Whenever in the judgment of the Commission such action will promote the objectives of this chapter by avoiding or resolving uncertainty as to its application, the Commission may by regulation declare to be a hazardous substance, for the purposes of this chapter, any substance or mixture of substances, which it finds meets the requirements of section 1261(f)(1)(A) of this title.
Proceedings for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of regulations under this subsection and the admissibility of the record of such proceedings in other proceedings, shall be governed by the provisions of subsections (f) through (i) of this section.
If the Commission finds that the requirements of section 1261(p)(1) of this title are not adequate for the protection of the public health and safety in view of the special hazard presented by any particular hazardous substance, it may by regulation establish such reasonable variations or additional label requirements as it finds necessary for the protection of the public health and safety; and any such hazardous substance intended, or packaged in a form suitable, for use in the household or by children, which fails to bear a label in accordance with such regulations shall be deemed to be a misbranded hazardous substance.
If the Commission finds that, because of the size of the package involved or because of the minor hazard presented by the substance contained therein, or for other good and sufficient reasons, full compliance with the labeling requirements otherwise applicable under this chapter is impracticable or is not necessary for the adequate protection of the public health and safety, the Commission shall promulgate regulations exempting such substance from these requirements to the extent it determines to be consistent with adequate protection of the public health and safety.
The Commission may exempt from the requirements established by or pursuant to this chapter any hazardous substance or container of a hazardous substance with respect to which it finds that adequate requirements satisfying the purposes of this chapter have been established by or pursuant to any other Act of Congress.
A proceeding for the promulgation of a regulation under section 1261(q)(1) of this title classifying an article or substance as a banned hazardous substance or a regulation under subsection (e) of this section may be commenced by the publication in the Federal Register of an advance notice of proposed rulemaking which shall-
The Commission shall transmit such notice within 10 calendar days to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives.
the Commission shall terminate any proceeding to promulgate a regulation under section 1261(q)(1) of this title or subsection (e) of this section, respecting such risk of injury and shall publish in the Federal Register a notice which includes the determination of the Commission and which notifies the public that the Commission will rely on the voluntary standard to eliminate or reduce the risk of injury, except that the Commission shall terminate any such proceeding and rely on a voluntary standard only if such voluntary standard is in existence. For purposes of this section, a voluntary standard shall be considered to be in existence when it is finally approved by the organization or other person which developed such standard, irrespective of the effective date of the standard. Before relying upon any voluntary standard, the Commission shall afford interested persons (including manufacturers, consumers, and consumer organizations) a reasonable opportunity to submit written comments regarding such standard. The Commission shall consider such comments in making any determination regarding reliance on the involved voluntary standard under this subsection.
No regulation under section 1261(q)(1) of this title classifying an article or substance as a banned hazardous substance and no regulation under subsection (e) of this section may be proposed by the Commission unless the Commission publishes in the Federal Register the text of the proposed rule, including any alternatives, which the Commission proposes to promulgate, together with a preliminary regulatory analysis containing-
The Commission shall transmit such notice within 10 calendar days to the appropriate Congressional committees. Nothing in this subsection shall preclude any person from submitting an existing standard or portion of a standard as a proposed regulation.
The Commission shall publish its final regulatory analysis with the regulation.
The Commission shall grant, in whole or in part, or deny any petition under section 553(e) of title 5 requesting the Commission to initiate a rulemaking, within a reasonable time after the date on which such petition is filed. The Commission shall state the reasons for granting or denying such petition. The Commission may not deny any such petition on the basis of a voluntary standard unless the voluntary standard is in existence at the time of the denial of the petition, the Commission has determined that the voluntary standard is likely to result in the elimination or adequate reduction of the risk of injury identified in the petition, and it is likely that there will be substantial compliance with the standard.
1So in original. Probably should be "it".
2So in original. Probably should be "Commission's".
15 U.S.C. § 1262
EDITORIAL NOTES
AMENDMENTS2008-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 110-314, §204(b)(1), amended subsec. (a) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (a) authorized the Commission to declare hazardous substances by regulation and detailed proceedings for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of such regulations.Subsecs. (b) to (e). Pub. L. 110-314, §204(b)(4)(D), substituted "it" for "he" and "its" for "his" wherever appearing in reference to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. Pub. L. 110-314, §204(b)(4)(B), substituted "Commission" for "Secretary" wherever appearing. Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 110-314, §204(b)(3)(A), substituted "may be commenced" for "shall be commenced" in introductory provisions.Subsec. (g)(1). Pub. L. 110-314, §204(b)(3)(B), substituted "identified in a notice" for "identified in the notice". Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 110-314, §204(b)(3)(C), (D), in introductory provisions, substituted "unless the" for "unless, not less than 60 days after publication of the notice required in subsection (f) of this section, the" and in concluding provisions, substituted "appropriate Congressional committees. Nothing in this subsection shall preclude any person from submitting an existing standard or portion of a standard as a proposed regulation." for "Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives."1990-Subsec. (g)(2). Pub. L. 101-608, §108(b), struck out period at end and inserted ",except that the Commission shall terminate any such proceeding and rely on a voluntary standard only if such voluntary standard is in existence. For purposes of this section, a voluntary standard shall be considered to be in existence when it is finally approved by the organization or other person which developed such standard, irrespective of the effective date of the standard. Before relying upon any voluntary standard, the Commission shall afford interested persons (including manufacturers, consumers, and consumer organizations) a reasonable opportunity to submit written comments regarding such standard. The Commission shall consider such comments in making any determination regarding reliance on the involved voluntary standard under this subsection."Subsec. (g)(3). Pub. L. 101-608, §107(b), added par. (3).Subsec. (j). Pub. L. 101-608, §110(b), added subsec. (j). 1981-Subsecs. (f) to (i). Pub. L. 97-35 added subsecs. (f) to (i). 1969-Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 91-113 added subsec. (e). 1966-Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 89-756, §2(d), substituted "any such hazardous substance intended, or packaged in a form suitable, for use in the household or by children, which fails to bear a label in accordance with such regulations shall be deemed to be a misbranded hazardous substance" for "any container of such hazardous substance, intended or suitable for household use, which fails to bear a label in accordance with such regulations shall be deemed to be a misbranded package of a hazardous substance". Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 89-756, §2(e), inserted "hazardous substance or" before "container of a hazardous substance".
STATUTORY NOTES AND RELATED SUBSIDIARIES
CHANGE OF NAMECommittee on Energy and Commerce of House of Representatives treated as referring to Committee on Commerce of House of Representatives by section 1(a) of Pub. L. 104-14 set out as a note preceding section 21 of Title 2, The Congress. Committee on Commerce of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Energy and Commerce of House of Representatives, and jurisdiction over matters relating to securities and exchanges and insurance generally transferred to Committee on Financial Services of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 5, One Hundred Seventh Congress, Jan. 3, 2001.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1981 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 97-35 applicable with respect to regulations under this chapter and chapters 25 and 47 of this title for which notices of proposed rulemaking are issued after Aug. 14, 1981, see section 1215 of Pub. L. 97-35 set out as a note under section 2052 of this title.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1969 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 91-113 effective on sixtieth day following Nov. 6, 1969, see section 5 of Pub. L. 91-113 set out as a note under section 1261 of this title.
NATIONAL COMMISSION ON PRODUCT SAFETY Pub. L. 90-146, Nov. 20, 1967, 81 Stat. 466, as amended by Pub. L. 91-51, Aug. 4, 1969, 83 Stat. 86, established a National Commission on Product Safety to study and investigate the scope and adequacy of measures to protect consumers against unreasonable risk of injuries which may be caused by hazardous household products and required the Commission to transmit its final report to the President and to the Congress by June 30, 1970. Ninety days after submission of its final report the Commission ceased to exist by the express terms of Pub. L. 90-146.