Today, the Senate passed the final conference report of H.R.
4040- the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008—by a vote of
89-3. On Wednesday, the House passed the bill 424-1.
U.S. PIRG Public Health Advocate Elizabeth Hitchcock had the
following statement.
“We applaud the Senate for acting to get toxic chemicals
like lead and phthalates out of our children’s toys. This bill is a huge
victory for America's
littlest consumers in the face of ExxonMobil and the chemical industry’s
efforts to gut it. The conferees and their staff deserve tremendous credit for
bringing this over the finish line.”
BACKGROUND:
The bill is a historic step forward in product safety.
In addition to its massive increase in CPSC resources and funding, and its
increase in civil penalty and recall authorities, the new law will:
- make industry's
voluntary toy standard mandatory, which means that magnets and many other
hazards will be subject to the new law's centerpiece third party testing
requirement;
- ban six toxic phthalates
in children's products. Three are banned permanently. Three would then be
subject to a CPSC scientific review, but are banned until it is completed.
If the ban is removed, states would regain authority to ban them.
- grant private-sector
employees whistleblower protections, which means more hazards will be
reported to the CPSC.
- require establishment of
a public CPSC database of potential hazards.
- require that choking
hazards be disclosed in Internet advertising.
- The bill’s new third
party testing requirement does not include an additional new layer of
preemption that the toy industry had demanded for months, which would have
stifled state attorney general enforcement of a critical new untested
product safety reform.
