What can I do about CPSIA?
The Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) became a law last year. At the beginning of this year, several members of Congress recognized that this law has far too many unintended consequences and therefore needed to be amended.
To fix many of the problems the law has caused, Senator Jim DeMint (SC) proposed S. 374 in the Senate and Representative Joe Barton (TX) proposed HR 1815 in the House.
According to Congressional procedure, these bills are now under consideration by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
Many committee members, who were among CPSIA’s original authors, are obstructing progress by refusing to let any of these bills be debated and considered by either the House or Senate because they think there’s nothing wrong with CPSIA.
If you feel CPSIA could use some improvement, please tell them otherwise!
Write to your Senators and your Representative by clicking here for your Senators and clicking here for your Represenatatives.
Call or fax members of the committees:
House Committee on Energy and Commerce (the contact information is at the bottom of the page)
Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
If you have additional questions about how to get involved, please send an email to info [at] whatisthecpsia [dot] com.
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2 more amendments that sit in committees right now:
Senate bill 608 has a great sounding name: “Common Sense in Consumer Product Safety Act of 2009″ It is “A bill to amend the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 to exclude secondary sales, repair services, and certain vehicles from the ban on lead in children’s products, and for other purposes.” Govtrack currently lists Senator Tester as the sponsor, and 2 co-sponsors.
On the House side, there’s H.R. 1587: “To amend the lead prohibition provisions of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008…” It would give an exemption to the ATV folks, but that’s about it. “To amend the lead prohibition provisions of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 to provide an exemption for certain off-highway vehicles, and for other purposes.” It is sponsored by Representative Rehberg, and currently has 38 co-sponsors listed.
And an amendment that us booksellers would like to see passed:
H.R. 1692…It will not make major improvements, but it will help some. Congressman Fortenberry’s amendment admits that Congress did not intend CPSIA to apply to ordinary books (defined as those printed using conventional methods and intended to be read, not played with). It also points out that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has determined that books pose minimal risk.
As has been the pattern with this law, this amendment does not answer all the questions it will bring up. My first question is, which books does it apply to? Those that are printed from this point forward? Those that were printed after 1985? Or all books?
As a reseller, an educator, and a mother, those are very important questions.
It is really a shame that we have to applaud efforts such as HR1692 in our push to get this law fixed. But, for now, at least, it seems the best we are going to be able to do….Please, Congress, pass this amendment.
the link above for contacting is just for representatives. to contact your senators, go to http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Thanks Liliana. I’ve updated the post to reflect the new link.