[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4298 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4298

To provide that certain water beads products shall be considered banned 
hazardous products under section 8 of the Consumer Product Safety Act, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 9, 2024

 Ms. Baldwin (for herself, Mr. Casey, and Ms. Collins) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                 Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide that certain water beads products shall be considered banned 
hazardous products under section 8 of the Consumer Product Safety 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 ``Esther's Law''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Art material or art material product.--The term ``art 
        material or art material product'' has the meaning given such 
        term in section 23(b)(1) of the Federal Hazardous Substances 
        Act (15 U.S.C. 1277(b)(1)) as applied to a child under 14 years 
        of age.
            (2) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Consumer 
        Product Safety Commission.
            (3) Educational material.--The term ``educational 
        material'' means any substance or product, other than a toy, as 
        defined in paragraph (5), that is designed, intended, or 
        marketed by the producer or repackager as suitable to assist 
        with the cognitive development of a child under 14 years of 
        age.
            (4) Sensory stimulation material or sensory tool.--The term 
        ``sensory stimulation material or sensory tool'' means a 
        consumer product, as defined in section 3(a)(5) of the Consumer 
        Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2052(a)(5)), that stimulates the 
        visual or tactile sense of a child under 14 years of age.
            (5) Toy.--The term ``toy'' has the meaning given such term 
        in section 3.1.92 of ASTM F963-23 (Standard Consumer Safety 
        Specification for Toy Safety), or any successor to such 
        document.
            (6) Water beads product.--The term ``water beads product'' 
        means a consumer product, whether accessible or not, that--
                    (A) is composed, in whole or in part, of water-
                absorbing super absorbent polymers, such as 
                polyacrylamides and polyacrylates; and
                    (B) at the point of sale to a consumer, contains at 
                least 1 individual bead that can--
                            (i) fit entirely within the cylinder 
                        described in section 1501.4 of title 16, Code 
                        of Federal Regulations; and
                            (ii) through water absorption, expand--
                                    (I) to a size of at least 3 
                                millimeters (in 1 or more dimensions); 
                                or
                                    (II) by 50 percent or more in 
                                diameter in any dimension from its as-
                                received state.

SEC. 3. CERTAIN WATER BEADS PRODUCTS CONSIDERED BANNED HAZARDOUS 
              PRODUCTS.

    (a) In General.--On and after the date that is 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, a water beads product, without 
regard to the date of manufacture or importation, shall be considered a 
banned hazardous product under section 8 of the Consumer Product Safety 
Act (15 U.S.C. 2057).
    (b) Water Beads Product.--For purposes of subsection (a), the term 
``water beads product'' (as defined in section 2) refers to a product 
that is designed, intended, or marketed as--
            (1) a toy;
            (2) educational material;
            (3) art material or art material product; or
            (4) sensory stimulation material or sensory tool.

SEC. 4. REGULATION OF WATER BEAD PRODUCTS NOT DESIGNED, INTENDED, OR 
              MARKETED AS TOYS, EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS, ART MATERIALS, 
              OR SENSORY TOOLS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 24 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Commission shall, in accordance with section 
553 of title 5, United States Code, promulgate a final consumer product 
safety standard for water beads products that are not banned under 
section 3 that--
            (1) may contain requirements on the colors of such water 
        beads products, so as to deter use by children; and
            (2) shall contain warning label requirements--
                    (A) to be included, as practicable, on the 
                packaging of such products;
                    (B) to be included on any literature distributed 
                with the product, in print or in an online format; and
                    (C) that shall contain language describing the risk 
                of injury and death if used by children or around 
                children, including--
                            (i) the hazard of ingestion, orally or 
                        otherwise;
                            (ii) the need for the consumer to keep the 
                        product out of an environment that contains 
                        children; and
                            (iii) instructions for the consumer to seek 
                        medical care and advice should the consumer 
                        suspect ingestion by a child.
    (b) Future Rulemaking.--At any time after the promulgation of a 
final consumer product safety standard under subsection (a), the 
Commission may initiate rulemaking in accordance with section 553 of 
title 5, United States Code, to modify the requirements of the standard 
or any revised standard. Any rule promulgated under this subsection 
shall be treated as a consumer product safety rule promulgated under 
section 9 of the Consumer Product Safety Act ( 15 U.S.C. 2058).
    (c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed as applying to water beads that are used commercially in 
diapers, personal care products, sanitary products, or agricultural 
supplies, including fertilizers and agricultural soil conditioners.
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