I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2020 To amend the Controlled Substances Act to require a person that possesses or intends to possess a tableting machine or encapsulating machine to obtain registration from the Attorney General, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 2, 2019 Mr. KUSTOFF of Tennessee (for himself and Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En- ergy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Controlled Substances Act to require a person that possesses or intends to possess a tableting machine or encapsulating machine to obtain registration from the Attorney General, 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Substance Tableting 4 and Encapsulating Enforcement and Registration Act’’ or 5 the ‘‘STEER Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2020.IH H2020 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2020 IH SEC. 2. REGISTRATION FOR TABLETING AND ENCAP- 1 SULATING MACHINES. 2 (a) PERSONS REQUIRED TO REGISTER.—Section 3 302 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 822) is 4 amended— 5 (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the 6 following: 7 ‘‘(3)(A) Each person who possesses a tableting ma- 8 chine or encapsulating machine shall obtain from the At- 9 torney General a registration for each such machine in ac- 10 cordance with regulations promulgated by the Attorney 11 General. 12 ‘‘(B) Such person shall update the information sub- 13 mitted to the Attorney General for such registration as 14 necessary to ensure the accuracy of such information.’’; 15 and 16 (2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘or list I 17 chemical’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘, list 18 I chemical, tableting machine, or encapsulating ma- 19 chine’’. 20 (b) REGISTRATION PROCESS.—Section 303 of the 21 Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 823) is amended 22 by adding at the end the following: 23 ‘‘(l) REGISTRATION OF TABLETING AND ENCAP- 24 SULATING MACHINES.—The Attorney General shall reg- 25 ister each tableting machine or encapsulating machine for 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2020.IH H2020 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2020 IH which an application is submitted under section 1 302(a)(3)(A) unless the Attorney General determines that 2 such registration is inconsistent with the public interest.’’. 3 (c) DEFINITIONS.—Section 102 of the Controlled 4 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802) is amended by adding at 5 the end the following: 6 ‘‘(57) The term ‘encapsulating machine’ means 7 equipment— 8 ‘‘(A) that is designed to fill with a controlled 9 substance, or a controlled substance analogue, a 10 shell or capsule for human or animal consumption 11 and that— 12 ‘‘(i) allows the operator of such equipment 13 to fill more than one shell or capsule without 14 human intervention between the filling of each 15 such shell or capsule; or 16 ‘‘(ii) may be attached to a container that 17 modifies such equipment such that the operator 18 may fill more than one shell or capsule without 19 human intervention between the filling of each 20 shell or capsule; or 21 ‘‘(B) that has been used to fill with a controlled 22 substance, or a controlled substance analogue, a 23 shell or capsule for human or animal consumption. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2020.IH H2020 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2020 IH ‘‘(58) The term ‘tableting machine’ means equip- 1 ment— 2 ‘‘(A) that is designed to compact or mold a con- 3 trolled substance, or a controlled substance ana- 4 logue, to produce a coherent, solid tablet for human 5 or animal consumption and that— 6 ‘‘(i) allows the operator to produce more 7 than one such tablet without human interven- 8 tion between the production of each such tablet; 9 or 10 ‘‘(ii) may be attached to a container that 11 modifies such equipment such that the operator 12 may produce more than one such tablet without 13 human intervention between the production of 14 each such tablet; or 15 ‘‘(B) that has been used to compact or mold a 16 controlled substance, or a controlled substance ana- 17 logue, to produce a coherent, solid tablet for human 18 or animal consumption.’’. 19 (d) PENALTY.—Section 402(a) of the Controlled Sub- 20 stances Act (21 U.S.C. 842(a)) is amended— 21 (1) in paragraph (15), by striking ‘‘or’’ after 22 ‘‘section 310(e)(1)(B)(v);’’; 23 (2) in paragraph (16), by striking the period 24 and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2020.IH H2020 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2020 IH (3) by adding at the end the following: 1 ‘‘(17) to possess a tableting machine or encap- 2 sulating machine, in or affecting interstate com- 3 merce, without the registration required by this 4 title.’’. 5 (e) APPLICATION.—This section and the amendments 6 made by this section shall apply beginning at the end of 7 the one-year period following the date of the enactment 8 of this Act. 9 SEC. 3. INFORMATION CAMPAIGN. 10 The Attorney General shall conduct a campaign to 11 inform persons required to register under the amendments 12 made by section 2 of such requirement. 13 SEC. 4. REPORT. 14 Not later than 2 years after the date of the enact- 15 ment of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to 16 the Congress a report containing— 17 (1) a description and evaluation of the efforts 18 of the Drug Enforcement Administration under the 19 amendments made by section 2 to reduce the use of 20 unregistered tableting machines and encapsulating 21 machines in the illegal manufacture of controlled 22 substances; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2020.IH H2020 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2020 IH (2) with respect to tableting machines and en- 1 capsulating machines, or disassembled parts of such 2 machines— 3 (A) the number seized by the Drug En- 4 forcement Administration after the date of the 5 enactment of this Act; and 6 (B) the number imported and exported 7 after the date of the enactment of this Act; and 8 (3) recommendations with respect to changes to 9 Federal law to support the Drug Enforcement Ad- 10 ministration in such efforts. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2020.IH H2020 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS