Description:
S. 1640 would require the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to issue a final rule to require portable fuel containers to include a device that would stop flames from entering the container (called flame mitigation devices). The CPSC also would be required to undertake a campaign to educate consumers about the dangers associated with portable fuel containers for flammable liquids and to submit a report to the Congress summarizing its education campaign activities. On the basis of information from the CPSC, CBO estimates that implementing S. 1640 would cost about $3 million over the 2020-2024 period; that spending would be subject to appropriation of the necessary amounts. On average, the equivalent of about four full-time employees would be required over that period to complete the final rule and education campaign, CBO estimates. The requirement that portable fuel containers include flame mitigation devices would be a private-sector mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). The act would permit CPSC to adopt a voluntary industry standard as its rule to meet this requirement. Based on industry information about the widespread use of flame mitigation devices in portable fuel containers, CBO estimates that the cost of the mandate would fall below the annual threshold for private-sector mandates established in UMRA ($164 million in 2019, adjusted annually for inflation). S. 1640 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined in UMRA.
