53-7-403 - Test method and performance standard.
53-7-403. Test method and performance standard.
(1) Except as provided in Subsection (8), no cigarettes may be sold or offered for sale inthis state or offered for sale or sold to persons located in this state unless:
(a) the cigarettes have been tested in accordance with the test method required by thissection;
(b) the cigarettes meet the performance standard specified in this section;
(c) a written certification has been filed by the manufacturer with the state fire marshal inaccordance with Section 53-7-404; and
(d) the cigarettes have been marked in accordance with Section 53-7-405.
(2) (a) Testing of cigarettes shall be conducted in accordance with the American Societyof Testing and Materials ("ASTM") standard E2187-04, "Standard Test Method for Measuringthe Ignition Strength of Cigarettes."
(b) Testing shall be conducted on 10 layers of filter paper.
(c) No more than 25% of the cigarettes tested in a test trial in accordance with thissection shall exhibit full-length burns. Forty replicate tests shall comprise a complete test trialfor each cigarette tested.
(d) The performance standard required by this section shall only be applied to a completetest trial.
(e) Written certifications shall be based upon testing conducted by a laboratory that hasbeen accredited pursuant to standard ISO/IEC 17025 of the International Organization forStandardization ("ISO"), or other comparable accreditation standard required by the state firemarshal.
(f) Laboratories conducting testing in accordance with this section shall implement aquality control and quality assurance program that includes a procedure that will determine therepeatability of the testing results. The repeatability value shall be no greater than 0.19.
(g) This section does not require additional testing if cigarettes are tested consistent withthis part for any other purpose.
(h) Testing performed or sponsored by the state fire marshal to determine a cigarette'scompliance with the performance standard required shall be conducted in accordance with thissection.
(3) Each cigarette listed in a certification submitted pursuant to Section 53-7-404 thatuses lowered permeability bands in the cigarette paper to achieve compliance with theperformance standard set forth in this section shall have at least two nominally identical bands onthe paper surrounding the tobacco column. At least one complete band shall be located at least15 millimeters from the lighting end of the cigarette. For cigarettes on which the bands arepositioned by design, there shall be at least two bands fully located at least 15 millimeters fromthe lighting end and 10 millimeters from the filter end of the tobacco column, or 10 millimetersfrom the labeled end of the tobacco column for nonfiltered cigarettes.
(4) A manufacturer of a cigarette that the state fire marshal determines cannot be testedin accordance with the test method prescribed in Subsection (2)(a) shall propose a test methodand performance standard for the cigarette to the state fire marshal. Upon approval of theproposed test method and a determination by the state fire marshal that the performance standardproposed by the manufacturer is equivalent to the performance standard prescribed in Subsection(2)(c), the manufacturer may employ such test method and performance standard to certify suchcigarette pursuant to Section 53-7-404. If the state fire marshal determines that another state has
enacted reduced cigarette ignition propensity standards that include a test method andperformance standard that are the same as those contained in this part, and the state fire marshalfinds that the officials responsible for implementing those requirements have approved theproposed alternative test method and performance standard for a particular cigarette proposed bya manufacturer as meeting the fire safety standards of that state's law or regulation under a legalprovision comparable to this section, then the state fire marshal shall authorize that manufacturerto employ the alternative test method and performance standard to certify that cigarette for sale inthis state, unless the state fire marshal demonstrates a reasonable basis why the alternative testshould not be accepted under this part. All other applicable requirements of this section shallapply to the manufacturer.
(5) Each manufacturer shall maintain copies of the reports of all tests conducted on allcigarettes offered for sale for a period of three years, and shall make copies of these reportsavailable to the state fire marshal and the attorney general upon written request. Anymanufacturer who fails to make copies of these reports available within 60 days of receiving awritten request shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $10,000 for each day after thesixtieth day that the manufacturer does not make the copies available.
(6) The state fire marshal may adopt a subsequent ASTM Standard Test Method forMeasuring the Ignition Strength of Cigarettes upon a finding that the subsequent method does notresult in a change in the percentage of full-length burns exhibited by any tested cigarette whencompared to the percentage of full-length burns the same cigarette would exhibit when tested inaccordance with ASTM Standard E2187-04 and the performance standard in Subsection (2)(c).
(7) The state fire marshal shall review the effectiveness of this section and report everythree years to the Legislature the state fire marshal's findings and, if appropriate,recommendations for legislation to improve the effectiveness of this section. The report andlegislative recommendations shall be submitted no later than November 1, 2011 and everyNovember 1 of each three-year period thereafter.
(8) The requirements of Subsection (1) shall not prohibit wholesale or retail dealers fromselling their existing inventory of cigarettes on or after July 1, 2008 if the wholesale or retaildealer can establish that state tax stamps were affixed to the cigarettes prior to July 1, 2008, andif the wholesale or retail dealer can establish that the inventory was purchased prior to July 1,2008 in comparable quantity to the inventory purchased during the same period of the prior year.
(9) This part shall be implemented in accordance with the implementation and substanceof the New York Fire Safety Standards for Cigarettes.
Enacted by Chapter 362, 2007 General Session