Terms Used In 10 Guam Code Ann. § 32101

  • Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
As used in this Chapter:

(a) Commerce means any and all commerce within the territory of Guam and subject to the jurisdiction thereof and includes the operation of any business or service establishment;
(b) Hazardous substance means

(1)(A) any substance or mixture of substances which is (i) toxic, (ii) corrosive, (iii) an irritant, (iv) a strong sensitizer, (v) flammable or combustible, or (vi) which generates pressure through decomposition, heat or other means, if such substance or mixture of substances may cause substantial personal injury or

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substantial illness during or as a proximate result of any custom- ary or reasonably foreseeable handling or use, including reason- able foreseeable ingestion by children;

(B) any substance which the Director, by regulation finds, pursuant to the provisions of § 32102(a), meets the requirements of Subparagraph (1)(A) of this Paragraph;

(C) any radioactive substance, if, with respect of such substance as used in a particular class of article or as packaged, the Director determines, by regulation, that the substance is sufficiently hazardous to require labeling in accordance with this Chapter in order to protect the public health; or
(D) any toy or other article intended for use by children which the Director, by regulation, determines, in accordance with § 32102(e) of this Chapter, presents an electrical, mechanical or thermal hazard.

(2) The term hazardous substance shall not apply to economic poisons subject to the Federal or Guam Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, nor to foods, drugs and cosmetics, subject to Chapter
31 of this Part, nor to substances intended for use as fuels when stored in containers and used in the heating, cooking or refrigeration system of a house, but such term shall apply to any article which is not itself an economic poison within the meaning of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act or the Guam Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, but which is a hazardous substance within the meaning of Subparagraph (1) of this Paragraph by reason of bearing or containing such an economic poison;
(3) Hazardous substance shall not include any source material, special nuclear material or by product material as defined in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and regulations issued pursuant thereto by the Nuclear Regulatory Agency;
(4) Hazardous substance shall mean any toxic or hazardous substance as defined by:
(A) 29 CFR 1910, Subpart Z, Toxic and Hazardous Substances, Occupational Safety and Health Administration Act (OSHA) and any amendments thereto;

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(B) Threshold Limit Values for Chemical Substances and Physical Agents in the Work Environment, American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) and any amendments thereto;

(C) Title III, also known as the ‘Emergency Planning and Community Right- To-Know Act of 1986’ as contained in U.S. Public Law 99-499, also known as the ‘Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986’, and any amendments thereto;
(D) Waste, or combination of wastes, which because of its quantity, concentration or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics may either:
(1) Cause, or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible illness;
(2) Pose a substantial or potential hazard to human health or environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, disposed of or otherwise mismanaged.;
(E) Asbestos, chlorine gas and Polychlor-inated biphenyls (PCBs).

(c) Toxic applies to any substance (other than a radioactive substance) which has the capacity to produce personal injury or illness to man through ingestion, inhalation or absorption through any body surface;
(d)(1) Highly toxic means any substance which falls within any of the following categories:

(A) produces death within fourteen (14) days in half or more than half of a group of ten (10) or more laboratory white rats each weighing between two hundred (200) and three hundred (300) grams, at a single dose of fifty (50) milligrams or less per kilogram of body weight, when orally administered;

(B) produces death within fourteen (14) days in half or more than half of a group of ten (10) or more laboratory white rats each weighing between two hundred (200) or three hundred (300) grams, when inhaled continuously for a period of one (1) hour or less at an atmosphere concentration of two hundred (200) parts per million by volume or less of

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gas or vapor to two (2) milligrams per liter by volume or less of mist or dust, provided such concentration is likely to be encountered by man when the substance is used in any reasonably foreseeable manner; or

(C) produces death within fourteen (14) days in half or more than half of a group of ten (10) or more rabbits tested in a dosage of two hundred (200) milligrams or less per kilogram of body weight, when administered by continuous contact with the bare skin for twenty-four (24) hours or less.

(2) If the Director finds that available data on human experience with any substance indicate results different from those obtained on animals in the above-named dosages or concentrations, the human data shall take precedence;

(e) Corrosive means any substance which in contact with living tissue will cause destruction of tissue by chemical action; but shall not refer to action on inanimate surfaces;

(f) Irritant means any substance not corrosive within the meaning of Subparagraph (e) which on immediate, prolonged or repeated contact with normal living tissue will induce a local inflammatory reaction;
(g) Strong sensitizer means a substance which will cause on normal living tissue, through an allergic or photodynamic process, a hypersensitivity which becomes evident on reapplication of the same substance and which is designated as such by the Director. Before designating any substance as a strong sensitizer, the Director, upon consideration of the frequency of occurrence and severity of the reaction, shall find that the substance has significant potential for causing hypersensitivity;

(h) Extremely flammable shall apply to any substance which has a flash point of above twenty degrees (20E) Fahrenheit as determined by
the Tagliabue Open Cup Tester, and the term Aflammable@ shall apply
to any substance which has a flash point of above twenty degrees (20E)
to and including eighty degrees (80E) Fahrenheit, as determined by the
Tagliabue Open Cup Tester, and the term Acombustible@ shall apply to
any substance which has a flash point above eighty degrees (80E) Fahrenheit to and including one hundred fifty degrees (150E), as determined by the Tagliabue Open Cup Tester; except that the

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flammability or combustibility of solids and of the contents of self- pressurized containers shall be determine by methods found by the Director to be generally applicable to such materials or containers, respectively and established by regulations issued by him, which
regulations shall also define the terms Aflammable,@ Acombustible@ and
Aextremely flammable@ in accord with such methods;

(i) Radioactive substance means a substance which emits ionizing radiation;
(j) Label means a display of written, printed or graphic matter upon the immediate container of any substance, or in the case of an article which is unpack-aged in an immediate container intended or suitable for delivery to the ultimate consumer, a display of such matter directly upon the article involved or upon a tag or other suitable material affixed thereto, and a requirement made by or under authority of this Chapter that any word, statement or other information appear on the label shall not be considered to be complied with unless such word, statement or other information also appears (1) on the outside container or wrapper, if any there be, unless it is easily legible through the outside container or wrapper, and (2) on all accompanying literature where there are directions for use, written or otherwise;
(k) Misbranded hazardous substance means a hazardous substance (including a toy or other article intended for use by children, which is a hazardous substance or which bears or contains a hazardous substance in such manner as to be susceptible of access by a child to whom such toy or other article is entrusted) intended or packaged in a form suitable for use in the household or by children, which substance, except as otherwise provided by or pursuant to § 32102, fails to bear a label:

(1) which states conspicuously:

(A) the name and place of business the manufacturer, packer, distributor or seller;

(B) the common or usual name or the chemical name (if there be no common or usual name) of the hazardous substance or of each component which contributes substantially to its hazard, unless the Director, by regulation, permits or requires the use of a recognized generic name;

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(C) the signal work DANGER on substances which are extremely flammable, corrosive or highly toxic;
(D) the signal word WARNING or CAUTION on all other hazardous substances;
(E) an affirmative statement of the principal hazard or hazards, such as Flammable, Combustible, Vapor Harmful, Causes Burns, Absorbed Through Skin or similar wording descriptive of the hazard;
(F) precautionary measures describing the action to be followed or avoided, except when modified, by regulation, of the Director pursuant to § 32102;
(G) instruction, when necessary or appropriate, for first- aid treatment;
(H) the word poison for any hazardous substance which is defined as highly toxic by Subsection (G);

(I) instructions for handling and storage of packages which require special care in handling or storage; and
(J) the statement (i) AKeep out of the reach of children@ or its practical equivalent; or (ii) if the article is intended for use by children and is not a banned hazardous substance, adequate directions for the protection of children from the hazard; and

(2) on which any statement required under Subparagraph (1) of this Paragraph are located prominently and are in the English language in conspicuous and legible type in contrast by typography, layout or color with other printed matter on the label;
(l)(1) Banned hazardous substance means:

(A) any toy or other article intended for use by children, which is a hazardous substance or which bears or contains a hazardous substance in such manner as to be susceptible of access by a child to whom such toy or other article is entrusted; or
(B) any hazardous substance intended or packaged in a form suitable for use in household, which the Director by regulation classifies as a banned hazardous

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substance on the basis of a finding that, notwithstanding such cautionary labeling as is or may be required under this Chapter for the substance, the degree or nature of the hazard involved in the presence or use of such substance in households is such that the objective of the protection of the public health and safety can be adequately served only by keeping such substance, when so intended or packaged, out of the channels of commerce; provided, that the Director, by regulation:

(i) shall exempt from clause (A) of this Paragraph articles such as chemical sets, which by reason of their functional purpose require the inclusion of the hazardous substance involved or necessarily present an electrical, mechanical or thermal hazard, and which bear labeling giving adequate directions and warnings for safe use and are intended for use by children who have attained sufficient maturity, and may reasonably be expected to read and heed such directions and warnings; and
(ii) shall exempt from clause (a), and provide for the labeling of common fireworks (including toy paper caps, cone fountains, cylinder fountains, whistles without report and sparklers) to the extent that he determines that such articles can be adequately labeled to protect the purchasers and users thereof;
(2) Proceedings for the issuance, amendment or repeal of regulations pursuant to clause (B) of Subparagraph (1) of this Paragraph shall be governed by the provision of § 32102 of this Chapter.

(m) An article may be determined to present an electrical hazard if, in normal use or when subjected to reasonably foreseeable damage or abuse, its design or manufacture may cause personal injury or illness by electrical shock;

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(n) An article may be determined to present a mechanical hazard if, in normal use or when subjected to reasonably foreseeable damage or abuse, its design or manufacture presents an unreasonable risk or personal injury or illness (1) from fracture, fragmentation or disassembly of the article; (2) from propulsion of the article (or any part or accessory thereof); (3) from points or other protrusions, surfaces, edges, openings or closures; (4) from moving parts; (5) from lack or insufficiency of controls to reduce or stop motion; (6) as a result of self-adhering characteristics of the article; (7) because of the article (or any part of accessory thereof) may be aspirated or ingested; (8) because of instability; or (9) because of any other aspect of the article’s design or manufacture; and
(o) An article may be determined to present a thermal hazard if, in normal use or when subjected to reasonably foreseeable damage or abuse, its design or manufacture presents an unreasonable risk of personal injury or illness because of heat as from heated parts, substances or surfaces.

(p) Agency shall mean the government of Guam or any department, agency, autonomous agency, authority, branch or instrumentality thereof.

(q) Commission shall mean the Worker’s Compensation
Commission of the Department of Labor.

(r) B Reader shall mean a radiologist or pulmonologist who has received specialized training in the interpretation of chest x-rays specifically relating to occupational lung diseases and who has passed a proficiency test administered by the Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
(s) Person shall mean any human being, and not any corporation, partnership or business entity.
(t) Employee shall mean a person as defined in subsection (i) of § 37002 of the Government Code of Guam.

(u) Exposure shall mean a person’s subjection to a hazardous substance defined by subsection (b)(4) of this section where the level of same is above and beyond the acceptable limits as defined by:

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(1) 29 CFR 1910, Subpart Z, Toxic and Hazardous Substances, Occupational Safety and Health Administration Act, and any amendments thereto;

(2) Threshold Limit Value for Chemical Substances and Physical Agents in the Work Environment, American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) and any amendments thereto;

(3) Title III, also known as the ‘Emergency Planning and Community, Right-To-Know Act of 1986’ as contained in U.S. Public Law 99-499, also known as the ‘Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986’, and any amendments thereto.
(v) Injury shall mean physical impairment or death arising out of exposure to hazardous substances defined by subsection (b)(4) of this section, and such disease, medical impairment or infection as a result of such exposure.

(w) Disability shall mean incapacity because of injury as defined by subsection (v) of this section which prevents a person from earning a living wage or other employment.

(x) Negligence shall mean the failure to exercise the care that a prudent person or entity should exercise.
(y) Average annual wages shall mean:

(1) If employed at the time of exposure: The total wages paid to the person for the year immediately preceding the date of exposure.

(2) If unemployed twelve (12) months or less, or, if a person’s total annual earnings, as computed in (1) above, are less than two thousand eighty (2,080) hours times the existing minimum wage rate of Guam: Such sum as shall reasonably represent the annual earning capacity of the person, having regard to the previous earnings of the exposed person in the occupation in which he or she was working at the time of exposure, and of other persons of the same or similar class working in the same neighboring locality or other employment of such person, including the reasonable value of the services of the employer if engaged in self-employment.

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(3) Having never been employed, or, if unemployed thirteen (13) months or more at the time of exposure: An amount equal to one percent (1%) of the existing minimum wage rate of Guam, utilizing a twenty (20) hour a week basis for calculation.

(z) Whole life factor shall mean the whole value of a person based on his or her age as determined by the American Experience Mortality
Table used by the Commission.@

SOURCE: GC § 9620; subitem (4) to subsection (b) added by P.L. 20-110:2;
subsections (p) through (z) added by P.L. 20-110:3.