. 

9 (3) Nearly 100 children are killed each year 

10 from cigarette related fires. 

11 (4) For over 20 years former Member of Con12 gress Joseph Moakley worked on behalf of burn vic13 tims, firefighters, and every individual who has lost 

14 a loved one in a fire. By securing enactment of the 

15 Cigarette Safety Act of 1984 and the Fire Safe Cig16 arette Act of 1990, Joseph Moakley completed the 

17 necessary technical work for a cigarette fire safety 

18 standard and paved the way for a national standard. 

19 (5) It is appropriate for the Congress to require 

20 by law the establishment of a cigarette fire safety 

21 standard for the manufacture and importation of 

22 cigarettes. 

23 (6) A recent study by the Consumer Product 

24 Safety Commission found that the cost of the loss of 

25 human life and personal property from not having a 
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1 cigarette fire safety standard is $4,600,000,000 per 

2 year. 

3 (7) It is appropriate that the regulatory exper4 tise of the Consumer Product Safety Commission be 

5 used to implement a cigarette fire safety standard. 

6 SEC. 3. CIGARETTE FIRE SAFETY STANDARD. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

8 (1) REQUIREMENT FOR STANDARD.—Not later 

9 than 18 months after the date of the enactment of 

10 this Act, the Commission shall, by rule, prescribe 

11 one or more fire safety standards for cigarettes that, 

12 except as is provided in this Act, are substantively 

13 the same as the standards set forth by the State of 

14 New York in part 429 of Title 18 of the Official 

15 Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations of the 

16 State of New York, as promulgated on December 

17 31, 2003 (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘New York 

18 standard’’), including the Appendix to such part. 

19 (2) CIGARETTES WITH UNIQUE CHARACTERIS20 TICS.—For purposes of this subsection, in con21 struing section 4(c) of the New York standard, after 

22 ‘‘The manufacturer or manufacturers of a cigarette 

23 that the Office of Fire Prevention and Control deter24 mines cannot be tested in accordance with the test 

25 method prescribed in section 3 of this Part’’ there 
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1 shall be inserted ‘‘because of unique or nontradi2 tional characteristics’’. 

3 (3) ADDITIONAL DEFINITIONS.—For purposes 

4 of this subsection, in construing section 2 of the 

5 New York standard, there shall be added at the end 

6 thereof the following: 

7 ‘‘(j) COMMISSION.—The term ‘Commission’ shall 

8 mean the Consumer Product Safety Commission.’’. 

9 (b) PROCEDURE.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The rule under subsection 

11 (a), and any modification thereof, shall be prescribed 

12 in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United 

13 States Code. 

14 (2) MODIFICATIONS.— 

15 (A) MODIFICATION BY SPONSOR.—If the 

16 sponsor of the testing methodology used under 

17 subsection (a)(2) modifies the testing method18 ology in any material respect, the sponsor shall 

19 notify the Commission of the modification, and 

20 the Commission may incorporate the modifica21 tion in the rule prescribed under subsection (a) 

22 if the Commission determines that the modifica23 tion will enhance a fire safety standard estab24 lished under subsection (a)(2). 
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1 (B) MODIFICATION BY COMMISSION.—The 

2 Commission may modify the rule prescribed 

3 under subsection (a), including the test require4 ments specified in subsection (a)(2), in whole or 

5 in part, only if the Commission determines that 

6 compliance with such modification is technically 

7 feasible and will enhance a fire safety standard 

8 established under that subsection. Any such 

9 modification shall not take effect earlier than 3 

10 years after the date on which the rule is first 

11 issued. 

12 (3) INAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN LAWS.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—No Federal law or Ex14 ecutive order, including the laws listed in sub15 paragraph (B) but not including chapters 5, 6, 

16 7, and 8 of title 5, United States Code, com17 monly referred to as the Administrative Proce18 dures Act, may be construed to apply to the 

19 promulgation of the rule required by subsection 

20 (a), or a modification of the rule under para21 graph (2) of this subsection. 

22 (B) INCLUDED LAWS.—The Federal laws 

23 referred to in subparagraph (A) include the fol24 lowing: 
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1 (i) The Consumer Product Safety Act 

2 (15 U.S.C. 2051 et seq.). 

3 (ii) Chapter 6 of title 5, United States 

4 Code. 

5 (iii) The National Environmental Pol6 icy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

7 (iv) The Small Business Regulatory 

8 Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (Public 

9 Law 104–121), and the amendments made 

10 by that Act. 

11 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The Commission shall speci12 fy in the rule prescribed under subsection (a) the effective 

13 date of the rule. The effective date may not be later than 

14 24 months after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

15 (d) TREATMENT OF STANDARD.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The fire safety standard 

17 promulgated under subsection (a) shall be treated as 

18 a consumer product safety standard promulgated 

19 under the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 

20 2051 et seq.), except as provided in section 4. 

21 (2) TREATMENT OF CIGARETTES.—A cigarette 

22 shall be treated as a consumer product under section 

23 3(a)(1)(B) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 

24 U.S.C. 2052(a)(1)(B)) for purposes of this Act and 
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1 for purposes of sections 17 and 18 of the Consumer 

2 Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2066, 2067). 

3 SEC. 4. PREEMPTION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—This Act, and any cigarette fire 

5 safety standard established or modified pursuant to sec6 tion 3, may not be construed to preempt or otherwise af7 fect in any way any law or regulation that prescribes a 

8 fire safety standard for cigarettes— 

9 (1) set forth by the State of New York in the 

10 New York standard; or 

11 (2) promulgated by any State that is more 

12 stringent than the fire safety standard for cigarettes 

13 established under this section. 

14 (b) PRIVATE REMEDIES.—The provisions of section 

15 25 of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2074) 

16 shall apply with respect to the fire safety standard promul17 gated under section 3(a) of this Act. 

18 SEC. 5. SCOPE OF JURISDICTION OF CONSUMER PRODUCT 

19 SAFETY COMMISSION. 

20 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the Com21 mission shall have no jurisdiction over tobacco or tobacco 

22 products. 

23 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

24 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

25 authorized to be appropriated to the Consumer Product 
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1 Safety Commission for fiscal year 2004, $2,000,000 for 

2 purposes of carrying out this Act. 

3 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated under 

4 subsection (a) shall remain available until expended. 

Æ