HR 7945 Approved in Subcommittee – Nitrous Oxide Safety

Earlier this week, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade of the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a business meeting that considered 12 pieces of legislation, including HR 7945, the Nitrous Oxide Safety Act of 2026. The bill was forwarded to the full committee with a favorable recommendation by a voice vote. 

The bill would establish that, with certain specified exceptions, a consumer product containing nitrous oxide (NO2) is a banned hazardous product under 15 USC 2057. No new funding is authorized. 

HR 7945 Markup Scheduled – Nitrous Oxide Safety Act

The Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade of the House Energy and Commerce Committee is scheduled to hold a business meeting today that will look at 12 bills, including HR 7945, the Nitrous Oxide Safety Act of 2026. That bill would establish that, with certain specified exceptions, a consumer product containing nitrous oxide (NO2) is a banned hazardous product under 15 USC 2057. No new funding is authorized. 

According to a Committee Staff memorandum published last Friday: 

“This bill prohibits any consumer product that contains nitrous oxide under section 8 of the Consumer Product Safety Act. The bill contains exceptions for certain products used in the course of medical or dental treatment and research and development.” 

That description overlooks the provisions of §2(b)(1)(B) which also excepts “commercial production of food or food products, including in a manufacturing setting or commercial kitchen”. Unfortunately, there is no mention in the bill of the use of nitrous oxide as a horsepower enhancer for internal combustion engines. 

Review - HR 7945 Introduced – N2O ban

Last month, Rep Mullin (D,CA) introduced HR 7945, the Nitrous Oxide Safety Act of 2026. The bill would establish that, with certain specified exceptions, a consumer product containing nitrous oxide (NO2) is a banned hazardous product under 15 USC 2057. No new funding is authorized. 

There is an interesting article here about the increasing use of nitrous oxide (N2O) as a recreational drug. 

Moving Forward  

Mullin is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee to which the bill was assigned for consideration. This means that there may be sufficient influence to see the bill considered in Committee. There are several Republicans that have a knee-jerk rejection of any of the regulatory efforts of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and I would expect that they would similarly oppose this legislation. Still, were this bill to be considered in Committee, it may receive sufficient support as an anti-drug measure that it could be favorably reported to the full House. It would probably not receive enough support to be considered under the suspension of the rules process. 

For more information on the provisions of this legislation, including a commentary on the product safety standard process being bypassed by this bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-7945-introduced-n2o-ban - subscription required. 

Review – Bills Introduced – 3-17-26

Yesterday, with both the House and Senate in session, There were 32 bills introduced. One of those bills will receive additional coverage in this blog:

HR 7945 To ban the sale of nitrous oxide consumer products, and for other purposes. Mullin, Kevin [Rep.-D-CA-15]

 

For more information on these bills, including legislative history for similar bills in the 118^th Congress, as well as a mention in passing of a bill to authorize NSF basic biology research finging, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/bills-introduced-3-17-26 - subscription required.