[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3682 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3682

 To require that 4-gallon to 6-gallon buckets distributed in commerce 
bear a permanent label warning of a potential drowning hazard to young 
                   children, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 22, 1993

 Mr. Pallone introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require that 4-gallon to 6-gallon buckets distributed in commerce 
bear a permanent label warning of a potential drowning hazard to young 
                   children, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Bucket Drowning Prevention Act of 
1993.''

SEC. 2. LABELING STANDARD REQUIREMENTS.

    On October 1, 1994, or 240 days after the date of the enactment of 
this title, whichever first occurs, there is established and effective 
a consumer product safety standard under section 9 of the Consumer 
Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2058), to eliminate or reduce the risk of 
injury or death resulting from infants falling into 4-gallon to 6-
gallon buckets containing liquid. Such standard, when established, 
shall require straight sided or slightly tapered, open head containers 
with a capacity of more than 4 gallons and less than 6 gallons 
(referred to in this Act as a ``bucket''), to bear one warning label in 
English and Spanish. The label shall meet the following requirements:
            (1) The label shall be permanent so that such label cannot 
        be removed, torn or defaced without the aid of tools or 
        solvents.
            (2) The label shall be at least 7 inches in height, and 
        3\1/2\ inches in width, or any larger size as the labeler may 
        choose.
            (3) The label shall be centered on one side of the bucket 
        just below the point where the handle is inserted.
            (4) The label shall have a border or other form of contrast 
        around its edges to delineate it from any other information on 
        the bucket.
            (5) The label shall bear (A) the signal word ``WARNING'' in 
        both English and Spanish, in bold uppercase lettering, and (B) 
        in upper and lower case lettering the words ``Children Can Fall 
        Into Bucket and Drown. Keep Children Away From Buckets With 
        Even a Small Amount of Liquid.'', with an equivalent Spanish 
        translation in at least the same type size as English. The 
        signal word panel shall be preceded by a safety alert symbol 
        consisting of an exclamation mark in a triangle.
            (6) The label shall be clear and conspicuous and in 
        contrasting colors.
            (7) The label shall include a picture of a child falling 
        into a bucket containing liquid. An encircled slash symbol 
        shall be superimposed over, and surround the pictorial. The 
        picture shall be positioned between the signal word panel and 
        the message panel.

SEC. 3. CERTAIN BUCKETS NOT AFFECTED.

    The standard established by section 2 applies only to buckets 
manufactured or imported on or after the effective date of such 
standard, and buckets manufactured or imported before such effective 
date may be sold without the warning label required by section 2 even 
though such sales occur after that date. The Consumer Product Safety 
Commission, by rule, shall prohibit a manufacturer, filler, 
distributor, and retailer from stockpiling buckets to which consumer 
product safety standards established by section 2 of this title would 
have applied but for the preceding sentence. For purposes of this 
section, the term ``stockpiling'' shall have the same meaning as that 
provided by section 9(g)(2) of the Consumer Product Safety Act.

SEC. 4. PROHIBITED ACTS.

    (a) Removal of Label.--Once placed on a bucket pursuant to the 
standard provided by section 2, it shall be a prohibited act under 
section 19 of the Consumer Product Safety Act for any person in the 
chain of distribution of the bucket to intentionally cover, obstruct, 
tear, deface or remove the label.
    (b) Consumer Product Safety Standard.--The standard established by 
section 2 of this title shall be considered a consumer product safety 
standard established under the Consumer Product Safety Act.

SEC. 5. EXISTING LABELS.

    Notwithstanding section 2, any bucket label in use on September 1, 
1993, may, if such label is substantially in conformance with the 
requirements of paragraphs (3), (4), (5), and (6) of section 2, 
continue to be placed on buckets until 12 months after the date of the 
enactment of this title. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, 
buckets subject to the provisions of this section must bear both an 
English and Spanish language label on and after the effective date of 
the standard established by section 2.

SEC. 6. AMENDMENTS.

    Section 553 of title 5, United States Code, shall apply with 
respect to the Consumer Product Safety Commission's issuance of any 
amendments or changes to the bucket labeling standard established by 
section 2 of this title. Sections 7 and 9 of the Consumer Product 
Safety Act shall not apply to such amendments or changes.

SEC. 7. RESPONSIBILITY FOR LABELING.

    (a) Labeling.--The standard established by section 2 requires the 
labeling of buckets covered by such standard to be the responsibility 
of the manufacturer of any such buckets, unless otherwise specified by 
contract between the manufacturer, and either the filler, distributor, 
or retailer of such buckets. Under no circumstances shall any such 
bucket enter the stream of commerce without such label.
    (b) Time for Placing Labels.--The required label must be on the 
bucket at the time it is sold or delivered to the end user of the 
bucket or its contents or, in the case of a bucket intended to be sold 
to the public in an empty state, at the time it is shipped to a 
retailer for sale to the public.

SEC. 8. PERFORMANCE STANDARD.

    (a) Performance Standard.--Within 30 days following the date of 
enactment of this title, the Consumer Product Safety Commission shall 
commence a proceeding under the Consumer Product Safety Act for the 
issuance of a performance standard for buckets to address the drowning 
hazard associated with this product. Section 553 of title 5, United 
States Code, shall apply with respect to the issuance of such standard. 
Sections 7 and 9 of the Consumer Product Safety Act shall not apply to 
the issuance of such standard. Such standard shall take effect at such 
time as may be prescribed by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, 
but in no event later than 15 months following the date of the 
enactment of this title. The Consumer Product Safety Commission shall 
consider any American Society for Testing and Materials voluntary 
performance standard in existence prior to such date of enactment.
    (b) Labeling Requirements.--The labeling requirements under section 
2 shall not apply to buckets certified by the Consumer Product Safety 
Commission as meeting the performance standard in subsection (a).

SEC. 9. CONSULTATION.

    To avoid duplicative and conflicting labeling, the Consumer Product 
Safety Commission shall complete a consultation with relevant Federal 
agencies within 30 days following the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 10. REQUIREMENT FOR CPSC STUDY.

    (a) The Consumer Product Safety Commission shall conduct a study to 
determine:
            (1) consumer use patterns of new and used 4- to 6- gallon 
        steel and metal buckets; and
            (2) the prevalence of incidents of death or injury to 
        children associated with the use of such containers.
The study also shall be designed to identify use patterns that may 
signify that such containers are being used by consumers in and around 
a household, residence, school or otherwise. The study shall be 
completed within 12 months of the date of enactment. The study shall be 
repeated for two consecutive years following completion of the initial 
study. The study shall be repeated if necessary to track any changes in 
use patterns or to identify incidents of death or injury.
    (b) During the pendency of this study and in the absence of any 
regulation of 4- to 6-gallon containers by the Commission thereafter, 
metal containers which would otherwise be required to comply with the 
labeling requirements of section 3 are exempt from such requirements. 
For the purposes of section 26 of the Consumer Product Safety Act, such 
exemption shall be considered a consumer product safety standard. Upon 
review of the results of the study, the CPSC shall decide whether to 
continue this exemption, to require compliance by metal containers, or 
to consider further study in the future.

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