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House File 69

Partial Bill History

Bill Text

PAG LIN
  1  1    Section 1.  Section 237A.12, subsection 1, Code 2003, is
  1  2 amended by adding the following new paragraph:
  1  3    NEW PARAGRAPH.  i.  Requirements relating to unsafe
  1  4 children's products pursuant to section 237A.31.
  1  5    Sec. 2.  NEW SECTION.  237A.31  CHILDREN'S PRODUCT SAFETY.
  1  6    1.  Beginning January 1, 2004, a child care facility shall
  1  7 not use or have on the premises an unsafe children's product.
  1  8 This prohibition does not apply to an antique or collectible
  1  9 children's product if the product is not used by or accessible
  1 10 to any child in the child care facility.
  1 11    2.  The department shall, no later than September 1, 2003,
  1 12 send a notice to all licensed or registered child care
  1 13 facilities informing the facilities of the provisions of this
  1 14 section.  The department shall send notices to child care
  1 15 facilities on a periodic basis of the provisions of this
  1 16 section and of the most recent listing of unsafe children's
  1 17 products maintained by the office of the attorney general
  1 18 pursuant to section 714.26.
  1 19    3.  A licensed or registered child care facility shall
  1 20 conspicuously post on the premises the most recently updated
  1 21 copy of the list of unsafe children's products provided by the
  1 22 department.
  1 23    4.  a.  A licensed or registered child care facility shall
  1 24 maintain a file of all notices sent by the department
  1 25 regarding unsafe children's products, and shall make the file
  1 26 available to facility personnel and to the parents of children
  1 27 attending the facility.
  1 28    b.  A licensed or registered child care facility shall make
  1 29 the file available to the department as part of any
  1 30 inspection, investigation, or licensing or registration
  1 31 process, and the facility shall certify in writing during any
  1 32 of the processes, on a form provided by the department, that
  1 33 the facility has reviewed each of the notices and that no
  1 34 unsafe children's products are on the premises of the
  1 35 facility.  The department shall create and provide to all
  2  1 licensed or registered child care facilities a certification
  2  2 form to be used under this section.
  2  3    5.  The department may suspend or revoke the license or
  2  4 certificate of registration of a child care facility or may
  2  5 reduce the license of a child care facility to a provisional
  2  6 license in accordance with section 237A.8, if the child care
  2  7 facility does not comply with the requirements of this
  2  8 section.
  2  9    6.  For the purposes of this section, "child", "children's
  2 10 product", and "unsafe children's product" mean the same as
  2 11 defined in section 714.26.
  2 12    Sec. 3.  NEW SECTION.  714.26  CHILDREN'S PRODUCT SAFETY –
  2 13 PENALTIES.
  2 14    1.  As used in this section, unless the context otherwise
  2 15 requires:
  2 16    a.  "Child" means an unmarried person who is under eighteen
  2 17 years of age.
  2 18    b.  "Children's product" means a product, including but not
  2 19 limited to a full-size baby crib, non-full-size baby crib,
  2 20 toddler bed, bed, car seat, chair, high chair, booster chair,
  2 21 hook-on chair, bath seat, gate or other enclosure for
  2 22 confining a child, play yard, stationary activity center,
  2 23 carrier, stroller, walker, swing, or toy or play equipment,
  2 24 that meets all of the following criteria:
  2 25    (1)  The product is designed or intended for the care of,
  2 26 or use by, children under six years of age or is designed or
  2 27 intended for the care of, or use by, both children under six
  2 28 years of age and children six years of age or older.
  2 29    (2)  The product is designed or intended to come into
  2 30 contact with the child while the product is used.
  2 31    "Children's product" does not include a product that may be
  2 32 used by or for the care of a child under six years of age, but
  2 33 the product is designed or intended for use by the general
  2 34 population or segments of the general population and not
  2 35 solely or primarily for use by or for the care of a child, or
  3  1 a product that is a medication, drug, or food or is intended
  3  2 to be ingested.
  3  3    c.  "Commercial user" means a person who deals in
  3  4 children's products or who holds the person out as having
  3  5 knowledge or skill relating to children's products, or a
  3  6 person who is in the business of remanufacturing,
  3  7 retrofitting, selling, leasing, subletting, or otherwise
  3  8 placing in the stream of commerce children's products.
  3  9    d.  "Consumer product safety commission" means the consumer
  3 10 product safety commission created by the federal Consumer
  3 11 Product Safety Act, Pub. L. No. 92-573, 86 Stat. 1210.
  3 12    e.  "Crib" means a bed or containment designed to
  3 13 accommodate an infant.
  3 14    f.  "Full-size baby crib" means a full-size baby crib as
  3 15 defined in 16 C.F.R. } 1508.1(a).
  3 16    g.  "Infant" means a person less than thirty-five inches
  3 17 tall and less than three years of age.
  3 18    h.  "Non-full-size baby crib" means a non-full-size baby
  3 19 crib as defined in 16 C.F.R. } 1509.2(b).
  3 20    i.  "Unsafe children's product" means any of the following:
  3 21    (1)  A children's product that does not conform to all
  3 22 federal laws and regulations for the specific children's
  3 23 product.
  3 24    (2)  The children's product has been recalled for any
  3 25 reason by an agency of the federal government or the product's
  3 26 manufacturer, distributor, or importer and the recall has not
  3 27 been rescinded.
  3 28    (3)  An agency of the federal government has issued a
  3 29 warning that the specific children's product's intended use
  3 30 constitutes a safety hazard and the warning has not been
  3 31 rescinded.
  3 32    (4)  With regard to a children's product that is a crib,
  3 33 "unsafe children's product" means a crib that does not conform
  3 34 to the standards endorsed or established by the consumer
  3 35 product safety commission.
  4  1    2.  a.  A commercial user shall not remanufacture,
  4  2 retrofit, sell, resell, contract to sell or resell, lease,
  4  3 sublet, or otherwise place in the stream of commerce, an
  4  4 unsafe children's product.
  4  5    b.  Notwithstanding paragraph "a", an unsafe children's
  4  6 product may be retrofitted if the retrofit has been approved
  4  7 by the federal agency issuing the recall or warning or the
  4  8 federal agency responsible for approving the retrofit if that
  4  9 federal agency is not the same federal agency issuing the
  4 10 recall or warning.  A retrofitted children's product may be
  4 11 sold if the children's product is accompanied at the time of
  4 12 the sale by a notice declaring that the product is safe to
  4 13 use.  The notice shall include all of the following:
  4 14    (1)  A description of the original problem that made the
  4 15 recalled product an unsafe children's product.
  4 16    (2)  A description of the retrofit that explains how the
  4 17 original problem was eliminated and declaring that it is now
  4 18 safe to use.
  4 19    (3)  The name and address of the commercial user who
  4 20 accomplished the retrofit certifying that the work was done
  4 21 along with the name and model number of the product
  4 22 retrofitted.  The commercial user shall be responsible for
  4 23 ensuring that the notice is provided with the retrofitted
  4 24 product at the time of the sale.
  4 25    c.  A retrofit is not required to comply with paragraph
  4 26 "b", subparagraphs (1) through (3), if either of the following
  4 27 apply:
  4 28    (1)  The retrofit is for a children's product that requires
  4 29 assembly by the consumer, the approved retrofit is provided
  4 30 with the product by the commercial user, and the retrofit is
  4 31 accompanied at the time of sale by instructions explaining how
  4 32 to apply the retrofit.
  4 33    (2)  The seller of a previously unsold children's product
  4 34 accomplishes the repair prior to the sale and the repair is
  4 35 approved or recommended by a federal agency.
  5  1    3.  a.  The office of the attorney general shall create,
  5  2 maintain, and update a comprehensive list of unsafe children's
  5  3 products no later than January 1, 2004.  The list shall be
  5  4 available to the public at no cost and the list shall be
  5  5 available on the office of the attorney general's internet
  5  6 site.
  5  7    4.  A commercial user who willfully and knowingly violates
  5  8 this section commits an unlawful practice and shall be subject
  5  9 to the provisions of section 714.16 relating to an unlawful
  5 10 practice.
  5 11    5.  A commercial user is not in violation of this section
  5 12 if the specific unsafe children's product in question was not
  5 13 included in the department listing thirty days prior to the
  5 14 product being placed in the stream of commerce.
  5 15    6.  Remedies available under this section are in addition
  5 16 to any other remedies or procedures that may be available to
  5 17 an aggrieved party.  
  5 18                           EXPLANATION
  5 19    This bill relates to unsafe children's products.  The bill
  5 20 provides that beginning January 1, 2004, a licensed or
  5 21 registered child care facility is prohibited from using or
  5 22 having on its premises an unsafe children's product.  No later
  5 23 than September 1, 2003, the department of human services is to
  5 24 send a notice of the prohibition to each child care facility
  5 25 and is to send periodic notices that include information
  5 26 regarding the prohibition and the most recently updated list
  5 27 of unsafe children's products maintained by the office of the
  5 28 attorney general to each child care facility.  Each child care
  5 29 facility is to maintain a file of all notices received and is
  5 30 to conspicuously post on the premises the most recently
  5 31 updated copy of the list of unsafe children's products, is to
  5 32 maintain a file of all notices sent by the department
  5 33 regarding unsafe children's products, is to make the file
  5 34 available to facility personnel and to the parents of children
  5 35 attending the facility, is to make the file available to the
  6  1 department as part of any inspection, investigation, licensing
  6  2 or registration process, and is to certify in writing during
  6  3 any of the processes, on a form provided by the department,
  6  4 that the facility has reviewed each of the notices and that no
  6  5 unsafe children's products are on the premises of the
  6  6 facility.  The bill directs the department of human services
  6  7 to create and provide to all child care facilities the
  6  8 certification form to be used.  A child care facility that
  6  9 does not comply with the requirements related to children's
  6 10 product safety is subject to suspension or revocation of
  6 11 licensure or certificate of registration or to reduction of a
  6 12 license to a provisional license.
  6 13    The bill also prohibits a commercial user as defined in the
  6 14 bill from remanufacturing, retrofitting, selling, reselling,
  6 15 contracting to sell or resell, leasing, subletting, or
  6 16 otherwise placing in the stream of commerce, an unsafe
  6 17 children's product.  The bill provides exceptions for certain
  6 18 retrofitting of products.  The bill provides definitions of
  6 19 "child", "children's product", "commercial user", "consumer
  6 20 product safety commission", "crib", "full-size baby crib",
  6 21 "infant", "non-full-size baby crib", and "unsafe children's
  6 22 product".  The bill directs the office of the attorney general
  6 23 to create, maintain, and update a comprehensive list of unsafe
  6 24 children's products no later than January 1, 2004.  The list
  6 25 is to be available to the public at no cost and is also to be
  6 26 available on the office of the attorney general's internet
  6 27 site.  The bill provides that a commercial user who willfully
  6 28 and knowingly violates the bill commits an unlawful practice
  6 29 and is subject to the provisions of the consumer frauds law,
  6 30 which provides for civil penalties and injunctive relief.  The
  6 31 bill also provides that remedies available under the bill are
  6 32 in addition to any other remedies or procedures that may be
  6 33 available to an aggrieved party.  A commercial user is not in
  6 34 violation of the bill if the specific unsafe children's
  6 35 product in question was not included in the attorney general's
  7  1 listing 30 days prior to the product being placed in the
  7  2 stream of commerce.  
  7  3 LSB 2012HH 80
  7  4 pf/sh/8
     

Text: HF00068                           Text: HF00070
Text: HF00000 - HF00099                 Text: HF Index
Bills and Amendments: General Index     Bill History: General Index

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