CPSC Chairman Ann Marie Buerkle addresses priorities at AHFA regulatory summit
October 26, 2017, Kids Today
Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairman Ann Marie Buerkle revealed her agency’s plans to boost engagement with various industries as it continues its mission of protecting consumers against unsafe products in the marketplace. As part of that mission, she added, the CPSC needs to make decisions that are not based on emotion, but rather on data and research.
Breaking: Republican Commissioner Mohorovic Departing the CPSC; Acting Chairman Buerkle Now Sole Republican in 3-1 Democratic Majority at CPSC
Wednesday, October 18, 2017, National Law Reviews (Mintz, Levin)
Following a recent CPSC public hearing, Commissioner Joe Mohorovic announced that he would be resigning from his position as a Commissioner, effective Friday, October 20th. Mohorovic announced that he would be joining the law firm Dentons. While Acting Chairman Buerkle remains at the helm of the agency, Mohorovic’s absence will mean an unprecedented Democratic 3-1 majority at the Commission with a Minority Chairman.
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission – Ban on OFRs
October 25, 2017, Lexology (Squire Patton Boggs)
On September 20, 2017, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC” or the “Commission”) voted to adopt a rulemaking process that will effectively ban an entire class of chemicals – non-polymeric organohalogen flame retardants (“OFRs”) – from certain consumer products. Due to a shift within the balance of the Commission to a Republican majority and the adopted petition will most likely face challenges in moving forward.
Tennessee father files consumer safety protection lawsuit over guardrails
October 24, 2017, wjhl.com
A consumer safety protection lawsuit has been filed by a Tennessee father after his daughter died in a crash. One crash in November 2016 claimed the life of Hannah Eimers, 17. Her car went off the roadway on Interstate 75 in McMinn County, hitting a guardrail that pushed Hannah into the backseat. Since then her father has been conducting a campaign to hold manufacturers responsible when their products fail to protect the public, saying that “companies who profit from selling safety mechanisms and who create public hazards, instead of public safety, must accept responsibility.”
Shift needed in understanding risk in play environments
October 27, 2017, Medical Press
A group of university researchers is calling for a more holistic approach to the design and regulation of play environments and playground equipment, claiming that danger is not the same as risk. They hold that eliminating all risk within play eliminates creativity, challenge and discovery. So says Bambi Yost, associate professor of landscape architecture at Iowa State University. She is one of an increasing number of researchers who agree that safe, risk-taking opportunities on the playground can benefit children’s health and learning.
Local drone laws: They may be free-fallin’
October 27, 2017, National Law Review (Steptoe and Johnson)
Recently, a federal judge decided that a city ordinance limiting a person’s right to use unmanned aircraft vehicles (“UAV” or drones) was pre-empted by federal law. This is an important decision for those aviators who regularly operate drones in areas with local UAV ordinances or other regulations not prescribed by the FAA.
EPA chemical review would exclude millions of tons of toxins
October 25, 2017, The Daily Reporter
President Donald Trump’s administration is retreating from a congressionally mandated review of some of the most dangerous chemicals in public use: millions of tons of asbestos, flame retardants and other toxins in homes, offices and industrial plants across the United States.
Starbucks in Legal Battle over California’s Cancer Warning Law
October 25, 2017, Insurance Journal
No scientific study says consuming java in moderation is bad for your health – and some even show it’s good for you. But winning a reprieve from the state’s toxics disclosure requirement under Proposition 65 isn’t easy. Coffee merchants have been fighting in a Los Angeles court for six years, so far without success, to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that the 600-year-old beverage isn’t harmful.
Quad bikes: New safety task force established
October 14, 2017, Weekly Times
A new safety standard for quad bikes is under investigation by a federal interdepartmental taskforce led by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Federal Employment Minister Michaelia Cash said the Commonwealth was working with SafeWork NSW and WorkSafe authorities in Victoria and Tasmania to address quad bike safety as an urgent priority.
China to complete product quality traceability system by 2020
October 24, 2017, China Daily
China will complete its product quality traceability system by 2020 that will provide information regarding sources, destinations and accountable persons to reinforce product quality and safety. A recent guideline, jointly issued by the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) and nine other central departments, said the traceability system would target key products, including farm produce, food, medicine, special equipment, dangerous materials and rare earth.
