I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 272 

To amend the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act to exempt ordinary 

books and paper-based printed material from the lead limit in such Act. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 12, 2011 

Mr. FORTENBERRY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act 

to exempt ordinary books and paper-based printed material from the lead limit in such Act. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) The Consumer Product Safety Improvement 

6 Act of 2008 (CPSIA) sought to protect children 

7 from the dangers associated with products con8 taining unreasonable levels of lead by imposing lead 

9 standards and testing requirements. 


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1 (2) The Consumer Product Safety Commission 

2 has interpreted the Act to apply to all children’s 

3 books and other printed materials. 

4 (3) The Act was not intended to apply to ordi5 nary books and paper-based materials—those books 

6 and materials that are published on paper or card7 board and printed by conventional publishing meth8 ods. 

9 (4) Comprehensive testing of finished books and 

10 their component materials that are used for printed 

11 material has found total lead content at levels con12 sidered nondetectable, or 10 ppm, well below the 

13 thresholds in CPSIA. 

14 (5) The book and printed material manufac15 turing process is now standardized across the United 

16 States and much of the world. 

17 (6) The publishers and printers in the United 

18 States as well as much of the world do not use lead19 based chemicals or other materials in the manufac20 turing of ordinary books and paper-based printed 

21 material, meeting standards promulgated by the Co22 alition of Northeastern Governors. 

23 (7) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre24 vention have determined there is minimal risk to 

25 children from trace amounts of lead in ordinary 


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1 books and printed products produced by the same 

2 processes using the same component materials. 

3 (8) Reading books and using other printed ma4 terial are critical to child development, and edu5 cation and schools and libraries operating under lim6 ited budgets provide millions of children with free 

7 access to ordinary books, and yet despite the lack of 

8 evidence that their books contain harmful levels of 

9 lead, libraries and other organizations may have to 

10 restrict access to children’s books due to the burdens 

11 and uncertainties associated with CPSIA’s new lead 

12 levels and testing requirements. 

13 SEC. 2. EXEMPTION FOR ORDINARY BOOKS AND PRINTED 

14 MATERIALS. 

15 Section 101 of the Consumer Product Safety Im16 provement Act (15 U.S.C. 1278a) is amended by adding 

17 at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(h) EXCLUSION FOR ORDINARY BOOKS AND PAPER19 BASED PRINTED MATERIALS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The limits established 

21 under subsection (a) shall not apply to ordinary 

22 books or ordinary paper-based printed materials. 

23 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this sub24 section— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the term ‘ordinary books’ means 

2 books printed on paper or cardboard, printed 

3 with inks or toners, and bound and finished 

4 using a conventional method that are intended 

5 to be read or have educational value; and 

6 ‘‘(B) the term ‘ordinary paper-based print7 ed materials’ means materials printed on paper 

8 or cardboard, such as magazines, posters, greet9 ing cards, and similar products, that are print10 ed with inks or toners and bound and finished 

11 using a conventional method. 

12 Such terms do not include books or printed mate13 rials that are printed on material other than paper 

14 or cardboard or contain nonpaper-based components 

15 such as metal or plastic parts or accessories that are 

16 not part of the binding and finishing materials used 

17 in a conventional method.’’. 

Æ 


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