I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 5059
To amend the Consumer Product Safety Act to provide for fire safety
standards for cigarettes, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 27, 2002
Mr. STEARNS (for himself, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. HALL of Ohio,
Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina, Mr. CONDIT, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. GRAHAM,
Mr. WATKINS of Oklahoma, and Mr. PITTS) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To amend the Consumer Product Safety Act to provide for
fire safety standards for cigarettes, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTON 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fire-Safe Cigarette
Act of 2002’’.
SEC. 2. FIRE SAFETY STANDARD.
The Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2051
et seq.) is amended—
(1) 
in 
section 
3(a)(1)(B) 
(15 
U.S.C.
2052(a)(1)(B)), by inserting ‘‘, except as provided in
section 7A’’ before the semicolon; and
(2) by adding after section 7 (15 U.S.C. 2056)
the following new section:
‘‘FIRE SAFETY STANDARD
‘‘SEC. 7A. (a) CONSUMER
PRODUCT
SAFETY
RULE.—Not later than 18 months after the date of enact-
ment of this section, the Commission shall issue a rule
to implement the consumer product safety standard pre-
scribed by this subsection for cigarettes to reduce the risk
of fire. In establishing the standard, the following require-
ments shall be met:
‘‘(1) The testing and statistical methodology for
determining ignition propensity of cigarettes shall be
the methodology referenced in ‘Relative Ignition
Propensity of Test Market Cigarettes—National In-
stitute of Standards and Technology—NIST Tech-
nical Note 1436, January, 2001—Appendix D: Ciga-
rette Extinction Method’, with the specifications de-
scribed in this paragraph. Testing shall be conducted
on 10 layers of filter paper, as described in the ref-
erenced test method. At least 40 replicate individual
tests shall be required to comprise a complete test
trial for each cigarette tested. Test results and the
application of pass-fail criteria shall be derived only
for complete test trials comprised of at least 40 rep-
licate individual tests.
‘‘(2) The ignition propensity performance cri-
teria for each brand style of cigarettes using such
methodology shall be as follows: A test failure shall
consist of more than 25 percent of the cigarettes
tested in a test trial failing to self-extinguish prior
to burning the full length of the tobacco column.
‘‘(3) For cigarette designs that cannot be tested
using the specified method because of unique or non-
traditional characteristics, the Commission shall ac-
cept test methods and performance criteria that are
proposed by manufacturers when the cigarette with
unique or nontraditional characteristics is found by
the Commission, after review of the application of
the test method and performance criteria, to have an
equivalent or lesser ignition propensity.
In establishing the standard for cigarettes, the Commis-
sion shall have the authority to regulate the ignition pro-
pensity of cigarette paper for roll-your-own tobacco prod-
ucts.
‘‘(b) REVISION OF STANDARD.—From and after the
third anniversary of the effective date of the consumer
product safety standard prescribed by subsection (a), the
Consumer Product Safety Commission may by rule amend
the testing methodology or the performance criteria of the
consumer product safety standard prescribed by sub-
section (a) if the Commission determines that compliance
with the amended standard is technically feasible for con-
ventional cigarettes; will provide a higher degree of protec-
tion from fire ignited by cigarettes; and is reasonable,
practicable and appropriate for each brand of cigarettes
that the amended standard would apply to.
‘‘(c) MANUFACTURERS.—Manufacturers of cigarettes
shall identify for the Commission any measures the manu-
facturers will take to meet the consumer product safety
standard for cigarettes promulgated by the Commission,
and shall submit information regarding whether each such
measure does or does not increase the toxicity of the ciga-
rettes. No cigarette shall be deemed to meet such standard
if the Commission has determined that the measures
taken by the manufacturer of such cigarette to meet the
standard will increase the toxicity of such cigarettes.
‘‘(d) PROCEDURES.—The Commission shall promul-
gate standards under subsections (a) and (b) in accord-
ance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code, and
with respect to subsection (b) shall—
‘‘(1) consult with the National Institute of
Standards and Technology, the American Society of
Testing and Materials, and the National Fire Pro-
tection Association, and seek the advice and exper-
tise of other Federal and State agencies; and
‘‘(2) take into account all findings in the final
report to the Congress made by the Commission, in
consultation with the Technical Advisory Group es-
tablished under section 3 of the Fire Safe Cigarette
Act of 1990 (15 U.S.C. 2054 note), in which it was
found that cigarettes with a low ignition propensity
are already on the market.
‘‘(e) STOCKPILING.—The Commission shall include in
any standard a prohibition of stockpiling of cigarettes to
which such standard will apply. For purposes of this sub-
section, the term ‘stockpiling’ means the manufacturing
or importing of a cigarette which would not comply with
such standard between the date such standard is promul-
gated and the date the standard is to take effect at a rate
greater than the rate that cigarettes were manufactured
or imported for the 1-year period ending on the date such
standard was promulgated.
‘‘(f) INAPPLICABLE.—The following shall not apply
to the promulgation of a standard under subsections (a)
or (except as otherwise noted) (b):
‘‘(1) Sections 7, 8, 9, 11 (except that section 11
shall apply to the promulgation of a standard under
subsection (b)), and 12 of this Act.