On March 30, 2022, the European Commission (EC) unveiled a proposal for a framework eco-design regulation aimed at creating a policy framework for sustainable products. Among the tools proposed by the EC is the EU Digital Product Passport (DPP), a product-specific data set that would apply nearly to all non-food products sold in the EU
On May 3, 2023, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a provisional order with a $15.8 million civil penalty against Wisconsin-based Generac Power Systems, Inc. (Generac) over charges that for more than two years, Generac failed to report serious hazards caused by some of its portable generators. According to the CPSC, from October
On April 19, 2023, the U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC or Commission) voted to adopt ASTM F2057-23 as a mandatory safety standard to prevent injuries and deaths of children from the tip-over of freestanding clothing storage units (CSUs). The newly adopted standard supersedes a prior CPSC safety standard for CSUs that was due to
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
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
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 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)
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
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
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
