CPSC Releases Amendment To 6(b) Information Disclosure Regulations

The CPSC has released the staff briefing package for a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) to amend its existing regulation interpreting the requirements of Section 6(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA). Agency staff will brief the Commissioners on January 23rd and the Commission is scheduled to vote on the NPR on February 5th. It would not be surprising for the vote to be pushed back one or two weeks as the Commissioners consider the staff changes, develop their own amendments, and attempt to negotiate agreed upon language.

For those readers unfamiliar with Section 6(b), the statute requires the agency to take "reasonable steps" to assure that any information it intends to disclose to the public identifying a manufacturer or private labeler of a product (whether on its own initiative or in response to a Freedom of Information Act request) is accurate, that the disclosure is "fair in the circumstances" and is reasonably related to effectuating the purposes