Portable Fuel Container Safety Act of 2019

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 806 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation AN ACT To require compliant flame mitigation devices to be used on portable fuel containers for flammable liquid fuels, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H806.RFS H806 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 HR 806 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Portable Fuel Con- 2 tainer Safety Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. PERFORMANCE STANDARDS TO PROTECT AGAINST 4 PORTABLE FUEL CONTAINER EXPLOSIONS 5 NEAR OPEN FLAMES OR OTHER IGNITION 6 SOURCES. 7 (a) RULE ON SAFETY PERFORMANCE STANDARDS 8 REQUIRED.—Not later than 30 months after the date of 9 enactment of this section, the Consumer Product Safety 10 Commission (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Commission’’) 11 shall promulgate a final rule to require flame mitigation 12 devices in portable fuel containers that impede the propa- 13 gation of flame into the container, except as provided in 14 subsection (c). 15 (b) RULEMAKING; CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY 16 STANDARD.—A rule under subsection (a)— 17 (1) shall be promulgated in accordance with 18 section 553 of title 5, United States Code; and 19 (2) shall be treated as a consumer product safe- 20 ty rule promulgated under section 9 of the Con- 21 sumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2058). 22 (c) EXCEPTION.— 23 (1) VOLUNTARY STANDARD.—Subsection (a) 24 shall not apply for a class of portable fuel containers 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H806.RFS H806 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 HR 806 RFS in the scope of this Act if the Commission deter- 1 mines at any time that— 2 (A) there is a voluntary standard for flame 3 mitigation devices for those containers that im- 4 pedes the propagation of flame into the con- 5 tainer; 6 (B) the voluntary standard described in 7 subparagraph (A) is or will be in effect not 8 later than 18 months after the date of enact- 9 ment of this Act; and 10 (C) the voluntary standard described in 11 subparagraph (A) is developed by ASTM Inter- 12 national or such other standard development or- 13 ganization that the Commission determines to 14 have met the intent of this Act. 15 (2) DETERMINATION REQUIRED TO BE PUB- 16 LISHED IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER.—Any deter- 17 mination made by the Commission under this sub- 18 section shall be published in the Federal Register. 19 (d) TREATMENT OF VOLUNTARY STANDARD FOR 20 PURPOSE OF ENFORCEMENT.—If the Commission deter- 21 mines that a voluntary standard meets the conditions de- 22 scribed in subsection (c), the requirements of such vol- 23 untary standard shall be treated as a consumer product 24 safety rule promulgated under section 9 of the Consumer 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H806.RFS H806 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 HR 806 RFS Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2058) beginning on the 1 date which is the later of— 2 (1) 180 days after publication of the Commis- 3 sion’s determination under subsection (c); or 4 (2) the effective date contained in the voluntary 5 standard. 6 (e) REVISION OF VOLUNTARY STANDARD.— 7 (1) NOTICE TO COMMISSION.—If the require- 8 ments of a voluntary standard that meet the condi- 9 tions of subsection (c) are subsequently revised, the 10 organization that revised the standard shall notify 11 the Commission after the final approval of the revi- 12 sion. 13 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE OF REVISION.—Not later 14 than 180 days after the Commission is notified of a 15 revised voluntary standard described in paragraph 16 (1) (or such later date as the Commission deter- 17 mines appropriate), such revised voluntary standard 18 shall become enforceable as a consumer product 19 safety rule promulgated under section 9 of the Con- 20 sumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2058), in 21 place of the prior version, unless within 90 days 22 after receiving the notice the Commission determines 23 that the revised voluntary standard does not meet 24 the requirements described in subsection (c). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H806.RFS H806 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 HR 806 RFS (f) FUTURE RULEMAKING.—The Commission, at any 1 time after publication of the consumer product safety rule 2 required by subsection (a), a voluntary standard is treated 3 as a consumer product safety rule under subsection (d), 4 or a revision is enforceable as a consumer product safety 5 rule under subsection (e) may initiate a rulemaking in ac- 6 cordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code, 7 to modify the requirements or to include any additional 8 provision that the Commission determines is reasonably 9 necessary to protect the public against flame jetting from 10 a portable fuel container. Any rule promulgated under this 11 subsection shall be treated as a consumer product safety 12 rule promulgated under section 9 of the Consumer Prod- 13 uct Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2058). 14 (g) ACTION REQUIRED.— 15 (1) EDUCATION CAMPAIGN.—Not later than 1 16 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 17 Commission shall undertake a campaign to educate 18 consumers about the dangers associated with using 19 or storing portable fuel containers for flammable liq- 20 uids near an open flame or any other source of igni- 21 tion. 22 (2) SUMMARY OF ACTIONS.—Not later than 2 23 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H806.RFS H806 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 HR 806 RFS Commission shall submit to Congress a summary of 1 actions taken by the Commission in such campaign. 2 (h) PORTABLE FUEL CONTAINER DEFINED.—In this 3 section, the term ‘‘portable fuel container’’ means any con- 4 tainer or vessel (including any spout, cap, and other clo- 5 sure mechanism or component of such container or vessel 6 or any retrofit or aftermarket spout or component in- 7 tended or reasonably anticipated to be for use with such 8 container)— 9 (1) intended for flammable liquid fuels with a 10 flash point less than 140 degrees Fahrenheit, includ- 11 ing gasoline, kerosene, diesel, ethanol, methanol, de- 12 natured alcohol, or biofuels; 13 (2) that is a consumer product with a capacity 14 of 5 gallons or less; and 15 (3) that the manufacturer knows or reasonably 16 should know is used by consumers for transporting, 17 storing, and dispensing flammable liquid fuels. 18 (i) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—This section may not 19 be interpreted to conflict with the Children’s Gasoline 20 Burn Prevention Act (Public Law 110–278; 122 Stat. 21 2602). 22 SEC. 3. CHILDREN’S GASOLINE BURN PREVENTION ACT. 23 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 2(c) of the Children’s 24 Gasoline Burn Prevention Act (15 U.S.C. 2056 note; Pub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H806.RFS H806 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 HR 806 RFS lic Law 110–278) is amended by inserting after ‘‘for use 1 by consumers’’ the following: ‘‘and any receptacle for gaso- 2 line, kerosene, or diesel fuel, including any spout, cap, and 3 other closure mechanism and component of such recep- 4 tacle or any retrofit or aftermarket spout or component 5 intended or reasonably anticipated to be for use with such 6 receptacle, produced or distributed for sale to or use by 7 consumers for transport of, or refueling of internal com- 8 bustion engines with, gasoline, kerosene, or diesel fuel’’. 9 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sub- 10 section (a) shall take effect 6 months after the date of 11 enactment of this section. 12 Passed the House of Representatives September 17, 2019. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H806.RFS H806 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS