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This month, the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) is soliciting public feedback on two rulemakings related to extended producer responsibility (EPR) programs that apply to covered battery-embedded products (along with other types of electronics) and loose batteries. Comments on CalRecycle’s draft regulations to implement SB 1215, which revised the state’s Covered Electronic Waste Recycling Program (E-Waste Recycling Program) to include covered battery-embedded products, were due on June 6, 2025. CalRecycle is also accepting comments, due June 12, 2025, on draft regulations implementing AB 2440, which established a new state-wide Battery Stewardship Program for certain primary and rechargeable batteries. 

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On May 14, 2025, the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), SB 1748, was reintroduced for the fourth time by original sponsor Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), joined by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), John Thune (R-SD), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY). First introduced in 2022, and then again in 2023 and 2024, KOSA imposes a duty of care on online platforms (including online gaming, messaging applications, and video streaming services) to minimize harms to minors. The history of various iterations of KOSA is of interest as it reflects the ongoing debate about platform obligations and First Amendment rights of platforms and consumers. As originally introduced, KOSA mandated that platforms “prevent and mitigate the heightened risks of physical, emotional, developmental, or material harms to minors posed by materials on, or engagement with, the platform.” Business associations, members of Congress, and privacy advocates expressed concern that this standard would violate the First Amendment. Despite subsequent amendments, KOSA’s “duty of care” provisions remain controversial, with business groups, members of Congress, and privacy advocates again expressing concern over the standard’s constitutionality.

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Last November, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) published its final click-to-cancel rule (the Rule), which requires sellers to make it as easy for consumers to cancel their enrollment into a service or goods plan as it was to sign up. As we discussed previously, the Rule prohibits sellers from misrepresenting any material facts and requires them to provide clear and conspicuous disclosures of material terms before obtaining billing information and charging consumers. Sellers must also obtain informed consent to a negative option feature (i.e., consumer silence or inaction construed as continuing acceptance) prior to charging consumers. The three sitting FTC commissioners – all Republicans – have now voted to extend the compliance deadline to July 14, 2025.

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Less than two weeks after the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC or Commission) voted 3-2 to move ahead with a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) for a new safety standard for lithium-ion batteries used in e-mobility devices, in a not unexpected move, the Commission, now consisting of two Republicans, voted to withdraw the NPR.  But the drama will continue to unfold with possible structural changes to the agency and anticipated legal challenges to the termination of the three Democratic Commissioners.

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In a 3-2 party-line vote, the three Democratic commissioners at the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC or Commission) voted on April 30, 2025, to move forward with a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) for a new safety standard for e-mobility products using lithium-ion batteries, such as hoverboards, e-bikes, and e-scooters. A proposal by Acting Chairman Peter Feldman to refer the draft safety standard to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), which reviews and coordinates executive regulations and federal information policy, was defeated.

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After a period of regulatory review under Chairman Andrew Ferguson, on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published amendments to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Rule (COPPA Rule or the Rule), which was last updated in 2013. As we reported earlier this year, the FTC finalized its most recent updates to the COPPA Rule on January 16, 2025. However, that version of the amended Rule was not published before President Trump took office on January 20, 2025, and ordered a freeze on “publishing any rule to the Office of the Federal Register until a new agency head appointed or designated by the President reviews and approves the rule.” Accordingly, the FTC, now under Chairman Ferguson, once again reviewed and approved amendments to the COPPA Rule with minor changes to the version approved during the Biden administration. The amended Rule will go into effect on June 23, 2025, although most of the substantive requirements are effective April 22, 2026.

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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) is asking members of the public to weigh in on whether tech platforms restricted or blocked their access because of content they posted on those platforms. The FTC issued a Request for Information (RFI) on February 20, 2025, to “better understand how technology platforms deny or degrade (such as by “demonetizing” and “shadow banning”) users’ access to services based on the content of the users’ speech or their affiliations, including activities that take place outside the platform” and how such actions may violate federal law. FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson commented in the press release accompanying the RFI that “tech firms should not be bullying their users …This inquiry will help the FTC better understand how these firms may have violated the law by silencing and intimidating Americans for speaking their minds.”

In issuing the RFI, the Commission is following a long-held FTC tradition of carrying out investigative groundwork on an issue before it issues a potential regulatory rule, and the RFI is simply an initial investigation. But the inquiry raises questions about the scope of First Amendment rights of platforms and the reach of the FTC Act.

The RFI has thus far received over 1,000 comments. Stakeholders interested in submitting feedback have until May 21, 2025.

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Keller and Heckman Partner Sheila Millar and Counsel Antonia Stamenova-Dancheva authored the Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) Working Paper, “Passing the Buck on Recycling: Textiles as a Case Study of State EPR Laws.” The article reviews international and domestic concerns over textile waste, provides an overview of California’s Responsible Textile Recovery Act of 2024 (RTRA), and offers a few observations of the practical implications of RTRA and other Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes on businesses.

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A new year. A new administration in Washington. While protecting kids and teens is likely to remain an issue that drives legislation, litigation, and policy discussions in 2025, issuance of 1,000 Executive Orders on day one of the Trump Administration may result in new or changed priorities and some delay in the effective date of the recently updated Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA Final Rule).

We start with a recap of significant actions affecting kids and teens from the beginning of 2024 to the end of the Biden Administration in January 2025 and some early action by the Trump Administration.

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As we recently reported, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) finalized updates to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA Final Rule or Rule) on January 16, 2025, and the updates were due to take effect 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. However, an Executive Order issued by President Trump on January 20, 2025, freezes “proposing or issuing any rule or publishing any rule to the Office of the Federal Register until a new agency head appointed or designated by the President reviews and approves the rule.” The Executive Order means that publication of the amended COPPA rule will likely be delayed, and the Rule may still be subject to change. Read more here.