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<bill bill-stage="Introduced-in-Senate" dms-id="A1" public-private="public" slc-id="S1-BAI24110-5JS-2C-XV9"><metadata xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">
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<dc:title>118 S4298 IS: Esther’s Law</dc:title>
<dc:publisher>U.S. Senate</dc:publisher>
<dc:date>2024-05-09</dc:date>
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<dc:language>EN</dc:language>
<dc:rights>Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.</dc:rights>
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<distribution-code display="yes">II</distribution-code><congress>118th CONGRESS</congress><session>2d Session</session><legis-num>S. 4298</legis-num><current-chamber>IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES</current-chamber><action><action-date date="20240509">May 9, 2024</action-date><action-desc><sponsor name-id="S354">Ms. Baldwin</sponsor> (for herself, <cosponsor name-id="S309">Mr. Casey</cosponsor>, and <cosponsor name-id="S252">Ms. Collins</cosponsor>) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the <committee-name committee-id="SSCM00">Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation</committee-name></action-desc></action><legis-type>A BILL</legis-type><official-title>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.</official-title></form><legis-body display-enacting-clause="yes-display-enacting-clause" id="H24E17E3AA1E54914BBB164CCAA5AB7CB"><section section-type="section-one" id="HE5CE03E0DA884A46A6C66015778653CD"><enum>1.</enum><header>Short title</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">This Act may be cited as <quote><short-title>Esther’s Law</short-title></quote>.</text></section><section id="id342a1b5307f14a34ae95273d7a769074"><enum>2.</enum><header>Definitions</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">In this Act:</text><paragraph id="id38f438706c4a45b3938a0dcda0fd5b9e"><enum>(1)</enum><header>Art material or art material product</header><text>The term <term>art material or art material product</term> has the meaning given such term in section 23(b)(1) of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/15/1277">15 U.S.C. 1277(b)(1)</external-xref>) as applied to a child under 14 years of age.</text></paragraph><paragraph id="idb4104be2a6504d8b8329ec2fb09b8d0a"><enum>(2)</enum><header>Commission</header><text>The term <term>Commission</term> means the Consumer Product Safety Commission.</text></paragraph><paragraph id="id48309bb68a4e40dcafb7ea69ecd10dc6"><enum>(3)</enum><header>Educational material</header><text>The term <term>educational material</term> 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.</text></paragraph><paragraph id="id510ee2fd181e4f77b01dd740b1ff8881"><enum>(4)</enum><header>Sensory stimulation material or sensory tool</header><text>The term <term>sensory stimulation material or sensory tool</term> means a consumer product, as defined in section 3(a)(5) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/15/2052">15 U.S.C. 2052(a)(5)</external-xref>), that stimulates the visual or tactile sense of a child under 14 years of age.</text></paragraph><paragraph id="id7d54753cfa8a40c29e9167c853c85d7e"><enum>(5)</enum><header>Toy</header><text>The term <term>toy</term> 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.</text></paragraph><paragraph id="id3b38141674e44b93b03b10f582624060"><enum>(6)</enum><header>Water beads product</header><text>The term <term>water beads product</term> means a consumer product, whether accessible or not, that—</text><subparagraph id="id7612b7b39a14474b8bf9a02c6391f6e9"><enum>(A)</enum><text>is composed, in whole or in part, of water-absorbing super absorbent polymers, such as polyacrylamides and polyacrylates; and</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="id922287ad9b8d4acf8abccce3d33d22dd"><enum>(B)</enum><text>at the point of sale to a consumer, contains at least 1 individual bead that can—</text><clause id="id6e6c0068b73543689ec18926535dfc9b"><enum>(i)</enum><text>fit entirely within the cylinder described in section 1501.4 of title 16, Code of Federal Regulations; and</text></clause><clause id="idf609b483faf142b0bff07c19a422a205"><enum>(ii)</enum><text>through water absorption, expand—</text><subclause id="id96c9a5e4cc2d4f888b817959194c3b9a"><enum>(I)</enum><text>to a size of at least 3 millimeters (in 1 or more dimensions); or</text></subclause><subclause id="idfaafc30fb2b54be1b0d93bd6751b02e5"><enum>(II)</enum><text>by 50 percent or more in diameter in any dimension from its as-received state.</text></subclause></clause></subparagraph></paragraph></section><section id="id1d77d1b415154f3bb3104ad7d86c2cfb"><enum>3.</enum><header>Certain water beads products considered banned hazardous products</header><subsection id="idfe5188ec14704244ad4218a9e751fd6c"><enum>(a)</enum><header>In general</header><text>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 (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/15/2057">15 U.S.C. 2057</external-xref>).</text></subsection><subsection id="id8b5f59b734b646dfb1628c1d8cdd9340"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Water beads product</header><text>For purposes of subsection (a), the term <term>water beads product</term> (as defined in section 2) refers to a product that is designed, intended, or marketed as—</text><paragraph id="id119d965e1f2f4af7881da9b28bf4290e"><enum>(1)</enum><text>a toy;</text></paragraph><paragraph id="id3d5e3120e8714c7dbf4e434aff5e0947"><enum>(2)</enum><text>educational material;</text></paragraph><paragraph id="id91166941195d4234a5fd4bfce4cef815"><enum>(3)</enum><text>art material or art material product; or</text></paragraph><paragraph id="id9fb58a5114374009a65af1179018f3d3"><enum>(4)</enum><text>sensory stimulation material or sensory tool.</text></paragraph></subsection></section><section id="idfa61764beb7e401dbe83b7efd874b6dd"><enum>4.</enum><header>Regulation of water bead products not designed, intended, or marketed as toys, educational materials, art materials, or sensory tools</header><subsection id="idf65efeb143524997bcb3e9bf0ca41165"><enum>(a)</enum><header>In general</header><text>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—</text><paragraph id="id240fa7be299f4f50bf1c914e94752998"><enum>(1)</enum><text>may contain requirements on the colors of such water beads products, so as to deter use by children; and</text></paragraph><paragraph id="iddc8148783f934a1f9a944fbe9691c9aa"><enum>(2)</enum><text>shall contain warning label requirements—</text><subparagraph id="id782f83401acf419f9ce22ac5c6209374"><enum>(A)</enum><text>to be included, as practicable, on the packaging of such products;</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="id20dfac26e1ae433bbc8428b6511a81e0"><enum>(B)</enum><text>to be included on any literature distributed with the product, in print or in an online format; and</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="id6b6f6339f2c14593b16c21ffab1b2931"><enum>(C)</enum><text>that shall contain language describing the risk of injury and death if used by children or around children, including—</text><clause id="idf9ce43bdd9aa4d4ca6c9f290391fa33f"><enum>(i)</enum><text>the hazard of ingestion, orally or otherwise;</text></clause><clause id="id3eb41b7fd99a4494a160f6745acf1b81"><enum>(ii)</enum><text>the need for the consumer to keep the product out of an environment that contains children; and</text></clause><clause id="id6f378919ef2e42acac191b67ec7834c0"><enum>(iii)</enum><text>instructions for the consumer to seek medical care and advice should the consumer suspect ingestion by a child.</text></clause></subparagraph></paragraph></subsection><subsection id="id40686d3b92fb4d8f84469dede0c3e1eb"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Future rulemaking</header><text>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 ( <external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/15/2058">15 U.S.C. 2058</external-xref>).</text></subsection><subsection id="id7590d4a2d56e4d729ab5753d86175589"><enum>(c)</enum><header>Rule of construction</header><text>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.</text></subsection></section></legis-body></bill> 

