S. 4792

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4792 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4792

To prohibit civil liability actions from being brought or continued 
against manufacturers and sellers of stone slab products for damages, 
injunctive, or other relief resulting from the misuse of their products 
by others.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

June 16, 2026

Mrs. Moody introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To prohibit civil liability actions from being brought or continued 
against manufacturers and sellers of stone slab products for damages, 
injunctive, or other relief resulting from the misuse of their products 
by others.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Protection of Lawful Commerce in 
Stone Slab Products Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES.

(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Civil actions have been commenced against manufacturers 
and sellers of certain stone slab products, including those 
used for kitchen countertops and similar applications. These 
products are not inherently dangerous and upon their 
manufacture and entry into the stream of commerce, they do not 
pose an inherent risk of injury to human beings.
(2) These civil actions seek money damages from 
manufacturers and sellers by persons who claim personal 
injuries as a result of exposure to silica dust produced during 
the alteration of such products in the course of their 
employment by third-party fabricators. The manufacturers and 
sellers of these products have no control over these 
fabricators.
(3) The alteration of such products is heavily regulated by 
Federal and State workplace safety laws and regulations, 
including section 1910.1053 of title 29, Code of Federal 
Regulations, and California Labor Code Section 5204, which 
require a variety of safety measures that fabricators must 
employ in order to mitigate the risk of potential injuries 
posed by silica dust. However, some fabricators fail to comply 
with these requirements and thereby expose their employees and 
others to the potential harms that these laws and regulations 
are intended to prevent.
(4) Businesses located or conducting business in the United 
States that are engaged in interstate and foreign commerce 
through the lawful design, manufacture, marketing, 
distribution, importation, or sale to third-parties of certain 
stone slab products are not responsible, and should not be held 
liable, for the alleged injuries caused by those who alter the 
product in a way that is unsafe or violates Federal and State 
laws and regulations.
(5) The possibility of imposing liability on an entire 
industry for alleged injuries that are solely caused by others 
is an abuse of the legal system, erodes public confidence in 
the laws of the United States, invites the disassembly and 
destabilization of other industries and economic sectors 
lawfully competing in the free enterprise system of the United 
States, and constitutes an unreasonable burden on interstate 
and foreign commerce of the United States.
(6) A proliferation of frivolous lawsuits against 
manufacturers and sellers of stone slab products for alleged 
workplace injuries caused by the actions of third-parties 
unrelated to and beyond the control of these manufacturers and 
sellers may further limit access to courts by straining the 
resources of the legal system and depriving deserving parties 
of their legitimate rights to relief.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are as follows:
(1) To prohibit civil actions against manufacturers and 
sellers of stone slab products for injuries caused by exposure 
to respirable silica or other substances arising from or 
relating to the fabrication of such products by third-parties.
(2) To preserve the access of consumers to a supply of 
stone slab products, to protect manufacturers and sellers from 
frivolous civil actions alleging liability for such injuries, 
and to preserve a lawful industry that employs tens of 
thousands of people of the United States in several States.
(3) To prevent the use of such civil actions to impose 
unreasonable burdens on interstate and foreign commerce.
(4) To exercise congressional power under the Full Faith 
and Credit Clause of section 1 of article IV of the 
Constitution of the United States.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON BRINGING OF QUALIFIED CIVIL ACTIONS IN FEDERAL 
OR STATE COURT.

(a) In General.--A qualified civil action may not be brought in any 
Federal or State court.
(b) Dismissal of Pending Actions.--A qualified civil action that is 
pending on the date of enactment of this Act shall be dismissed, as 
soon as is practicable after the date of enactment of this Act, by the 
court in which the action is pending.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:
(1) Fabrication.--The term ``fabrication'' means the 
process of altering a qualified product by cutting, drilling, 
shaping, polishing, grinding, or other similar means.
(2) Qualified civil action.--The term ``qualified civil 
action''--
(A) means a civil action brought against a 
manufacturer or seller of a qualified product for harm 
suffered from silicosis or another condition relating 
to or associated with silicosis resulting or arising 
from the occupational exposure to crystalline silica or 
other substances generated during fabrication of a 
qualified product; and
(B) does not include an action in which a 
manufacturer or seller of a qualified product was an 
employer of the injured party.
(3) Qualified product.--The term ``qualified product'' 
means a stone slab product, including such a product made with 
or containing quartz, mineral, crystal, glass, porcelain, or 
other stone, ceramic or similar material, that has been shipped 
or transported in interstate or foreign commerce, the 
fabrication of which is subject to Federal or State 
occupational health and safety statutes and regulations, 
including those pertaining to respirable crystalline silica.
(4) Seller.--The term ``seller'' means an importer, a 
distributer, a retailer, or a supplier of a qualified product.
(5) State.--The term ``State'' includes each of the several 
States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, 
Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands, and any other territory or possession of the 
United States, and any political subdivision of any such place.
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