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 mate-
rial from the lead limit in such Act. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Consumer Product Safety Improvement 
Act of 2008 (CPSIA) sought to protect children 
from the dangers associated with products con-
taining unreasonable levels of lead by imposing lead 
standards and testing requirements. 
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(2) The Consumer Product Safety Commission 
has interpreted the Act to apply to all children’s 
books and other printed materials. 
(3) The Act was not intended to apply to ordi-
nary books and paper-based materials—those books 
and materials that are published on paper or card-
board and printed by conventional publishing meth-
ods. 
(4) Comprehensive testing of finished books and 
their component materials that are used for printed 
material has found total lead content at levels con-
sidered nondetectable, or 10 ppm, well below the 
thresholds in CPSIA. 
(5) The book and printed material manufac-
turing process is now standardized across the United 
States and much of the world. 
(6) The publishers and printers in the United 
States as well as much of the world do not use lead- 
based chemicals or other materials in the manufac-
turing of ordinary books and paper-based printed 
material, meeting standards promulgated by the Co-
alition of Northeastern Governors. 
(7) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention have determined there is minimal risk to 
children from trace amounts of lead in ordinary 
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books and printed products produced by the same 
processes using the same component materials. 
(8) Reading books and using other printed ma-
terial are critical to child development, and edu-
cation and schools and libraries operating under lim-
ited budgets provide millions of children with free 
access to ordinary books, and yet despite the lack of 
evidence that their books contain harmful levels of 
lead, libraries and other organizations may have to 
restrict access to children’s books due to the burdens 
and uncertainties associated with CPSIA’s new lead 
levels and testing requirements. 
SEC. 2. EXEMPTION FOR ORDINARY BOOKS AND PRINTED 
MATERIALS. 
Section 101 of the Consumer Product Safety Im-
provement Act (15 U.S.C. 1278a) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘(h) EXCLUSION FOR ORDINARY BOOKS AND PAPER- 
BASED PRINTED MATERIALS.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The limits established 
under subsection (a) shall not apply to ordinary 
books or ordinary paper-based printed materials. 
‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this sub-
section— 
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‘‘(A) the term ‘ordinary books’ means 
books printed on paper or cardboard, printed 
with inks or toners, and bound and finished 
using a conventional method that are intended 
to be read or have educational value; and 
‘‘(B) the term ‘ordinary paper-based print-
ed materials’ means materials printed on paper 
or cardboard, such as magazines, posters, greet-
ing cards, and similar products, that are print-
ed with inks or toners and bound and finished 
using a conventional method. 
Such terms do not include books or printed mate-
rials that are printed on material other than paper 
or cardboard or contain nonpaper-based components 
such as metal or plastic parts or accessories that are 
not part of the binding and finishing materials used 
in a conventional method.’’. 
Æ 
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