On October 19, 2022, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC or Commission) approved a Final Rule imposing mandatory safety requirements for clothing storage units (CSUs) that will, according to the CPSC, “significantly change the way clothing storage units are tested and labeled” to address furniture tip-over hazards. The rulemaking has been in the works
Product Safety
EU Cyber Resilience Act: Cybersecurity Obligations for Connectable Hardware and Software Products Including IoT

The Internet of Things (IoT) segment has grown, and with it have come many examples of vulnerable products, from babycams whose feeds could be viewed by strangers online to hackable implantable cardiac devices. There are also infamous examples of botnets (i.e., clusters of hacked devices) featuring millions of IoT devices with one common trait: weak…
CPSC to Hold Workshop on Beta Testing of eFiling Compliance Data for Imported Consumer Products


In a notice published in the Federal Register on August 8, 2022, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) staff announced that the CPSC will hold a workshop on October 13, 2022, to discuss CPSC’s eFiling Program and the Commission’s plans for a joint Beta Pilot Test with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) (previously…
Two Senate Recycling Bills Pass Unanimously


Two recent Senate bills show that Congress is working to improve the nation’s patchwork of recycling laws. On July 28, 2022, the Senate voted unanimously to pass The Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act of 2022 (RIAA) and The Recycling and Composting Accountability Act (RCAA). The first of these directs the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)…
Senate Confirms Mary Boyle as 5th CPSC Commissioner

Nearly a year after she was first nominated, Mary Boyle was confirmed Wednesday to be a Commissioner of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). When she takes office for a term that will run through October 2025, Boyle will bring the Commission to its full five-member strength for the first time since 2019.
Boyle…
Sheila Millar Authors “The Right to Repair: Implications for Consumer Product Safety and Data Security” for Inhouse Defense Quarterly

Keller and Heckman partner Sheila Millar wrote the Inhouse Defense Quarterly article, “The Right to Repair: Implications for Consumer Product Safety and Data Security. The article examines the potential effects of President Biden’s July 9, 2021, executive order that aims to expand consumers’ “right to repair.” Advocates of the right to repair, including the Federal…
Another New Face at CPSC as Trumka Confirmed

Richard Trumka, Jr., nominated by President Biden for a seat on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), was confirmed Tuesday evening, November 16, 2021, by a unanimous voice vote in the Senate. When he takes his oath of office, which will likely be within a week or two, Trumka will take the seat of…
CPSC Has a New Chair

Alexander Hoehn-Saric, nominated by President Biden for both a seat on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the chairmanship of that body, was confirmed late Thursday night by a unanimous voice vote. When he takes his oath of office, Hoehn-Saric will be CPSC’s first permanent chair in more than four years.
Fellow Democrat…
CPSC May Have a Fiscal Year 2022 Operating Plan – but not Without Controversy

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has approved its Operating Plan (Op Plan) for the 2022 Fiscal Year (FY 22) that begins October 1, 2021, according to a joint statement from its two Republican members, Dana Baiocco and Peter Feldman. The Op Plan is the central governing document for CPSC, outlining the projects and…
CPSC Staff to Hold Webinar on AI in Consumer Products

Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and related technologies have the potential to dramatically change the nature of consumer products, and a variety of agencies are considering the implications of these technologies. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) staff has announced plans to hold a public webinar on Tuesday, March 2, 2021, from 9am to…