II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 588 

To require the Consumer Product Safety Commission to establish a consumer 

product safety standard for liquid detergent packets to protect children 

under the age of five from injury or illness, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 26, 2015 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. NELSON, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. MARKEY, and 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Consumer Product Safety Commission to 

establish a consumer product safety standard for liquid 

detergent packets to protect children under the age of 

five from injury or illness, 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 ‘‘Detergent Poisoning 

5 And Child Safety Act of 2015’’ or the ‘‘Detergent PACS 

6 Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SPECIAL PACKAGING AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS 

2 FOR LIQUID DETERGENT PACKETS. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

4 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

5 means the Consumer Product Safety Commission. 

6 (2) CONSUMER PRODUCT.—The term ‘‘con7 sumer product’’ has the meaning given such term in 

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

9 (15 U.S.C. 2052(a)). 

10 (3) DETERGENT PACKET.—The term ‘‘deter11 gent packet’’ means a consumer product that con12 sists of a detergent enclosed in a water soluble outer 

13 layer. 

14 (4) LIQUID DETERGENT PACKET.—The term 

15 ‘‘liquid detergent packet’’ means a consumer product 

16 that consists of a substantially liquid or gel deter17 gent enclosed in a water soluble outer layer. 

18 (5) SPECIAL PACKAGING.—The term ‘‘special 

19 packaging’’ has the meaning given that term in sec20 tion 2 of the Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 

21 1970 (15 U.S.C. 1471). 

22 (b) SAFETY STANDARDS REQUIRED.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub24 section (c)(1), not later than 540 days after the date 

25 of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 

26 promulgate a final rule that establishes safety standVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Mar 06, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S588.IS S588

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1 ards for liquid detergent packets to protect children 

2 who are younger than 5 years of age from injury or 

3 illness caused by exposure to such packets. 

4 (2) ELEMENTS.—The final rule promulgated 

5 under paragraph (1) shall— 

6 (A) require special packaging for liquid de7 tergent packets; 

8 (B) include standards to address the de9 sign and color of liquid detergent packets to— 

10 (i) make them less attractive to chil11 dren; 

12 (ii) reduce the likelihood of exposure 

13 to detergent; and 

14 (iii) otherwise reduce risks related to 

15 the ingestion or aspiration of, or ocular 

16 contact with, detergent and other potential 

17 injury risks of liquid detergent packets; 

18 (C) include standards to address the com19 position of liquid detergent packets to make the 

20 consequences of exposure less severe; and 

21 (D) prescribe warning labels that— 

22 (i) adequately inform consumers of 

23 the potential risks of injury and death 

24 caused by liquid detergent packets; 


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1 (ii) are conspicuous and visible at the 

2 point of sale; 

3 (iii) clarify hazard patterns, including 

4 known consequences of such hazards; and 

5 (iv) identify actions needed to avoid 

6 injury. 

7 (3) TREATMENT AS CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFE8 TY STANDARD.—A rule promulgated under para9 graph (1) shall be treated as a consumer product 

10 safety standard described in section 7(a) of the Con11 sumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2056(a)). 

12 (4) RULEMAKING.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—A rule under paragraph 

14 (1) shall be promulgated in accordance with 

15 section 553 of title 5, United States Code. 

16 (B) INAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN RE17 QUIREMENTS.—Section 9 of the Consumer 

18 Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2058) shall not 

19 apply to a rulemaking under paragraph (1). 

20 (c) ADOPTION OF VOLUNTARY STANDARD.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b)(1) shall not 

22 apply if the Commission determines that— 

23 (A) a voluntary standard pertaining to liq24 uid detergent packets manufactured or imVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Mar 06, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S588.IS S588

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1 ported for use in the United States protects 

2 children as described in subsection (b)(1); 

3 (B) such voluntary standard is or will be 

4 in effect not later than 1 year after the date of 

5 the enactment of this Act; and 

6 (C) such voluntary standard is developed 

7 by ASTM International Subcommittee F15.71 

8 on Liquid Laundry Packets, or such other enti9 ty as the Commission considers a successor to 

10 ASTM International Subcommittee F15.71. 

11 (2) PUBLICATION OF DETERMINATION.—If the 

12 Commission makes a determination under paragraph 

13 (1), the Commission shall publish such determina14 tion in the Federal Register. 

15 (3) TREATMENT OF VOLUNTARY STANDARD.— 

16 If the Commission determines that a voluntary 

17 standard meets the conditions in paragraph (1), 

18 such standard shall be treated as a consumer prod19 uct safety standard described in section 7(a) of the 

20 Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2056(a)) 

21 beginning on the date that is the later of— 

22 (A) the date that is 180 days after the 

23 date of the publication under paragraph (2) of 

24 such determination; or 


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1 (B) the effective date specified in the vol2 untary standard. 

3 (4) REVISION OF VOLUNTARY STANDARD.— 

4 (A) NOTICE OF REVISION.—If a voluntary 

5 standard is treated as a consumer product safe6 ty standard under paragraph (3) and such 

7 standard is revised by ASTM International 

8 after the Commission makes a determination 

9 under paragraph (1), ASTM International shall 

10 notify the Commission of such revision not later 

11 than 60 days after making such revision. 

12 (B) TREATMENT OF REVISIONS.—A vol13 untary standard with respect to which the Com14 mission receives notice under subparagraph (A) 

15 shall be treated as a consumer product safety 

16 standard described in section 7(a) of the Con17 sumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2056(a)), 

18 promulgated in lieu of the prior version, effec19 tive 180 days after the date the Commission is 

20 notified of the revision under subparagraph (A), 

21 unless not later than 90 days after receiving 

22 that notice the Commission determines that the 

23 revised voluntary standard does not meet the 

24 requirements of paragraph (1)(A), in which 


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1 case the Commission shall continue to enforce 

2 the prior version. 

3 (d) FUTURE RULEMAKING.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may, at 

5 any time after promulgating a final rule under sub6 section (b)(1) or making a determination under sub7 section (c)(1), promulgate such rules in accordance 

8 with section 553 of title 5, United States Code, as 

9 the Commission considers appropriate to protect, to 

10 the maximum degree practicable, children as de11 scribed in subsection (a)(1). 

12 (2) TREATMENT AS CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFE13 TY STANDARD.—A rule promulgated under para14 graph (1) shall be treated as a consumer product 

15 safety standard described in section 7(a) of the Con16 sumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2056(a)). 

17 (3) INAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN REQUIRE18 MENTS.—Section 9 of the Consumer Product Safety 

19 Act (15 U.S.C. 2058) shall not apply to a rule20 making under paragraph (1). 

21 (e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 4 years after 

23 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commis24 sion shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, 

25 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 


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1 Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 

2 of Representatives a report on risks posed by deter3 gent packets to young children and how the Com4 mission is working to protect such children from 

5 such risks. 

6 (2) MATTERS COVERED.—The report required 

7 by paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

8 (A) A quantitative assessment of annual 

9 national pediatric exposure to detergent pack10 ets, including the number of exposure incidents, 

11 the means of exposure (whether by ingestion, 

12 aspiration, or ocular contact), the clinical ef13 fects of the exposures, and medical outcomes. 

14 (B) An assessment as to whether the rule 

15 promulgated under subsection (b)(1) or the vol16 untary standard adopted under subsection (c), 

17 as the case may be, has been effective in pro18 tecting young children from injury or illness 

19 caused by exposure to detergent packets. 

20 (C) Such recommendations for legislative 

21 or administrative action as the Commission may 

22 have to protect young children as described in 

23 subparagraph (B). 


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1 (3) PUBLICATION.—The Commission shall 

2 make the report required by paragraph (1) available 

3 to the public on Internet website of the Commission. 

Æ 


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