[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 724 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 724

    To amend title 18, United States Code, to exempt certain rocket 
 propellants from prohibitions under that title on explosive materials.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 27, 2003

Mr. Enzi (for himself, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Coleman, Mr. Crapo, 
Mr. Burns, Mr. Allard, and Mr. Santorum) introduced the following bill, 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend title 18, United States Code, to exempt certain rocket 
 propellants from prohibitions under that title on explosive materials.

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

SECTION 1. EXEMPTION OF CERTAIN ROCKET PROPELLANTS FROM CRIMINAL 
              PROHIBITIONS ON EXPLOSIVE MATERIALS.

    (a) Non-Detonable Rocket Propellant Defined.--Section 841 of title 
18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(t) `Non-detonable rocket propellant' means any material, 
        chemical, or chemical mixture consisting of fuel and oxidizer 
        that provides thrust to a rocket, or generates hot, high 
        pressure gas for doing work in the actuation of various power 
        or mechanical devices, and is classified as a non-explosive by 
        the Department of Transportation or classified by the 
        Department of Transportation as a Class 1.3 Explosive or 
        lower.''.
    (b) Exemption.--Section 845(a) of that title is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (5), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (6), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(7) commercially manufactured black powder in quantities 
        not to exceed two pounds, safety and pyrotechnic fuses, quick 
        and slow matches, electric matches, igniters, or non-detonable 
        rocket propellant intended to be used in rockets that do not 
        carry any--
                    ``(A) explosive, incendiary, or poison gas;
                    ``(B) bomb;
                    ``(C) grenade;
                    ``(D) explosive or incendiary charge of more than 
                three-quarter ounce;
                    ``(E) mine; or
                    ``(F) device similar to any device referred to in 
                subparagraphs (A) through (E).''.
    (c) Effective Date.--(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the amendments 
made by this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment of 
this Act.
    (2) If the date of the enactment of this section is less than 180 
days after the date of the enactment of the Homeland Security Act of 
2002 (Public Law 107-296), the amendments made by this section shall 
take effect immediately after the entry into effect of the amendments 
made by section 1122 of that Act (116 Stat. 2280) pursuant to 
subsection (i) of such section 1122 (116 Stat. 2283).
                                 <all>