CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION (CPSC)

Statement of Regulatory Priorities

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (the Commission) is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of death and injury associated with consumer products. To achieve this goal, the Commission:

develops mandatory product safety standards or bans when other, less restrictive, efforts are inadequate to address an unreasonable risk of injury, or where required by statute;

obtains repair, replacement, or refund of the purchase price for defective products that present a substantial product hazard;

develops information and education campaigns about the safety of consumer products;

participates in the development or revision of voluntary product safety standards; and

follows congressional mandates to enact specific regulations.

Unless directed otherwise by congressional mandate, when deciding which of these approaches to take in any specific case, the Commission gathers and analyzes the best available data about the nature and extent of the risk presented by the product. The Commission's rules require the Commission to consider, among other factors, the following criteria when deciding the level of priority for any particular project:

frequency and severity of injury;

causality of injury;

chronic illness and future injuries;

costs and benefits of Commission action;

unforeseen nature of the risk;

vulnerability of the population at risk; and

probability of exposure to the hazard.

Significant Regulatory Actions:

Currently, the Commission is considering one rule that would constitute a "significant regulatory action" under the definition of that term in Executive Order 12866:

1. Flammability Standard for Upholstered Furniture Under section 4 of the Flammable Fabrics Act (FFA), the Commission may issue a flammability standard or other regulation for a product of interior furnishing if the Commission determines that such a standard is needed to adequately protect the public against unreasonable risk of the occurrence of fire leading to death or personal injury or significant property damage. The Commission's regulatory proceeding could result in several actions, one of which could be the development of a mandatory standard requiring that upholstered furniture meet mandatory labeling requirements, resist ignition, or meet other performance criteria under test conditions specified in the standard.