IIB 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2474 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
OCTOBER 15, 2007 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation 
AN ACT 
To provide for an increased maximum civil penalty for 
violations under the Consumer Product Safety Act. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Product Safety Civil 
Penalties Improvement Act’’. 
SEC. 2. MAXIMUM CIVIL PENALTIES OF THE CONSUMER 
PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION. 
(a) INITIAL INCREASE
IN MAXIMUM CIVIL PEN-
ALTIES.— 
(1) TEMPORARY
INCREASE.—Notwithstanding 
the dollar amounts specified for maximum civil pen-
alties specified in section 20(a)(1) of the Consumer 
Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2069(a)(1)), section 
5(c)(1) of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, 
and section 5(e)(1) of the Flammable Fabrics Act 
(15 U.S.C. 1194(e)(1)), the maximum civil penalties 
for any violation specified in such sections shall be 
$5,000,000, beginning on the date that is the earlier 
of the date on which final regulations are issued 
under section 3(b) or 360 days after the date of en-
actment of this Act. 
(2) EFFECTIVE
DATE.—Paragraph (1) shall 
cease to be in effect on the date on which the 
amendments made by subsection (b)(1) shall take ef-
fect. 
(b) PERMANENT INCREASE IN MAXIMUM CIVIL PEN-
ALTIES.— 
(1) AMENDMENTS.— 
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(A) CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY ACT.— 
Section 20(a)(1) of the Consumer Product 
Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2069(a)(1)) is amended 
by striking ‘‘$1,250,000’’ both places it appears 
and inserting ‘‘$10,000,000’’. 
(B) FEDERAL
HAZARDOUS
SUBSTANCES 
ACT.—Section 5(c)(1) of the Federal Haz-
ardous Substances Act (15 U.S.C. 1264(c)(1)) 
is amended by striking ‘‘$1,250,000’’ both 
places it appears and inserting ‘‘$10,000,000’’. 
(C) FLAMMABLE
FABRICS
ACT.—Section 
5(e)(1) of the Flammable Fabrics Act (15 
U.S.C. 1194(e)(1)) is amended by striking 
‘‘$1,250,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$10,000,000’’. 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 
by paragraph (1) shall take effect on the date that 
is 1 year after the earlier of— 
(A) the date on which final regulations are 
issued pursuant to section 3(b); or 
(B) 360 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act. 
SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF PENALTIES BY THE CON-
SUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION. 
(a) FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED.— 
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(1) CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY ACT.—Section 
20(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 
U.S.C. 2069(b)) is amended— 
(A) 
by 
inserting 
‘‘the 
nature, 
cir-
cumstances, extent, and gravity of the violation, 
including’’ after ‘‘shall consider’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘products distributed, and’’ 
and inserting ‘‘products distributed,’’; and 
(C) by inserting ‘‘, and such other factors 
as appropriate’’ before the period. 
(2) FEDERAL HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES ACT.— 
Section 5(c)(3) of the Federal Hazardous Sub-
stances Act (15 U.S.C. 1264(c)(3)) is amended— 
(A) 
by 
inserting 
‘‘the 
nature, 
cir-
cumstances, extent ,and gravity of the violation, 
including’’ after ‘‘shall consider’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘substance distributed, 
and’’ and inserting ‘‘substance distributed,’’; 
and 
(C) by inserting ‘‘, and such other factors 
as appropriate’’ before the period. 
(3) FLAMMABLE FABRICS ACT.—Section 5(e)(2) 
of 
the 
Flammable 
Fabrics 
Act 
(15 
U.S.C. 
1194(e)(2)) is amended— 
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(A) by striking ‘‘nature and number’’ and 
inserting ‘‘nature, circumstances, extent, and 
gravity’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘absence of injury, and’’ 
and inserting ‘‘absence of injury,’’; and 
(C) by inserting ‘‘, and such other factors 
as appropriate’’ before the period. 
(b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this Act, and in accordance with the 
procedures of section 553 of title 5, United States Code, 
the Commission shall issue a final regulation providing its 
interpretation of the penalty factors described in section 
20(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 
2069(b)), section 5(c)(3) of the Federal Hazardous Sub-
stances Act (15 U.S.C. 1264(c)(3)), and section 5(e)(2) 
of the Flammable Fabrics Act (15 U.S.C. 1194(e)(2)), as 
amended by subsection (a). 
Passed the House of Representatives October 9, 
2007. 
Attest: 
LORRAINE C. MILLER, 
Clerk. 
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