Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Withdrawal of proposed rule.
In the
The proposed rule is withdrawn as of August 26, 2009.
Melissa V. Hampshire, Office of the General Counsel, Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, Maryland 20814; telephone (301) 504–7631, e-mail
In the
The proposal was intended to provide further clarity and transparency in how the CPSC determines civil penalty amounts. The Commission believed that the proposed rule would result in a better understanding by the public of the Commission's approach to determining the appropriateness and amount of a civil penalty.
The Commission received four comments in response to the proposed rule. The CPSIA was subsequently enacted, and section 217 of the CPSIA revised certain sections of the CPSA, the FHSA, and the Flammable Fabrics Act. In general, section 217 of the CPSIA increased the maximum civil penalty amounts, described new factors for the CPSC to consider when determining civil penalty amounts, and instructed the CPSC to issue a final rule to interpret the “penalty factors described in section 20(b) of the [CPSA] section 5(c)(3) of the [FHSA] and section 5(e)(2) of the [FFA] as amended by subsection (a) [of the CPSIA].”
Section 217 of the CPSIA, therefore, effectively superseded the July 12, 2006 proposed rule by adding new factors for consideration and directing the Commission to issue a final rule providing its interpretation of all the factors in section 20(b) of the CPSA, section 5(c)(3) of the FHSA, and section 5(e)(2) of the FFA. Consequently, the Commission, through this notice, is withdrawing the July 12, 2006 proposal.
Elsewhere in this issue of the