KEENE, NH – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) is leading the reintroduction of legislation meant to protect children from the dangers of e-cigarettes.

According to a news release from Shaheen’s office, the bipartisan Resources to Prevent Youth Vaping Act would require that e-cigarette manufacturers pay user fees to the Food and Drug Administration to help conduct stronger oversight of the industry and increase awareness for the danger of e-cigarettes.

“E-cigarettes continue to be an epidemic among our youth, and it’s unacceptable that manufacturers continue to market their harmful products to young people without facing serious consequences,” said Senator Shaheen. “That’s why I’m leading bipartisan legislation to respond to this crisis by closing a major loophole that has allowed them to avoid paying fees to the FDA to help fund the agency’s crackdown on youth vaping. There’s no excuse not to act – we must stop this exploitation of kids and teens before another generation falls victim to the nicotine addiction epidemic.”

The legislation increases the total amount that will be collected in tobacco user fees by $100 million and indexes that amount to inflation for future years. The amount collected from individual manufacturers will be proportional to their share of the overall tobacco market as determined by the FDA, according to the release.

The FDA would be able to use the revenue to conduct safety reviews of vaping products, prevent sales of e-cigarettes to minors, help support efforts to educate on the dangers of e-cigarettes, and increase the agency’s oversight and enforcement capabilities.

Shaheen is co-leading the legislation with U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Susan Collins (R-ME).

“The use of e-cigarettes by our young people threatens the progress we have made to reduce overall tobacco use. I have heard from teachers across Maine about the issue of vaping in our high schools and middle schools,” said Senator Collins. “Despite the significant strides we’ve taken, which have already made a difference by reducing the nationwide rate of high school vaping in 2023, there is still more work to be done. This legislation would impose fees on e-cigarette manufacturers similar to fees for other tobacco products, which could be used to support youth education and prevention initiatives.”

Shaheen has focused on closing the FDA’s user fee loophole for e-cigarettes since 2019, when she introduced the legislation to require e-cigarette companies to pay fees to the FDA to help fund federal prevention and enforcement efforts.