Commissioners disposed of major issues in 2003

CPSC Monitor, Jan, 2004

The three CPSC Commissioners can review their accomplishments in 2003 with some satisfaction. At the beginning of the year, with newly confirmed Chairman Hal Stratton at the helm, CPSC faced a full plate of long-delayed regulatory actions.

But by the end of the year, most of the major issues, for good or ill, were addressed. In the view of CPSC Monitor, those major issues were:

* Unanimous final vote to deny a petition to ban phthalates in children's toys

* Settlement of the Daisy airgun case

* Denial of a petition to adopt product registration cards designed to improve recalls

* Denial of the petition to ban CCA-treated wood in consumer products

* Re-starting the regulatory process on upholstered furniture

The phthalate issue had been around for a long time before Chairman Stratton arrived at CPSC, but to his credit, the Commission finally gave it a decent burial.

In settling the Daisy case, CPSC made the best out of a bad situation. (See story below.) This case demonstrates the potential for harm inherent in unchecked government power when public officials allow emotion and the light of publicity to interfere with logic and good sense.

The Product Registration Card petition submitted by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) was a bad idea from the start, but at least the Commissioners gave it every chance for a "day in court." Some observers believe this issue could resurface as a legislative proposal in Congress.

In voting to deny the petition to ban consumer use of Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA)-treated wood, the Commission did the only thing it could. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had already effectively banned consumer use of CCA-treated wood. However, the question that remains is more uncertain: should consumers react to the issue by tearing out and destroying playground equipment, decks, and outdoor furniture constructed with CCA-treated wood? The "scare" strategy used by the petitioners could result in a costly and unnecessary attempt by consumers and local communities to replace playground equipment and other structures that are not hazardous.

The Commission's action approving a staff recommendation to begin a process for an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) for the flammability of upholstered furniture is the one spoiler in the CPSC record for 2003. As the Monitor has argued throughout, consumers will lose when and if federal upholstered furniture flammability standards are promulgated. There is no certainty that they will contribute significantly to a decrease in deaths and injuries from furniture fire-related causes. The standards will also increase costs for consumers. But the American furniture industry is now united in favor of federal regulation, because of its desire for a federal rule to preempt state regulations. The ultimate passage of such a CPSC furniture regulation thus appears certain.