[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 836 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 836

To authorize the Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue a standard 
                          for bleacher safety.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 24, 1999

Mr. Luther (for himself and Mr. Ramstad) introduced the following bill; 
            which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize the Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue a standard 
                          for bleacher safety.

    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 ``Bleacher Safety Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Many bleachers and grandstand facilities in the United 
        States do not pass current State and local building code 
        standards.
            (2) Infants and children have been injured and killed in 
        recent years by falling between bleacher guardrails and gaps 
        between seats. Injuries have also occurred because older 
        bleacher facilities do not have back and side barriers which 
        prevent children from climbing or falling off the structure.
            (3) Many of the nation's bleacher systems are older units 
        and may be structurally unsound thereby increasing the 
        possibility of collapse. State and local governments should 
        provide for the regular inspections of such facilities to 
        ensure their structural integrity.
            (4) As a result of these accidents, the International Code 
        Council is currently working on a proposed uniform 
        International Building Code and has included provisions in its 
        initial draft requiring gaps between the seat and footboard in 
        bleachers and grandstand facilities to be no greater than 4 
        inches.
            (5) In Minnesota, the State Department of Administration 
        has recognized the seriousness of this problem and issued 
        bulletins to 500 local governments urging them to assess the 
        safety of bleachers and grandstand facilities in their 
        jurisdiction.
            (6) It is appropriate for the Congress to provide for 
        national standards for the manufacture and retrofitting of 
        bleachers and grandstand facilities.
            (7) The regulatory expertise of the Consumer Product Safety 
        Commission should be used to issue and implement bleacher 
        safety standards.

SEC. 3. BLEACHER SAFETY STANDARD.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 6 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Consumer Product Safety Commission shall by 
rule issue a bleacher safety standard for the production, erection, and 
retrofitting of bleacher and grandstand facilities to reduce the risk 
of children falling between guardrails and gaps in the seats of 
bleachers and grandstand facilities. Such standard shall be issued in 
accordance with the procedures specified in section 9 of the Consumer 
Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2058). The Commission shall have the 
inspection and recordkeeping authority authorized by section 16 of such 
Act (15 U.S.C. 2065) and a violation of the standard shall be 
considered a violation of section 19 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 2068) for 
which the civil penalties of section 20 (15 U.S.C. 2069) may be 
imposed.
    (b) Consultation.--In establishing a bleacher safety standard under 
subsection (a), the Commission shall consult with the Injury Center at 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention upon completion of its 
current study to determine the national scope of bleacher injuries.
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