A Simple Solution to Ineffective Regulations

A Simple Solution to Ineffective Regulations

Government agencies should review their rules regularly to ensure that those rules impose the lowest reasonable burden on Americans consistent with fulfilling the agency’s statutory objectives. This principle applies to independent agencies like the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission as much as any agency. We were, therefore, pleased when President Obama issued Executive Order 13579, which asked independent agencies to use cost benefit analysis and to conduct such retrospective reviews to identify and fix or repeal rules that are ineffective or too burdensome.

As directed by the Executive Order, the agency developed a draft review plan and in October 2011 put that plan out for public comment. In April, staff gave the Commission a draft review plan. Commission consideration has been repeatedly delayed. It does not appear that the draft plan adequately focuses on identifying and addressing the most important rules that need to be examined. Instead, it focuses on rules that qualify as “minor housekeeping,” at best. Here is what we have done so far:

• Toy cap guns. This past June, the CPSC proposed to repeal toy cap gun regulations. However, this action would repeal a regulation that had been subsumed by another regulation which went into effect in 2009. Other than cleaning up the Code of Federal Regulations, we question what effect this action has.

• Animal testing. Our other response has been to propose updating and codifying our animal testing policy to say again something we have already said—that animal testing should not be used where it is not necessary.

• Bicycles. The bicycle safety regulations were written many years ago and are so out of date that modern adult bicycles do not, and cannot, comply with the regulation. Yet these regulations remain on the books, unchanged.

• Fireworks. The fireworks safety regulations were most recently updated in the 1980s. To determine if a firework is overloaded with explosives, someone has to listen to how loud its explosion is. If it sounds too loud, it fails. The only testing equipment is our tester’s ear. This subjective test should be replaced with an objective one that can be replicated in the field. This rule languishes, yet with more than 9,000 injuries every year, we should find some time to work on this issue more effectively.

• Mattresses. We have two safety standards dealing with mattress flammability issues, put in place at different times. One standard deals with smolder hazard from cigarettes and the other standard deals with small open flame hazard from candles, lighters, and similar small flame sources. Two standards means two different sets of tests and two sets of testing costs. One flammability standard for mattresses could reduce costs and testing burdens while preserving a high level of safety.