CPSIA - New CPSIA Amendment Revealed

The Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade has produced a new draft amendment of the CPSIA.  Please see this link for the current draft.  I will publish an analysis as soon as possible.

This is the third attempt to amend the godforsaken CPSIA since it became law on August 14, 2008.  As you may recall, the first time was when Henry Waxman attempted to sneak it into a moving appropriations bill in December 2009, and the second time was in the first half of 2010 in a public process culminating in a House Subcommittee hearing.  The second attempt cratered when the Democrats and Republicans could not agree on a draft bill, principally because the Democrats didn't want to change the law comprehensively to fix its (many) flaws.  The Dems preferred to hand out morsels to certain influential CPSIA victims (books and ATVs) to relieve political pressure.  That didn't fly, and we remain in CPSIA hell courtesy of their stubborn refusal to deal.

Now with Republicans in charge in the House, they have moved to put a new amendment on the table (as forecast in this space).  Rumorville has it that a hearing will be held soon to discuss the merits of this draft amendment.  Assuming that the House can cobble together a coalition to pass this amendment or a later draft into law, then the bill moves to the Senate.  After that, the game gets murkier.  There appears to be recognition in the Senate that "something" needs to be done, but as you also know, what that "something" is remains to be seen.  To listen to Rep. John Dingell, the Senate was not the voice of reason in 2008.  We also know that some in the Senate remain strident in their support of the CPSIA notwithstanding the overwhelming evidence of its major structural and regulatory flaws.

There's nothing like blind unbending beliefs in the face of data, facts and proof to the contrary.

We can only hope this time things will be different.  Anyhow, the game is afoot again.  Stay tuned!