[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5692 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5692

       To provide for infant crib safety, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 3, 2008

Mrs. Tauscher (for herself, Mr. Rogers of Michigan, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. 
  DeLauro, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Kildee, Mr. 
   Kucinich, and Mr. Towns) introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
       To provide for infant crib safety, 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 ``Infant Crib Safety Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The disability and death of infants resulting from 
        injuries sustained in crib incidents are a serious threat to 
        the public health, welfare, and safety of people of this 
        country.
            (2) The design and construction of a baby crib must ensure 
        that it is safe to leave an infant unattended for extended 
        periods of time. A parent or caregiver has a right to believe 
        that the crib in use is a safe place to leave an infant.
            (3) Each year about 12,400 children are injured in cribs 
        seriously enough to require emergency room treatment.
            (4) Each year at least 43 children under the age of 4 die 
        from injuries sustained in cribs.
            (5) The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that 
        the cost to society resulting from deaths due to cribs is at 
        least $150,000,000 per year.
            (6) Secondhand, hand-me-down, and heirloom cribs pose a 
        special problem. There are nearly 4 million infants born in 
        this country each year, but only an estimated one million to 
        two million new cribs sold. Many infants are placed in 
        secondhand, hand-me-down, or heirloom cribs.
            (7) Most crib deaths occur in secondhand, hand-me-down, or 
        heirloom cribs.
            (8) Existing State and Federal legislation is inadequate to 
        deal with the hazard presented by secondhand, hand-me-down, or 
        heirloom cribs.
            (9) Prohibiting the contracting to sell, resell, lease, 
        sublease of unsafe cribs that are not new, or otherwise place 
        in the stream of commerce unsafe secondhand, hand-me-down, or 
        heirloom cribs, will prevent injuries and deaths caused by 
        cribs.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to prevent the occurrence 
of injuries and deaths to infants as a result of unsafe cribs by making 
it unlawful--
            (1) to manufacture, sell, or contract to sell any crib that 
        is unsafe for any infant using it; or
            (2) to resell, lease, sublet, or otherwise place in the 
        stream of commerce, after the effective date of this Act, any 
        unsafe crib, particularly any unsafe secondhand, hand-me-down, 
        or heirloom crib.

SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS FOR CRIBS.

    (a) Manufacture and Sale of Cribs.--It shall be unlawful for any 
commercial user to manufacture, sell, resell, lease, or otherwise place 
in the stream of commerce, any full-size or nonfull-size crib that--
            (1) was manufactured before 1999;
            (2) does not conform to the safety standards described in 
        subsection (c); or
            (3) has any missing, loose, or broken components.
    (b) Provision of Cribs by Lodging Facilities.--It shall be unlawful 
for any hotel, motel, or similar transient lodging facility to offer or 
provide for use or otherwise place in the stream of commerce, on or 
after the effective date of this Act, any full-size crib or nonfull-
size crib that--
            (1) was manufactured before 1999;
            (2) does not conform to the safety standards described in 
        subsection (c); or
            (3) has any missing, loose, or broken components.
    (c) Crib Safety Standards.--A full-size or nonfull-size crib that 
is not in compliance with the following safety standards shall be 
considered to be a banned hazardous product under section 8 of the 
Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2057):
            (1) Part 1508 of title 16 of the Code of Federal 
        Regulations (requirements for full-size baby cribs).
            (2) Part 1509 of title 16 of the Code of Federal 
        Regulations (requirements for nonfull-size baby cribs).
            (3) American Society for Testing Materials F406-07 Standard 
        Consumer Safety Specification for Non-Full Size Baby Cribs/Play 
        Yards.
            (4) American Society for Testing Materials F1169 Standard 
        Specification for Full-Size Baby Crib.
            (5) American Society for Testing and Materials F966-00 
        Consumer Safety Specification for Full-Size and Non-Full Size 
        Baby Crib Corner Post Extensions.
            (6) Part 1303 of title 16 of the Code of Federal 
        Regulations.
            (7) Any amendments to the above regulations or standards or 
        any other regulations or standards that are adopted in order to 
        amend or supplement the regulations or standards described in 
        paragraphs (1) through (6).
The Consumer Product Safety Commission shall have the power to enforce 
the provisions of this section in the same manner that the Commission 
enforces rules declaring products to be banned hazardous products.
    (d) Exception.--These requirements shall not apply to a full-size 
crib or nonfull-size crib that is not intended for use by an infant, 
including a toy or display item, if at the time it is manufactured, 
made subject to a contract to sell or resell, leased, or otherwise 
placed in the stream of commerce, as applicable, it is accompanied by a 
notice to be furnished by each commercial user declaring that the crib 
is not intended to be used for an infant and is dangerous to use for an 
infant.

SEC. 4. DURABILITY TEST REQUIREMENTS FOR CRIBS.

    Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Consumer Product Safety Commission shall begin a rulemaking to revise 
parts 1508 and 1509 of title 16, Code of Federal Regulations, to--
            (1) include the safety requirements specified in paragraphs 
        (3) through (5) of section 3(c), or any successor standards 
        thereto; and
            (2) address any potential hazards due to durability 
        exhibited by cribs and play yards, taking into consideration--
                    (A) the Underwriters Laboratories standard UL-2275 
                for full-size baby cribs; and
                    (B) the standards set forth in the Cribs and Cradle 
                Regulations established by the Department of Justice of 
                Canada, issued September 11, 1986 (SOR/86-962).

SEC. 5. SOFT BEDDING WARNING LABELS.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Consumer Product Safety Commission shall promulgate a consumer product 
safety rule pursuant to section 7 of the Consumer Product Safety Act 
(15 U.S.C. 2056) to require that all cribs manufactured and introduced 
into interstate commerce contain a warning label affixed to the crib in 
a conspicuous location warning consumers against the use of soft 
bedding for infants placed in the crib, including bumper pads, quilts, 
blankets, pillows, and sleep positioners.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act, the following definitions apply:
            (1) Commercial user.--
                    (A) The term ``commercial user'' means--
                            (i) any person who manufactures, sells, or 
                        contracts to sell full-size cribs or nonfull-
                        size cribs; or
                            (ii) any person who--
                                    (I) deals in full-size or nonfull-
                                size cribs that are not new or who 
                                otherwise by one's occupation holds 
                                oneself out as having knowledge or 
                                skill peculiar to full-size cribs or 
                                nonfull-size cribs, including child 
                                care facilities and family child care 
                                homes; or
                                    (II) is in the business of 
                                contracting to sell or resell, lease, 
                                sublet, or otherwise placing in the 
                                stream of commerce full-size cribs or 
                                nonfull-size cribs that are not new.
                    (B) The term ``commercial user'' does not mean an 
                individual who sells a used crib at a one-time private 
                sale.
            (2) Crib.--The term ``crib'' means a full-size crib or 
        nonfull-size crib.
            (3) Full-size crib.--The term ``full-size crib'' means a 
        full-size baby crib as defined in section 1508.1 of title 16 of 
        the Code of Federal Regulations.
            (4) Infant.--The term ``infant'' means any person less than 
        35 inches tall or less than 2 years of age.
            (5) Nonfull-size crib.--The term ``nonfull-size crib'' 
        means a nonfull-size baby crib as defined in section 1509.2(b) 
        of title 16 of the Code of Federal Regulations (including a 
        portable crib and a crib-pen described in paragraph (2) of 
        subsection (b) of that section).
            (6) Sleep positioner.--The term ``sleep positioner'' means 
        any wedge, roll, prop, or pillow designed to encourage one 
        position during sleep.

SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The requirements of section 3 of this Act shall be effective 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act
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