15 U.S.C. § 2074 — Private remedies

Page 1755 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 2074 (b) State Attorney General enforcement (1) Right of action Except as provided in paragraph (5), the at- torney general of a State, or other authorized State officer, alleging a violation of section 2068(a)(1), (2), (5), (6), (7), (9), or (12) of this title that affects or may affect such State or its residents may bring an action on behalf of the residents of the State in any United States district court for the district in which the de- fendant is found or transacts business to ob- tain appropriate injunctive relief. (2) Initiation of civil action (A) Notice to Commission required in all cases A State shall provide written notice to the Commission regarding any civil action under paragraph (1). Except when proceeding under subparagraph (C), the State shall provide the notice at least 30 days before the date on which the State intends to initiate the civil action by filing a complaint. (B) Filing of complaint A State may initiate the civil action by filing a complaint— (i) at any time after the date on which the 30-day period ends; or (ii) earlier than such date if the Commis- sion consents to an earlier initiation of the civil action by the State. (C) Actions involving substantial product hazard Notwithstanding subparagraph (B), a State may initiate a civil action under paragraph (1) by filing a complaint immediately after notifying the Commission of the State’s de- termination that such immediate action is necessary to protect the residents of the State from a substantial product hazard (as defined in section 2064(a) of this title). (D) Form of notice The written notice required by this para- graph may be provided by electronic mail, facsimile machine, or any other means of communication accepted by the Commis- sion. (E) Copy of complaint A State shall provide a copy of the com- plaint to the Commission upon filing the complaint or as soon as possible thereafter. (3) Intervention by the Commission The Commission may intervene in such civil action and upon intervening— (A) be heard on all matters arising in such civil action; and (B) file petitions for appeal of a decision in such civil action. (4) Construction Nothing in this section, section 1264(d) of this title, section 1477 of this title, or section 1194(a) of this title shall be construed— (A) to prevent the attorney general of a State, or other authorized State officer, from exercising the powers conferred on the attorney general, or other authorized State officer, by the laws of such State; or (B) to prohibit the attorney general of a State, or other authorized State officer, from proceeding in State or Federal court on the basis of an alleged violation of any civil or criminal statute of that State. (5) Limitation No separate suit shall be brought under this subsection (other than a suit alleging a viola- tion of paragraph (1) or (2) of section 2068(a) of this title) if, at the time the suit is brought, the same alleged violation is the subject of a pending civil or criminal action by the United States under this chapter. (6) Restrictions on private counsel If private counsel is retained to assist in any civil action under paragraph (1), the private counsel retained to assist the State may not— (A) share with participants in other pri- vate civil actions that arise out of the same operative facts any information that is— (i) subject to attorney-client or work product privilege; and (ii) was obtained during discovery in the action under paragraph (1); or (B) use any information that is subject to attorney-client or work product privilege that was obtained while assisting the State in the action under paragraph (1) in any other private civil actions that arise out of the same operative facts. (Pub. L. 92–573, § 24, Oct. 27, 1972, 86 Stat. 1226; Pub. L. 94–284, § 10(d), May 11, 1976, 90 Stat. 507; Pub. L. 97–35, title XII, § 1211(a), (h)(3)(C), Aug. 13, 1981, 95 Stat. 721, 723; Pub. L. 110–314, title II, § 218(a), Aug. 14, 2008, 122 Stat. 3060.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2008—Pub. L. 110–314 substituted ‘‘Additional’’ for ‘‘Private’’ in section catchline, designated existing pro- visions as subsec. (a), inserted subsec. heading, and added subsec. (b). 1981—Pub. L. 97–35 substituted ‘‘Any interested per- son (including any individual or nonprofit, business, or other entity)’’ for ‘‘Any interested person’’, and ‘‘sec- tion 2060(f) of this title’’ for ‘‘2059(e)(4) of this title’’. 1976—Pub. L. 94–284 substituted provision permitting the court to award costs in the interest of justice for the provision which permitted costs to be demanded as part of the complaint and the court to award them to the prevailing party. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1981 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 97–35 effective Aug. 13, 1981, see section 1215 of Pub. L. 97–35, set out as a note under section 2052 of this title. EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective on the sixtieth day following Oct. 27, 1972, see section 34 of Pub. L. 92–573, set out as a note under section 2051 of this title. § 2074. Private remedies (a) Liability at common law or under State stat- ute not relieved by compliance Compliance with consumer product safety rules or other rules or orders under this chapter Page 1756 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 2075 shall not relieve any person from liability at common law or under State statutory law to any other person. (b) Evidence of Commission’s inaction inadmis- sible in actions relating to consumer prod- ucts The failure of the Commission to take any ac- tion or commence a proceeding with respect to the safety of a consumer product shall not be admissible in evidence in litigation at common law or under State statutory law relating to such consumer product. (c) Public information Subject to sections 2055(a)(2) and 2055(b) of this title but notwithstanding section 2055(a)(1) of this title, (1) any accident or investigation re- port made under this chapter by an officer or employee of the Commission shall be made available to the public in a manner which will not identify any injured person or any person treating him, without the consent of the person so identified, and (2) all reports on research projects, demonstration projects, and other re- lated activities shall be public information. (Pub. L. 92–573, § 25, Oct. 27, 1972, 86 Stat. 1227.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective on the sixtieth day following Oct. 27, 1972, see section 34 of Pub. L. 92–573, set out as a note under section 2051 of this title. PREEMPTION The provisions of this section establishing the extent to which the Consumer Product Safety Act [15 U.S.C. 2051 et seq.] preempts, limits, or otherwise affects any other Federal, State, or local law, any rule, procedure, or regulation, or any cause of action under State or local law not to be expanded or contracted in scope, or limited, modified or extended in application, by any rule or regulation under the Consumer Product Safety Act, or by reference in any preamble, statement of pol- icy, executive branch statements, or other matter asso- ciated with the publication of any such rule or regula- tion, see section 231 of Pub. L. 110–314, set out as a note under section 2051 of this title. § 2075. State standards (a) State compliance to Federal standards Whenever a consumer product safety standard under this chapter is in effect and applies to a risk of injury associated with a consumer prod- uct, no State or political subdivision of a State shall have any authority either to establish or to continue in effect any provision of a safety standard or regulation which prescribes any re- quirements as to the performance, composition, contents, design, finish, construction, pack- aging, or labeling of such product which are de- signed to deal with the same risk of injury asso- ciated with such consumer product, unless such requirements are identical to the requirements of the Federal standard. (b) Consumer product safety requirements which impose performance standards more strin- gent than Federal standards Subsection (a) of this section does not prevent the Federal Government or the government of any State or political subdivision of a State from establishing or continuing in effect a safe- ty requirement applicable to a consumer prod- uct for its own use which requirement is de- signed to protect against a risk of injury associ- ated with the product and which is not identical to the consumer product safety standard appli- cable to the product under this chapter if the Federal, State, or political subdivision require- ment provides a higher degree of protection from such risk of injury than the standard appli- cable under this chapter. (c) Exemptions Upon application of a State or political sub- division of a State, the Commission may by rule, after notice and opportunity for oral pres- entation of views, exempt from the provisions of subsection (a) (under such conditions as it may impose in the rule) any proposed safety standard or regulation which is described in such applica- tion and which is designed to protect against a risk of injury associated with a consumer prod- uct subject to a consumer product safety stand- ard under this chapter if the State or political subdivision standard or regulation— (1) provides a significantly higher degree of protection from such risk of injury than the consumer product safety standard under this chapter, and (2) does not unduly burden interstate com- merce. In determining the burden, if any, of a State or political subdivision standard or regulation on interstate commerce, the Commission shall con- sider and make appropriate (as determined by the Commission in its discretion) findings on the technological and economic feasibility of complying with such standard or regulation, the cost of complying with such standard or regula- tion, the geographic distribution of the con- sumer product to which the standard or regula- tion would apply, the probability of other States or political subdivisions applying for an exemp- tion under this subsection for a similar standard or regulation, and the need for a national, uni- form standard under this chapter for such con- sumer product. (Pub. L. 92–573, § 26, Oct. 27, 1972, 86 Stat. 1227; Pub. L. 94–284, § 17(d), May 11, 1976, 90 Stat. 514.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1976—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 94–284 substituted provision that a standard provide a significantly higher degree of protection from the risk of injury for the provision that the standard impose a higher level of performance. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 94–284 substituted requirement that a State standard provide a significantly higher de- gree of protection from the risk of injury than the standard under this chapter for the requirement that the State standard impose a higher level of perform- ance, eliminated the requirement of a compelling local condition, and inserted the requirement that the Com- mission make specific findings in determining the bur- den on interstate commerce. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective on the sixtieth day following Oct. 27, 1972, see section 34 of Pub. L. 92–573, set out as a note under section 2051 of this title.