UPDATE: What's that You Say? CPSC May Loosen Rules Restricting Information Disclosure

On January 21, 2014, we reported that the staff of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) released a draft notice of proposed rulemaking that would alter the restrictions on CPSC's ability to disclose information to the public about a manufacturer or private labeler.

On February 12, 2014, the CPSC Commissioners voted 2-1 to publish the notice of proposed rulemaking. The dissenting Commissioner, Anne Marie Buerkle, argued that the rule would exceed CPSC's authority under the Section 6(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act. She took particular exception to the proposal to eliminate CPSC's obligations to provide advance notice and opportunity to comment with respect to information that is "substantially the same" as information that CPSC previously disclosed. Commissioners Robert Adler and Marietta Robinson disagreed, positing that the proposed rule only eliminates restrictions that go beyond the scope of the statute and that compromise public safety.

The notice will be published in the Federal Register for public comment. We will keep you posted as the rulemaking process continues.