ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 349
(By Senators Laird, Snyder, Nohe, Miller and Klempa)
____________
[Passed March 9, 2011; in effect ninety days from passage.]
____________
AN ACT to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new article, designated §16-43-1 and
§16-43-2, all relating to requiring the inclusion of a
bittering agent in coolant and antifreeze; limiting liability;
providing exceptions; and providing a criminal penalty.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new article, designated §16-43-1 and §16-43-2,
all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 43. ENGINE COOLANT AND ANTIFREEZE.
§16-43-1. Definitions.
For the purposes of this article:
(1) "Bittering agent" means an aversive agent that renders
engine coolant or antifreeze unpalatable; and
(2) "Engine coolant" or "antifreeze" means:
(A) A substance or preparation, regardless of its origin used as the cooling medium in the cooling system of an internal
combustion engine
to provide protection against freezing,
overheating and corrosion of the cooling system; and
(B) A product that is labeled to indicate or imply that it
will prevent freezing or overheating of the cooling system of an
internal combustion engine.
§16-43-2. Engine coolant and antifreeze; bittering agent required;
penalty; exceptions.
(a) Any engine coolant or antifreeze manufactured in this
state after January 1, 2012, or sold after that date within West
Virginia that contains more than ten percent ethylene glycol shall
include not less than thirty parts per million and not more than
fifty parts per million denatonium benzoate as a bittering agent in
order to render the coolant or antifreeze unpalatable.
(b) A manufacturer, processor, distributor, recycler or seller
of an engine coolant or antifreeze that is required to contain the
bittering agent set forth in subsection (a) of this section is not
liable to any person for any personal injury, death, property
damage, damage to the environment or economic loss that results
from the inclusion of denatonium benzoate in any engine coolant or
antifreeze, if the inclusion of denatonium benzoate is present in
concentrations as mandated by subsection (a) of this section. The
limitation on liability does not apply to a particular liability to
the extent that the cause of the liability is unrelated to the
inclusion of denatonium benzoate in any engine coolant or antifreeze.
(c) The provisions of this section do not apply to:
(1) The sale of a motor vehicle that contains engine coolant
or antifreeze;
(2) A wholesale container of engine coolant or antifreeze
designed to contain fifty-five gallons or more of engine coolant or
antifreeze; and
(3) Engine coolant or antifreeze reformulated through on site
recycling.
(d) Any person who violates any provision of this section is
guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not more than $100.
Each day of violation is a separate offense.