Nord Tells OMB CPSC Is Not Complying with Cost-Benefit Analysis
Commissioner Nord of the Consumer Product Safety Commission sent a letter to the Office of Management and Budget disagreeing with recent assertions by Chairman Tenenbaum that CPSC is implementing the President's July Executive Order 13579 on independent agency regulatory review.1 Nord states that CPSC is only complying with the retrospective analysis of existing rules and has been ignoring the cost-benefit analysis of new rules.
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She points to the pending final rule on periodic and other testing, which she says the majority of Commissioners plan to issue in October without economic analysis and without waiting to see comments on ways to reduce Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) third-party testing burdens, which is a requirement of recently passed H.R. 2715.
1In January 2011, the President issued Executive Order 13563 asking federal agencies to reassess existing regulations and to follow cost-saving, burden-reducing principles for future regulations. Though independent agencies were exempt, the President issued another EO in July 2011 encouraging them to participate. (See ITT's Online Archives or 01/19/11 and 07/12/11 news, 11011915 and 11071229, for BP summaries.)
(See ITT's Online Archives or 09/07/11 news, 11090721, for BP summary of Chairman Tenenbaum's letter to OMB including a description of her prior statements that CPSIA rulemakings would not be included in the regulatory review.
See ITT's Online Archives or 09/09/11 news, 11090905, for BP summary of Nord stating the majority of Commissioners were planning to go ahead with the "15 Month" rule on periodic and other testing in early fall.
See ITT's Online Archives or 08/22/11, 08/02/11 and 08/15/11 news, 11082239, 11080230 and 11081501, for BP summaries of Nord's suggestion to wait on the "15 Month" rule and of the CPSIA reform bill, H.R. 2715, that includes a requirement to seek comments on ways to reduce the CPSIA third-party testing burdens.)