Home >> Public Affairs >> General Business >> Legal Reform Issues >> Federal Preemption of State Laws Emerges as Major Issue for Consumer Product Safety Bill Conferees

Federal Preemption of State Laws Emerges as Major Issue for Consumer Product Safety Bill Conferees

House and Senate conferees appear deadlocked on reaching an agreement on a conference report for the major consumer product safety reform legislation (H.R. 4040) passed by the House on December 19 in a unanimous 407-0 vote and by the Senate on March 6 by a wide 79-13 margin. The bills, which differ in several areas, mark the first time in over a decade that both houses of Congress have passed major consumer product safety reforms.

While conferees reportedly have reached tentative agreements on most elements of the final conference report, Congressional leaders doubt they will meet their July 4th deadline completing the conference report and are now hoping to finish their work by the end of July. The chief remaining differences among conferees reportedly are in four areas: the strength of federal preemption of state and local laws and regulations; enforcement of consumer safety laws and regulations by state attorneys general; the scope of material to be posted online in a new public database to be posted by the CPSC; and whistleblower protection provisions.

The issue of federal preemption has emerged as an area of critical importance to SGMA members given the heightened consumer product safety activity at the state level, including varying measures to impose aggressive restrictions on lead, phthalates and BPA. The risk of chaos and uncertainty for both consumers and industry resulting from a patchwork of 50 different consumer product standards across the country has underlined the importance of ensuring that the pending federal legislation results in the establishment of national uniform standards.