Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008

Bill: 110-hr-4040
Sponsor: Rep. Rush, Bobby L. [D-IL-1]
Introduced: 2007-11-01 in the House
Policy area: Commerce
Subjects: Accident prevention
Administrative procedure
Advertising
All terrain vehicles
Appropriations
Authorization
Business insurance
Business records
Carbon monoxide
Child safety
Cigarettes
Civil actions and liability
Clothing
Conflict of interests
Congress
Congressional investigations
Congressional reporting requirements
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Consumer education
Consumer protection
Cost effectiveness
Crime and Law Enforcement
Customs administration
Damages
Data banks
Day care
Death
Defective products
Department of Homeland Security
Disciplining of employees
Dismissal of employees
Economics and Public Finance
Electric appliances
Electric batteries
Electric power production
Electronic commerce
Electronic government information
Electronics
Employee training
Energy
Energy storage
Environmental Protection
Export controls
Families
Federal employees
Federal officials
Federal preemption
Finance and Financial Sector
Fines (Penalties)
Flammable materials
Foreign Trade and International Finance
Foreign corporations
Formaldehyde
Fraud
Furniture industry
Gasoline
Government Operations and Politics
Government ethics
Government paperwork
Government publicity
Government statistics
Governmental investigations
Health
Health warnings
Hotels, motels, etc.
Import restrictions
Imports
Independent regulatory commissions
Infants
Injunctions
Inspectors general
Insurance
International Affairs
International cooperation
Judicial review
Jurisdiction
Labeling
Labor and Employment
Laboratories
Language and languages
Law
Lead
Lead poisoning
Legal fees
Legislation
Licenses
Mail-order business
Manufacturing industries
Minorities
Minority children
Minority health
Misconduct in office
Motor vehicle safety
Nanotechnology
Packaging
Paints and varnishes
Parties to actions
Poisons
Presidential appointments
Product safety
Quality control
Recruiting of employees
Research and development facilities
Retail trade
Risk
Safety appliances
Science, Technology, Communications
Small business
Standards
State laws
Surety and fidelity
Temporary employment
Test facilities
Textile fabrics
Textile industry
Toys
Transfer of employees
Transportation and Public Works
Wage restitution
Warning labels
Waste in government spending
Whistle blowing
X-rays

Summary:
action_date: 2007-11-01
text: 
Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act - Makes any children's consumer product containing more than specified amounts of lead a banned hazardous substance under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act.
 
Lowers the lead level at which paint is a banned hazardous product under the Consumer Product Safety Act.
 
 Requires independent third party testing of children's products. 
 
Provides for a variety of measures to facilitate identifying a product's source, intermediate parties, and end user.
 
Requires replacing durable infant or toddler product voluntary standards with consumer product safety rules.
 
Requires, in certain circumstances, that choking warnings be included in associated advertising.
 
Authorizes appropriations: (1) to carry out the Consumer Product Safety Act and any other provision of law the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) carries out; and (2) for capital improvements to the Commission's research, development, and testing facility.
 
Allows the CPSC to transact business with two members, if they are not of the same political party, until August 3, 2008.
 
Modifies procedures for promulgating rules and regulations under the Consumer Product Safety Act and the Federal Hazardous Substances Act.
 
Modifies procedures regarding the public disclosure by the CPSC of information regarding a consumer product.
 
Allows the CPSC to prohibit product stockpiling.
 
Requires notice to the CPSC if a consumer product fails to comply with a rule under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, the Flammable Fabrics Act, or the Poison Prevention Packaging Act.
 
Modifies requirements regarding action plans of manufacturers, distributors, or retailers to deal with products that present a substantial hazard.
 
Requires manufacturers, distributors, or retailers to give public notice of a substantial product hazard on their Internet website and to third party Internet websites on which the product was for sale.
 
Authorizes the CPSC to prohibit the export of, and makes it unlawful to sell, a product or substance that is not in conformity with applicable requirements.
 
Increases the maximum civil penalties under the Consumer Product Safety Act, the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, and the Flammable Fabrics Act. 
 
Authorizes the forfeiture of assets associated with the violation of any Act enforced by the CPSC.
 
Authorizes the CPSC, in certain circumstances, to make certain information obtained by the Commission available to any federal, state, local, or foreign government agency.

action_date: 2007-12-19
text: 
Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act - 
Title I: Children's Product Safety - 
(Sec. 101) Makes any consumer product for children under 12 containing more than specified amounts of lead a banned hazardous substance under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act. Authorizes the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to revise those amounts to be more protective. Requires periodic revision, based on scientific information, to require the lowest lead amount the CPSC determines feasible. Allows the CPSC, by rule, to exclude products and materials. Exempts any component that is not accessible to a child through normal and reasonably foreseeable use and abuse.
 
Lowers the lead level at which paint is a banned hazardous product under the Consumer Product Safety Act and applies that level to: (1) consumer products for children under 12; (2) paint and other surface coating on such products; and (3) consumer furniture. Authorizes the CPSC to revise that level to be more protective. 
 
 (Sec. 102) Amends the Consumer Product Safety Act to require testing of consumer products for children under 12 by an independent third party or by a proprietary laboratory certified by the CPSC. Provides for CPSC certification of third party laboratories.
 
(Sec. 103) Requires manufacturers to mark consumer products for children under 12 and related packaging to make it easier to identify the specific source of the product.
 
(Sec. 104) Danny Keysar Child Product Safety Notification Act - Requires replacing voluntary standards for durable products for children under five with consumer product safety rules that are the same or more stringent. Requires manufacturers of such products to: (1) enable consumers to register products so as to improve recall effectiveness; and (2) label the products with the manufacturer's name and contact and other information. Requires a CPSC report to Congress on the effectiveness of the consumer registration forms in facilitating product recalls and whether such forms should be required for other children's products.
 
(Sec. 105) Amends the Federal Hazardous Substances Act to require, when a product's packaging or retail display must, under current law, include a choking warning (as with balloons, small balls, or marbles), that associated advertising (including on Internet sites or in catalogs or other distributed materials) also bear the warning. Treats that requirement as a consumer product safety rule. 
 
(Sec. 106) Requires the Comptroller General to study disparities in the risks and incidence of preventable injuries and deaths among minority children related to products intended for use by children. Requires a report to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate.
 
(Sec. 107) Requires the CPSC to assess the effectiveness of the ASTM International toy safety standard, including regarding the ingestion of magnets. Requires, if there is substantial noncompliance with the standard that creates an unreasonable risk of injury or hazard to children, that the CPSC expedite adoption, as a consumer product safety rule, of the ASTM International standard. Requires a related report to Congress.
 

Title II: Consumer Product Safety Commission Reform - 
(Sec. 201) Amends the Consumer Product Safety Act to authorize appropriations through FY2011 to carry out the Act and any other provision of law the CPSC carries out. Requires a report to Congress on allocation of the authorized funding.
 
Authorizes appropriations for capital improvements to the CPSC's research, development, and testing facility.
 
(Sec. 202) Allows the CPSC, on a time-limited basis, to transact business with two Commission members if they are not of the same political party.
 
(Sec. 203) Adds CPSC annual, semiannual, and other regular periodic reports to the list of reports required to be submitted indefinitely under the Federal Reports Elimination and Sunset Act of 1995.
 
(Sec. 204) Modifies procedures for promulgating rules and regulations under the Consumer Product Safety Act, the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, and the Flammable Fabrics Act.
 
(Sec. 205) Modifies procedures regarding the public disclosure by the CPSC of information regarding a consumer product.
 
(Sec. 206) Requires the CPSC to assess the effectiveness of the CPSC's Injury Information Clearinghouse regarding the ease and manner in which consumers can access information on consumer product incidents that result in injury, illness, or death. Requires submission to Congress of a detailed plan for maintaining and categorizing such information on a searchable Internet database, with regard for the protection of personal information. 
 
(Sec. 207) Expands the authority of the CPSC to prohibit the stockpiling of a product (for the purpose of circumventing a consumer product safety rule) to which a consumer product safety rule applies.
 
(Sec. 208) Requires notice to the CPSC if a consumer product fails to comply with a rule under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, the Flammable Fabrics Act, or the Poison Prevention Packaging Act. Prohibits using such notice as the basis for criminal prosecution under specified provisions of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, except for offenses which require a showing of intent to defraud or mislead.
 
(Sec. 209) Authorizes the CPSC, if it determines there is a substantial product hazard, to order the manufacturer, distributor, or retailer to cease distribution, notify all persons that transport, store, distribute, or otherwise handle the product to cease distribution immediately, and notify state and local public health officials.
 
Modifies requirements regarding action plans of manufacturers, distributors, or retailers to deal with products that present a substantial hazard.
 
(Sec. 210) Requires manufacturers, distributors, or retailers to give public notice of a substantial product hazard on their Internet website and to third party Internet websites on which the product was for sale, including announcements in languages other than English and on radio and television where a substantial number of consumers to whom the recall is directed may not be reached by other notice.
 
(Sec. 211) Authorizes the CPSC to inspect proprietary laboratories the CPSC has certified to test consumer products for children under 12.
 
(Sec. 212) Requires manufacturers and their subcontractors, importers, retailers, or distributors of a product or substance to identify each other upon CPSC request.
 
Requires (under current law, allows) the CPSC to: (1) condition importation of a consumer product on the manufacturer's compliance with certain inspection and record keeping requirements; and (2) disclose various information to the agencies with which it is cooperating under its existing imported product surveillance program.
 
(Sec. 213) Authorizes the CPSC to prohibit the export of a product or substance that is not in conformity with applicable requirements unless the importing country informs the CPSC that it accepts importation.
 
(Sec. 214) Makes it unlawful to sell, offer for sale, manufacture, distribute, or import any product or substance regulated under any Act enforced by the CPSC that is not in conformity with an applicable consumer product safety standard, is subject to voluntary corrective action, is subject to an order issued under provisions relating to imminent hazards or substantial product standards, or has been designated a banned hazardous substance under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act.
 
(Sec. 215) Increases the maximum civil penalties under the Consumer Product Safety Act, the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, and the Flammable Fabrics Act. 
 
(Sec. 216) Authorizes the forfeiture of assets associated with the violation of any Act enforced by the CPSC.
 
(Sec. 217) Allows state attorneys general to bring actions to enforce consumer product safety rules and to obtain injunctive relief.
 
(Sec. 218) Prohibits the CPSC from trying to modify the application of specified provisions of the Consumer Product Safety Act, the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, the Poison Prevention Packaging Act, or the Flammable Fabrics Act regarding the extent to which each such Act preempts, limits, or otherwise affects any other federal, state, or local law.
 
(Sec. 219) Authorizes the CPSC to make information obtained by the CPSC under the Consumer Product Safety Act available to any federal, state, local, or foreign government agency, provided there is an agreement that the information will be maintained in confidence and used only for law enforcement or consumer protection.
 
Requires the CPSC, when it is notified of any voluntary recall of any consumer product or issues an order under provisions relating to substantial product hazards, to notify each state's health department (or other agency designated by the state) of the recall or order.
 
(Sec. 220) Requires the CPSC's Inspector General to report to Congress on the activities of the Inspector General, any structural barriers which prevent the Inspector General from providing robust oversight of the CPSC's activities, and any additional authority or resources that would facilitate more effective oversight.
 
Requires the Inspector General to report to the CPSC and Congress on CPSC employee complaints.
 
Requires the CPSC to establish and maintain on the CPSC's Home Page a way for individuals to anonymously report incidents of waste, fraud, or abuse.
 
(Sec. 221) Repeals provisions allowing a risk of injury which is associated with a consumer product and which could be eliminated or reduced to a sufficient extent by action under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, the Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970, or the Flammable Fabrics Act to be regulated under the Consumer Product Safety Act only if the CPSC by rule finds it in the public interest.
 
(Sec. 222) Prohibits, notwithstanding specified provisions, CPSC commissioners or employees from accepting travel, subsistence, and related expenses with respect to official duties from a person seeking official action from, doing business with, or conducting activities regulated by, the CPSC or whose interests may be substantially affected by the performance or nonperformance of the commissioner's or employee's official duties. 
 
 Authorizes appropriations through FY2011 for travel and lodging expenses necessary for the official duties of commissioners and employees.
 
(Sec. 223) Requires the CPSC to annually report information on recall orders and voluntary actions taken by manufacturers.
 
(Sec. 224) Requires the CPSC to study, determine, and report on, a specific strategy to increase the effectiveness of the Commission's ability to stop unsafe products from entering the United States.

action_date: 2008-03-06
text: 
CPSC Reform Act - (Sec. 3) Amends the Consumer Product Safety Act to authorize appropriations: (1) to carry out the Act and any other provision of law the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is authorized or directed to carry out; (2) for the office of Inspector General; (3) to make capital improvements to the research, development, and testing facility of the CPSC; and (4) for research into safety issues related to the use of nanotechnology in consumer products.
 
(Sec. 4) Requires the CPSC, subject to the availability of appropriations, to increase by at least 500 the number of its full-time employees and by at least 50 the number of its port-of-entry and overseas production facility inspectors. Requires the CPSC to develop and implement a professional career development program. Requires the CPSC to develop standards for training product safety inspectors and technical staff employed by the CPSC.
 
(Sec. 5) Urges the President to nominate members to fill any vacancy in CPSC membership as expeditiously as practicable. Removes a provision limiting the funding for the number of CPSC Commissioners to no more than three.
 
(Sec. 6) Adds CPSC annual, semiannual, and other regular periodic reports to the list of reports required to be submitted indefinitely under the Federal Reports Elimination and Sunset Act of 1995.
 
(Sec. 7) Modifies provisions concerning the public disclosure of information regarding a consumer product where disclosure will permit the public to ascertain readily the identity of the manufacturer or private labeler, including decreasing some waiting periods before the CPSC may disclose information and providing for expedited court actions.
 
Requires the CPSC to maintain on its website a publicly available, searchable database that includes any reports received by the CPSC of injuries, illness, death, or risk of such injury, illness, or death related to the use of consumer products received by the CPSC from consumers, government agencies, and nongovernmental sources other than information provided to the CPSC by manufacturers, private labelers, or retailers. Allows inclusion in the database of comments by manufacturers, labelers, or retailers.
 
(Sec. 8) Modifies procedures for promulgating consumer product safety rules under the Consumer Product Safety Act or the Flammable Fabrics Act or regulations under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act. Allows, under the Consumer Product Safety Act, submission of an existing standard or portion of a standard as a proposed consumer product safety standard.
 
Removes provisions providing that an action for judicial review of a flammability standard or regulation survives any change in the persons occupying the office of CPSC commissioner or any vacancy in such office.
 
(Sec. 9) Expands the authority of the CPSC to prohibit the stockpiling of a product (for the purpose of circumventing a consumer product safety rule) to which a consumer product safety rule applies.
 
(Sec. 10) Requires third party laboratory testing (and related certification) of certain products for use by, or care of, a child seven or younger that are subject to a consumer product safety standard or a rule.
 
Requires, if an advertisement, label, or package contains a reference to a consumer product safety standard, that there be a statement regarding whether the product meets all requirements of that standard.

Requires the CPSC, with regard to consumer products in general and children's products in particular, to: (1) establish protocols and standards regarding certification or continuing guarantees of compliance; and (2) provide for accreditation of the third party laboratories. Prohibits importation of children's products lacking certification.
 
Authorizes the CPSC, by rule, to extend to other consumer products (or to classes or categories of consumer products) a requirement that a product's manufacturer subject to a consumer product safety standard certify that the product conforms to the standard or is not a banned hazardous product.
 
Allows the CPSC, in establishing standards for such third party laboratories, to consider standards and protocols by independent standard-setting organizations. Requires that the final standard for certification incorporate the most current scientific and technological standards and techniques.
 
(Sec. 11) Amends the Federal Hazardous Substances Act to require, when a product's packaging or retail display must include a choking warning (as with balloons, small balls, or marbles), that associated advertising that provides a direct means of purchase (including on Internet sites or in catalogs or other distributed materials) also bear the warning. Treats that requirement as a consumer product safety standard.
 
Requires the manufacturer of a children's product or other consumer product to place distinguishing marks on the product or its packaging that will enable the ultimate purchaser to ascertain the manufacturer, production time period, and cohort of production.
 
(Sec. 12) Requires each manufacturer of a consumer product or other product or substance over which the CPSC has jurisdiction under any Act (except for motor vehicle equipment) to notify the CPSC of certain substantial product hazards. (Current law requires such notification only regarding a consumer product, but makes no reference to other products or substances over which the CPSC has jurisdiction.)
 
(Sec. 13) Modifies requirements regarding action plans of manufacturers, distributors, or retailers to deal with products that present a substantial hazard.

(Sec. 14) Requires manufacturers and their subcontractors, importers, retailers, or distributors of a product or substance to identify each other upon CPSC request.
 
(Sec. 15) Makes it unlawful to sell, offer for sale, manufacture, distribute, or import any product or substance regulated under any Act enforced by the CPSC that is not in conformity with an applicable consumer product safety standard, is subject to voluntary corrective action, is subject to an order issued under provisions relating to imminent hazards or substantial product standards, or has been designated a banned hazardous substance under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act.
 
Authorizes the CPSC, notwithstanding any other provision of law, to prohibit the export of a product or substance that is: (1) not in conformity with applicable CPSC requirements and does not violate applicable safety standards established by the importing country; (2) subject to an order issued under provisions relating to imminent hazards or substantial product standards, or has been designated a banned hazardous substance under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act; or (3) subject to voluntary corrective action taken by the manufacturer, subject to exception.
 
Prohibits selling, offering for sale, distributing, or importing any consumer product bearing a registered safety certification mark owned by an accredited conformity assessment body if use of the mark is (or should have been) known to be unauthorized.
 
Prohibits exercising or attempting to exercise undue influence on a third party laboratory.
 
(Sec. 16) Increases the maximum civil penalties under the Consumer Product Safety Act, the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, and the Flammable Fabrics Act. Requires a finding of aggravated circumstances in order to impose a civil penalty over $10 million. Modifies criminal penalties under those Acts. Adds mitigation of undue adverse economic impacts on small businesses to the factors to be considered in determining the amount of civil penalties.
 
(Sec. 17) Prohibits changing, by rule or regulation (or by reference in any preamble, statement of policy, executive branch statements, or other matter associated with the publication of any such rule or regulation), provisions of the Consumer Product Safety Act, the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, the Flammable Fabrics Act, and the Poison Packaging Prevention Act of 1970 that establish the extent to which those Acts preempt or otherwise affect any other federal, state, or local law, any rule or regulation, or any state cause of action.
 
(Sec. 18) Authorizes the CPSC to make certain information obtained by the CPSC available to any federal, state, local, or foreign government agency, provided there is an agreement that the information will be maintained in confidence and used only for law enforcement or consumer protection.
 
(Sec. 19) Authorizes the CPSC, by rule, to require the posting of an escrow, proof of insurance, or security by manufacturers, distributors, or persons who have committed multiple significant violations of any CPSC-enforced Act in an amount sufficient to cover recall or holding and destruction costs.
 
(Sec. 20) Allows states to bring actions to enforce any Act enforced by the CPSC, except during the pendency of an action brought by the CPSC. Regulates the use of information by private counsel retained to assist a state.
 
(Sec. 21) Creates protections for public and private sector whistle-blowers. Allows a court to grant all relief necessary to make the employee whole, including injunctive relief, compensatory damages, reinstatement, back pay (with interest), compensation for any special damages, litigation costs, expert witness fees, and reasonable attorney fees.
 
(Sec. 22) Treats any children's product designed or intended for use by, or care of, a child seven or younger that contains lead over a specified level as a banned hazardous substance under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act. Excludes components that are not accessible to a child and will not become physically exposed through normal and reasonably foreseeable product use and abuse. Prohibits considering paint, coatings, or electroplating to be a barrier that would render lead in the substrate inaccessible to a child. Allows the CPSC to exclude lead crystal.
 
Requires the CPSC, if it determines it is not feasible for electronic devices, including batteries, to comply with that requirement, to issue standards and establish a schedule for full compliance. Allows the CPSC to establish more stringent levels than those specified in this Act.
 
Lowers the lead threshold at which paint becomes a banned hazardous product.
 
(Sec. 23) Requires the CPSC to study the feasibility of establishing a measurement standard based on a units-of-mass-per-area standard that is statistically comparable to the parts-per-million measurement standard now used in laboratory analysis.
 
(Sec. 24) Requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study disparities in the risks and incidence of preventable injuries and deaths among minority children related to products intended for use by children. Requires a report to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. Authorizes appropriations.
 
(Sec. 25) Amends the Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970 to prohibit construing provisions relating to household substance special packaging to protect children to require a cost-benefit analysis in connection with the establishment of a standard.
 
(Sec. 26) Requires the CPSC's Inspector General to conduct reviews and audits of implementation of the Consumer Product Safety Act by the CPSC and report annually to the CPSC, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and the House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce.
 
Requires the Inspector General to review CPSC employee complaints about failures of other employees to properly enforce rules or regulations of any Act enforced by the CPSC and the process by which corrective action plans are negotiated with such employees and report to the CPSC and such committees.
 
Requires the Inspector General to review whether, and to what extent, there have been unauthorized and unlawful disclosures of information by CPSC Members, officers, or employees to CPSC-regulated persons that are not authorized to receive such information and report to the CPSC and such committees.
 
(Sec. 27) Requires the CPSC to establish and maintain: (1) on its home page a direct link to the CPSC's Office of Inspector General; and (2) on the home page of its Inspector General website a mechanism by which individuals may anonymously report cases of waste, fraud, or abuse regarding the CPSC.
 
(Sec. 28) Establishes, as a consumer product safety rule, a requirement that each portable gasoline container conform to the child-resistance requirements in a specified standard issued by ASTM International.
 
(Sec. 29) Considers a specified ASTM-International standard on toy safety to be a consumer product safety rule.
 
(Sec. 30) Requires the CPSC, notwithstanding any other provision of law, to establish as a mandatory consumer product safety standard a specified American National Standard for four-wheeled all-terrain vehicles developed by the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America. Makes it unlawful for any manufacturer or distributor to import or distribute any new all-terrain vehicle unless: (1) the vehicle complies with the standard, is subject to an all-terrain vehicle action plan, and bears a label certifying such compliance and certain other information; and (2) the manufacturer or distributor is in compliance with the action plan.
 
Prohibits the importation of new three-wheeled all-terrain vehicles until a mandatory consumer product safety rule applicable to three-wheeled all-terrain vehicles is in effect.

Requires the Comptroller General to study the utility, recreational, and other benefits of certain all-terrain vehicles and the costs associated with accidents and injuries involving all-terrain vehicles.
 
(Sec. 31) Requires, notwithstanding specified provisions of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 1990 or any amendment by the American National Standards Institute and Underwriters Laboratories of specified standards, that all automatic residential garage door operators that directly drive the door in the closing direction include an external secondary entrapment protection device that does not require contact with a person or object for the garage door to reverse. Provides for an exception, requires the CPSC to review and if necessary revise its standard, and eliminates the exception if the revised standard adopts the requirement of the first sentence of this paragraph.
 
(Sec. 32) Sets a deadline for the CPSC to issue a final rule in a specified proceeding relating to portable generators.
 
Requires the CPSC to report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation regarding charcoal briquettes.
 
(Sec. 33) Sets a deadline for the CPSC to issue a final rule mandating general safety standards for cigarette lighters in specified proceedings.
 
(Sec. 34) Danny Keysar Child Product Safety Notification Act - Requires the CPSC to assess the effectiveness of any voluntary consumer product safety standards for durable products for children under five years of age and promulgate consumer product safety rules that are the same or more stringent than the voluntary standards. Makes it unlawful for any commercial user (including, but not limited to hotels, motels, or similar transient lodging facilities and day care centers) to manufacture, sell, lease, or otherwise place in the stream of commerce any new or used crib, including a portable crib and a crib-pen, that is not in compliance with the mandatory rule.
 
Requires the CPSC to promulgate final consumer product safety rules that require manufacturers of durable products for children under five years to: (1) provide consumers with postage-paid consumer registration forms with each such product and maintain the submitted information in order to improve recall effectiveness; and (2) permanently label the product with information about the manufacturer and product.
 
Requires the CPSC to study, and report to Congress on, the effectiveness of such rules in facilitating product recalls.
 
Allows a manufacturer of such durable products to use a recall notification technology in lieu of such registration forms if the CPSC finds that the technology is at least as effective as the forms. Requires the CPSC to review recall notification technology and report to Congress.
 
(Sec. 35) Repeals provisions allowing the CPSC to regulate a product under the Consumer Product Safety Act (if the product has a risk of injury which could be reduced to a sufficient extent by action under the under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, the Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970, or the Flammable Fabrics Act) only if the CPSC by rule finds that it is in the public interest to do so.
 
(Sec. 36) Requires the CPSC to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Secretary of Homeland Security for the assignment by the Commission of at least one full-time equivalent personnel to work at the National Targeting Center of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to identify products intended for importation that pose a high risk to consumer safety. Allows the CPSC to waive that requirement if it determines that the assignment would not improve effectiveness in identifying such products before importation.
 
(Sec. 37) Requires the CPSC to develop a risk assessment methodology for identification of shipments of consumer products that are intended for import and would be refused admission under specified provisions of the Consumer Product Safety Act, including, as far as practicable, using the International Trade Data System (ITDS) to evaluate and assess information before shipments enter U.S. customs territory. Authorizes appropriations.
 
(Sec. 38) Requires the CPSC to publish a list of product defects that constitute a substantial product hazard.
 
Replaces provisions requiring the exportation (or, on application, destruction) of imports refused admission with provisions requiring the Secretary of Homeland Security to destroy any product refused admission unless the product is exported within a specified period after refusal.
 
Requires (currently, allows) the CPSC, by rule, to condition importation of a consumer product on the manufacturer's compliance with certain inspection and record keeping requirements.
 
Requires (currently, allows) the CPSC to provide information to other federal agencies with which it is cooperating under an existing permanent surveillance program to prevent the entry of unsafe consumer products.
 
Prohibits construing this section to prevent the Secretary of Homeland Security from prohibiting entry or directing the destruction or export of a consumer product under any other provision of law.
 
Replaces all references to the Secretary of the Treasury in provisions relating to imported products with references to the Secretary of Homeland Security.
 
(Sec. 39) Requires the CPSC to: (1) establish and maintain a database with information about violations of consumer product safety rules, including related statements by manufacturers or suppliers; and (2) make the database available on a real-time basis to the Commissioner responsible for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection of the Department of Homeland Security to be used to determine whether a container being imported contains consumer products that are in violation of a consumer product safety standard and whether action should be taken under imported products provisions. Prohibits other disclosure of the information, except for law enforcement or national security. Prohibits the CPSC and the Commissioner responsible for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection of the Department of Homeland Security from imposing a civil or criminal penalty solely on the basis of information from the database. Authorizes appropriations.
 
(Sec. 40) Treats any children's toy or child care article that contains any combination of specified phthalates as a banned hazardous substance under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act. Prohibits certain alternatives to those phthalates. Allows certain related state or local laws.
 
(Sec. 41) Requires the CPSC to establish a standard for equestrian helmets.
 
(Sec. 42) Authorizes the CPSC, if it finds that a product presents a substantial hazard, and that certain actions under existing provisions are in the public interest, to order a manufacturer, distributor, or retailer to distribute notice of the actions to the public. Specifies the required contents of the notice. Allows the CPSC to require that a notice be distributed in a language other than English if the CPSC determines that doing so is necessary to adequately protect the public. 
 
 Requires the CPSC to make certain information available to the public as the information becomes available to the CPSC, including progress reports and incident updates, statistics regarding injuries and deaths, and certain communications from consumers to the CPSC.
 
(Sec. 43) Requires the Comptroller General to: (1) assess the effectiveness of the authorities and provisions of the Consumer Product Safety Act in preventing unsafe consumer products from entering U.S. customs territory; (2) develop a plan to improve effectiveness; and (3) report to Congress regarding inspection of foreign manufacturing plants by the CPSC and requiring foreign manufacturers to consent to the jurisdiction of U.S. courts regarding CPSC enforcement actions.
 
(Sec. 44) Bans importation of toys manufactured by companies that have shown a persistent pattern substantial product hazards or that present a risk of injury to the public of such a magnitude that the CPSC has determined that a permanent ban on all toys manufactured by such company is equitably justified. Requires a related annual report to Congress.
 
(Sec. 45) Requires the CPSC to conduct a study on the use of formaldehyde in the manufacture of textile and apparel articles, or in any component of such articles, to identify any risks to consumers.

action_date: 2008-07-29
text: 
Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008
 - Title I: Children's Product Safety - 
 (Sec. 101) Treats as a banned hazardous substance under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA) any children's product (a consumer product designed or intended primarily for children 12 years of age or younger) containing more than specified amounts of lead. Allows alternate limits if the specified limits are not technologically feasible. Requires periodic review and, when technologically feasible, more stringent limits. Makes the limits inapplicable to any component that is not accessible to a child through such use and abuse.

Allows exclusion of specific products or materials if the products or materials will neither: (1) result in the human lead absorption, taking into account reasonably foreseeable use and abuse by a child; nor (2) have any other adverse impact on public health or safety. Prohibits considering paint, coatings, or electroplating to be a barrier rendering substrate lead inaccessible to a child, or to prevent human absorption of lead. Provides for special regulations for certain electronic devices.

Establishes a more stringent limit on the amount of lead allowed in paint. Requires the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to: (1) evaluate the effectiveness, precision, and reliability of x-ray fluorescence technology and other alternative methods for measuring lead in paint or other surface coatings when used on a children's product or furniture article in order to determine compliance with specified regulations; and (2) conduct an ongoing effort to study and encourage the further development of alternative methods for measuring lead in paint and other surface coatings.

Considers such ban on lead in children's products and such limit on lead in paint to be CPSC regulations under the FHSA.

(Sec. 102) Amends the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) to revise requirements regarding manufacturer certification of products subject to a safety rule as being compliant with safety standards with provisions requiring a manufacturer of a product that is subject to a safety rule to certify that, based on a test of each product or on a reasonable testing program, the product complies with all rules, bans, standards, or regulations applicable to the product under the CPSA or any other CPSC-enforced Act.

 Requires a manufacturer of a children's product, before importing any children's product that is subject to a safety rule, to have the product tested by an accredited third party for compliance with such rule and to certify that such product complies. Requires the CPSC to: (1) publish accreditation requirements and a list of accredited entities; (2) initiate a program by which a manufacturer may label a product as complying with the certification requirements; and (3) establish protocols and standards relating to the testing of children's products. Provides for accreditation withdrawal. Allows the CPSC, on request, to accredit an assessment body that is owned, managed, or controlled by a manufacturer if certain conditions are met. (Bodies that meet those requirements are sometimes referred to as being firewalled.) 

Authorizes the CPSC to prescribe reasonable testing programs for products that are subject to a safety rule under the CPSA or under any other CPSC-enforced Act. (Current law authorizes such programs regarding the CPSA but does not mention other CPSC-enforced Acts.)

(Sec. 103) Requires the manufacturer of a children's product to label the product and its packaging, to the extent practicable, to identify the product's location and date of production and cohort information.

Prohibits advertising, labeling, and packaging for a product subject to a safety rule from containing a reference to the rule or a voluntary safety standard unless the product conforms with the requirements of such rule or standard.

(Sec. 104) Danny Keysar Child Product Safety Notification Act - Requires the CPSC to assess the effectiveness of any voluntary consumer product safety standards for durable infant or toddler products and promulgate consumer product safety standards that are substantially the same as or more stringent than the voluntary standards.

Makes it a violation of the CPSA for certain commercial entities (including, but not limited to manufacturers, distributors, hotels, motels, or similar transient lodging facilities and day care centers) to manufacture, sell, lease, or otherwise place in the stream of commerce any crib that is not in compliance with such standard.

 Requires each manufacturer of a durable product for infants or toddlers under five years to provide consumers with a postage-paid consumer registration form, maintain a record of consumer contact information to improve recall effectiveness, and permanently label the product with the manufacturer's name and contact information, model name and number, and the manufacturing date.

Requires the CPSC to study and report to specified congressional committees regarding: (1) consumer registration form effectiveness in facilitating recalls and whether such forms should be required for other children's products; and (2) recall notification technology. Allows the CPSC to authorize the use of recall notification technology in lieu of registration forms when the technology becomes at least as effective as the forms.

(Sec. 105) Amends the FHSA to require, when a product's packaging or retail display must, under current law, include a choking warning (as with balloons, small balls, or marbles), that associated advertising (including on Internet sites or in catalogs or other distributed materials) also bear the warning. Treats that requirement as a consumer product safety standard.

(Sec. 106) Considers a specified ASTM International Standard for toy safety to be a consumer product safety standard. Requires the CPSC to assess the standard's effectiveness as it relates to specified aspects of safety requirements, safety labeling requirements, test methods, and flammability. Considers related rules to be consumer product safety standards.

Allows the CPSC, on application from a state or subdivision, to exempt the state or subdivision if the state's or subdivision's standard or regulation provides more protection and does not unduly burden interstate commerce. Allows a state or subdivision to continue safety requirements that were in effect before enactment of this Act if the state or subdivision files the requirement with the CPSC within 90 days after enactment of this Act.

(Sec. 107) Requires the Comptroller General to study disparities in the risks and incidence of preventable injuries and deaths among children of minority populations, including Black, Hispanic, American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Asian/Pacific Islander children and report to specified congressional committees.

(Sec. 108) Makes it unlawful to manufacture, sell, distribute, or import a children's toy or child care article containing specified concentrations of specified phthalates. Requires the CPSC to begin appointing a Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel to study the effects on children's health of all phthalates and phthalate alternatives as used in children's toys and child care articles. Requires the CPSC to promulgate a final rule to determine whether to continue such prohibition and whether to declare any children's product containing any phthalates to be a banned hazardous product under the CPSA. Considers these requirements to be consumer product safety standards.

Title II: Consumer Product Safety Commission Reform - Subtitle A: Administrative Improvements - 
(Sec. 201) Authorizes appropriations through FY2014 to carry out the CPSA. Requires the CPSC to report to specified congressional committees regarding the allocation of that funding.

(Sec. 202) Sets a temporary quorum for the transaction of CPSC business of two CPSC members, so long as they are not of the same political party. Repeals provisions limiting funding to no more than three CPSC commissioners.

Requires, subject to the availability of appropriations: (1) the CPSC to increase the number of its full-time personnel to at least 500 by October 1, 2013; and (2) assigning part of the 500 employees to duty stations at U.S. ports of entry or to inspect overseas manufacturing facilities.

(Sec. 204) Allows (current law requires) a proceeding for the development of a consumer product safety rule to be commenced by the publication of an advance notice of proposed rulemaking. 

Modifies procedures for promulgating rules and regulations under the CPSA, the FHSA, and the Flammable Fabrics Act (FFA).

(Sec. 205) Requires the inspector general to assess and report to specified congressional committees on: (1) the CPSC's capital improvement efforts, including improvements and upgrades of the CPSC's information technology architecture and systems and the development of the database of publicly available information on incidents involving injury or death; and (2) the adequacy of procedures for accrediting conformity assessment bodies.

Requires the inspector general to assess: (1) complaints from CPSC employees about failures of other employees to enforce the rules or regulations of the CPSA or any other CPSC-enforced Act or otherwise carry out their responsibilities under such Acts if such alleged failures raise issues of conflicts of interest, ethical violations, or the absence of good faith; and (2) CPSC actions to address such failures and complaints.

Requires the CPSC to establish and maintain establish and maintain a link on its website to its Office of Inspector General and, on that page, a mechanism by which individuals may anonymously report cases of waste, fraud, or abuse.

Requires the inspector general to report to specified congressional committees on the inspector general's activities, any structural barriers which prevent the inspector general from providing robust oversight, and any additional authority or resources needed.

(Sec. 206) Prohibits, notwithstanding specified provisions, CPSC commissioners or employees from accepting travel, subsistence, or related expenses with respect to official duties from a person seeking official action from, doing business with, or conducting activities regulated by, the CPSC or whose interests may be substantially affected by the performance or nonperformance of the commissioner's or employee's official duties.

(Sec. 207) Authorizes the CPSC to make information obtained by the CPSC under the CPSA available to any government agency, provided there is an agreement that the information will be maintained in confidence and used only for law enforcement or consumer protection.

Requires the CPSC, when it is notified of any voluntary corrective action by a manufacturer or retailer, or when it issues an order under provisions relating to substantial product hazards, to notify each state's health department (or other agency designated by the state) of the recall or order.

(Sec. 208) Authorizes the CPSC, with or without reimbursement and with or without reciprocal arrangements, to: (1) retain or employ officers or employees of foreign government agencies on a temporary basis; and (2) detail CPSC officers or employees to work on a temporary basis for appropriate foreign government agencies for the purpose of providing or receiving training. Considers an individual of a foreign agency so retained or employed to be a federal employee only for the purposes of injury compensation, tort claims liability, the Ethics in Government Act, provisions relating to bribery, graft, and conflicts of interest, and any other statute or regulation governing the conduct of federal employees.

(Sec. 209) Adds to the CPSC's annual reporting requirements by requiring the inclusion of certain information on recall orders, voluntary corrective actions, action plans, injuries and deaths associated with products that present a substantial product hazard, and consumers' communications to the CPSC.

Subtitle B: Enhanced Enforcement Authority - 
(Sec. 211) Modifies provisions concerning the public disclosure of information regarding a consumer product where disclosure will permit the public to ascertain readily the identity of the manufacturer or private labeler, including decreasing some waiting periods before the CPSC may disclose information and providing for expedited court actions.

(Sec. 212) Requires the CPSC, subject to appropriations, to establish and maintain a consumer product safety database that is publicly available, searchable, and accessible through the CPSC's website. Requires submission to Congress of an implementation plan, including plans to increase consumer awareness of the database. Requires an annual report to specified congressional committees on the database and a report by the Comptroller General. Exempts certain information from disclosure.

(Sec. 213) Expands the authority of the CPSC to prohibit the stockpiling of a product for the purpose of circumventing a consumer product safety rule to explicitly include stockpiling to avoid any similar rule, regulation, standard, or ban.

(Sec. 214) Expands the definition of &quot;substantial product hazard&quot; to include failure to comply not only with an applicable consumer product safety rule under the CPSA, but also failure to comply with a similar rule, regulation, standard, or ban under any other CPSC-enforced Act. 

Expands the notification of substantial product hazards requirement to include not only a consumer product, but also any other product or substance over which the CPSC has jurisdiction under any other Act enforced by the agency, except motor vehicle equipment. Disallows the use of such a notification as the basis for criminal prosecution of the reporting person under specified provisions of the FHSA, except for offenses requiring a showing of intent to defraud or mislead.

Authorizes the CPSC, if it determines there is a substantial product hazard, to order the manufacturer, distributor, or retailer to: (1) cease distribution and to notify all persons that transport, store, distribute, or otherwise handle the product to cease distribution immediately; (2) notify state and local public health officials; and (3) post a notice on its website, provide notice to any third party website on which the product was placed for sale, and make announcements in languages other than English and on radio and television.

Modifies requirements regarding action plans of manufacturers, distributors, or retailers to deal with products that present a substantial hazard, including by requiring them to take certain corrective actions. (Current law allows a manufacturer, distributor, or retailer to choose certain corrective actions.)

Requires CPSC rules establishing guidlelines for recall notices.

(Sec. 215) Allows CPSC designates to enter and inspect any accredited firewalled assessment body that is owned, managed, or controlled by a manufacturer.

Requires manufacturers and their supply chain subcontractors, importers, retailers, or distributors to identify each other on CPSC request.

(Sec. 216) Makes a variety of acts unlawful and modifies existing unlawful acts, including regarding: (1) Acts other than the CPSA that are enforced by the CPSC; (2) manufacturers' voluntary corrective actions; (3) the failure to furnish a required certificate; (4) registered safety certification marks owned by an accredited conformity assessment body; (5) undue influence on a third party conformity assessment body; and (6) violation of a CPSC order prohibiting the export of a product.

Revises provisions concerning the refusal of admission into the United States of products not accompanied by the required certifications to expand such coverage to include any CPSC enforced Act.

(Sec. 217) Increases the maximum civil and criminal penalties and modifies provisions relating to the determination of penalties under the CPSA, the FHSA, and the FFA.

(Sec. 218) Amends the CPSA and the Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970 (PPPA) to allow the attorney general of a state to bring an action for injunctive relief.

(Sec. 219) Provides whistleblower protections for employees of manufacturers, private labelers, retailers, and distributors regarding alleged violations of any CPSC-enforced product safety requirements.

Subtitle C: Specific Import-Export Provisions - 
(Sec. 221) Amends the CPSA and the FFA to authorize the CPSC to prohibit exportation of any consumer product that is not in conformity with a consumer product safety rule unless the importing country has notified the CPSC that such country accepts the importation.

(Sec. 222) Requires the CPSC to develop a risk assessment methodology for identification of shipments of consumer products that are intended for import and are likely to include consumer products in violation CPSC-enforced import provisions, including, as far as practicable, using the International Trade Data System (ITDS) to evaluate and assess information and incorporating the risk assessment methodology.

Requires the CPSC to develop a plan for sharing information and coordinating with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Requires a report to specified congressional committees on specified topics, including such plan, the status of the Automated Targeting System rule, the effectiveness of the International Trade Data System in identifying shipments of consumer products in violation CPSC-enforced import provisions, whether the CPSC needs additional statutory authority in order to implement the risk assessment methodology, and the level of appropriations necessary to implement that methodology.

(Sec. 223) Authorizes the CPSC to specify, by rule, for any consumer product or class of consumer products, characteristics whose existence or absence must be deemed a substantial product hazard if the characteristics are readily observable and have been addressed by voluntary standards, the standards have been effective in reducing the risk of injury from consumer products, and there is substantial compliance with the standards.

Requires that products refused admission be destroyed unless, on application, the Secretary of the Treasury permits export. (Current law requires export unless, on application, such Secretary permits destruction.)

Requires that manufacturers of imported products be in compliance with all inspection and record keeping requirements. (Current law permits conditioning importation on compliance with such requirments.)

Requires the CPSC, by rule, to condition manufacturing, offering for sale, distribution, or importation of any consumer product or other product on the manufacturer's compliance with the inspection and record keeping requirements of the CPSA and related CPSC rules.

(Sec. 224) Requires the CPSC to: (1) identify any CPSC-regulated product or substance for which the cost of destruction would normally exceed bond amounts determined under specified provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930; and (2) recommend to U.S. Customs and Border Protection a bond amount sufficient to cover the cost of destruction of such products or substances.

 Requires the Comptroller General to study and report to specified congressional committees on the feasibility of requiring the posting of an escrow, proof of insurance, or security sufficient to cover the cost of: (1) destruction of a domestically-produced product or substance regulated under any CPSC-enforced Act; and (2) an effective recall of a product or substance, domestic or imported, so regulated.

(Sec. 225) Requires the Comptroller General to: (1) study CPSA authorities and provisions to assess the authorities' effectiveness in preventing unsafe consumer products from entering U.S. customs territory; (2) review and provide recommendations with respect to plans to prevent unsafe consumer products from entering that territory; and (3) report legislative recommendations regarding CPSC inspection of foreign manufacturing plants and the requirement for foreign manufacturers' consent to U.S. jurisdiction regarding CPSC enforcement actions.

Subtitle D: Miscellaneous Provisions and Conforming Amendments - 
(Sec. 231) Prohibits expanding, contracting, limiting, modifying or extending specified preemption provisions of the CPSA, FHSA, FFA, and PPPA by any rule or regulation or by reference to any statement of policy, executive branch statement, or other matter associated with a rule or regulation. Prohibits the CPSC from construing any such Act as preempting any cause of action under state or local common law or state statutory law regarding damage claims. Prohibits construing this Act or the FHSA to preempt or otherwise affect any warning requirement relating to consumer products or substances established pursuant to state law that was in effect on August 31, 2003.

(Sec. 232) Requires the CPSC, notwithstanding any other provision of law, to establish as a mandatory consumer product safety standard a specified American National Standard for four-wheeled all-terrain vehicles developed by the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America. Makes it unlawful for any manufacturer or distributor to import or distribute any new all-terrain vehicle unless: (1) the vehicle complies with the standard, is subject to an all-terrain vehicle action plan, and bears a label certifying such compliance and certain other information; and (2) the manufacturer or distributor is in compliance with the action plan.

Prohibits the importation of new three-wheeled all-terrain vehicles until a mandatory consumer product safety standard applicable to three-wheeled all-terrain vehicles is in effect.

Requires the CPSC to issue a final rule in its proceeding entitled &quot;Standards for All Terrain Vehicles and Ban of Three-wheeled All Terrain Vehicles.&quot;

Requires the Comptroller General to study the utility, recreational, and other benefits of certain all-terrain vehicles and the costs associated with accidents and injuries involving all-terrain vehicles.

(Sec. 233) Prohibits anything in the PPPA from being construed to require the CPSC, in establishing packaging standards to protect children, to prepare a comparison of the costs that would be incurred in complying with such standard with the benefits of such standard.

(Sec. 234) Requires the Comptroller General to conduct a study to identify any risks to consumers relating to the use of formaldehyde in the manufacture of textile and apparel articles.

(Sec. 235) Defines &quot;third-party logistics provider&quot; as a person who solely receives, holds, or otherwise transports a consumer product in the ordinary course of business but who does not take title to the product. Prohibits deeming a logistics provider to be a manufacturer, distributor, or retailer solely by reason of receiving or transporting a consumer product in the ordinary course of its business.

Revises provisions concerning the CPSC providing copies of accident or investigation reports to other agencies.

(Sec. 236) Allows any person adversely affected by a CPSC rule or standard relating to the identification of substantial hazards, all-terrain vehicles, durable infant and toddler products, or mandatory toy safety standards to petition, within 60 days after promulgation of the rule or standard, for review by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Makes that court's judgment final, except for review by the U.S. Supreme Court on certiorari or certification. Makes rules or standards on those topics not subject to judicial review in proceedings under provisions relating to imported products or in civil or criminal enforcement proceedings.

(Sec. 237) Repeals a provision allowing a risk of injury which is associated with a consumer product and which could be eliminated or reduced to a sufficient extent by action under the FHSA, the PPPA, or the FFA to be regulated under the CPSA only if the CPSC by rule finds it in the public interest.

(Sec. 238) Amends the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act to define &quot;state&quot; as it is defined in the CPSA, and includes the Northern Mariana Islands. Applies such Act to the United States and its territories, including American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands.

action_date: 2008-08-14
text: 

(This measure has not been amended since the Conference Report was filed in the House on July 29, 2008. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008
 - Title I: Children's Product Safety - 
 (Sec. 101) Treats as a banned hazardous substance under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA) any children's product (a consumer product designed or intended primarily for children 12 years of age or younger) containing more than specified amounts of lead. Allows alternate limits if the specified limits are not technologically feasible. Requires periodic review and, when technologically feasible, more stringent limits. Makes the limits inapplicable to any component that is not accessible to a child through such use and abuse.

Allows exclusion of specific products or materials if the products or materials will neither: (1) result in the human lead absorption, taking into account reasonably foreseeable use and abuse by a child; nor (2) have any other adverse impact on public health or safety. Prohibits considering paint, coatings, or electroplating to be a barrier rendering substrate lead inaccessible to a child, or to prevent human absorption of lead. Provides for special regulations for certain electronic devices.

Establishes a more stringent limit on the amount of lead allowed in paint. Requires the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to: (1) evaluate the effectiveness, precision, and reliability of x-ray fluorescence technology and other alternative methods for measuring lead in paint or other surface coatings when used on a children's product or furniture article in order to determine compliance with specified regulations; and (2) conduct an ongoing effort to study and encourage the further development of alternative methods for measuring lead in paint and other surface coatings.

Considers such ban on lead in children's products and such limit on lead in paint to be CPSC regulations under the FHSA.

(Sec. 102) Amends the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) to revise requirements regarding manufacturer certification of products subject to a safety rule as being compliant with safety standards with provisions requiring a manufacturer of a product that is subject to a safety rule to certify that, based on a test of each product or on a reasonable testing program, the product complies with all rules, bans, standards, or regulations applicable to the product under the CPSA or any other CPSC-enforced Act.

 Requires a manufacturer of a children's product, before importing any children's product that is subject to a safety rule, to have the product tested by an accredited third party for compliance with such rule and to certify that such product complies. Requires the CPSC to: (1) publish accreditation requirements and a list of accredited entities; (2) initiate a program by which a manufacturer may label a product as complying with the certification requirements; and (3) establish protocols and standards relating to the testing of children's products. Provides for accreditation withdrawal. Allows the CPSC, on request, to accredit an assessment body that is owned, managed, or controlled by a manufacturer if certain conditions are met. (Bodies that meet those requirements are sometimes referred to as being firewalled.) 

Authorizes the CPSC to prescribe reasonable testing programs for products that are subject to a safety rule under the CPSA or under any other CPSC-enforced Act. (Current law authorizes such programs regarding the CPSA but does not mention other CPSC-enforced Acts.)

(Sec. 103) Requires the manufacturer of a children's product to label the product and its packaging, to the extent practicable, to identify the product's location and date of production and cohort information.

Prohibits advertising, labeling, and packaging for a product subject to a safety rule from containing a reference to the rule or a voluntary safety standard unless the product conforms with the requirements of such rule or standard.

(Sec. 104) Danny Keysar Child Product Safety Notification Act - Requires the CPSC to assess the effectiveness of any voluntary consumer product safety standards for durable infant or toddler products and promulgate consumer product safety standards that are substantially the same as or more stringent than the voluntary standards.

Makes it a violation of the CPSA for certain commercial entities (including, but not limited to manufacturers, distributors, hotels, motels, or similar transient lodging facilities and day care centers) to manufacture, sell, lease, or otherwise place in the stream of commerce any crib that is not in compliance with such standard.

 Requires each manufacturer of a durable product for infants or toddlers under five years to provide consumers with a postage-paid consumer registration form, maintain a record of consumer contact information to improve recall effectiveness, and permanently label the product with the manufacturer's name and contact information, model name and number, and the manufacturing date.

Requires the CPSC to study and report to specified congressional committees regarding: (1) consumer registration form effectiveness in facilitating recalls and whether such forms should be required for other children's products; and (2) recall notification technology. Allows the CPSC to authorize the use of recall notification technology in lieu of registration forms when the technology becomes at least as effective as the forms.

(Sec. 105) Amends the FHSA to require, when a product's packaging or retail display must, under current law, include a choking warning (as with balloons, small balls, or marbles), that associated advertising (including on Internet sites or in catalogs or other distributed materials) also bear the warning. Treats that requirement as a consumer product safety standard.

(Sec. 106) Considers a specified ASTM International Standard for toy safety to be a consumer product safety standard. Requires the CPSC to assess the standard's effectiveness as it relates to specified aspects of safety requirements, safety labeling requirements, test methods, and flammability. Considers related rules to be consumer product safety standards.

Allows the CPSC, on application from a state or subdivision, to exempt the state or subdivision if the state's or subdivision's standard or regulation provides more protection and does not unduly burden interstate commerce. Allows a state or subdivision to continue safety requirements that were in effect before enactment of this Act if the state or subdivision files the requirement with the CPSC within 90 days after enactment of this Act.

(Sec. 107) Requires the Comptroller General to study disparities in the risks and incidence of preventable injuries and deaths among children of minority populations, including Black, Hispanic, American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Asian/Pacific Islander children and report to specified congressional committees.

(Sec. 108) Makes it unlawful to manufacture, sell, distribute, or import a children's toy or child care article containing specified concentrations of specified phthalates. Requires the CPSC to begin appointing a Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel to study the effects on children's health of all phthalates and phthalate alternatives as used in children's toys and child care articles. Requires the CPSC to promulgate a final rule to determine whether to continue such prohibition and whether to declare any children's product containing any phthalates to be a banned hazardous product under the CPSA. Considers these requirements to be consumer product safety standards.

Title II: Consumer Product Safety Commission Reform - Subtitle A: Administrative Improvements - 
(Sec. 201) Authorizes appropriations through FY2014 to carry out the CPSA. Requires the CPSC to report to specified congressional committees regarding the allocation of that funding.

(Sec. 202) Sets a temporary quorum for the transaction of CPSC business of two CPSC members, so long as they are not of the same political party. Repeals provisions limiting funding to no more than three CPSC commissioners.

Requires, subject to the availability of appropriations: (1) the CPSC to increase the number of its full-time personnel to at least 500 by October 1, 2013; and (2) assigning part of the 500 employees to duty stations at U.S. ports of entry or to inspect overseas manufacturing facilities.

(Sec. 204) Allows (current law requires) a proceeding for the development of a consumer product safety rule to be commenced by the publication of an advance notice of proposed rulemaking. 

Modifies procedures for promulgating rules and regulations under the CPSA, the FHSA, and the Flammable Fabrics Act (FFA).

(Sec. 205) Requires the inspector general to assess and report to specified congressional committees on: (1) the CPSC's capital improvement efforts, including improvements and upgrades of the CPSC's information technology architecture and systems and the development of the database of publicly available information on incidents involving injury or death; and (2) the adequacy of procedures for accrediting conformity assessment bodies.

Requires the inspector general to assess: (1) complaints from CPSC employees about failures of other employees to enforce the rules or regulations of the CPSA or any other CPSC-enforced Act or otherwise carry out their responsibilities under such Acts if such alleged failures raise issues of conflicts of interest, ethical violations, or the absence of good faith; and (2) CPSC actions to address such failures and complaints.

Requires the CPSC to establish and maintain establish and maintain a link on its website to its Office of Inspector General and, on that page, a mechanism by which individuals may anonymously report cases of waste, fraud, or abuse.

Requires the inspector general to report to specified congressional committees on the inspector general's activities, any structural barriers which prevent the inspector general from providing robust oversight, and any additional authority or resources needed.

(Sec. 206) Prohibits, notwithstanding specified provisions, CPSC commissioners or employees from accepting travel, subsistence, or related expenses with respect to official duties from a person seeking official action from, doing business with, or conducting activities regulated by, the CPSC or whose interests may be substantially affected by the performance or nonperformance of the commissioner's or employee's official duties.

(Sec. 207) Authorizes the CPSC to make information obtained by the CPSC under the CPSA available to any government agency, provided there is an agreement that the information will be maintained in confidence and used only for law enforcement or consumer protection.

Requires the CPSC, when it is notified of any voluntary corrective action by a manufacturer or retailer, or when it issues an order under provisions relating to substantial product hazards, to notify each state's health department (or other agency designated by the state) of the recall or order.

(Sec. 208) Authorizes the CPSC, with or without reimbursement and with or without reciprocal arrangements, to: (1) retain or employ officers or employees of foreign government agencies on a temporary basis; and (2) detail CPSC officers or employees to work on a temporary basis for appropriate foreign government agencies for the purpose of providing or receiving training. Considers an individual of a foreign agency so retained or employed to be a federal employee only for the purposes of injury compensation, tort claims liability, the Ethics in Government Act, provisions relating to bribery, graft, and conflicts of interest, and any other statute or regulation governing the conduct of federal employees.

(Sec. 209) Adds to the CPSC's annual reporting requirements by requiring the inclusion of certain information on recall orders, voluntary corrective actions, action plans, injuries and deaths associated with products that present a substantial product hazard, and consumers' communications to the CPSC.

Subtitle B: Enhanced Enforcement Authority - 
(Sec. 211) Modifies provisions concerning the public disclosure of information regarding a consumer product where disclosure will permit the public to ascertain readily the identity of the manufacturer or private labeler, including decreasing some waiting periods before the CPSC may disclose information and providing for expedited court actions.

(Sec. 212) Requires the CPSC, subject to appropriations, to establish and maintain a consumer product safety database that is publicly available, searchable, and accessible through the CPSC's website. Requires submission to Congress of an implementation plan, including plans to increase consumer awareness of the database. Requires an annual report to specified congressional committees on the database and a report by the Comptroller General. Exempts certain information from disclosure.

(Sec. 213) Expands the authority of the CPSC to prohibit the stockpiling of a product for the purpose of circumventing a consumer product safety rule to explicitly include stockpiling to avoid any similar rule, regulation, standard, or ban.

(Sec. 214) Expands the definition of &quot;substantial product hazard&quot; to include failure to comply not only with an applicable consumer product safety rule under the CPSA, but also failure to comply with a similar rule, regulation, standard, or ban under any other CPSC-enforced Act. 

Expands the notification of substantial product hazards requirement to include not only a consumer product, but also any other product or substance over which the CPSC has jurisdiction under any other Act enforced by the agency, except motor vehicle equipment. Disallows the use of such a notification as the basis for criminal prosecution of the reporting person under specified provisions of the FHSA, except for offenses requiring a showing of intent to defraud or mislead.

Authorizes the CPSC, if it determines there is a substantial product hazard, to order the manufacturer, distributor, or retailer to: (1) cease distribution and to notify all persons that transport, store, distribute, or otherwise handle the product to cease distribution immediately; (2) notify state and local public health officials; and (3) post a notice on its website, provide notice to any third party website on which the product was placed for sale, and make announcements in languages other than English and on radio and television.

Modifies requirements regarding action plans of manufacturers, distributors, or retailers to deal with products that present a substantial hazard, including by requiring them to take certain corrective actions. (Current law allows a manufacturer, distributor, or retailer to choose certain corrective actions.)

Requires CPSC rules establishing guidlelines for recall notices.

(Sec. 215) Allows CPSC designates to enter and inspect any accredited firewalled assessment body that is owned, managed, or controlled by a manufacturer.

Requires manufacturers and their supply chain subcontractors, importers, retailers, or distributors to identify each other on CPSC request.

(Sec. 216) Makes a variety of acts unlawful and modifies existing unlawful acts, including regarding: (1) Acts other than the CPSA that are enforced by the CPSC; (2) manufacturers' voluntary corrective actions; (3) the failure to furnish a required certificate; (4) registered safety certification marks owned by an accredited conformity assessment body; (5) undue influence on a third party conformity assessment body; and (6) violation of a CPSC order prohibiting the export of a product.

Revises provisions concerning the refusal of admission into the United States of products not accompanied by the required certifications to expand such coverage to include any CPSC enforced Act.

(Sec. 217) Increases the maximum civil and criminal penalties and modifies provisions relating to the determination of penalties under the CPSA, the FHSA, and the FFA.

(Sec. 218) Amends the CPSA and the Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970 (PPPA) to allow the attorney general of a state to bring an action for injunctive relief.

(Sec. 219) Provides whistleblower protections for employees of manufacturers, private labelers, retailers, and distributors regarding alleged violations of any CPSC-enforced product safety requirements.

Subtitle C: Specific Import-Export Provisions - 
(Sec. 221) Amends the CPSA and the FFA to authorize the CPSC to prohibit exportation of any consumer product that is not in conformity with a consumer product safety rule unless the importing country has notified the CPSC that such country accepts the importation.

(Sec. 222) Requires the CPSC to develop a risk assessment methodology for identification of shipments of consumer products that are intended for import and are likely to include consumer products in violation CPSC-enforced import provisions, including, as far as practicable, using the International Trade Data System (ITDS) to evaluate and assess information and incorporating the risk assessment methodology.

Requires the CPSC to develop a plan for sharing information and coordinating with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Requires a report to specified congressional committees on specified topics, including such plan, the status of the Automated Targeting System rule, the effectiveness of the International Trade Data System in identifying shipments of consumer products in violation CPSC-enforced import provisions, whether the CPSC needs additional statutory authority in order to implement the risk assessment methodology, and the level of appropriations necessary to implement that methodology.

(Sec. 223) Authorizes the CPSC to specify, by rule, for any consumer product or class of consumer products, characteristics whose existence or absence must be deemed a substantial product hazard if the characteristics are readily observable and have been addressed by voluntary standards, the standards have been effective in reducing the risk of injury from consumer products, and there is substantial compliance with the standards.

Requires that products refused admission be destroyed unless, on application, the Secretary of the Treasury permits export. (Current law requires export unless, on application, such Secretary permits destruction.)

Requires that manufacturers of imported products be in compliance with all inspection and record keeping requirements. (Current law permits conditioning importation on compliance with such requirments.)

Requires the CPSC, by rule, to condition manufacturing, offering for sale, distribution, or importation of any consumer product or other product on the manufacturer's compliance with the inspection and record keeping requirements of the CPSA and related CPSC rules.

(Sec. 224) Requires the CPSC to: (1) identify any CPSC-regulated product or substance for which the cost of destruction would normally exceed bond amounts determined under specified provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930; and (2) recommend to U.S. Customs and Border Protection a bond amount sufficient to cover the cost of destruction of such products or substances.

 Requires the Comptroller General to study and report to specified congressional committees on the feasibility of requiring the posting of an escrow, proof of insurance, or security sufficient to cover the cost of: (1) destruction of a domestically-produced product or substance regulated under any CPSC-enforced Act; and (2) an effective recall of a product or substance, domestic or imported, so regulated.

(Sec. 225) Requires the Comptroller General to: (1) study CPSA authorities and provisions to assess the authorities' effectiveness in preventing unsafe consumer products from entering U.S. customs territory; (2) review and provide recommendations with respect to plans to prevent unsafe consumer products from entering that territory; and (3) report legislative recommendations regarding CPSC inspection of foreign manufacturing plants and the requirement for foreign manufacturers' consent to U.S. jurisdiction regarding CPSC enforcement actions.

Subtitle D: Miscellaneous Provisions and Conforming Amendments - 
(Sec. 231) Prohibits expanding, contracting, limiting, modifying or extending specified preemption provisions of the CPSA, FHSA, FFA, and PPPA by any rule or regulation or by reference to any statement of policy, executive branch statement, or other matter associated with a rule or regulation. Prohibits the CPSC from construing any such Act as preempting any cause of action under state or local common law or state statutory law regarding damage claims. Prohibits construing this Act or the FHSA to preempt or otherwise affect any warning requirement relating to consumer products or substances established pursuant to state law that was in effect on August 31, 2003.

(Sec. 232) Requires the CPSC, notwithstanding any other provision of law, to establish as a mandatory consumer product safety standard a specified American National Standard for four-wheeled all-terrain vehicles developed by the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America. Makes it unlawful for any manufacturer or distributor to import or distribute any new all-terrain vehicle unless: (1) the vehicle complies with the standard, is subject to an all-terrain vehicle action plan, and bears a label certifying such compliance and certain other information; and (2) the manufacturer or distributor is in compliance with the action plan.

Prohibits the importation of new three-wheeled all-terrain vehicles until a mandatory consumer product safety standard applicable to three-wheeled all-terrain vehicles is in effect.

Requires the CPSC to issue a final rule in its proceeding entitled &quot;Standards for All Terrain Vehicles and Ban of Three-wheeled All Terrain Vehicles.&quot;

Requires the Comptroller General to study the utility, recreational, and other benefits of certain all-terrain vehicles and the costs associated with accidents and injuries involving all-terrain vehicles.

(Sec. 233) Prohibits anything in the PPPA from being construed to require the CPSC, in establishing packaging standards to protect children, to prepare a comparison of the costs that would be incurred in complying with such standard with the benefits of such standard.

(Sec. 234) Requires the Comptroller General to conduct a study to identify any risks to consumers relating to the use of formaldehyde in the manufacture of textile and apparel articles.

(Sec. 235) Defines &quot;third-party logistics provider&quot; as a person who solely receives, holds, or otherwise transports a consumer product in the ordinary course of business but who does not take title to the product. Prohibits deeming a logistics provider to be a manufacturer, distributor, or retailer solely by reason of receiving or transporting a consumer product in the ordinary course of its business.

Revises provisions concerning the CPSC providing copies of accident or investigation reports to other agencies.

(Sec. 236) Allows any person adversely affected by a CPSC rule or standard relating to the identification of substantial hazards, all-terrain vehicles, durable infant and toddler products, or mandatory toy safety standards to petition, within 60 days after promulgation of the rule or standard, for review by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Makes that court's judgment final, except for review by the U.S. Supreme Court on certiorari or certification. Makes rules or standards on those topics not subject to judicial review in proceedings under provisions relating to imported products or in civil or criminal enforcement proceedings.

(Sec. 237) Repeals a provision allowing a risk of injury which is associated with a consumer product and which could be eliminated or reduced to a sufficient extent by action under the FHSA, the PPPA, or the FFA to be regulated under the CPSA only if the CPSC by rule finds it in the public interest.

(Sec. 238) Amends the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act to define &quot;state&quot; as it is defined in the CPSA, and includes the Northern Mariana Islands. Applies such Act to the United States and its territories, including American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-08-14
text: Became Public Law No: 110-314.
action_date: 2008-08-14
text: Became Public Law No: 110-314.
action_date: 2008-08-14
text: Signed by President.
action_date: 2008-08-14
text: Signed by President.
action_date: 2008-08-06
text: Presented to President.
action_date: 2008-08-06
text: Presented to President.
action_date: 2008-07-31
text: Cleared for White House.
action_date: 2008-07-31
text: Message on Senate action sent to the House.
action_date: 2008-07-31
text: Senate agreed to conference report by Yea-Nay Vote. 89 - 3. Record Vote Number: 193. (consideration: CR S7878)
action_date: 2008-07-31
text: Conference report agreed to in Senate: Senate agreed to conference report by Yea-Nay Vote. 89 - 3. Record Vote Number: 193.(consideration: CR S7878)
action_date: 2008-07-31
text: Conference report considered in Senate. (consideration: CR S7867-7878)
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: Conference papers: Senate report and manager's statement and message on House action held at the desk in Senate.
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: On motion to suspend the rules and agree to the conference report Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 424 - 1 (Roll no. 543).
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: Motions to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: Conference report agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and agree to the conference report Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 424 - 1 (Roll no. 543).
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: The House proceeded to consider the conference report H.Rept. 110-787 as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H7587-7588)
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: At the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: DEBATE - Mr. Dingell asked unanimous consent that debate on the motion to suspend the rules and pass the conference report to accompany H.R. 4040 be extended by 20 minutes, equally divided and controlled. Agreed to without objection.
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on the conference report to accompany H.R. 4040.
action_date: 2008-07-30
text: Mr. Dingell moved to suspend the rules and agree to the conference report, H. Rept. 110-787. (consideration: CR H7577-7586)
action_date: 2008-07-29
text: Conference report H. Rept. 110-787 filed. (text of conference report: CR H7194-7214)
action_date: 2008-07-29
text: Conference report filed: Conference report H. Rept. 110-787 filed.(text of conference report: CR H7194-7214)
action_date: 2008-07-17
text: Conference held.
action_date: 2008-07-17
text: Conference committee actions: Conference held.
action_date: 2008-06-25
text: Conference held.
action_date: 2008-06-25
text: Conference committee actions: Conference held.
action_date: 2008-06-25
text: Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
action_date: 2008-06-25
text: On motion that the House instruct conferees Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: 415 - 0 (Roll no. 461). (consideration: CR H6082)
action_date: 2008-06-24
text: POSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - At the conclusion of debate on the Kirk motion to instruct conferees on H.R. 4040, the Chair put the question on adoption of the motion to instruct conferees and by voice vote, announced that the noes had prevailed. Mr. Kirk demanded the yeas and nays and the Chair postponed further proceedings until a time to be announced.
action_date: 2008-06-24
text: The previous question was ordered without objection. (consideration: CR H5998)
action_date: 2008-06-24
text: DEBATE - The House proceeded with one hour of debate on the Kirk motion to instruct conferees on H.R. 4040. The instructions contained in the motion seek to insist on the provisions contained in the House bill with regard to the definition of "children's product".
action_date: 2008-06-24
text: Mr. Kirk moved that the House instruct conferees. (consideration: CR H5997-5998; text: CR H5997)
action_date: 2008-06-23
text: NOTICE OF INTENT TO OFFER MOTION TO INSTRUCT - Mr. Kirk notified the House of his intent to offer a motion to instruct conferees on H.R. 4040.
action_date: 2008-05-14
text: The Speaker appointed conferees: Dingell, Waxman, Rush, DeGette, Schakowsky, Barton (TX), Whitfield (KY), and Stearns.
action_date: 2008-05-14
text: Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
action_date: 2008-05-14
text: On motion that the House instruct conferees Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: 405 - 0 (Roll no. 320). (consideration: CR H3855-3856)
action_date: 2008-05-14
text: The previous question was ordered without objection. (consideration: CR H3855)
action_date: 2008-05-14
text: The House proceeded with one hour of debate on the Whitfield motion to instruct conferees on H.R. 4040. The instructions contained in the motion seek to require the managers on the part of the House be instructed to insist upon the provisions contained in the House bill.
action_date: 2008-05-14
text: Mr. Whitfield (KY) moved that the House instruct conferees. (consideration: CR H3854; text: CR H3854)
action_date: 2008-05-14
text: On motion that the House disagree to the Senate amendment, and agree to a conference Agreed to without objection.
action_date: 2008-05-14
text: Mr. Dingell moved that the House disagree to the Senate amendment, and agree to a conference. (consideration: CR H3854-3856)
action_date: 2008-04-30
text: Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government. Hearings held.
action_date: 2008-04-30
text: Message on Senate action sent to the House.
action_date: 2008-04-29
text: Senate insists on its amendment, asks for a conference, appoints conferees Inouye; Pryor; Boxer; Klobuchar; Stevens; Hutchison; Sununu. (consideration: CR S3549)
action_date: 2008-03-06
text: See also S.2663.
action_date: 2008-03-06
text: Passed Senate in lieu of S.2663 with an amendment by Yea-Nay. 79 - 13. Record Vote Number: 41. (text: CR 3/7/2008 S1768-1781)
action_date: 2008-03-06
text: Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate in lieu of S.2663 with an amendment by Yea-Nay. 79 - 13. Record Vote Number: 41.(text: CR 3/7/2008 S1768-1781)
action_date: 2008-03-06
text: Senate struck all after the Enacting Clause and substituted the language of S.2663 amended.
action_date: 2008-03-06
text: Measure laid before Senate by unanimous consent. (consideration: CR S1697)
action_date: 2008-01-23
text: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 562.
action_date: 2007-12-19
text: Received in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.
action_date: 2007-12-19
text: Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
action_date: 2007-12-19
text: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 407 - 0 (Roll no. 1185). (text: CR H16874-16880)
action_date: 2007-12-19
text: Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 407 - 0 (Roll no. 1185).(text: CR H16874-16880)
action_date: 2007-12-19
text: Considered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H16900-16901)
action_date: 2007-12-19
text: At the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.
action_date: 2007-12-19
text: DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 4040.
action_date: 2007-12-19
text: Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H16874-16887)
action_date: 2007-12-19
text: Mr. Rush moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
action_date: 2007-12-19
text: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 306.
action_date: 2007-12-19
text: Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Energy and Commerce. H. Rept. 110-501.
action_date: 2007-12-19
text: Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Energy and Commerce. H. Rept. 110-501.
action_date: 2007-12-18
text: Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 51 - 0.
action_date: 2007-12-18
text: Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
action_date: 2007-12-13
text: Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
action_date: 2007-11-15
text: Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee (Amended) by Voice Vote .
action_date: 2007-11-15
text: Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
action_date: 2007-11-02
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection.
action_date: 2007-11-01
text: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
action_date: 2007-11-01
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2007-11-01
text: Introduced in House

Enacted as: number: 110-314