WIPPES Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1350 To require the Federal Trade Commission to issue regulations requiring certain products to have ‘‘Do Not Flush’’ labeling, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 27, 2023 Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. KING, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Ms. WARREN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To require the Federal Trade Commission to issue regula- tions requiring certain products to have ‘‘Do Not Flush’’ labeling, 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 ‘‘Wastewater Infrastruc- 4 ture Pollution Prevention and Environmental Safety Act’’ 5 or the ‘‘WIPPES Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. ‘‘DO NOT FLUSH’’ LABELING. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1350.IS S1350 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1350 IS (1) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 2 years 1 after the date of enactment of this section, the Fed- 2 eral Trade Commission shall issue regulations under 3 section 553 of title 5, United States Code, requiring 4 covered entities to label covered products clearly and 5 conspicuously with ‘‘Do Not Flush’’ label notices 6 and symbols in accordance with this section. 7 (2) CONSULTATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES.— 8 In developing the regulations required under para- 9 graph (1), the Federal Trade Commission may con- 10 sult with the Administrator of the Environmental 11 Protection Agency, the Commissioner of Food and 12 Drugs, and the Consumer Product Safety Commis- 13 sion as appropriate depending on the type of covered 14 product involved. 15 (b) REQUIREMENTS.— 16 (1) CYLINDRICAL PACKAGING.—In issuing reg- 17 ulations under subsection (a), the Commission shall 18 require a covered product sold in cylindrical or near- 19 cylindrical packaging, and intended to dispense indi- 20 vidual wipes, to have— 21 (A) the symbol and label notice on the 22 principal display panel in a location reasonably 23 visible to the user each time a wipe is dis- 24 pensed; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1350.IS S1350 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1350 IS (B) the symbol on the principal display 1 panel and the label notice, or a combination of 2 the label notice and symbol, on a flip lid in a 3 manner that covers at least 8 percent of the 4 surface area of the flip lid. 5 (2) FLEXIBLE FILM PACKAGING.—In issuing 6 regulations under subsection (a), the Commission 7 shall require a covered product sold in flexible film 8 packaging, and intended to dispense individual 9 wipes, to have— 10 (A) the symbol on the principal display 11 panel and, if the principal display panel is not 12 on the dispensing side of the packaging, on the 13 dispensing side panel; and 14 (B) the label notice on either the principal 15 display panel or the dispensing side panel, in a 16 prominent location reasonably visible to the 17 user each time a wipe is dispensed. 18 (3) RIGID PACKAGING.—In issuing regulations 19 under subsection (a), the Commission shall require 20 a covered product sold in a refillable tub or other 21 rigid packaging that may be reused by a customer, 22 and intended to dispense individual wipes, to have 23 the symbol and label notice on the principal display 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1350.IS S1350 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1350 IS panel in a prominent location reasonably visible to 1 the user each time a wipe is dispensed. 2 (4) PACKAGING NOT INTENDED TO DISPENSE 3 INDIVIDUAL WIPES.—In issuing regulations under 4 subsection (a), the Commission shall require a cov- 5 ered product sold in packaging that is not intended 6 to dispense individual wipes to have the symbol and 7 label notice on the principal display panel in a 8 prominent location reasonably visible to the user of 9 the covered product. 10 (5) BULK PACKAGING.— 11 (A) IN GENERAL.—In issuing regulations 12 under subsection (a), the Commission shall re- 13 quire a covered product sold in bulk at retail to 14 have labeling in compliance with such regula- 15 tions on both the outer packaging visible at re- 16 tail and the individual packaging contained 17 within the outer packaging. 18 (B) EXEMPTION.—The Commission shall 19 exempt from the requirements under subpara- 20 graph (A) the following: 21 (i) Individually packaged covered 22 products that are contained within outer 23 packaging, are not intended to dispense in- 24 dividual wipes, and have no retail labeling. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1350.IS S1350 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1350 IS (ii) Outer packaging that does not ob- 1 scure the symbol and label notice on indi- 2 vidually packaged covered products con- 3 tained within. 4 (6) PACKAGING OF COMBINED PRODUCTS.— 5 (A) OUTER PACKAGING.—In issuing regu- 6 lations under subsection (a), the Commission 7 shall exempt the outer packaging of a combined 8 product from the requirements of such regula- 9 tions. 10 (B) PACKAGES LESS THAN 3 BY 3 11 INCHES.—In issuing regulations under sub- 12 section (a), the Commission shall provide that, 13 with respect to a covered product in packaging 14 smaller than 3 inches by 3 inches (such as an 15 individually packaged wipe in tear-top pack- 16 aging) and sold as part of a combined product, 17 if a symbol and label notice are placed in a 18 prominent location reasonably visible to the 19 user of the covered product, such covered prod- 20 uct is considered to be labeled clearly and con- 21 spicuously in accordance with such regulations. 22 (c) REASONABLE VISIBILITY OF SYMBOL AND LABEL 23 NOTICE.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1350.IS S1350 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1350 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—In requiring the symbol and 1 label notice under this section, the Commission shall 2 require that— 3 (A) packaging seams or folds or other 4 packaging design elements do not obscure the 5 symbol or label notice; 6 (B) the symbol and label notice are each 7 equal in size to at least 2 percent of the surface 8 area of the principal display panel; and 9 (C) the symbol and label notice have high 10 contrast with the immediate background of the 11 packaging so that such symbol and label notice 12 may be seen and read by an ordinary individual 13 under customary conditions of purchase and 14 use. 15 (2) PROXIMITY OF SYMBOL AND LABEL NO- 16 TICE.—In requiring the symbol and label notice 17 under this section, the Commission may allow a 18 symbol and label notice on a principal display panel 19 to be placed adjacently or on separate areas of the 20 principal display panel. 21 (3) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1)(C) does not 22 apply to an embossed symbol or label notice on the 23 flip lid of a covered product sold in cylindrical or 24 near-cylindrical packaging. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1350.IS S1350 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1350 IS (d) ADDITIONAL WORDS OR PHRASES.—In issuing 1 regulations under subsection (a), the Commission shall 2 allow additional words or phrases on a covered product 3 that describe consequences associated with flushing or dis- 4 posing of such covered product, if such words or phrases 5 are consistent with the purposes of this section. 6 (e) REPRESENTATIONS OF FLUSHABILITY.—In 7 issuing regulations under subsection (a), the Commission 8 shall prohibit, with respect to a covered product, the rep- 9 resentation or marketing of flushable attributes, perform- 10 ance, or efficacy benefits. 11 (f) COMPLIANCE WITH OTHER REQUIREMENTS.— 12 (1) FIFRA REQUIREMENTS.— 13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 14 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 15 Commission and the Administrator of the Envi- 16 ronmental Protection Agency, acting jointly, 17 shall issue regulations that, with respect to a 18 covered product that contains a pesticide re- 19 quired to be registered under the Federal Insec- 20 ticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 21 U.S.C. 136 et seq.), include the following: 22 (i) Instructions describing how such a 23 covered product may comply with the re- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1350.IS S1350 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1350 IS quirements of such Act and the regulations 1 issued under subsection (a). 2 (ii) A requirement that, not later than 3 90 days after the date on which regula- 4 tions are issued under this subparagraph, 5 a covered entity shall submit for approval 6 by the Administrator of the Environmental 7 Protection Agency a product label compli- 8 ant with such instructions. 9 (B) ENFORCEMENT.—For purposes of sub- 10 section (h), a violation of a regulation issued 11 under subparagraph (A) shall be treated as a 12 violation of a regulation issued under subsection 13 (a). 14 (2) TYPE SIZE EXCEPTION.—If the label notice 15 type size otherwise required by the regulations 16 issued under subsection (a) for a covered product 17 would conflict with a labeling requirement under the 18 Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act 19 (7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.) or the Federal Hazardous 20 Substances Act (15 U.S.C. 1261 et seq.), the Com- 21 mission may, in issuing such regulations, provide for 22 a label notice type size requirement for the covered 23 product under this section that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1350.IS S1350 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 1350 IS (A) in the case of a covered product re- 1 quired to display a warning pursuant to the 2 Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide 3 Act regarding a pesticide in such covered prod- 4 uct, requires a type size for the label notice 5 under this paragraph that is equal to or greater 6 than the type size required for the ‘‘keep out of 7 reach of children’’ statement under such Act; 8 and 9 (B) in the case of a covered product re- 10 quired to contain first aid instructions pursuant 11 to the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, re- 12 quires a type size for the label notice under this 13 paragraph that is equal to or greater than the 14 type size required for such first aid instruc- 15 tions. 16 (g) APPLICABILITY.—The Commission shall provide 17 that the regulations issued under subsection (a) apply with 18 respect to covered products manufactured on or after the 19 date that is 90 days after the date on which such regula- 20 tions are issued. 21 (h) ENFORCEMENT BY FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS- 22 SION.— 23 (1) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRAC- 24 TICES.—A violation of a regulation promulgated 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1350.IS S1350 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 1350 IS under subsection (a) shall be treated as a violation 1 of a regulation under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the 2 Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 3 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or 4 practices. 5 (2) POWERS OF COMMISSION.—Except as pro- 6 vided in paragraph (3), the Commission shall en- 7 force the regulations promulgated under subsection 8 (a) in the same manner, by the same means, and 9 with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as 10 though all applicable terms and provisions of the 11 Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et 12 seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of this 13 section, and any person who violates such a regula- 14 tion shall be subject to the penalties and entitled to 15 the privileges and immunities provided in the Fed- 16 eral Trade Commission Act. 17 (3) PENALTY AMOUNTS.—Notwithstanding sec- 18 tion 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 19 U.S.C. 45), any civil penalties imposed under such 20 section with respect to a violation of a regulation 21 promulgated under subsection (a) of this section 22 shall be in accordance with the following: 23 (A) A fine of not more than $2,500 for 24 each day that a violation occurs. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1350.IS S1350 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 1350 IS (B) In no event may the total amount of 1 fines imposed for a single violation exceed 2 $100,000. 3 (i) PREEMPTION OF STATE LAWS.—No State or po- 4 litical subdivision of a State may directly or indirectly es- 5 tablish or continue in effect under any authority restric- 6 tions with respect to the ‘‘Do Not Flush’’ labeling of cov- 7 ered products that are not identical to the restrictions 8 under this section. 9 (j) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 10 (1) COMBINED PRODUCT.—The term ‘‘com- 11 bined product’’ means two or more products sold in 12 shared retail packaging, of which— 13 (A) at least one of the products is a cov- 14 ered product; and 15 (B) at least one of the products is another 16 consumer product intended to be used in com- 17 bination with such covered product. 18 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 19 means the Federal Trade Commission. 20 (3) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered en- 21 tity’’ means a manufacturer, wholesaler, supplier, or 22 retailer that is responsible for the labeling or retail 23 packaging of a covered product that is sold or of- 24 fered for sale in the United States. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1350.IS S1350 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 1350 IS (4) COVERED PRODUCT.— 1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered 2 product’’ means a premoistened, nonwoven dis- 3 posable wipe sold or offered for retail sale— 4 (i) that is marketed as a baby wipe or 5 diapering wipe; or 6 (ii) that is a household or personal 7 care wipe (including wipes described in 8 subparagraph (B)) that— 9 (I) is composed entirely, or in 10 part, of petrochemical-derived fibers; 11 and 12 (II) has significant potential to 13 be flushed. 14 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The wipes described in 15 this subparagraph are— 16 (i) antibacterial wipes and disinfecting 17 wipes; 18 (ii) wipes intended for general purpose 19 cleaning or bathroom cleaning, including 20 toilet cleaning and hard surface cleaning; 21 and 22 (iii) wipes intended for personal care 23 use on the body, including h [Text truncated for display. 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