Accurate Labels Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6044 To amend the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act to require that Federal and State mandated information declarations and labeling requirements applicable to the chemical composition of, and radiation emitted by, consumer products meet minimum scientific standards to deliver accurate and clear information, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 2, 2020 Mr. KINZINGER (for himself and Mr. SCHRADER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act to require that Federal and State mandated information declara- tions and labeling requirements applicable to the chem- ical composition of, and radiation emitted by, consumer products meet minimum scientific standards to deliver accurate and clear information, 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 ‘‘Accurate Labels Act’’. 4 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6044.IH H6044 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6044 IH SEC. 2. STANDARD FOR PRODUCT LABELING INFORMATION 1 REGARDING CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND 2 RADIATION. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Packaging and Labeling 4 Act (15 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.) is amended by adding at 5 the end the following: 6 ‘‘SEC. 14. STANDARD FOR PRODUCT LABELING INFORMA- 7 TION REGARDING CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 8 AND RADIATION. 9 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 10 ‘‘(1) BEST AVAILABLE SCIENCE.—The term 11 ‘best available science’ means science— 12 ‘‘(A) that is conducted in accordance with 13 sound and objective scientific practices; 14 ‘‘(B) the findings and underlying data of 15 which are— 16 ‘‘(i) reliable; and 17 ‘‘(ii) if available, peer-reviewed; and 18 ‘‘(C) that uses data that is collected by— 19 ‘‘(i) an accepted method; or 20 ‘‘(ii) the best available method if the 21 reliability of the method and the nature of 22 the decision to which the method applies 23 justifies the use of the data. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6044.IH H6044 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6044 IH ‘‘(2) CONSTITUENT.—The term ‘constituent’ 1 means any organic or inorganic chemical substance 2 of a particular molecular identity. 3 ‘‘(3) CONSUMER PRODUCT.—The term ‘con- 4 sumer product’ has the meaning given the term in 5 section 3(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act 6 (15 U.S.C. 2052(a)). 7 ‘‘(4) COVERED DECLARATION REQUIREMENT.— 8 The term ‘covered declaration requirement’ means a 9 legally enforceable requirement that— 10 ‘‘(A) requires a responsible person to dis- 11 play or communicate covered information to a 12 consumer; and 13 ‘‘(B) may be provided through— 14 ‘‘(i) a statement; 15 ‘‘(ii) a notice; 16 ‘‘(iii) a caution; 17 ‘‘(iv) a warning; 18 ‘‘(v) a symbol; 19 ‘‘(vi) a pictogram; 20 ‘‘(vii) a vignette; 21 ‘‘(viii) packaging information; 22 ‘‘(ix) an insert; 23 ‘‘(x) a sign; 24 ‘‘(xi) a pamphlet; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6044.IH H6044 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6044 IH ‘‘(xii) an instruction; 1 ‘‘(xiii) a list of ingredients; 2 ‘‘(xiv) ingredient declaration informa- 3 tion; 4 ‘‘(xv) a database; 5 ‘‘(xvi) an internet website; or 6 ‘‘(xvii) other media, including social 7 media. 8 ‘‘(5) COVERED INFORMATION.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘covered in- 10 formation’ means information that— 11 ‘‘(i) relates to— 12 ‘‘(I) a product constituent; or 13 ‘‘(II) radiation emitted by a cov- 14 ered product; and 15 ‘‘(ii) expressly or by implication con- 16 veys a claim regarding or characterizing 17 the relationship between any constituent or 18 radiation and— 19 ‘‘(I) a disease; 20 ‘‘(II) a toxicological endpoint; or 21 ‘‘(III) a health-related condition. 22 ‘‘(B) IMPLIED CLAIMS.—For the purposes 23 of subparagraph (A)(ii), an implied claim in- 24 cludes a situation in which an item described in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6044.IH H6044 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6044 IH clause (i), (v), (vi), (vii), or (xvii) of paragraph 1 (4)(B) suggests, within the context in which the 2 item is presented, that a relationship exists be- 3 tween the presence or level of a constituent in 4 a covered product, or the level of exposure to a 5 constituent, and— 6 ‘‘(i) a disease; 7 ‘‘(ii) a health-related condition; or 8 ‘‘(iii) the likelihood of a health-related 9 condition. 10 ‘‘(6) COVERED PRODUCT.—The term ‘covered 11 product’— 12 ‘‘(A) means— 13 ‘‘(i) a consumer product; or 14 ‘‘(ii) a consumer commodity; and 15 ‘‘(B) includes any packaging with respect 16 to a consumer product or consumer commodity 17 described in clause (i) and (ii) of subparagraph 18 (A), respectively. 19 ‘‘(7) DE MINIMIS RISK LEVEL.—The term ‘de 20 minimis risk level’ means— 21 ‘‘(A) a level of risk that is based on the 22 best available science and the weight of the evi- 23 dence; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6044.IH H6044 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6044 IH ‘‘(B) with respect to a constituent or radi- 1 ation that is a carcinogen, that the level of risk 2 described in subparagraph (A)— 3 ‘‘(i) is determined based on a safety 4 evaluation that includes non-linear mod- 5 eling approaches that are consistent with 6 available data and scientific understanding 7 of endogenous exposures and a mode of ac- 8 tion in lieu of, or, at a minimum, in addi- 9 tion to, a linear default method; 10 ‘‘(ii) takes into consideration factors 11 that include the weight of the evidence, 12 data quality and study reliability, the na- 13 ture and severity of any health effects in- 14 volved, the size of any sensitive population 15 that is at risk with respect to the con- 16 stituent or radiation, as applicable, and the 17 kind and degree of any relevant scientific 18 uncertainties; and 19 ‘‘(iii) after applying the principles de- 20 scribed in clauses (i) and (ii)— 21 ‘‘(I) if the likely operative cancer 22 mode of action with respect to the 23 constituent or radiation supports use 24 of a linear default model, is the level 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6044.IH H6044 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6044 IH of exposure to the constituent or radi- 1 ation every day for 70 years that 2 would result in a not greater than 1 3 in 100,000 chance of developing can- 4 cer for an individual who is exposed to 5 the constituent or radiation; and 6 ‘‘(II) if the likely operative can- 7 cer mode of action with respect to the 8 constituent or radiation is non-linear, 9 is the level of exposure to the con- 10 stituent or radiation every day for 70 11 years that would result in a not great- 12 er than 1 in 1,000 chance of devel- 13 oping cancer for an individual who is 14 exposed to the constituent or radi- 15 ation; and 16 ‘‘(C) with respect to a constituent or radi- 17 ation that is a systemic toxicant, including a re- 18 productive or developmental toxicant, the level 19 of exposure to the constituent or radiation, as 20 applicable, that would result in a not greater 21 than 1 in 1,000 chance of a significant adverse 22 health impact. 23 ‘‘(8) NATURALLY OCCURRING.—The term ‘nat- 24 urally occurring’ means, with respect to a con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6044.IH H6044 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6044 IH stituent and a covered product, that the constituent 1 occurs in— 2 ‘‘(A) any plant, animal, or microorganism, 3 or any raw material or a constituent derived 4 from a plant, animal, or microorganism, that 5 composes or is a part of the covered product; 6 and 7 ‘‘(B) the covered product because of— 8 ‘‘(i)(I) activity that is authorized pur- 9 suant to regulation or permitting; or 10 ‘‘(II) human activity; and 11 ‘‘(ii) any physical processing, prepara- 12 tion, or packaging of— 13 ‘‘(I) a plant, animal, or micro- 14 organism; or 15 ‘‘(II) any raw material or con- 16 stituent derived from an entity de- 17 scribed in subclause (I). 18 ‘‘(9) NON-FUNCTIONAL CONSTITUENT.—The 19 term ‘non-functional constituent’ means, with re- 20 spect to a covered product, any constituent— 21 ‘‘(A) that— 22 ‘‘(i) is an incidental component, at in- 23 significant levels, of an ingredient of the 24 covered product; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6044.IH H6044 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6044 IH ‘‘(ii) is, at insignificant levels, a 1 breakdown product of an ingredient of the 2 covered product; 3 ‘‘(iii) is a byproduct of the manufac- 4 turing process with respect to the covered 5 product; 6 ‘‘(iv) has not been intentionally added 7 as a separate substance during the manu- 8 facturing process with respect to the cov- 9 ered product; and 10 ‘‘(v) serves no technical or functional 11 effect with respect to the covered product; 12 and 13 ‘‘(B) the presence of which does not en- 14 danger public health. 15 ‘‘(10) PRODUCT CONSTITUENT.—The term 16 ‘product constituent’ means a chemical or chemical 17 substance that— 18 ‘‘(A) comprises a covered product (or a 19 component of, or material with respect to, a 20 covered product) in whole or part; and 21 ‘‘(B) is present in a covered product as— 22 ‘‘(i) part of a specified set of ingredi- 23 ents; or 24 ‘‘(ii) a non-functional constituent. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6044.IH H6044 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6044 IH ‘‘(11) RADIATION.— 1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘radiation’ 2 means— 3 ‘‘(i) electromagnetic radiation, includ- 4 ing the entire electromagnetic spectrum of 5 radiation of any wavelength; and 6 ‘‘(ii) radiation from naturally occur- 7 ring radioactive elements, including— 8 ‘‘(I) uranium, thorium, and po- 9 tassium; 10 ‘‘(II) any radioactive decay prod- 11 ucts of an element described in sub- 12 clause (I), trace concentrations of 13 which may occur in materials such as 14 stone or granite; and 15 ‘‘(III) any other naturally occur- 16 ring radioactive material. 17 ‘‘(B) ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM.—For 18 the purposes of subparagraph (A), the electro- 19 magnetic spectrum of radiation includes gamma 20 rays, x-rays, ultraviolet rays, visible rays, infra- 21 red rays, microwaves, radiowaves, and low fre- 22 quency radiation. 23 ‘‘(12) RESPONSIBLE PERSON.—The term ‘re- 24 sponsible person’ means— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6044.IH H6044 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6044 IH ‘‘(A) the manufacturer, distributor, re- 1 tailer, or packager of a covered product that is 2 subject to a covered declaration requirement; 3 and 4 ‘‘(B) the supplier of any constituent, com- 5 ponent, material, chemical or chemical sub- 6 stance, food, or packaging to an entity de- 7 scribed in subparagraph (A). 8 ‘‘(13) RISK-BASED.—The term ‘risk-based’ 9 means, with respect to a covered declaration require- 10 ment or a de minimis risk level, that the require- 11 ment or risk level, as applicable, is based on— 12 ‘‘(A) the likelihood and degree of injury; 13 ‘‘(B) the integration and assessment of in- 14 formation, including data, regarding hazards re- 15 sulting from specific exposures of 1 or more 16 constituents in, or radiation in or emitted from, 17 a covered product; and 18 ‘‘(C) the recognition of a mode of action 19 within a systematic compilation of scientific 20 data that, within a structured framework, sup- 21 ports a hypothesized, biologically plausible path- 22 way. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6044.IH H6044 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 6044 IH ‘‘(14) TRADE SECRET.—The term ‘trade secret’ 1 has the meaning given the term in section 1839 of 2 title 18, United States Code. 3 ‘‘(15) WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE.—The term 4 ‘weight of the evidence’ means a systematic review 5 method, applied in a manner that is suited to the 6 nature of evidential information or the decision to 7 which the method applies, that uses a pre-estab- 8 lished protocol to— 9 ‘‘(A) comprehensively, objectively, trans- 10 parently, and consistently identify and evaluate 11 each stream of evidential information, including 12 the strengths, limitations, and relevance of any 13 study that is the basis for that evidential infor- 14 mation; and 15 ‘‘(B) integrate evidence as necessary and 16 appropriate based on the strengths, limitations, 17 and relevance described in subparagraph (A). 18 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Unless specifically author- 20 ized by a Federal statute, no department or agency 21 of the Federal Government, State, political subdivi- 22 sion of a State, or territory or possession of the 23 United States may establish or maintain a covered 24 declaration requirement unless the covered declara- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6044.IH H6044 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 6044 IH tion requirement satisfies the standards under para- 1 graph (2). 2 ‘‘(2) STANDARDS FOR COVERED DECLARATION 3 REQUIREMENTS.— 4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A covered declaration 5 requirement shall satisfy each of the following: 6 ‘‘(i) The covered information to be 7 displayed or communicated— 8 ‘‘(I) is clear, accurate, and not 9 misleading or deceptive to consumers 10 with respect to the product to which 11 the covered declaration requirement 12 applies; and 13 ‘‘(II) is consistent with the re- 14 quirements under section 5 of the 15 Federal Trade Commission Act (15 16 U.S.C. 45). 17 ‘‘(ii) The covered information to be 18 displayed or communicated is— 19 ‘‘(I) risk-based; and 20 ‘‘(II) based on— 21 ‘‘(aa) the best available 22 science; and 23 ‘‘(bb) appropriate weight of 24 the evidence review. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6044.IH H6044 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 14 •HR 6044 IH ‘‘(iii) The covered declaration require- 1 ment exempts non-functional constituents. 2 ‘‘(iv) The covered declaration require- 3 ment exempts naturally occurring constitu- 4 ents. 5 ‘‘(v) The covered declaration require- 6 ment— 7 ‘‘ [Text truncated for display. 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