The U.S. House of Representatives on Aug. 1 passed H.R. 2715, a bill to amend the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008, which regulates the amount of lead in children's products.
The bill was passed under suspension of the rules by a vote of 421-2. The Senate followed the House’s lead and unanimously passed the bill, which on Aug. 5 was presented to President Obama. The President is expected to sign the measure.
Under the current law, lead in children's goods is limited to 300 parts per million (ppm). The legislation attempts to provide some needed relief before the August 14 deadline, which will tighten the limit to 100 ppm in August, if no new legislation is enacted. The revised lead limit refers to the total lead limit of a consumer product; the lead limit for paint products remains unchanged. Provisions of H.R. 2715 include the following:
Lead Limit
-Includes an exclusion from lead content limits based on functional purpose
-Includes categorical exclusions for ATVs, dirt bikes, bicycles, and printed materials
-Removes the lead limits for “used children’s products”
=Applies prospective limits from the point of manufacture3rd Party Testing
-Requires the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to seek public comment on ways to reduce burden and cost, specifically requesting information on redundancy with existing testing standards
-Includes testing exceptions for small batch manufacturersPhthalates Limit
-Includes an inaccessibility exclusion for phthalatesDatabase
-Requires CPSC to stay publication for five additional days when the commission receives notice of materially inaccurate information
-Requires CPSC to attempt to get the model/serial number or a photo of a product in questionSource paint.org
The bill was passed under suspension of the rules by a vote of 421-2. The Senate followed the House’s lead and unanimously passed the bill, which on Aug. 5 was presented to President Obama. The President is expected to sign the measure.
Under the current law, lead in children's goods is limited to 300 parts per million (ppm). The legislation attempts to provide some needed relief before the August 14 deadline, which will tighten the limit to 100 ppm in August, if no new legislation is enacted. The revised lead limit refers to the total lead limit of a consumer product; the lead limit for paint products remains unchanged. Provisions of H.R. 2715 include the following:
Lead Limit
-Includes an exclusion from lead content limits based on functional purpose
-Includes categorical exclusions for ATVs, dirt bikes, bicycles, and printed materials
-Removes the lead limits for “used children’s products”
=Applies prospective limits from the point of manufacture3rd Party Testing
-Requires the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to seek public comment on ways to reduce burden and cost, specifically requesting information on redundancy with existing testing standards
-Includes testing exceptions for small batch manufacturersPhthalates Limit
-Includes an inaccessibility exclusion for phthalatesDatabase
-Requires CPSC to stay publication for five additional days when the commission receives notice of materially inaccurate information
-Requires CPSC to attempt to get the model/serial number or a photo of a product in questionSource paint.org