[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1976 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1976

  To prohibit the distribution in commerce of children's products and 
  upholstered furniture containing certain flame retardants, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 5, 2015

  Mr. Schumer introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To prohibit the distribution in commerce of children's products and 
  upholstered furniture containing certain flame retardants, 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 ``Children and Firefighters Protection 
Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON SALE OF CERTAIN PRODUCTS CONTAINING SPECIFIED 
              FLAME RETARDANTS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section, the terms ``children's 
product'', ``consumer product'', ``distribute in commerce'', 
``distributor'', ``import'', ``manufacturer'', ``retailer'', and 
``United States'' have the meanings given such terms in section 3(a) of 
the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2052(a)).
    (b) Prohibition.--It shall be unlawful for any manufacturer, 
distributor, or retailer to sell, offer for sale, manufacture for sale, 
distribute in commerce, or import into the United States any children's 
product or upholstered furniture that contains a flame retardant 
specified in subsection (c) that exceeds 1,000 parts per million total 
chemical content by weight for any part of the product or furniture.
    (c) Specified Flame Retardants.--The flame retardants specified in 
this subsection are the following:
            (1) Tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl)phosphate (TDCPP) (chemical 
        abstracts service number 13674-87-8).
            (2) Tris(2-chloroethyl)phosphate (TCEP) (chemical abstracts 
        service number 115-1496-8).
            (3) Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) (chemical abstracts 
        service number 79-94-7).
            (4) Decabromodiphenyl ether (chemical abstracts service 
        number 1163-19-5).
            (5) Antimony trioxide (chemical abstracts service number 
        1309-64-4).
            (6) Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) (chemical abstracts 
        service number 25637-99-4).
            (7) Bis(2-Ethylhexyl)-3,4,5,6-tetrabromophthalate (TBPH) 
        (chemical abstract service number 26040-51-7).
            (8) 2-EthylhexYl-2,3,4,5-tetrabromobenzoate (TBB) (chemical 
        abstract service number 183658-27-7).
            (9) Chlorinated paraffins (chemical abstract services 
        number 85535-84-8).
            (10) Tris (1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TCPP) (chemical 
        abstract service number 13674-84-5).
            (11) Such other chemical flame retardants as the Commission 
        may specify by rule under subsection (d)(5).
    (d) Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel.--
            (1) Appointment.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall appoint a 
        chronic hazard advisory panel pursuant to the procedures of 
        section 28 of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2077) 
        to study the effects on human health of all chemical flame 
        retardants as used in children's products or upholstered 
        furniture.
            (2) Examination.--
                    (A) In general.--The panel shall, not later than 
                540 days after the date on which the panel is appointed 
                under paragraph (1), complete an examination of the 
                potential hazards and exposures for the full range of 
                chemical flame retardants that may be used in 
                children's products or upholstered furniture to meet 
                applicable fire safety standards and shall--
                            (i) examine potential health effects of the 
                        chemical flame retardants, including--
                                    (I) developmental toxicity;
                                    (II) carcinogenicity, genetic 
                                damage, or reproductive toxicity;
                                    (III) endocrine disruption;
                                    (IV) toxicity related to the 
                                nervous system, immune system, or 
                                organs or cause other systemic 
                                toxicity; and
                                    (V) whether they are--
                                            (aa) persistent, 
                                        bioaccumulative, and toxic; or
                                            (bb) very persistent and 
                                        very bioaccumulative;
                            (ii) consider the potential health effects 
                        of such chemical flame retardants, both in 
                        isolation and in combination with other flame 
                        retardants;
                            (iii) examine biomonitoring studies that 
                        document existing levels and likely future 
                        levels of chemical flame retardants in 
                        children, pregnant women, firefighters 
                        (including combustion by-products of chemical 
                        flame retardants), and others;
                            (iv) examine data and analysis regarding 
                        the chemical flame retardants in household 
                        dust, indoor air, or elsewhere in the home 
                        environment;
                            (v) consider the cumulative effects of 
                        total exposure to flame retardants, both from 
                        children's products, upholstered furniture, and 
                        from other sources, such as food, commercial 
                        furniture, building insulation, and 
                        electronics;
                            (vi) review all relevant data, including 
                        the most recent, best-available, peer-reviewed, 
                        scientific studies of these chemical flame 
                        retardants that employ objective data 
                        collection practices or employ other objective 
                        methods;
                            (vii) consider the amounts of chemical 
                        flame retardants used in consumer products and 
                        the total volumes manufactured for use; and
                            (viii) consider possible similar health 
                        effects of chemical flame retardants used in 
                        children's products or upholstered furniture.
            (3) De novo.--The panel's examinations pursuant to this 
        subsection shall be conducted de novo. The findings and 
        conclusions of any previous chronic hazard advisory panel on 
        chemical flame retardants and other studies conducted by the 
        Commission shall be reviewed by the panel but shall not be 
        considered determinative.
            (4) Report.--Not later than 180 days after completing its 
        examination, the panel appointed under paragraph (1) shall 
        submit to the Commission a report on the results of the 
        examination conducted under this section and shall make 
        recommendations to the Commission regarding any chemical flame 
        retardants (or combinations of chemical flame retardants) in 
        addition to those identified in paragraphs (1) through (10) of 
        subsection (c) that the panel determines should be prohibited 
        under subsection (b).
            (5) Specification of additional chemical flame 
        retardants.--Not later than 180 days after receiving the report 
        of the panel under paragraph (4), the Commission shall--
                    (A) evaluate the findings of the chronic hazard 
                advisory panel regarding the examination carried out 
                under paragraph (2);
                    (B) evaluate the recommendations submitted by the 
                chronic hazard advisory panel under paragraph (4); and
                    (C) promulgate a final rule, based on the 
                evaluations carried out under subparagraphs (A) and (B) 
                of this paragraph, that specifies such chemical flame 
                retardants that are not listed in paragraphs (1) 
                through (10) of subsection (c) as the Commission 
                determines that the presence of such chemical flame 
                retardant in any part of a children's product or 
                upholstered furniture may cause substantial personal 
                injury or substantial illness, including--
                            (i) developmental or learning disabilities;
                            (ii) cancer;
                            (iii) endocrine disruption;
                            (iv) reproductive harm; or
                            (v) damage to the nervous system, immune 
                        system, or organs or cause other systemic 
                        toxicity.
    (e) Treatment of Violation.--A violation of subsection (b) shall be 
treated as a violation of section 19(a)(1) of the Consumer Product 
Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2068(a)(1)).
    (f) Product Certification and Labeling.--A product subject to 
subsection (b) of this section shall not be subject to section 14(a)(2) 
of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2063(a)(2)) with respect 
to testing for compliance with the requirements of this section.
    (g) Rulemaking.--
            (1) In general.--The Consumer Product Safety Commission 
        shall promulgate rules to carry out this section in accordance 
        with section 553 of title 5, United States Code.
            (2) Exemption from certain requirements.--The requirements 
        of sections 7 and 9 of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 
        U.S.C. 2056 and 2058) shall not apply to a rulemaking under 
        this section.
    (h) Relation to State Law.--This section shall not annul, alter, or 
affect a provision of law of a State relating to the presence of a 
chemical flame retardant in a children's product or upholstered 
furniture except to the extent that such provision of law is 
inconsistent with a provision of this section, and then only to the 
extent of the inconsistency. For purposes of this section, a provision 
of law of a State is not inconsistent with the provisions of this 
section if the protection such provision of law affords any person is 
greater than the protection provided under this section.
    (i) Effective Date.--
            (1) In general.--This Act shall take effect on the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, except subsection (b) shall take 
        effect on the date that is 1 year after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act.
            (2) Applicability.--Subsection (b) shall apply with respect 
        to children's products and upholstered furniture manufactured 
        after the date that is 1 year after the date of the enactment 
        of this Act.
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