Trump nominates business
ally to head Consumer Product Safety Commission
By
Trévon Austin
9 December 2017
President Donald Trump has picked Anne Marie Buerkle, a Republican
from the state of New York, to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission
(CPSC). Buerkle, a former nurse, congresswoman and attorney, has an extensive
record of siding with corporations on product safety issues.
The CPSC is tasked with ensuring that consumer products are not
unsafe or hazardous to people’s health. The agency is charged with monitoring
over 15,000 types of products, from children’s clothing to toys, lawn mowers
and all-terrain vehicles. The CPSC is responsible for enforcing safety
regulations on products and ordering fines or recalls when necessary.
Buerkle was appointed as a commissioner to the agency in 2013 by
President Barack Obama and became acting chairman in February 2017. Nominated
by Trump in July, it is likely that Buerkle will be confirmed as CPSC chair by
the Senate.
Just as Donald Trump and many in his administration, Buerkle is a
proponent of “voluntary regulations.” She spouts the corporate line that
collaborating with manufacturers is the best way to regulate dangerous
products, in lieu of fines or recalls. Buerkle maintains that safety is her top
priority, but argues that the CPSC became too emotionally reactive under Obama.
In her time on the commission, Buerkle opposed limiting carbon
monoxide emissions for portable generators, opposed requiring safety technology
on table saws, and rejected imposing fines on companies that delayed reporting
hazards to the CPSC, as required by law.
She has close ties to the industries over which she would have
jurisdiction. She hired Patricia Hanz, an attorney for Briggs & Stratton
Corp., as the CPSC’s general counsel. Briggs & Stratton is the world’s
largest producer of gasoline engines for power equipment and a leading maker of
power generators. The corporation has been fighting the CPSC’s requirement to
reduce carbon monoxide emissions in portable generators.
Buerkle was the only commissioner who rejected a proposal to force
manufacturers to cut carbon monoxide emissions, which are responsible for 849
non-fire deaths from 2005 through 2016, according to the CPSC.
She also voted against regulating the use of flame
retardants--known to interfere with fetal development, alter brain function and
raise the risk of cancer and reproductive problems--in clothing, furniture,
electronics and other goods. At a September meeting where the commission was
asked to limit the use of flame retardants, Buerkle voted “no.”
In October, Buerkle was the only commissioner to vote against
recalling all Zen Magnets--small magnets that, if swallowed by children, can
cling together in the intestines and cut off blood flow. Buerkle indicated that
she would support only a limited recall.
Along with Buerkle, Dana Baiocco is a nominee for a position on
the CPSC. Baiocco, a former attorney, helped settle cases involving toys with
lead paint, and represented Yamaha in lawsuits regarding rollovers of some of
its off-road vehicles. The consumer agency reported nearly 60 fatalities, along
with amputations and other injuries, involving three models of one of the company’s
vehicles.
No comments:
Post a Comment