Title: Dangerous Products Warning Act
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Dangerous Products Warning Act
This bill amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime for a business entity or product supervisor to knowingly conceal information about a serious danger associated with a product or business practice. Specifically, it imposes criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to five years, or both—on a business entity or product supervisor who knows of a serious danger and knowingly fails to warn employees and inform a federal agency.
Additionally, the bill makes it a crime to knowingly retaliate against (i.e., engage in employment discrimination against) an employee who warns other employees or informs a federal agency of a serious danger with a product or practice. It imposes criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to one year, or both—on a violator.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 142 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 142

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for the protection of 
              the general public, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 3, 2017

 Mr. Conyers introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for the protection of 
              the general public, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Dangerous Products Warning Act''.

SEC. 2. DANGEROUS PRODUCTS.

    (a) In General.--Part 1 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 
by inserting after chapter 27 the following:

                    ``CHAPTER 28--DANGEROUS PRODUCTS

``Sec.
``571. Violations.
``572. Relationship to existing law.
``573. Construction.
``574. Definitions for chapter.
``Sec. 571. Violations
    ``(a) Failure To Inform and Warn.--Whoever--
            ``(1) is a business entity or a product supervisor with 
        respect to a product or business practice;
            ``(2) knows of a serious danger associated with such 
        product (or a component of that product) or business practice; 
        and
            ``(3) knowingly fails within 15 days after such discovery 
        is made (or if there is imminent risk of serious bodily injury 
        or death, immediately) to do any of the following:
                    ``(A) To inform an appropriate Federal agency in 
                writing, unless such product supervisor has actual 
                knowledge that such an agency has been so informed.
                    ``(B) To warn affected employees in writing, unless 
                such product supervisor has actual knowledge that such 
                employees have been so warned.
                    ``(C) To inform persons other than affected 
                employees at risk if they can reasonably be identified.
shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or 
both.
    ``(b) Retaliation.--Whoever knowingly discriminates against any 
person in the terms or conditions of employment or in retention in 
employment or in hiring because of such person's having informed a 
Federal agency or warned employees of a serious danger associated with 
a product or business practice shall be fined under this title or 
imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
    ``(c) Nonpayment by Business Entities.--If a fine is imposed on an 
individual under this section, such fine shall not be paid, directly or 
indirectly, out of the assets of any business entity on behalf of that 
individual.
``Sec. 572. Relationship to existing law
    ``(a) Rights To Intervene.--Nothing in this chapter shall be 
construed to limit the right of any individual or group of individuals 
to initiate, intervene in, or otherwise participate in any proceeding 
before a regulatory agency or court, nor to relieve any regulatory 
agency, court, or other public body of any obligation, or affect its 
discretion to permit intervention or participation by an individual or 
group or class of consumers, employees or citizens in any proceeding or 
activity.
    ``(b) State Law.--Nothing in this chapter preempts any State law or 
otherwise affects any State authority to adopt or enforce any State 
law.
``Sec. 573. Construction
    ``This chapter shall be construed in such a manner as best to 
represent and protect the interests of the public.
``Sec. 574. Definitions for chapter
    ``In this chapter--
            ``(1) the term `product supervisor'--
                    ``(A) means--
                            ``(i) an officer or director of a 
                        corporation or an association;
                            ``(ii) a partner of a partnership; or
                            ``(iii) any employee or other agent of a 
                        corporation, association, or partnership having 
                        duties such that the conduct of such employee 
                        or agent may fairly be assumed to represent the 
                        policy of the corporation, association, or 
                        partnership; and
                    ``(B) includes persons having management 
                responsibility for--
                            ``(i) submissions to a Federal agency 
                        regarding the development or approval of any 
                        product;
                            ``(ii) production, quality assurance, or 
                        quality control of any product; or
                            ``(iii) research and development of any 
                        product;
            ``(2) the term `product' means a product or service of a 
        business entity that enters or will enter interstate commerce;
            ``(3) the term `business entity' means any corporation, 
        company, association, firm, partnership, or other business 
        entity or a sole proprietor;
            ``(4) the term `business practice' means a method or 
        practice of manufacturing, assembling, designing, researching, 
        importing or distributing a product that enters or will enter 
        interstate commerce, conducting, providing or preparing to 
        provide a service that enters or will enter interstate 
        commerce, or otherwise carrying out business operations related 
        to products or services that enter or will enter interstate 
        commerce;
            ``(5) the term `serious danger', used with respect to a 
        product or business practice, means a danger, not readily 
        apparent to the average person, that the normal or reasonably 
        foreseeable use of, or the exposure of a human being to, that 
        product or business practice may cause death or serious bodily 
        injury to a human being;
            ``(6) the term `serious bodily injury' means an impairment 
        of physical condition, including as result of trauma, 
        repetitive motion or disease, that--
                    ``(A) creates a substantial risk of death; or
                    ``(B) causes--
                            ``(i) serious permanent disfigurement;
                            ``(ii) unconsciousness;
                            ``(iii) extreme pain; or
                            ``(iv) permanent or protracted loss or 
                        impairment of the function of any bodily 
                        member, organ, bodily system, or mental 
                        faculty;
            ``(7) the term `appropriate Federal agency' means any 
        agency with jurisdiction over the product or business practice; 
        and
            ``(8) the term `warn affected employees', used with respect 
        to a serious danger, means take reasonable steps to give 
        sufficient description of the serious danger to all individuals 
        working for or in the business entity who are likely to be 
        subject to the serious danger in the course of that work to 
        make those individuals aware of that danger.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of chapters for title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting, after the item relating to 
chapter 27 the following:

``28. Dangerous products....................................     571''.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this Act take effect 180 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act.
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