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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1982

To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish labeling requirements for

products that emit low-frequency electromagnetic fields.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 5, 1993

Ms. BYRNE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish labeling requirements for products that emit low-frequency electromagnetic fields.

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 ‘‘Electromagnetic Label5 ing Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. LABELING REQUIREMENTS FOR PRODUCTS THAT

7 EMIT ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the

9 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy
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1 shall establish uniform labeling requirements for each

2 product described in subsection (b).

3 (b) COVERED PRODUCTS.—The products referred to

4 in subsection (a) are—

5 (1) products that emit low-frequency electric

6 and magnetic fields of which the strength is not less

7 than 100 volts per meter and 1 Gauss, respectively,

8 when measured at a distance which is one inch from

9 the product; and

10 (2) any other products the Secretary of Energy

11 classifies as a covered product under this section in

12 order to carry out this Act.

13 (c) LABELING CONTENT.—The labeling required for

14 a product under the requirements established pursuant to

15 subsection (a) shall—

16 (1) contain information regarding the strength

17 of the low-frequency electromagnetic fields emitted

18 by the product;

19 (2) reasonably enable the purchaser and user of

20 the product to make choices and comparisons among

21 products; and

22 (3) be simple, placed on the outside of the prod23 uct, and, where appropriate, consolidated with other

24 labels providing information to the purchaser and

25 user.
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1 (d) CONSULTATION.—In establishing labeling re2 quirements pursuant to subsection (a), the Secretary of

3 Energy shall consult with the Federal Trade Commission,

4 the Secretary of Commerce, leaders of affected industry,

5 and consumer organizations.

6 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS OF MANUFACTURERS.

7 Each manufacturer of a product described in section

8 2(b) shall—

9 (1) provide a label for the product which meets

10 the requirements established pursuant to section

11 2(a) and contains the labeling content described in

12 section 2(c);

13 (2) maintain data derived from tests conducted

14 on the product for the strength of emitted electro15 magnetic fields; and

16 (3) annually submit to the Secretary of Energy,

17 at a time specified by the Secretary, the data de18 scribed in paragraph (2).

19 SEC. 4. CIVIL PENALTIES.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy may im21 pose a civil penalty against a manufacturer of a product

22 described in section 2(b) who commits a violation de23 scribed in subsection (b). The amount of a civil penalty

24 imposed under this subsection may not exceed—
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1 (1) $100 for each violation described in sub2 section (b)(1); and

3 (2) $100 for each day during which a violation

4 described in paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection

5 (b) occurs.

6 (b) VIOLATIONS FOR WHICH PENALTIES MAY BE IM7 POSED.—For purposes of subsection (a), a violation shall

8 be any of the following:

9 (1) A failure by the manufacturer of a product

10 described in section 2(b) to provide the label de11 scribed in section 3(1).

12 (2) A failure by the manufacturer of a product

13 described in section 2(b) to maintain the data de14 scribed in section 3(2).

15 (3) A failure by the manufacturer of a product

16 described in section 2(b) to make a submission de17 scribed in section 3(3).

18 (c) PROCEDURES FOR IMPOSITION OF CIVIL PEN19 ALTIES.—

20 (1) NOTICE.—Before issuing an order assessing

21 a civil penalty against a manufacturer under this

22 section, the Secretary of Energy shall provide to the

23 manufacturer a notice of the proposed penalty. The

24 notice shall provide information regarding the oppor25 tunity of the manufacturer to make an election in
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1 writing within 30 days after the receipt of the notice

2 to have the procedures of paragraph (3) (in lieu of

3 the procedures of paragraph (2)) apply to the as4 sessment of the penalty.

5 (2) ASSESSMENT AFTER A HEARING ON THE

6 RECORD.—

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Unless an election de8 scribed in paragraph (1) is made, the Secretary

9 of Energy shall assess a penalty under this sec10 tion by order, after a determination of a viola11 tion has been made on the record after an op12 portunity for a hearing in accordance with sec13 tion 554 of title 5, United States Code before

14 an administrative law judge appointed under

15 section 3105 of such title. The assessment

16 order shall include the findings of the adminis17 trative law judge and the basis for the assess18 ment.

19 (B) APPEAL.—A manufacturer against

20 whom a penalty is assessed under subparagraph

21 (A) may, within 60 calendar days after the date

22 of the order assessing the penalty, institute an

23 action in the United States court of appeals for

24 the appropriate judicial circuit for judicial re25 view of the order in accordance with chapter 7
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1 of such title. The court shall have jurisdiction

2 to enter a judgment affirming, modifying, or

3 setting aside in whole or in part the order of

4 the Secretary of Energy, or the court may re5 mand the proceeding to the Secretary for such

6 further action as the court may direct.

7 (3) SUMMARY ASSESSMENT.—

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a civil

9 penalty with respect to which an election de10 scribed in paragraph (1) is made, the Secretary

11 of Energy shall promptly assess the penalty by

12 order, after the date of the receipt of the notice

13 under paragraph (1) of the proposed penalty.

14 (B) ACTION TO AFFIRM THE ASSESS15 MENT.—If the civil penalty has not been paid

16 within 60 days after the assessment order has

17 been made under subparagraph (A), the Sec18 retary of Energy shall institute an action in the

19 appropriate district court of the United States

20 for an order affirming the assessment of the

21 penalty. The court shall have authority to re22 view de novo the law and the facts involved, and

23 shall have jurisdiction to enter a judgment en24 forcing, modifying, and enforcing as so modi-
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1 fied, or setting aside in whole or in part, the as2 sessment of the penalty.

3 (C) REVOCATION OF ELECTION.—Any elec4 tion to have this paragraph apply may not be

5 revoked except with the consent of the Sec6 retary of Energy.

7 SEC. 5. REGULATIONS.

8 The Secretary of Energy shall issue any regulations

9 necessary to carry out this Act.

10 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

11 For purposes of this Act:

12 (1) The term ‘‘electromagnetic fields’’ means

13 the electric fields and magnetic fields produced by a

14 product described in section 2(b).

15 (2) The term ‘‘electric fields’’ means fields of

16 which the strength is determined by the voltage and

17 is measured in volts per meter.

18 (3) The term ‘‘low-frequency’’ means a fre19 quency of 60 cycles per second or 60 Hertz.

20 (4) The term ‘‘magnetic fields’’ means fields of

21 which the strength is determined by the amount of

22 flowing current and is measured in Gauss.

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