Hearing of the Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance, and Data Security Subcommittee of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee - Consumer Product Safety Commission

Hearing

"I am pleased to welcome the Consumer Product Safety Commission, including Chairman Elliott Kaye and Commissioners Bob Adler, Ann Marie Buerkle, Joseph Mohorovic and Marietta Robinson. Commissioners, thank you for being here today. I look forward to your testimony and a productive conversation.

"As Ranking Member Senator Blumenthal will attest, protecting the safety of Americans is a top priority for this subcommittee. The CPSC has primary jurisdiction in this arena, and plays a critical role in ensuring the safety of all consumers from products that present an unreasonable risk of injury. This hearing will examine the Commission's 2016 Performance Budget Request, its current rulemaking agenda, and issues identified in recent reports by the CPSC Inspector General.

"CPSC is a small but powerful agency with influence felt across the economy. It touches, in one way or another, more than 15,000 product categories, and is trusted with prioritizing and addressing the most significant threats to consumer safety. I want to hear from the Commission about their critical initiatives and priorities, and hopefully discuss the issues of user fee authority and cyber security as they relate to the agency's budget request for Fiscal Year 2016.

"I have heard from a wide range of manufacturers, importers, retailers, consumer advocacy groups and other stakeholders who care about consumer safety and many of the issues currently on the CPSC rulemaking agenda. I am pleased to hear that in many of these instances, there has been a productive dialogue between stakeholders and the agency and real progress demonstrated in improving consumer safety. In fact, the majority of the work undertaken by the Commission is accomplished through the consensus of the five Commissioners. Some of the agency's work, by contrast, is more controversial -- particularly where proposed Commission activity is not supported by sound data, stakeholder engagement, or would create additional burdens without corresponding safety benefits.

"On May 20, 2015, the Senate Commerce Committee passed S. 1040, the ROV In-Depth Examination Act of 2015, or RIDE Act -- bipartisan legislation introduced by our Commerce colleagues Senators Heller, Manchin, Ayotte and Gardner. This bill would postpone the Commission's proposed rulemaking on Recreational Off-Highway Vehicles until further study on the rule's safety effects is completed by the National Academy of Sciences. While I support this legislation, I commend the agency for what I understand have been meaningful and positive conversations with interested parties toward a workable solution since the Committee passage of this bill one month ago.

"In regard to other open agenda items before the CPSC, I would appreciate an update on the status of revisions to the voluntary recall and 6(b) rules, as well as additional insight from the agency on how it is administering the increased penalties authorized by Congress under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.

"Furthermore, I am interested in exploring the agency's approach to its rulemaking on phthalates. In order for this subcommittee to properly oversee the CPSC, I believe a good place to start is to examine whether the agency is using current data and sound scientific methodology to complete its mission. Unfortunately, work in this area has stalled, in part because the Commission was prepared to compete its rulemaking based on outdated data sets.

"I am happy to hear that Commission staff is now evaluating the correct data -- which reflects current exposure levels for these plasticizers -- and that the Commission has agreed to allow the public an additional opportunity to provide comments on its new results. I would note that on Monday, I received a formal letter of response from Chairman Kaye addressing some of my concerns on this matter. I very much appreciate the response, and look forward to discussing the contents of the letter."

"We share the common goal of protecting consumers and doing what we can to prevent tragic injuries or fatalities from consumer products. The Consumer Product Safety Commission, led by the five Commissioners before us this morning, has the challenging but essential task of protecting the American public against unreasonable risks of injuries from consumer products, and I thank them for their service."

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