[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1815 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1815

  To clarify the applicability of certain provisions in the Consumer 
        Product Safety Improvement Act, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 31, 2009

    Mr. Barton of Texas (for himself, Mr. Radanovich, Mr. Rogers of 
Michigan, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Whitfield, Mrs. Myrick, Mr. 
    Blunt, Mr. Gallegly, Mr. Gingrey of Georgia, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. 
   Bartlett, Mr. Putnam, Mr. Terry, Mr. Stearns, Mr. Pitts, and Mr. 
 Thornberry) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To clarify the applicability of certain provisions in the Consumer 
        Product Safety Improvement Act, 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 ``Consumer Product Safety Solutions 
Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. PROSPECTIVE APPLICATION OF LEAD LIMITS AND THIRD PARTY TESTING 
              REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Lead Content.--Section 101 of the Consumer Product Safety 
Improvement Act of 2008 (15 U.S.C. 1278a) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (b) through (g) as 
        subsections (c) through (h), respectively;
            (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(b) Application.--
            ``(1) 600 parts per million.--Subsection (a)(2)(A) shall 
        apply beginning February 10, 2009, only to any children's 
        product that is manufactured after such date, and after 
        February 9, 2010, to any children's product regardless of the 
        date of manufacture.
            ``(2) 300 parts per million.--Subsection (a)(2)(B) shall 
        apply beginning 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act 
        only to any children's product that is manufactured after such 
        date, and beginning 3 years after the date of enactment of this 
        Act, to any children's product regardless of the date of 
        manufacture.'';
            (3) in subsection (e)(2), by striking ``subsection (b)'' 
        and inserting ``subsection (c)''; and
            (4) in subsection (g), by striking ``or (b)'' and inserting 
        ``or (c)''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsections (a) shall 
be treated as having taken effect on August 15, 2008.

SEC. 3. PROSPECTIVE APPLICATION OF PHTHALATES PROHIBITION.

    (a) Application of Phthalates Prohibition.--Section 108 of the 
Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (15 U.S.C. 1257c) is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignated subsections (c) through (e) as 
        subsection (d) through (f), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
    ``(c) Application.--Subsections (a) and (b)(1) and any rule 
promulgated under subsection (b)(3) shall apply beginning February 10, 
2009, only to any children's product that is manufactured after such 
date, and after February 9, 2010, to any children's product regardless 
of the date of manufacture.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsections (a) shall 
be treated as having taken effect on August 15, 2008.

SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF TESTING METHODOLOGIES.

    (a) Rulemaking.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Consumer Product Safety Commission shall 
promulgate a rule setting forth the testing methodology or 
methodologies which the Commission determines shall be used for 
purposes of determining compliance with sections 101(a) and 108 of the 
Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (15 U.S.C. 1278a(a); 
2057c).
    (b) Effective Date for Conformity Certification.--Section 14(a)(1) 
of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2063(a)(1)) is amended by 
striking ``Except as provided'' and inserting ``Beginning 90 days after 
the issuance of a rule required by section 4(a) of the Consumer Product 
Safety Solutions Act of 2009 except as provided''.
    (c) Temporary Rule of Compliance.--Beginning February 10, 2009, and 
continuing until a rule is promulgated under subsection (a), any 
children's product that is tested for conformity with the requirements 
of section 101(a) and section 108 of the Consumer Product Safety 
Improvement Act of 2008 (15 U.S.C. 1278a(a); 2057c) and certified 
pursuant to section 14(a)(1) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 
U.S.C. 2063(a)(1)) shall be considered to be in compliance with such 
section if such children's product was tested in good faith and in 
accordance with a reasonable testing methodology and the product was 
certified based on the results of such testing.

SEC. 5. EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN MATERIALS FROM LEAD CONTENT LIMIT.

    Section 101(c)(1) of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 
2008 (15 U.S.C. 1278a(c)(1)) (as redesignated by section 1) is 
amended--
            (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking 
        ``material will neither--'' and inserting ``material--''
            (2) in subparagraph (A)--
                    (A) by striking ``result in the absorption of any 
                lead into the human body'' and inserting ``will not 
                result in the absorption of lead into the human body in 
                excess of the amounts set forth under subsection 
                (a)(2)'';
                    (B) by inserting ``of the age for which the product 
                is intended'' after ``child''; and
                    (C) by striking ``nor'' and inserting ``or''; and
            (3) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``have any other'' and 
        inserting ``will not have any''.

SEC. 6. WAIVER OF THIRD PARTY TESTING REQUIREMENT FOR CERTAIN COMPONENT 
              PARTS.

    Section 14(g) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 
2063(g)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) Special rule for lead content and phthalate content 
        testing and certification.--Subsection (a) shall not require 
        the manufacturer or private labeler of a children's product to 
        test such product for, or certify it with respect to, lead 
        content or phthalate content, as applicable, if--
                    ``(A) each component of the product that is 
                required to be tested for compliance with sections 
                101(a) and 108 of the Consumer Product Safety 
                Improvement Act of 2008 (15 U.S.C. 1278a(a); 2057c) has 
                been tested for lead content or phthalate content, as 
                applicable, by the manufacturer or private labeler of 
                the component; and
                    ``(B) the manufacturer or private labeler of each 
                such component certifies that the component does not 
                contain more lead than the limit established by 
                subsection (a)(2) and (f) of section 101 of the 
                Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (15 
                U.S.C. 1278a(a)(2) and (f)) or the applicable phthalate 
                limit in effect under section 108 of such Act, as 
                applicable.''.

SEC. 7. EXEMPTIONS FROM TRACKING LABEL REQUIREMENTS.

    Section 14(a)(5) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 
2063(a)(5)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Effective'' and inserting ``(A) In 
        general--Effective'';
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(B) Commission exemptive authority.--The 
                Commission may, by rule, exempt or modify any of the 
                requirements of this section for any product or product 
                category, if the Commission determines such requirement 
                to be unduly burdensome or cost prohibitive in 
                relationship to the potential risk presented by such 
                product or product category, or not practical due to 
                the intended use of such product or product 
                category.''.

SEC. 8. GENERAL APPLICATION AND EXEMPTIVE AUTHORITY.

    Section 3 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 
(15 U.S.C. 2051 note) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``The'' and inserting ``(a) In General.--
        The''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Authority To Extend or Delay Effective Dates.--The Commission 
may extend the application of the effective date of any provision of 
this Act or the amendments made by this Act with respect to any 
particular manufacturer, distributer, or retailer or class of 
manufacturers, distributors, or retailers if the Commission determines 
that a delay would better promote public safety and that a later 
effective date is in the public interest and publishes the reason for 
such a determination.
    ``(c) Exemptive Authority.--The Commission may exempt a particular 
manufacturer, distributor, or retailer or class of manufacturers, 
distributors, or retailers from any provision of this Act or the 
amendments made by this Act if the Commission determines that a delay 
would better promote public safety and that such exemption is in the 
public interest and publishes the reason for such determination.''.

SEC. 9. COMPLIANCE GUIDANCE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Consumer Product Safety Commission shall 
develop and make available on the Commission's Internet website a 
compliance guide to assist small businesses in complying with the 
requirements of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2051 et 
seq.) and other Acts enforced by the Commission.
    (b) Contents.--The guide--
            (1) shall be designed to assist small businesses to 
        determine--
                    (A) whether the Consumer Product Safety Act (or any 
                other Act enforced by the Commission) applies to their 
                business activities;
                    (B) whether they are considered distributors, 
                manufacturers, private labelers, or retailers under 
                such Act or Acts; and
                    (C) which rules, standards, regulations, or 
                statutory requirements apply to their business 
                activities;
            (2) shall provide guidance on how to comply with any such 
        applicable rule, standard, regulation, or requirement, 
        including--
                    (A) what actions they should take to ensure that 
                they meet the requirements; and
                    (B) how to determine whether they have met the 
                requirements; and
            (3) may contain such additional information as the 
        Commission considers appropriate, including telephone, e-mail, 
        and Internet contacts for compliance support and information.
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