SF 3543

as introduced - 81st Legislature (1999 - 2000) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to fire safety; requiring the state fire 
  1.3             marshal to adopt rules for fire retardant standards 
  1.4             for cigarettes; proposing coding for new law in 
  1.5             Minnesota Statutes, chapter 299F. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [299F.90] [CIGARETTE FIRE SAFETY.] 
  1.8      Subdivision 1.  [STANDARDS.] (a) All cigarettes sold, 
  1.9   offered for sale, or manufactured in this state must comply with 
  1.10  fire retardant standards based on rules adopted by the 
  1.11  commissioner of public safety through the division of the state 
  1.12  fire marshal.  The standards must: 
  1.13     (1) ensure that cigarettes meet a fire retardant 
  1.14  performance standard that limits the risk that a cigarette will 
  1.15  ignite upholstered furniture or mattresses; and 
  1.16     (2) employ the "Cigarette Extinction Test Method" as 
  1.17  published in Special Publication 851 of the National Institute 
  1.18  of Standards and Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce. 
  1.19     (b) Any person engaged in the manufacture of cigarettes 
  1.20  shall submit written certification to the state fire marshal 
  1.21  before any sale in this state that their products meet the 
  1.22  standards required under paragraph (a). 
  1.23     Subd. 2.  [PENALTIES.] (a) Any person who manufactures, 
  1.24  offers for sale, or sells cigarettes that do not comply with the 
  1.25  standards required by subdivision 1 may be fined no more than 
  2.1   $10,000 for each violation. 
  2.2      (b) The penalties provided by this section may be imposed 
  2.3   in a civil action in the name of the state brought in the 
  2.4   district court of the county in which the violation is alleged 
  2.5   to have occurred or the district court where the commissioner 
  2.6   has an office.  Fines imposed under this section must be paid to 
  2.7   the commissioner of public safety and deposited in the general 
  2.8   fund. 
  2.9      Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  2.10     This act is effective July 1, 2001, unless federal fire 
  2.11  retardant standards for cigarettes are adopted.  If federal fire 
  2.12  retardant standards are adopted before July 1, 2001, this act 
  2.13  does not take effect.