(a) All testing by or on behalf of a holder of a cigarette manufacturer's license or by or on behalf of the Office of the State Fire Marshal to determine a cigarette's compliance with the performance standard specified in this section shall be conducted in accordance with the following requirements:

(1) Testing of cigarettes shall be conducted in accordance with the American Society of Testing and Materials or “ASTM” standard E2187-04, “Standard Test Method for Measuring the Ignition Strength of Cigarettes” or a subsequent ASTM Standard Test Method for Measuring the Ignition Strength of Cigarettes upon a finding by the State Fire Marshal 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 ASTM standard E2187-04 and the performance standard in subdivision (3) of this subsection;

(2) Testing shall be conducted on ten layers of filter paper;

(3) Not more than twenty-five per cent of the cigarettes tested in a test trial in accordance with this section shall exhibit full-length burns. Forty replicate tests shall comprise a complete test trial for each cigarette tested;

(4) The performance standard required by this section shall only be applied to a complete test trial;

(5) Written certifications shall be based upon testing conducted by a laboratory that has been accredited pursuant to standard ISO or IEC 17025 of the International Organization for Standardization or such other comparable accreditation standard as the Office of the State Fire Marshal may require by regulation;

(6) Laboratories conducting testing in accordance with this section 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. Such program ensures that the testing repeatability remains within the required repeatability value set forth in this subdivision for all test trials used to certify cigarettes in accordance with this section and section 29-419; and

(7) No additional testing under this section is required if cigarettes are tested consistent with this section for any other purpose.

(b) Each cigarette that uses lowered permeability bands in the cigarette paper to achieve compliance with the performance standard set forth in this section shall have not less than two nominally identical bands on the paper surrounding the tobacco column. At least one complete band shall be located not less than fifteen millimeters from the lighting end of the cigarette. For cigarettes on which the bands are positioned by design, there shall be not less than 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.

(c) A holder of a cigarette manufacturer's license that manufactures a cigarette that the State Fire Marshal determines cannot be tested in accordance with the test method prescribed in subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of this section may propose an alternate test method and performance standard for the cigarette to the State Fire Marshal. Upon approval and a determination by the State Fire Marshal that the performance standard proposed by the holder is equivalent to the performance standard prescribed in subdivision (3) of subsection (a) of this section, the holder may employ such test method and performance standard to certify such cigarette pursuant to section 29-419. 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 this section, 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 holder as meeting the reduced cigarette ignition propensity standards of that state's law or regulations under a legal provision comparable to this section, then the State Fire Marshal shall authorize that holder to employ the alternative test method and performance standard to certify that cigarette for sale in this state, unless the State Fire Marshal has a reasonable basis for deciding that the alternative test should not be accepted under said sections. All other applicable requirements of this section shall apply to the holder.

(d) Each holder of a cigarette manufacturer's license shall maintain copies of the reports of all tests conducted on all cigarettes with respect to which such holder has submitted written certification in accordance with the provisions of section 29-419. Such holder shall provide copies of the reports available to the Office of the State Fire Marshal and to the office of the Attorney General upon written request. Any holder that fails to provide such copies not later than 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 holder does not make such copies available.

(e) The State Fire Marshal shall review the effectiveness of the implementation of this section and shall submit a report to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public safety, in accordance with section 11-4a, containing the State Fire Marshal's findings and, if appropriate, recommendations for legislation to improve the effectiveness of this section. Such report shall be submitted not later than June 30, 2011, and every three years thereafter.

(P.A. 07-180, S. 3.)

History: P.A. 07-180 effective July 1, 2008.