[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 272 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 272

To amend the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act to exempt ordinary 
books and paper-based printed material from the lead limit in such Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 12, 2011

 Mr. Fortenberry introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                  the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act to exempt ordinary 
books and paper-based printed material from the lead limit in such Act.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 
        (CPSIA) sought to protect children from the dangers associated 
        with products containing unreasonable levels of lead by 
        imposing lead standards and testing requirements.
            (2) The Consumer Product Safety Commission has interpreted 
        the Act to apply to all children's books and other printed 
        materials.
            (3) The Act was not intended to apply to ordinary books and 
        paper-based materials--those books and materials that are 
        published on paper or cardboard and printed by conventional 
        publishing methods.
            (4) Comprehensive testing of finished books and their 
        component materials that are used for printed material has 
        found total lead content at levels considered nondetectable, or 
        10 ppm, well below the thresholds in CPSIA.
            (5) The book and printed material manufacturing process is 
        now standardized across the United States and much of the 
        world.
            (6) The publishers and printers in the United States as 
        well as much of the world do not use lead-based chemicals or 
        other materials in the manufacturing of ordinary books and 
        paper-based printed material, meeting standards promulgated by 
        the Coalition of Northeastern Governors.
            (7) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have 
        determined there is minimal risk to children from trace amounts 
        of lead in ordinary books and printed products produced by the 
        same processes using the same component materials.
            (8) Reading books and using other printed material are 
        critical to child development, and education and schools and 
        libraries operating under limited budgets provide millions of 
        children with free access to ordinary books, and yet despite 
        the lack of evidence that their books contain harmful levels of 
        lead, libraries and other organizations may have to restrict 
        access to children's books due to the burdens and uncertainties 
        associated with CPSIA's new lead levels and testing 
        requirements.

SEC. 2. EXEMPTION FOR ORDINARY BOOKS AND PRINTED MATERIALS.

    Section 101 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (15 
U.S.C. 1278a) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(h) Exclusion for Ordinary Books and Paper-Based Printed 
Materials.--
            ``(1) In general.--The limits established under subsection 
        (a) shall not apply to ordinary books or ordinary paper-based 
        printed materials.
            ``(2) Definitions.--As used in this subsection--
                    ``(A) the term `ordinary books' means books printed 
                on paper or cardboard, printed with inks or toners, and 
                bound and finished using a conventional method that are 
                intended to be read or have educational value; and
                    ``(B) the term `ordinary paper-based printed 
                materials' means materials printed on paper or 
                cardboard, such as magazines, posters, greeting cards, 
                and similar products, that are printed with inks or 
                toners and bound and finished using a conventional 
                method.
        Such terms do not include books or printed materials that are 
        printed on material other than paper or cardboard or contain 
        nonpaper-based components such as metal or plastic parts or 
        accessories that are not part of the binding and finishing 
        materials used in a conventional method.''.
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