[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4850 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4850

    To amend the Consumer Product Safety Act to increase the civil 
   penalties for certain violations relating to children's products 
                            containing lead.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 19, 2007

   Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas (for herself, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Ms. 
 Clarke, and Mr. Meek of Florida) introduced the following bill; which 
          was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Consumer Product Safety Act to increase the civil 
   penalties for certain violations relating to children's products 
                            containing lead.

    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 ``Sanctions to Eliminate Products 
Unsafe to the Public Act of 2007'' or the ``STEP UP Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE OF CHILDREN'S PRODUCTS WITH 
              CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY RULES.

    (a) Expansion of Certification Requirement.--Subsection (a) of 
section 14 of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2063) is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (5);
            (2) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) by striking ``Every manufacturer'' and 
                inserting ``Except as provided in paragraph (2),''; and
                    (B) by designating the second and third sentences 
                as paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively, and indenting 
                the margin of such paragraphs, as so designated, 2 ems 
                from the left margin;
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
            ``(2) Every manufacturer of a children's product (and the 
        private labeler of such product if it bears a private label) 
        which is subject to a consumer product safety standard under 
        this Act or a rule under this or any other Act administered by 
        the Commission declaring a consumer product a banned hazardous 
        product shall issue a certificate which shall certify that such 
        product conforms to such consumer product safety standard or is 
        not a banned hazardous product under such rule, and shall 
        specify such consumer product safety standard or such rule.'';
            (4) in paragraph (3), as redesignated by paragraph (2)(B), 
        by striking ``Such certificate shall'' and inserting ``A 
        certificate required under this subsection shall''; and
            (5) in paragraph (5), as redesignated by paragraph (1)--
                    (A) by striking ``required by paragraph (1) of this 
                subsection'' and inserting ``required by paragraph (1) 
                or (2) (as the case may be)''; and
                    (B) by striking ``requirement under paragraph (1)'' 
                and inserting ``requirement under paragraph (1) or (2) 
                (as the case may be)''.
    (b) Third-Party Certification Required.--Subsection 14(b) of the 
Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2063(b)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``The Commission may'' and inserting ``(1) 
        The Commission may'';
            (2) by designating the second sentence as paragraph (2) and 
        indenting the margin of such paragraph, as so designated, 2 ems 
        from the left margin;
            (3) in paragraph (2), as so designated, by striking ``Any 
        test or'' and inserting ``Except as provided in paragraph (3), 
        any test or''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) In the case of a children's product, any test or 
        testing program on the basis of which a certificate is issued 
        under subsection (a)(2) shall be conducted by a nongovernmental 
        independent third party qualified to perform such tests or 
        testing programs.''.
    (c) Definition of Children's Products and Independent Third 
Party.--Section 14 of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2063) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Definitions.--In this section the following definitions 
apply:
            ``(1) Children's product.--The term `children's product' 
        means a toy or other article intended for use by a child under 
        60 months of age that is introduced into the interstate stream 
        of commerce. In determining whether a toy or article is 
        intended for use by a child under 60 months of age, the 
        following factors shall be considered:
                    ``(A) A statement by a manufacturer about the 
                intended use of such toy or article, including a label 
                on such toy or article, if such statement is 
                reasonable.
                    ``(B) The context and manner of the advertising, 
                promotion, and marketing associated with the toy or 
                article.
                    ``(C) Whether the toy or article is commonly 
                recognized by consumers as being intended for use by a 
                child under 60 months of age.
                    ``(D) The Age Determination Guideline issued by the 
                Consumer Product Safety Commission in September 2002 
                and any subsequent version of such Guideline.
            ``(2) Independent third party.--The term `independent third 
        party', with respect to a testing entity, means an independent 
        testing entity that is physically separate from any 
        manufacturer or private labeler whose product will be tested by 
        such entity, and is not owned, managed, controlled, or directed 
        by such manufacturer or private labeler.''.
    (d) Label and Certification.--Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Consumer Product Safety 
Commission shall prescribe a rule in accordance with subsection (c) of 
section 14 of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2063) for 
children's products described in subsection (d)(1) of such section, as 
added by subsection (c) of this section.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON IMPORTS OF CHILDREN'S PRODUCTS WITHOUT THIRD-
              PARTY TESTING CERTIFICATION.

     Section 17(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2066) 
is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ``or'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting a semicolon and ``or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) is a children's product, as that term is defined in 
        section 14(d), that is not accompanied by a certificate from a 
        third-party verification entity required by section 
        14(a)(2).''.

SEC. 4. CIVIL PENALTIES FOR CHILDREN'S PRODUCTS CONTAINING LEAD.

    Section 20(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 
2069(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(4) Notwithstanding the civil penalties set forth in paragraph 
(1), if the violations described in such paragraph involve any 
children's product (as defined in section 14(d)(1)) that contains lead 
in violation of an applicable consumer product safety standard, the 
applicable civil penalty shall be in an amount not to exceed $20,000 
for each violation, and a maximum civil penalty not to exceed 
$10,000,000 for any related series of violations.''.
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