I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8928 To direct the Consumer Product Safety Commission to require portable gen- erators to meet certain standards relating to carbon monoxide, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 9, 2020 Mr. RUSH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To direct the Consumer Product Safety Commission to re- quire portable generators to meet certain standards relat- ing to carbon monoxide, 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 ‘‘Portable Generator 4 Safety Standard To Avoid Needless Deaths And Reduce 5 Disabilities Act’’ or the ‘‘Portable Generator Safety 6 STANDARD Act’’. 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:43 Dec 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8928.IH H8928 KHAMMond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8928 IH SEC. 2. CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY STANDARD FOR 1 PORTABLE GENERATORS. 2 (a) FINAL STANDARD FOR PORTABLE GENERA- 3 TORS.— 4 (1) FINAL STANDARD.—Not later than 1 year 5 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Con- 6 sumer Product Safety Commission shall promulgate, 7 in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United 8 States Code, a final consumer product safety stand- 9 ard for portable generators to protect consumers 10 from death or injury relating to the use of such gen- 11 erators. 12 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The final standard pro- 13 mulgated under paragraph (1) shall incorporate re- 14 quirements that are substantially the same as, or 15 more stringent than, each of the following: 16 (A) The requirements of the American Na- 17 tional Standard for Carbon Monoxide Emission 18 Rate of Portable Generators (ANSI/UL 2201), 19 or any related successor standard, that relate to 20 carbon monoxide concentration limits. 21 (B) The requirements of the American Na- 22 tional Standard for Safety and Performance of 23 Portable Generators (ANSI/PGMA G300– 24 2018), or any related successor standard, ex- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:37 Dec 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8928.IH H8928 KHAMMond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8928 IH cept where such requirements conflict with any 1 other requirement under this paragraph. 2 (C) A requirement that a portable gener- 3 ator shall include clear and conspicuous labeling 4 marking the direction of exhaust. 5 (D) A requirement that the cord of a port- 6 able generator may not be shorter than 30 feet 7 in length. 8 (E) A requirement that the weighted car- 9 bon monoxide emission rate of a portable gener- 10 ator may not exceed— 11 (i) for a portable generator powered 12 by a handheld or Class I spark-ignition en- 13 gine, a rate of 75 grams per hour; 14 (ii) for a portable generator powered 15 by a Class II spark-ignition engine with 16 one cylinder, a rate of 150 grams per hour; 17 and 18 (iii) for a portable generator powered 19 by a Class II spark-ignition engine with 20 two cylinders, a rate of 300 grams per 21 hour. 22 (F) A requirement relating to the shutoff 23 capability of a portable generator in an elevated 24 carbon monoxide environment. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:37 Dec 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8928.IH H8928 KHAMMond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8928 IH (G) Other shutoff requirements and test 1 specifications the Commission determines nec- 2 essary to protect consumers from the risk of in- 3 jury relating to the use of portable generators. 4 (3) COMPLIANCE DATES.— 5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 6 subparagraph (B), the Commission shall include 7 in the final standard promulgated under para- 8 graph (1) a compliance date that is not later 9 than 1 year after the date of such promulga- 10 tion, by which portable generators shall comply 11 with the final standard. 12 (B) HANDHELD AND CLASS I ENGINES.— 13 With respect to portable generators powered by 14 handheld or Class I spark-ignition engines, the 15 Commission may include a separate compliance 16 date that is not later than 18 months after the 17 date of the promulgation of the final standard. 18 (4) REVIEW AND REVISION OF STANDARD.—Be- 19 ginning 1 year after the date of the promulgation of 20 the final standard under paragraph (1) and not less 21 frequently than every 5 years thereafter, the Com- 22 mission shall review and revise such standard to en- 23 sure the highest level of safety feasible with respect 24 to portable generators. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:37 Dec 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8928.IH H8928 KHAMMond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8928 IH (5) TREATMENT OF STANDARD.—The final 1 standard promulgated under paragraph (1), includ- 2 ing any revision of such standard made pursuant to 3 paragraph (4), shall be treated as a consumer prod- 4 uct safety rule promulgated under section 9 of the 5 Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2058). 6 (b) INTERIM STANDARD FOR PORTABLE GENERA- 7 TORS.— 8 (1) INTERIM STANDARD.—Beginning on the 9 date that is 6 months after the date of the enact- 10 ment of this Act and ending on the date that the 11 final standard promulgated under subsection (a)(1) 12 goes into effect, it shall be unlawful for a person to 13 import into or distribute in commerce in the United 14 States a portable generator, unless— 15 (A) the portable generator complies with 16 the requirements of ANSI/UL 2201 or ANSI/ 17 PGMA G300–2018; and 18 (B) the engine of such generator shuts off 19 before the carbon monoxide concentration ex- 20 ceeds 600 parts per million by volume (ppm) or 21 a 10-minute rolling average of 275 ppm. 22 (2) VIOLATION.—Failure to comply with para- 23 graph (1) shall be treated as a violation of section 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:37 Dec 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8928.IH H8928 KHAMMond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8928 IH 19 of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 1 2068). 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:37 Dec 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8928.IH H8928 KHAMMond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS