§ 69-503 — Cigarettes; testing; requirements; performance standard; manufacturer; duties; civil penalty; State Fire Marshal; powers and duties

(1) Except as provided in subsection (7)
of this section, no cigarettes may be sold or offered for sale in this state
or offered for sale or sold to persons located in this state unless the cigarettes
have been tested in accordance with the following test method and meet the
performance standard specified in this section, a written certification has
been filed by the manufacturer with the State Fire Marshal in accordance with
section 69-504 , and the cigarettes have been marked in accordance with section 69-505 . Testing shall be as follows:
(a) Testing of cigarettes shall be conducted in accordance with the
American Society of Testing and Materials Standard E2187-04, Standard Test
Method for Measuring the Ignition Strength of Cigarettes;
(b) Testing shall be conducted on ten layers of filter paper;
(c) No more than twenty-five percent of the cigarettes tested in a test
trial in accordance with this subsection shall exhibit full-length burns.
Forty replicate tests shall comprise a complete test trial for each cigarette
tested;
(d) The performance standard required by this subsection shall only
be applied to a complete test trial;
(e) Written certifications shall be based upon testing conducted by
a laboratory that has been accredited pursuant to standard ISO/IEC 17025 of
the International Organization for Standardization or other comparable accreditation
standard required by the State Fire Marshal;
(f) Laboratories conducting testing in accordance with this subsection
shall implement a quality control and quality assurance program that includes
a procedure that will determine the repeatability of the testing results.
The repeatability value shall be no greater than 0.19;
(g) This subsection does not require additional testing if cigarettes
are tested consistent with the Reduced Cigarette Ignition Propensity Act for
any other purpose; and
(h) Testing performed or sponsored by the State Fire Marshal to determine
a cigarette's compliance with the performance standard required by this section
shall be conducted in accordance with this subsection.
(2) Each cigarette listed in a certification submitted pursuant to section 69-504 that uses lowered permeability bands in the cigarette paper to achieve
compliance with the performance standard set forth in this section shall have
at least two nominally identical bands on the paper surrounding the tobacco
column. At least one complete band shall be located at least fifteen millimeters
from the lighting end of the cigarette. For cigarettes on which the bands
are positioned by design, there shall be at least two bands fully located
at least fifteen millimeters from the lighting end and ten millimeters from
the filter end of the tobacco column, or ten millimeters from the labeled
end of the tobacco column for nonfiltered cigarettes.
(3) A manufacturer of a cigarette that the State Fire Marshal determines
cannot be tested in accordance with the test method prescribed in subdivision
(1)(a) of this section shall propose a test method and performance standard
for the cigarette to the State Fire Marshal. If the State Fire Marshal determines
that another state has enacted reduced cigarette ignition propensity standards
that include a test method and performance standard that are the same as those
contained in the Reduced Cigarette Ignition Propensity Act and the State Fire
Marshal finds that the officials responsible for implementing those requirements
have approved the proposed alternative test method and performance standard
for a particular cigarette proposed by a manufacturer as meeting the fire
safety standards of that state's law or regulation under a legal provision
comparable to this section, then the State Fire Marshal shall authorize that
manufacturer to employ the alternative test method and performance standard
to certify that cigarette for sale in this state, unless the State Fire Marshal
demonstrates a reasonable basis why the alternative test should not be accepted
under the act. All other applicable requirements of this section shall apply
to the manufacturer.
(4) Each manufacturer shall maintain copies of the reports of all tests
conducted on all cigarettes offered for sale for a period of three years and
shall make copies of these reports available to the State Fire Marshal and
the Attorney General upon written request. Any manufacturer who fails to make
copies of these reports available within sixty days after receiving a written
request shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed ten thousand dollars
for each day after the sixtieth day that the manufacturer does not make such
copies available.
(5) The State Fire Marshal may adopt a subsequent American Society of
Testing and Materials Standard Test Method for Measuring the Ignition Strength
of Cigarettes upon a finding that such subsequent method does not result in
a change in the percentage of full-length burns exhibited by any tested cigarette
when compared to the percentage of full-length burns the same cigarette would
exhibit when tested in accordance with the American Society of Testing and
Materials Standard E2187-04 and the performance standard in subdivision (1)(c)
of this section.
(6) The State Fire Marshal shall review the effectiveness of this section
and report every three 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 and legislative recommendations shall be submitted electronically no later than
November 15 each three-year period.
(7) The requirements of subsection (1) of this section shall not prohibit
wholesale or retail dealers from selling their existing inventory of cigarettes
on or after January 1, 2010, if the wholesale or retail dealer can establish
that state tax stamps were affixed to the cigarettes prior to such date and
if the wholesale or retail dealer can establish that the inventory was purchased
prior to such date in comparable quantity to the inventory purchased during
the same period of the prior year.
(8) The Reduced Cigarette Ignition Propensity Act shall be implemented
in accordance with the implementation and substance of the New York Fire Safety
Standards for Cigarettes as such standards existed on January 1, 2009.

Legislative History

Source: Laws 2009, LB198, § 3; Laws 2012, LB782, § 98.