CPSC Moving Toward Vote on Voluntary Portable Generator Safety Standard
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is planning to take steps toward a vote in coming months on whether to establish a voluntary safety standard for portable generators, Acting CPSC Chairman Ann Marie Buerkle said during her Sept. 27 Senate Commerce Committee confirmation hearing to be permanent chairman.. The agency proposed the new standards last year (see 1611180035). Committee ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., pressed her to work to make a mandatory standard for portable generators, citing deaths reportedly caused by carbon monoxide from portable generators during Hurricane Irma.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
Buerkle said CPSC is generally directed by Congress to establish voluntary standards if they can address the issue and if there will be “substantial compliance” through such means. Rather than an enforcement-based process, voluntary standards follow a “consensus” process whereby the commission can generate “buy-in” among industries to follow regulations, or else CPSC staff alerts commissioners that “there’s a problem,” Buerkle said. The voluntary standard under consideration would instruct manufacturers to install in portable generators a “shut-off valve” that would automatically turn off generators when they produce hazardous carbon monoxide (CO) levels, she said, as opposed to the originally proposed rule, which would set CO emissions requirements and test procedures for the products. Nelson wrote in a Sept. 27 letter to Buerkle that CPSC should “cease efforts to stop new generator safety rules” and work toward “prompt implementation” of the November-proposed new safety standard for portable generators.
The commission is also dedicating resources to exploring whether to set standards for lithium ion batteries and products linked to the Internet of Things, and to protect against potential hazards associated with “3D technology.” In written testimony to the committee, Buerkle said, if confirmed, she would continue “our excellent working relationship” with CBP, enhancing CPSC’s import surveillance program, maintaining “robust engagement” in voluntary standards development, and strengthening CPSC “collaboration” with industry, other agencies, academia and other stakeholders. A coalition of 66 organizations, including the American Apparel and Footwear Association, the Travel Goods Association and the International Wood Products Association, urged the Senate Commerce Committee in a Sept. 26 letter to confirm Buerkle, citing her “unwavering commitment” to protect consumers during her time on the CPSC.