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Letter on the Implementation Period for H.R. 4040, the CPSC Reform Act

Release Date: 
Monday, July 7, 2008

July 7, 2008

The Honorable Daniel K. Inouye
Chairman
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Ted Stevens
Vice Chairman
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable John D. Dingell
Chairman
Committee on Energy and Commerce
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Joe Barton
Ranking Member
Committee on Energy and Commerce
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Inouye, Vice Chairman Stevens, Chairman Dingell, and Ranking Member Barton:

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region, strongly urges all conferees on H.R. 4040, the "CPSC Reform Act," to oppose the 180-day implementation period for manufacturers and importers of children's products contained in the House-passed version of the bill, and support instead the one-year implementation period contained in the Senate-passed version.

Specifically, the Chamber is concerned with Section 101(a)(1) of the House-passed version, which would treat children's products containing certain amounts of lead as banned hazardous substances within 180 days of the bill's enactment. It would be incredibly onerous – if not impossible – for manufacturers to re-work their entire supply chains to comport with any new lead standards within such a short time frame. Likewise, certain importers would be required to reconfigure global supply chains to eliminate banned products and distribute new products, and six months is simply not enough time to do this.

Moreover, until legislation is enacted, manufacturers will not know what the new lead standards will be – forcing them to adopt a "wait and see" approach before they can even begin to re-engineer their manufacturing processes.

In stark contrast to the House-passed version, Section 22(a) of the Senate-passed version provides a more reasonable implementation period. That section would treat any children's product containing more than a trace amount of lead as a banned hazardous substance within one-year of enactment. Although a one-year implementation period for manufacturers and importers would still pose significant challenges, anything less than a one-year implementation period is practically unachievable.

For these reasons, the Chamber strongly urges conferees to adopt a one-year implementation period for manufacturers and importers during conference negotiations.

Sincerely,

R. Bruce Josten

Cc: The House and Senate Conferees to H.R. 4040