Consumer Product Safety Commission October 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Consumer Product Safety Commission (``CPSC'' or ``we'') staff is considering the appropriate process and substance of a plan to review existing CPSC regulations. CPSC has conducted reviews of rules in the past and intends to build on that experience to develop a plan of review that also satisfies recent direction from President Obama, set forth in Executive Order 13579, ``Regulation and Independent Regulatory Agencies'' (76 FR 41587 (July 14, 2011)), which states that independent regulatory agencies should follow certain key principles when developing new regulations and should review existing significant regulations. To that end, Executive Order 13579 (``E.O. 13579'') emphasizes the importance of retrospective analysis of rules and the need to develop a plan under which the agency will conduct periodic reviews of existing regulations. We invite comments on the issues discussed in this document to help us formulate a plan that builds on our past review efforts while incorporating the principles outlined in E.O. 13579.

It is the policy of the Commission to publish settlements which it provisionally accepts under the Consumer Product Safety Act in the Federal Register in accordance with the terms of 16 CFR 1118.20(e). Published below is a provisionally-accepted Settlement Agreement with Henry Gordy International, Inc., containing a civil penalty of $1,100,000.00.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (``CPSC'' or ``Commission'') announces the sixth meeting of the Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel (CHAP) on phthalates and phthalate substitutes. The Commission appointed this CHAP to study the effects on children's health of all phthalates and phthalate alternatives as used in children's toys and child care articles, pursuant to section 108 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) (Pub. L. 110- 314).

It is the policy of the Commission to publish settlements which it provisionally accepts under the Consumer Product Safety Act in the Federal Register in accordance with the terms of 16 CFR 1118.20(e). Published below is a provisionally-accepted Settlement Agreement with Nordica USA, containing a civil penalty of $214,000.00.

Section 14(i)(4)(A)(i) of the Consumer Product Safety Act, 15 U.S.C. 2063(i)(4)(A)(i), provides that the Commission, in implementing third party testing requirements, under certain circumstances, may allow small batch manufacturers to use alternative testing requirements in lieu of testing prescribed in an applicable consumer product safety rule, ban, standard, or regulation. If, however, the Commission determines that no alternative testing requirement is available or economically practicable, it shall exempt eligible small batch manufacturers from third party testing requirements. Through this notice, the Commission is announcing that it will conduct a public hearing to receive views from all interested parties about whether such alternative testing requirements are available or economically practicable or, in the absence of economically practicable alternatives, whether an exemption from third party testing is appropriate.