[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1910 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1910

           To establish uniform product liability standards.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 28, 1993

Mr. Rowland (for himself, Mr. Hastert, Mr. Dingell, Mr. Fish, Mr. Carr, 
  Mr. Moorhead, Mr. Murtha, Mr. Michel, Mr. Sharp, Mr. Gingrich, Mr. 
    Rogers, Mr. Swift, Mr. McMillan, Mr. Slattery, Mr. Stearns, Mr. 
Mazzoli, Mr. Hyde, Mr. Mollohan, Mr. Paxon, Mr. Glickman, Mr. Frank of 
  Massachusetts, Mr. Bliley, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Stenholm, Mr. Upton, Mr. 
Hefner, Mr. Sisisky, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Lehman, Mr. Gallo, Mr. Jacobs, Mr. 
  Sundquist, Mr. McKeon, Mr. Porter, Mr. Solomon, and Mrs. Meyers of 
 Kansas) introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to 
        the Committees on the Judiciary and Energy and Commerce

                           September 7, 1993

  Additional sponsors: Mr. Montgomery, Mr. Kolbe, Mr. Greenwood, Ms. 
Kaptur, Mr. McCurdy, Mr. Linder, Mr. McNulty, Mr. Machtley, Mr. Holden, 
 Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mrs. Johnson of Connecticut, Mr. Boehlert, Mr. 
Hutto, Mr. Gallegly, Mr. McHugh, Mr. Klug, Mr. Everett, Mr. Walsh, Mr. 
  Shays, Mr. Bereuter, Mr. Saxton, Mr. Hefley, Mr. Penny, Mr. Hall of 
Ohio, Mr. Franks of Connecticut, Mr. Crane, Mr. Fawell, Mr. Archer, Mr. 
 Hoekstra, Mr. Neal of Massachusetts, Mr. Barton of Texas, Mr. Oxley, 
 Mr. Ewing, Mr. Ballenger, Mr. McCrery, Mr. Stump, Mr. Petri, Mr. Kyl, 
   Mr. Gillmor, Mr. Dooley, Mr. Barlow, Mr. Barcia of Michigan, Mrs. 
    Roukema, Mr. Peterson of Florida, Mr. Goodling, Mr. Peterson of 
  Minnesota, Mr. Gunderson, Mr. Doolittle, Mr. Camp, Mr. Boehner, Mr. 
Miller of Florida, Mr. Traficant, Mr. Houghton, Mr. Hoke, Mr. McCollum, 
 Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. Spence, Mrs. Vucanovich, Mr. Collins 
of Georgia, Mr. Lewis of Florida, Mr. Meehan, Mr. Portman, Mr. Emerson, 
          Mrs. Fowler, Mr. Parker, Mr. Zimmer, and Mr. Bishop

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
           To establish uniform product liability standards.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fairness in Product Liability Act of 
1993''.

SEC. 2. PREEMPTION.

    (a) General Rule.--This Act governs any product liability action 
brought in any State or Federal court against a manufacturer or product 
seller, on any theory, for harm caused by a product. A civil action 
brought against a manufacturer or product seller for commercial loss 
shall be governed only by applicable commercial or contract law.
    (b) State Law.--This Act supersedes State law only to the extent 
that State law applies to an issue covered by this Act. Any issue that 
is not covered by this Act shall be governed by otherwise applicable 
State or Federal law.
    (c) Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed to--
            (1) waive or affect any defense of sovereign immunity 
        asserted by any State under any law,
            (2) supersede or affect any Federal law, except the Federal 
        Employees Compensation Act and the Longshoremen's and 
        Harborworker's Compensation Act,
            (3) waive or affect any defense of sovereign immunity 
        asserted by the United States,
            (4) preempt State choice-of-law rules with respect to 
        claims brought by a foreign nation or a citizen of a foreign 
        nation,
            (5) affect the right of any court to transfer venue or to 
        apply the law of a foreign nation or to dismiss a claim of a 
        foreign nation or of a citizen of a foreign nation on the 
        ground of inconvenient forum, or
            (6) supersede any statute or common law which creates a 
        cause of action for civil damages or civil penalties, cleanup 
        costs, injunctions, restitution, cost recovery, punitive 
        damages, or any other form of relief for contamination or 
        pollution of the environment or the threat of such 
        contamination or pollution.
For purposes of paragraph (6), the term ``environment'' has the meaning 
given to such term in section 101(8) of the Comprehensive Environmental 
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601(8)).
    (d) Vaccine Injury.--
            (1) To the extent that title XXI of the Public Health 
        Service Act establishes a Federal rule of law applicable to a 
        civil action brought for a vaccine-related injury or death--
                    (A) this Act does not affect the application of the 
                rule of law to such an action, and
                    (B) any rule of law prescribed by this Act in 
                conflict with a rule of law of such title XXI shall not 
                apply to such an action.
            (2) If there is an aspect of a civil action brought for a 
        vaccine-related injury or death to which a Federal rule of law 
        under title XXI of the Public Health Service Act does not 
        apply, then this Act or otherwise applicable law (as determined 
        under this section) will apply to such aspect of such action.

SEC. 3. STANDARD OF PRODUCT SELLER LIABILITY.

    (a) General Rule.--Except as provided in subsection (b), in a 
product liability action, a product seller shall be liable to a 
claimant for harm only if the claimant establishes that--
            (1)(A) the product which allegedly caused the harm 
        complained of was sold by the product seller, (B) the product 
        seller failed to exercise reasonable care with respect to the 
        product, and (C) such failure to exercise reasonable care was a 
        proximate cause of the claimant's harm,
            (2)(A) the product seller made an express warranty 
        applicable to the product which allegedly caused the harm 
        complained of, independent of any express warranty made by the 
        manufacturer as to the same product, (B) the product failed to 
        conform to the warranty, (C) the failure of the product to 
        conform to the warranty caused the claimants harm, or
            (3) the product seller engaged in international wrongdoing 
        as determined under applicable State law and such intentional 
        wrongdoing was a proximate cause of the harm complained of by 
        the claimant.
For purposes of paragraph (1)(B), a product seller shall not be 
considered to have failed to exercise reasonable care with respect to a 
product based upon an alleged failure to inspect a product where there 
was no reasonable opportunity to inspect the product in a manner which 
would, in the exercise of reasonable care, have revealed the aspect of 
the product which allegedly caused the claimant's harm.
    (b) Special Rule.--In a product liability action, a product seller 
shall be liable for harm to the claimant caused by such product as if 
the product seller were the manufacturer of such product if--
            (1) the manufacturer is not subject to service of process 
        under the laws of the State in which the claimant brings the 
        action, or
            (2) the court determines that the claimant would be unable 
        to enforce a judgment against the manufacturer.

SEC. 4. ALCOHOL AND DRUG DEFENSE.

    (a) General Rule.--In any product liability action, it shall be a 
complete defense to such action that--
            (1) the claimant was intoxicated or was under the influence 
        of intoxicating alcohol or any drug, and
            (2) the claimant as a result of such intoxication or the 
        influence of the alcohol or drug was more than 50 percent 
        responsible for causing the accident or event which resulted in 
        such claimant's harm.
    (b) Construction.--For purposes of subsection (a)--
            (1) the determination of whether a person was intoxicated 
        or was under the influence of intoxicating alcohol or any drug 
        shall be made pursuant to applicable State law, and
            (2) the term ``drug'' means any controlled substance as 
        defined in the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802(6)) 
        that has been taken by the claimant other than in accordance 
        with the terms of a lawfully issued prescription.

SEC. 5. MISUSE OR ALTERATION.

    (a) General Rule.--Except as provided in subsection (c), in a 
product liability action, the damages for which a manufacturer or 
product seller is otherwise liable under State law shall be reduced by 
the percentage of responsibility for the claimant's harm attributable 
to misuse or alteration of a product by any person if the manufacturer 
or product seller established by a preponderance of the evidence that 
such percentage of the claimant's harm was proximately caused by--
            (1) a use or alteration of a product in violation of, or 
        contrary to, the manufacturer's or product seller's express 
        warnings or instructions if the warnings or instructions are 
        adequate as determined pursuant to applicable State law, or
            (2) a use or alteration of a product involving a risk of 
        harm which was known or should have been known by the ordinary 
        person who uses or consumes the product with the knowledge 
        common to the class of persons who used or would be reasonably 
        anticipated to use the product.
    (b) State Law.--Notwithstanding section 2(b) of this Act, 
subsection (a) supersedes State law concerning misuse of alteration of 
a product only to the extent that State law is inconsistent.
    (c) Workplace Injury.--Notwithstanding subsection (a), the damage 
for which a manufacturer or product seller is otherwise liable under 
State law shall not be reduced by the percentage of responsibility for 
the claimant's harm attributable to misuse or alteration of the product 
by the claimant's employer or coemployees who is immune from suit by 
the claimant pursuant to the State law applicable to workplace 
injuries.

SEC. 6. PUNITIVE DAMAGES.

    (a) General Rule.--
            (1) Standard for award of damages.--Except as provided in 
        paragraph (2) or subsection (d), punitive damages may, to the 
        extent permitted by applicable State law, be awarded against a 
        manufacturer or product seller in a product liability action if 
        the claimant establishes by clear and convincing evidence that 
        the harm suffered was the result of conduct manifesting a 
        manufacturer's or product seller's conscious, flagrant 
        indifference to the safety of those persons who might be harmed 
        by a product.
            (2) Exception.--
                    (A) Reasonable care.--A failure to exercise 
                reasonable care in selecting among alternative product 
                designs, formulations, instructions, or warnings shall 
                not, by itself, constitute conduct that may give rise 
                to punitive damages.
                    (B) Award of other damages.--Punitive damages may 
                not be awarded in a product liability action unless 
                compensatory damages have been awarded in such action. 
                For purposes of this subparagraph, nominal damages do 
                not constitute compensatory damages.
    (b) Separate Proceeding.--At the request of the manufacturer or 
product seller, the trier of fact shall consider in a separate 
proceeding (1) whether punitive damages are to be awarded and the 
amount of such award, or (2) the amount of punitive damages following a 
determination of liability for such damages. If a separate proceeding 
is requested, evidence relevant only to the claim of punitive damages, 
as determined by applicable State law, shall be inadmissible in any 
proceeding to determine whether compensatory damages are to be awarded.
    (c) Consideration.--In determining the amount of punitive damages, 
the trier of fact shall consider all relevant evidence, including--
            (1) the severity of the harm caused by the conduct of the 
        manufacturer or product seller,
            (2) the duration of the conduct or any concealment of it by 
        the manufacturer or product seller,
            (3) the profitability of the conduct to the manufacturer or 
        product seller,
            (4) the number of products sold by the manufacturer or 
        product seller of the kind causing the harm complained of by 
        the claimant,
            (5) awards of punitive or exemplary damages to persons 
        similarly situated to the claimant,
            (6) prospective awards of compensatory damages to persons 
        similarly situated to the claimant,
            (7) any criminal penalties imposed on the manufacturer or 
        product seller as a result of the conduct complained of by the 
        claimant,
            (8) the amount of any civil and administrative fines and 
        penalties assessed against the defendant as a result of the 
        conduct complained of by the claimant, and
            (9) whether the foregoing considerations have been 
        presented in any prior proceeding involving that manufacturer 
        or product seller.
    (d) Drugs and Devices.--
            (1)(A) Punitive damages shall not be awarded against a 
        manufacturer or product seller of a drug (as defined in section 
        201(g)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 
        U.S.C. 321(g)(1)) or medical device (as defined in section 
        201(h) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 
        (h)) which caused the claimant's harm where--
                    (i) such drug or device was subject to premarket 
                approval by the Food and Drug Administration with 
                respect to the safety of the formulation or performance 
                of the aspect of such drug or device which caused the 
                claimant's harm or the adequacy of the packaging or 
                labeling of such drug or device, and such drug was 
                approved by the Food and Drug Administration; or
                    (ii) the drug is generally recognized as safe and 
                effective pursuant to conditions established by the 
                Food and Drug Administration and applicable 
                regulations, including packaging and labeling 
                regulations.
            (B) Subparagraphs (A) shall not apply in any case in which 
        the defendant, before or after premarket approval of a drug or 
        device--
                    (i) intentionally and wrongfully withheld from or 
                misrepresented to the Food and Drug Administration 
                information concerning such drug or device required to 
                be submitted under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic 
                Act (21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) or section 351 of the 
                Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 262) that is 
                material and relevant to the harm suffered by the 
                claimant, or
                    (ii) made an illegal payment to an official or 
                employee of the Food and Drug Administration for the 
                purpose of securing or maintaining approval of such 
                drug or device.
            (2) Packaging.--In a product liability action for harm 
        which is alleged to relate to the adequacy of the packaging (or 
        labeling relating to such packaging) of a drug which is 
        required to have tamper-resistant packaging under regulations 
        of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (including 
        labeling regulations related to such packaging), the 
        manufacturer of the drug shall not be held liable for punitive 
        damages unless the drug is found by the court by clear and 
        convincing evidence to be substantially out of compliance with 
        such regulations.

SEC. 7. SEVERAL LIABILITY FOR NONECONOMIC DAMAGES.

    (a) General Rule.--If a manufacturer or product seller is found 
liable in a product liability action, the liability of each defendant 
in the lawsuit shall be several only and shall not be joint for 
noneconomic damages. Each defendant shall be liable only for the amount 
of noneconomic damages allocated to such defendant in direct proportion 
to such defendant's percentage of responsibility as determined under 
subsection (b) of this section. A separate judgment shall be rendered 
against such defendant for that amount.
    (b) Trier of Fact.--For purposes of this section, the trier of fact 
shall determine the proportion of responsibility of each party for the 
claimant's harm.
    (c) Noneconomic Damages.--As used in this section, the term 
``noneconomic damages'' means subjective, nonmonetary losses including 
pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental suffering, emotional distress, 
loss of society and companionship, loss of consortium, injury to 
reputation and humiliation, but does not include objectively verifiable 
monetary losses including medical expenses, loss of earnings, burial 
costs, loss of use of property, costs of repair or replacement, costs 
of obtaining substitute domestic services, rehabilitation and training 
expenses, loss of employment, or loss of business or employment 
opportunities.

SEC. 8. TIME LIMITATIONS ON LIABILITY.

    (a) Statute of Limitations.--A product liability action shall be 
brought within 2 years after the time the individual who would be the 
claimant in such action discovered, or in the exercise of reasonable 
diligence should have discovered, the harm and its cause, except that 
any such action of a person under legal disability may be filed within 
2 years after the disability ceases. If the commencement of such an 
action is stayed or enjoined, the running of the statute of limitations 
under this section shall be suspended for the period of the stay or 
injunction.
    (b) Statute of Repose for Capital Goods.--A product liability 
action for harm caused by a product which is a capital good shall be 
barred unless the complaint is served and filed within 25 years of the 
date of delivery of the product to its first purchaser or lessee who 
was not engaged in the business of selling or leasing the product or of 
using the product as a component in the manufacture of another product. 
This subsection shall apply only if--
            (1) the court determines that the claimant has received or 
        would be eligible to receive compensation under any State or 
        Federal worker's compensation law for harm caused by the 
        product, and
            (2) the harm caused by the product did not include chronic 
        illness.

SEC. 9. WORKERS' COMPENSATION OFFSET.

    (a) General Rule.--
            (1) Subrogation.--If a product liability action has been 
        brought pursuant to this Act for harm caused to an employee by 
        a product, the employer of such employee or the workers' 
        compensation insurer of such employer shall have a right of 
        subrogation against the manufacturer of such product or the 
        product seller to recover the sum of the amount of workers' 
        compensation benefits to which such employee is or would be 
        entitled as determined by the appropriate workers' compensation 
        authority. To assert such a right of subrogation, an employer 
        or workers' compensation insurer of an employer shall provide 
        written notice that it is asserting a right of subrogation to 
        the court in which such product liability action has been 
        brought. The employer or workers' compensation insurer of such 
        employer shall not be required to be a necessary and proper 
        party to such product liability action.
            (2) Right of subrogation against a payment.--In any product 
        liability action brought by an employee against a manufacturer 
        of a product or a product seller or in any settlement of such 
        an action, the employer of such employee or the workers' 
        compensation insurer of such employer shall have an opportunity 
        to participate in such action and to assert a right of 
        subrogation upon any payment made by such manufacturer or 
        product seller in satisfaction of a judgment in such action, in 
        connection with a settlement of such action, as consideration 
        for a covenant not to sue, or otherwise. Such employee shall 
        not make any settlement of such an action with, or accept any 
        payment from, such manufacturer or product seller without the 
        written consent of such employee's employer. No release to or 
        agreement with such manufacturer or product seller made by such 
        employee shall be valid or enforceable for any purpose without 
        such consent unless such employer or workers' compensation 
        insurer of such employer is made whole for all workers' 
        compensation benefits paid to such employee.
            (3) Claimant's harm.--In a product liability action brought 
        for harm from a product by an employee, the manufacturer of 
        such product or a product seller may allege to the trier of 
        fact that the claimant's harm was caused by the fault of the 
        claimant's employer or a coemployee of the claimant. If the 
        manufacturer of a product or a product seller makes such an 
        allegation, the manufacturer or product seller shall provide 
        written notice to the employer involved in such allegation. 
        Such employer shall have the right to appear in such product 
        liability action, to be represented, to introduce evidence, to 
        cross-examine adverse witnesses, and to argue to the trier of 
        fact on such allegation as though such employer were a party to 
        such product liability action. The issue of the cause of the 
        claimant's harm shall be the last issue submitted to the trier 
        of fact in such product liability action. If the trier of fact 
        finds by clear and convincing evidence that the claimant's harm 
        was caused by the fault of the claimant's employer or a 
        coemployee of such claimant, the court shall reduce the damages 
        awarded against such manufacturer or product seller and, except 
        as provided in the last sentence, correspondingly the 
        subrogation lien of such employer by the sum of the amount paid 
        as workers' compensation benefits to such employee and the 
        present value of all workers' compensation benefits to which 
        such employee is or would be entitled for such harm as 
        determined by the appropriate workers' compensation authority. 
        Such manufacturer or product seller shall have no further 
        right, by way of contribution or otherwise, against such 
        employer with respect to such harm. Such employer shall not 
        lose its right of subrogation if the employee's harm was the 
        result of an intentional tort committed against the claimant by 
        a coemployee of the claimant or for acts committed by such 
        coemployee outside the scope of normal work practices.
            (4) Reimbursement.--If in a product liability action 
        brought by an employee for harm from a product the judgment is 
        that the claimant's harm was not caused by the fault of the 
        claimant's employer or a coemployee of the claimant, the 
        manufacturer of such product or product seller shall reimburse 
        such employer or workers' compensation insurer of such employer 
        for reasonable attorney's fees and court costs, as determined 
        by the court, incurred in the resolution of the subrogation 
        claim.
    (b) Third Party Tortfeasor.--In any product liability action 
brought by an employee in which damages are sought for harm for which 
the person injured is or would have been entitled to receive 
compensation under any State or Federal workers' compensation law, no 
third party tortfeasor may maintain any action for implied indemnity or 
contribution against such employee's employer, any coemployee of such 
employee, or the exclusive representative of such employee.
    (c) Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect 
any provision of a State or Federal workers' compensation law--
            (1) which prohibits--
                    (A) a person who is or would have been entitled to 
                receive compensation under such law, or
                    (B) any other person whose claim for benefits under 
                such law would have been derivative from the claim of 
                the person described in subparagraph (A),
        from recovering for harm caused by a product in any product 
        liability action other than a workers' compensation claim 
        against a present or former employer or workers' compensation 
        insurer of such an employer, any coemployee, or the exclusive 
        representative of the person who is injured, or
            (2) which permits recovery based on a claim of an 
        intentional tort by an employer or any coemployee if the 
        claimant's harm was caused by such a tort.
    (d) Stay Pending Compensation Determination.--In any product 
liability action brought by an employee in which damages are sought for 
harm for which the person injured is or would have been entitled to 
receive compensation under any State or Federal workers' compensation 
law, such action shall, on application of the claimant made at the 
claimant's sole election, be stayed until such time as the full amount 
payable as workers' compensation benefits has been finally determined 
under such workers' compensation law. If the claimant elects to bring a 
product liability action and not stay the claimant's action until the 
full amount of such benefits has been finally determined by the 
appropriate workers' compensation authority, the court shall determine 
the amount of workers' compensation benefits that has been or would be 
payable if the amount had been determined by such an authority.
    (e) Effect of Verdict.--The verdict of any court in a product 
liability action shall not be used as evidence in any proceeding 
relating to workers' compensation.
    (f) Written Notice.--A claimant in a product liability action who 
is or may be eligible to receive compensation under any State or 
Federal workers' compensation law shall provide written notice of the 
filing of the product liability action to the claimant's employer 
within 30 days of such filing. The written notice shall include 
information regarding the date and court in which the product liability 
action was filed, the names and addresses of all plaintiffs and 
defendants appearing on the complaint, the court docket number if 
available, and a copy of the complaint which was filed in the product 
liability action.

SEC. 10. FEDERAL CAUSE OF ACTION PRECLUDED.

    The district courts of the United States shall not have 
jurisdiction under section 1331 or 1337 of title 28, United States 
Code, over any civil action arising under this Act.

SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act--
            (1) the term ``capital good''--
                    (A) means any product, or any component of such 
                product, which is of a character subject to allowance 
                for depreciation under the Internal Revenue Code of 
                1986 and is--
                            (i) used in a trade or business,
                            (ii) held for the production of income, or
                            (iii) sold, leased, or donated to a 
                        governmental or private entity for the 
                        production of goods for training, for 
                        demonstration, or other similar purposes, and
                    (B) does not mean a motor vehicle, vessel, 
                aircraft, or railroad car used primarily to transport 
                passengers for hire,
            (2) the term ``claimant'' means any person who brings a 
        product liability action and any person on whose behalf such an 
        action is brought, including such person's decedent if such an 
        action is brought through or on behalf of an estate or such 
        person's legal representative if it is brought through or on 
        behalf of a minor or incompetent,
            (3) with respect to a civil action brought against a 
        manufacturer or product seller of a product the term 
        ``commercial loss'' means loss, including damage to the product 
        itself, which is not harm described in clause (i) or (ii) or 
        paragraph (4)(A) and is of a kind for which there is a remedy 
        under applicable contract or commercial law,
            (4) the term ``harm''--
                    (A) means--
                            (i) personal physical illness, injury, or 
                        death of the claimant,
                            (ii) mental anguish or emotional harm of 
                        the claimant caused by or causing the claimant 
                        personal physical illness or injury, or
                            (iii) physical damage to property other 
                        than the product itself,
                caused by a product, and
                    (B) does not include commercial loss,
            (5) with respect to a product, the term ``manufacturer'' 
        means--
                    (A) any person who is engaged in a business to 
                produce, create, make, or construct the product and who 
                designs or formulates the product or has engaged 
                another person to design or formulate the product,
                    (B) a product seller of the product who, before 
                placing the product in the stream of commerce--
                            (i) designs or formulates or has engaged 
                        another person to design or formulate an aspect 
                        of the product after the product was initially 
                        made by another, and
                            (ii) produces, creates, makes, or 
                        constructs such aspect of the product, or
                    (C) any product seller not described in 
                subparagraph (B) which holds itself out as a 
                manufacturer to the user of the product,
            (6) the term ``product''--
                    (A) means any object, substance, mixture, or raw 
                material in a gaseous, liquid, or solid state--
                            (i) which is capable of delivery itself, in 
                        a mixed or combined state, or as a component 
                        part or ingredient,
                            (ii) which is produced for introduction 
                        into trade or commerce,
                            (iii) which has intrinsic economic value, 
                        and
                            (iv) which is intended for sale or lease to 
                        persons for commercial or personal use, and
                    (B) does not include--
                            (i) human tissue, human organs, human 
                        blood, and human blood products, or
                            (ii) electricity, water delivered by a 
                        utility, natural gas, or steam,
            (7) the term ``product liability action'' means a civil 
        action brought against a manufacturer or product seller, on any 
        theory, for harm caused by a product,
            (8) with respect to a product, the term ``product 
        seller''--
                    (A) means a person--
                            (i) who sells, distributes, leases, 
                        prepares, blends, packages, or labels a product 
                        or is otherwise involved in placing a product 
                        in the stream of commerce, or
                            (ii) who installs, repairs, or maintains 
                        the harm-causing aspect of a product, and
                    (B) does not include--
                            (i) a manufacturer as defined in paragraph 
                        (5) of this section,
                            (ii) a seller or lessor of real property,
                            (iii) a provider of professional services 
                        in any case in which the sale or use of a 
                        product is incidental to the transaction and 
                        the essence of the transaction is the 
                        furnishing of judgment, skill, or services,
                            (iv) any person who acts only in a 
                        financial capacity with respect to the sale of 
                        a product, or
                            (v) any person who leases a product under a 
                        lease arrangement in which the selection, 
                        possession, maintenance, and operation of the 
                        product are controlled by a person other than 
                        the lessor, and
            (9) the term ``State'' means any State of the United 
        States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 
        Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern 
        Mariana Islands, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, 
        and any other territory or possession of the United States, or 
        any political subdivision thereof.

SEC. 12. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act shall apply with respect to product liability actions 
which are commenced after the date of the enactment of this Act.

                                 <all>

HR 1910 SC----2