[Congressional Bills 110th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 2474 Engrossed in House (EH)] 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2474 _______________________________________________________________________ AN ACT To provide for an increased maximum civil penalty for violations under the Consumer Product Safety Act. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Product Safety Civil Penalties Improvement Act''. SEC. 2. MAXIMUM CIVIL PENALTIES OF THE CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION. (a) Initial Increase in Maximum Civil Penalties.-- (1) Temporary increase.--Notwithstanding the dollar amounts specified for maximum civil penalties specified in section 20(a)(1) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2069(a)(1)), section 5(c)(1) of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, and section 5(e)(1) of the Flammable Fabrics Act (15 U.S.C. 1194(e)(1)), the maximum civil penalties for any violation specified in such sections shall be $5,000,000, beginning on the date that is the earlier of the date on which final regulations are issued under section 3(b) or 360 days after the date of enactment of this Act. (2) Effective date.--Paragraph (1) shall cease to be in effect on the date on which the amendments made by subsection (b)(1) shall take effect. (b) Permanent Increase in Maximum Civil Penalties.-- (1) Amendments.-- (A) Consumer product safety act.--Section 20(a)(1) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2069(a)(1)) is amended by striking ``$1,250,000'' both places it appears and inserting ``$10,000,000''. (B) Federal hazardous substances act.--Section 5(c)(1) of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (15 U.S.C. 1264(c)(1)) is amended by striking ``$1,250,000'' both places it appears and inserting ``$10,000,000''. (C) Flammable fabrics act.--Section 5(e)(1) of the Flammable Fabrics Act (15 U.S.C. 1194(e)(1)) is amended by striking ``$1,250,000'' and inserting ``$10,000,000''. (2) Effective date.--The amendments made by paragraph (1) shall take effect on the date that is 1 year after the earlier of-- (A) the date on which final regulations are issued pursuant to section 3(b); or (B) 360 days after the date of enactment of this Act. SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF PENALTIES BY THE CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION. (a) Factors to Be Considered.-- (1) Consumer product safety act.--Section 20(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2069(b)) is amended-- (A) by inserting ``the nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of the violation, including'' after ``shall consider''; (B) by striking ``products distributed, and'' and inserting ``products distributed,''; and (C) by inserting ``, and such other factors as appropriate'' before the period. (2) Federal hazardous substances act.--Section 5(c)(3) of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (15 U.S.C. 1264(c)(3)) is amended-- (A) by inserting ``the nature, circumstances, extent ,and gravity of the violation, including'' after ``shall consider''; (B) by striking ``substance distributed, and'' and inserting ``substance distributed,''; and (C) by inserting ``, and such other factors as appropriate'' before the period. (3) Flammable fabrics act.--Section 5(e)(2) of the Flammable Fabrics Act (15 U.S.C. 1194(e)(2)) is amended-- (A) by striking ``nature and number'' and inserting ``nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity''; (B) by striking ``absence of injury, and'' and inserting ``absence of injury,''; and (C) by inserting ``, and such other factors as appropriate'' before the period. (b) Regulations.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and in accordance with the procedures of section 553 of title 5, United States Code, the Commission shall issue a final regulation providing its interpretation of the penalty factors described in section 20(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2069(b)), section 5(c)(3) of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (15 U.S.C. 1264(c)(3)), and section 5(e)(2) of the Flammable Fabrics Act (15 U.S.C. 1194(e)(2)), as amended by subsection (a). Passed the House of Representatives October 9, 2007. Attest: Clerk. 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2474 _______________________________________________________________________ AN ACT To provide for an increased maximum civil penalty for violations under the Consumer Product Safety Act.