t have visibility into that where we can attend as observers But there's obviously a lot going on And so we often rely on others to report to us what they're seeing about how much The staff is helping Well, I think you know just to start off with I think one of the reasons the section 104 rules have been so Effective is that simply the power that it gave cpsc staff in those astm meetings where they can say Here's what we want to see if you don't do it We can still put it in the rule and it's really leveled the playing field there Whereas they were kind of ignored before that time period. So I see very Dedicated, I think Will Wallace spoke to it very dedicated staff knowledgeable. They bring data they address every issue That's there, but the the technical staff in the room They do everything they can they do not have the same authority as if Someone from the executive office was there and a good example of that is that's how we got the laundry packet Meeting is mark schoen would come and sit in on those meetings and urge people to Participate and to move forward or that cpsc would that makes a huge difference And there's some you know We've mentioned one committee in particular that I'm just not sure can be say I just don't see a way out of the dysfunction of the furniture committee at this point So we're hoping that we can take it somewhere else and and deal with that standard as you said through 104 through some combination of these other ones because Everyone's tired of waiting for something to happen in that area Ms. Athanas is to leave with you you mentioned during your testimony that you thought that the agency should improve our incident collection system to capture iot related Occurrences can you give us some more specific suggestions? And if you're not prepared now, that's totally fine if you want to follow up with us But it would be great to know more specifically what we might tweak to be able to capture that data more accurately In that case, I will have to collect additional information and follow up with you, but I'm happy to do so That'd be great. We'd be good to see that. Thank you everybody Thank you very much commissioner baoko Thank you, and I'll I'll pick up for commissioner Feldman left off. I'm sorry commissioner k left off Um, I agree that uh, I'm a big supporter of best practices and lessons learned and getting ahead of the curve So uh, is miss is it athanas athanas? I would like to follow up with you whether today or In in the future about some of your recommendations on whether it's iot or anything else I do think this agency has fallen a little short on on putting in some more Modern or up-to-date best practices and lessons learned. So let's talk about that a little bit more I would like to perhaps introduce some some of those ideas at the midterm, okay miss coles a couple points One the friday afternoon challenge. I think is a legitimate one. I think it should apply to this agency as well I'm not a big supporter of sending things out on a friday afternoon either And I do agree with commissioner k that there are sometimes a situation that you're you're stuck with Hey, we get this out friday or we wait till monday. So i'm not saying there's anything, you know Sinister about a friday afternoon, but your point is well taken and I think it should apply to this agency as well I do have um, I am happy that you raised the issue on foyer I do I feel you're paying getting information out of this agency is not easy And I've thought about filing a few foyer requests of my own to see if I could get more information But you've talked me out of that and have reminded me that our foyer request definitely does need some um Revisiting and I do know that as commissioner k pointed out we are we are working on that slowly But surely and one last comment that I is my nature. I have to address I know you're very passionate about 6b But the agency at least i'm speaking for myself. I don't hide behind the law We do follow it and I appreciate that you're very passionate about that But the law is what it is whether we agree with it or what it or if we don't and we definitely We have to follow it and I think that the agency does its best to follow that law And until it's changed we're gonna have to do that Sure a real question, but um, I agree with you and and chairman berkel when she was at over at the house Said the same thing that the law is the law this agency goes well beyond what is in the law So when I get a redacted um Monthly corrective action report and it's a redacted based on 6b The number of times the company posted on the recall on facebook How is that possibly protected by 6b when it's public information? Or when I hear someone doesn't want to talk about a civil penalty or a Or a recall because of 6b once the product has been recalled 6b really should not Apply that that information is now out there and it's public. I think that so take away My you know passion for getting rid of it industries vehement support of it And look at the edges of it of the shadow that the law is casting at the agency and see if there's ways that the agency Can narrow it to cover just what the law intended it to cover And I think you'd find a lot of space in which we could Make public additional information. Okay fair enough Ladies, thank you There's nothing that I can say that hasn't already been said And I do appreciate you coming here sharing your story. It's it's painful To say to say the least and I do appreciate you being involved. Mrs. Ellis, you're right You are very well versed in this area as are your you know your colleagues in this and I am Beyond angry as to it when I hear the behavior that goes on at these meetings this can Must be fixed nobody's going to convince me otherwise I have a question though and I'm just speaking off the cuff and that somebody's going to tell me We've already tried this or we don't have authority to do this. Has there any been have there's there been any discussion about some type of More creative approach like mediation Where we get everybody in the room and we Do it more from a What's the best performance standard because I I do agree whether it's 104 or section 7 or what have you You got to have a strong standard whether it becomes voluntary mandatory or what have you we're not there And that's the part that frustrates me. I I I get frustrated when I hear well, you know this or that or you know 50 pounds 60 pounds I want to know what fixes this and I know people in that room know the answer So is there another way that's been discussed that we can get to that point? in my limited experience I have found that this meeting that we go to feels a lot like mediation where We say something they say something Somebody changes maybe a line and then somebody comes back and says no, I don't want to change that line so we you know take that off and then Literally it goes this way back and forth back and forth back and forth And then we get to the end of the meeting and they go I guess we're just going to have to table it and we'll see in six months That's the part that needs to stop So that's that's but that's what's happening is that they say oh, we're going to start this conversation And they put it on the agenda and we have it goes back and forth back and forth now it goes to a task force And like megan pointed out sometimes there's Meetings outside of the task force that come and then we talk at the task force And we do the same sort of little dance where we move this way We move that way then we come back to the general assembly and in the meeting and And literally over and over and over again. I mean one of Was in einstein that said we you know the repeating of the same behavior over and over again expecting different results You know So, you know, it's But I think it is deliberate I think it is intentional I think they know they have a number of hours to fill they have a meeting that is required And they work in tandem To have this push push push push push until they can get to the next six month meeting That's that's where I'm at and so for me the next step, you know mediation So we've been so megan Died in 2004 and kim's been abdicating since then and she's you know So she's been in this game longer than me and she said she's seen this over and over again And what I want to say is I understand what the right channels are I understand that becoming involved in astm meeting with you meeting, you know Educating I we've tried that and that's where the legislation comes in That's where that's where we're at is because we tried those channels We did our very best to work with them and we've reached an impasse and that's where the next step is Is the sturdy act and I am very much looking forward to you reading the specifics of this legislation Because I think it's going to address some of the conversation that that you're wondering I think what i'm hearing though is that the sturdy act will give us a means by which to Fix the we still need the technical solution. It has some of the it has some of the technical requirements. Okay All right. Thank you very much. I appreciate you all being here. Thank you very much commissioner feldman Thank you Wanted to pick up on on what commissioner biakko had mentioned with respect to 6b in the statute I see my role as a commissioner as enforcing the law as it's written I I understand the conversation about 6b I'm interested in working with my fellow commissioners to point out areas where the law might be improved and I would welcome your input in that But I've pledged to faithfully execute the law as it's written without fear or favor And this is a commitment that I take seriously. I think this is an ongoing conversation. Let's have it, but uh, I just wanted to get that in on the record Miss ellison miss mccurry funk Um, I want to thank you both for being here and for sharing frankly your your heartbreaking stories Um, I want you to know that I hear you. I'm listening to you There's more that cpsc can and should be doing With respect to furniture tipovers I share your concerns about the adequacy of the current voluntary standard I also share your concerns about The pace of progress in the astm subcommittee I agree with commissioner k that the agency needs to take the lead on technical findings Um, but I also believe that we can do that right now under section seven and nine Um, we can do this right now And and we'll have a standard that covers all csus not just the narrow subset of the product category Um, I don't have a question for either of you right now other than to ask that you continue to remain engaged with us Uh, and on the issue and I know that you you will be Um, the expertise that parents against tipover brings to the discussions invaluable And I hope that we'll continue to have the benefit of your council as the commission moves forward with a mandatory standard Absolutely, we pledge to be here at the table. Thank you very much um Miss cowles I also want to thank you for being here today and uh for your thoughts about how the agency uses product registration cards For durable infant or toddler products Under danie keiser cpsc is authorized to issue requirements about what should be included on these cards And this data it's important. Uh, people like to say that cpsc is a data-driven agency It's my view that the agency would benefit from reinforcing its data science expertise On forms and questionnaires like what's required under the statute. It matters how questions are asked It matters what data fields are collected A small tweak here or there Can drastically expand or contract the agency's perspective into a particular market dynamic And that's part of the reason that commissioner biakko and I introduced an amendment to hire a chief data officer I'm glad that a form of that amendment was ultimately approved I think more work needs to be done to make sure that the positions funded and implemented appropriately But I want to hear from you about what more the agency can do to leverage these registration cards to help cpsc better execute on its safety mission Well, I think that you know part of maybe what I don't have the information on is I'm not sure cpsc ever has access to those cards Right, I think that they're for the the companies to collect But I think it is we have this 10-year experiment, right? We felt that this was important that people be able to register their products. We know direct notification is important Let's analyze it. Let's look through the recalls And and this requires getting good information from the companies on the recalls, which From what I've seen from monthly corrective action reports may not be there But you can certainly go back and try and get some of it How did they use them? Were people contacted? We just had the fisher price two weeks ago now I know some people have told me that they've already gotten their notification And other people even though they know they registered the product have not been notified and they have not moved So, you know, let's use that kind of information after the fact to figure out how we can improve it going forward And in this area of communication and data, especially, you know, what we passed 10 years ago We thought it was state of the art that we required that they include a way to register on the web Now there's a whole bunch of other ways that they could get that information I think that the the statute sets the You know the ground of what is required It does nothing to stop companies from using many other means to gather that information Make the same pledge of privacy for the information and increase the number of people who register I appreciate that. Thank you. I have no further questions Thank you very much again Our sincere appreciation to all of the panelists For being here today and for taking the time to come here and then as well as answering all of our questions So thank you all very much. We will now break for lunch And we will resume in one hour. The time right now is exactly 12 45 So we will resume at 1 45. Thank you all very much and we will temporarily adjourn Welcome back to this public meeting of the united states consumer product safety commission Our hearing will now resume Just a reminder, this is our annual public hearing on the commission's agenda and priorities for the next two fiscal years 2020 to 2021 We have heard from two panels this morning And now we are going to hear from our third and final panel for today's hearing On this panel, we are pleased to have miss christin kerne from the american apparel and footwear association Ms. Audemore from the retailer industry leaders association Dr. Diana zuckerman from the national center for health research And mr. Remington greg from public citizen Let me just start by welcoming all of you and again thanking you for your willingness to be here today For your comments and for your willingness to answer our questions with that miss kerne. You may begin Good afternoon, and thank you for this opportunity to provide comments this afternoon I'm christin kerne with the american apparel and footwear association um AAFA is the national trade association representing apparel footwear travel goods and other sewn products companies and their suppliers Which compete in the global market with many of our members engaged in the production and sale of children's clothing and footwear We are on the front lines of product safety the priorities that we hope the commission will adopt our as follows Reduced testing and regulatory burdens associated with spandex I'd like to start by thanking the commission for your work on this project and most recently for filing the request for information on spandex flammability data We've brought up this project in previous hearings, but as a short summary The fabric flammability testing exemptions for fibers In plain surface fabrics does not include spandex. However, our members have found spandex And blends with other exempt fibers Consistently past flammability tests. We look forward to the information submitted through this rfi being reviewed and contributing to the progress of this project and we hope that the commission will continue to prioritize This effort to reduce testing burdens for companies without compromising product safety Um allow flamm fabric as a barrier for inaccessible parts We recommend that the cpsc review the determination on inaccessibility and fabric barriers In a 2009 guidance to industry on inaccessible component parts for children's products containing lead The cpsc stated that unlike other children's products that have led containing components that are accessible children will not touch The lead containing component with the hands or fingers if the component is enclosed in fabric and quote Um, unfortunately the guidance goes on to use the definition of a toy that can be placed in a child's mouth for the thallite Band under cpsia to formulate their guidance for inaccessibility of a fabric barrier However, a pearl and footwear are not toys While being worn as intended it is impossible for a child to swallow an article of clothing or a shoe And therefore the one size fits all definition of an inaccessible part Does not apply to these categories And due to this definition the cpsc applies the five centimeter determination To fabric covered components which renders the inaccessibility determination useless for our industry Determining that fabric is a proper inaccessibility barrier As practical experience suggests would lower testing costs in the apparel and footwear industry by eliminating testing requirements For certain components that will be covered in fabric once the article is made Address counterfeits as a safety issue In response to conversations with the cpsc commissioners about potential product safety concerns created by counterfeits The afa has begun research with our membership to gather information on this priority issue We're seeking to understand how companies address counterfeit products how the cpsc From a safety perspective, which Specific hazards are most common in counterfeit goods and how the cpsc can collaborate on the issue We hope that the cpsc will prioritize taking a more leading role in stopping counterfeit goods from entering the us Working with the cbp to develop a stronger system to develop to detect counterfeits and urging third-party marketplaces to have rigorous anti counterfeit programs in place Address the recent private Recent private data release Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn't address our members concerns with the recent Unauthorized data release and in the spirit of positive communication with the commission I would just like to pass along some of the thoughts that our industry has provided us on this event Our members who were affected by this data release are struggling with the limited information that they have received And we understand staff's limited resource resources in communicating with companies and appreciate the communication that has happened so far Going forward. We hope that the commission and staff can prioritize an investigation of this event and work to release full information To affected companies on what specific information Was unintentionally shared so that companies can respond accordingly Additionally, the afa is eager to engage with the commission on this issue in any way that we can be of assistance In conclusion, we're delighted to have a positive relationship with the commission And we believe that there are many opportunities for further collaboration So we look forward to working with the commission to reduce testing and regulatory burden Avoid safety issues created by counterfeit projects and ensure data privacy at the commission to the benefit of consumers and public health Thank you for your time and consideration Thank you very much miss more Acting chairman berkel and commissioners. Thank you in for inviting the public to be a part of the cpsc's budget process I am autum more director of regulatory affairs and compliance at the retail industry leaders association Rila members appreciate the commission's leadership on product safety matters including consumer education campaigns And stakeholder outreach and we're proud partners of each By way of background rila is the us trade association for leading retailers And our members include more than 200 retailers product manufacturers and service suppliers Which together account for 1.5 trillion in annual sales Millions of american jobs and more than 100 000 stores and distribution centers The cpsc is a data driven agency and in today's rapidly changing marketplace The volume of data that is relevant to product safety issues is increasing at an exponential rate The collection and analysis of data are now an important part of government and industry daily operations For the cpsc to meet its core mission. It is critical that it invests in internal staff Including a chief technology officer information technology systems and software resources to enhance the agency's data collection and predictive analytic capabilities Without such resources the agency will fall woefully behind and will not be able to protect us consumers One area where the commission should dedicate increased resources Is the expansion and formalization of the so-called retailer reporting program When the rrp was created it was intended to capitalize upon the breadth of information that retailers And manufacturers gather about customers interactions with products The original concept for the pilot was that the cpsc could analyze information from disparate sources To identify emerging safety risks and defect trends and work with participants to recall products much earlier than the current timeline thereby preventing consumer injuries and property damage This idea was truly unique and ahead of its time However, until recently the tools to handle the volume and complexity of this kind of data had not yet been developed Thus the rrp stagnated an expansion of the program was closed What was impossible at the time of the creation of the rrp is commonplace now New systems can handle millions of data points and predictive analytics tools enable identification of patterns And trends and can even predict consumer behavior As the cpsc moves forward it is critical to get input from stakeholders during the development process of an rrp Formal rulemaking allows those interested to help develop a true government industry partnership With defined benefits and requirements to participate One significant benefit would be having the data submitted as part of a revised and expanded program Satisfy a company's initial 15 b reporting requirement To be clear rila is not advocating for this new program to absolve participants of their responsibility To fulfill all section 15 reporting obligations merely the initial 15 b report A second benefit could be for participation in the program to be considered as a mitigating factor in civil penalty cases Cpsc should also consider breaking participation into tier levels Those tiers could be for company size or level of participation i.e the number of data fields they contribute as not every organization has the same amount of information available to them Having a variety of entry points into the program will allow any size company to begin sharing valuable product safety information with the agency Rila also asks Rila asks only that those entry points to participation or tier levels Be clearly defined so that there is a strong understanding of where and how one can join Rila members were pleased that the commission's most recent operating plan included a project to evaluate the rrp With a view for potential expansion and we are hopeful That the results will be an investment in the agency's data analytics capabilities Leading to formalization and expansion of the rrp Cpsc recently announced that some product incident summary information including product and manufacture or importer names Was inadvertently made public The information was released without context including the results of any cpsc investigation As to whether the incident was substantiated if the product even caused the injury If there is a substantial product safety hazard determination made or if the product met safety standards releases of information such as these can mislead the public about What consumer products are indeed hazardous or non-compliant and puts manufacturers and importers reputations at risk As the agency begins responding to those companies affected Fast full and specific communication is important This release shakes the confidence of the regulated community and the ability of the cpsc to predict to protect Confidential information and the agency should take steps take steps to assure that it does not happen again It is disappointing to note that the agency has been aware of deficiencies in its FOIA processes Since the office of the inspector general released a report in 2015 The report noted that no oversight was being done for information sent from certain departments And that proper training of key staffers was lacking The most recent oig report from last year notes that nine of the 11 recommendations from the 2015 findings have yet to be addressed Rila strongly encourages the cpsc to review the 2015 and 2018 oig reports And dedicate resources to implement their recommendations to establish a more formal FOIA processing system The system should be compliant with the agency's obligations So that only complete and accurate information regarding product safety hazards is released to the public Consistent with the scope of information that is permitted to be released under FOIA and the agency's own regulations Rila also strongly encourages the cpsc to focus on connected consumer products Internet of things technology is being incorporated into a wide array of consumer and industrial products And the list of places it could be used is endless While these products are meeting customers demand for new functionality and increased convenience They may also create cyber security privacy and safety challenges Multiple federal agencies are grappling with iot related issues And rila members are encouraged by recent announcements that the cpsc is taking the lead to develop an intergovernmental Group to address connected consumer products and identify lanes of responsibility We look forward to hearing the outcomes of this joint effort As it is critical that federal agencies work together to develop a comprehensive risk-based approach while promoting innovation One of the first issues the cpsc must address is whether the mere possibility that an iot product Would be hacked creates a substantial product safety hazard within the meaning of the commission's governing authority Rila's position is that it does not and urges the cpsc to look to the example of the federal trade commission Which understands that completely preventing any cyber hacking is impossible Instead the ftc requires companies to have reasonable data security programs That taken to consideration the sensitivity of the data collected Scale and scope of operations and level of risk if a breach occurs We urge the cpsc to adopt similar reasonableness ideas around connected consumer products Import surveillance is another critically important for the cpsc important area for the cpsc Rila members believe that the best use of the commission's limited resources is to target high risk importers and shipments Cpsc can do this by leveraging the resources It will save from low risk importers that are willing to partner with the cpsc in a trusted trader program To enhance import surveillance efforts rila once again urges the agency to create this program with clearly defined benefits such as One exemption from any future import certificate e filing requirements Two program participation as a mitigating factor in enforcement cases And three demonstrably lower percentage of cpsc inspections and holds By developing a robust trusted trader program that will encourage low risk importers to participate The cpsc will be able to focus on high risk importers and shipments that contain a higher likelihood of non-compliant and unsafe goods Lastly, there are a few process focused rule makings including the proposed amendments to the voluntary recall rule And the information disclosure rule under section 6b of the cpsa that have been pending for quite some time Rila and stakeholders submitted extensive comments on both the rules detailing serious issues with each proposal The commission has indicated on multiple occasions that these process focused rules do not warrant resources given the agency's higher priorities To provide industry with increased regulatory predictability Rila urges the agency to remove these rule makings officially by undertaking the necessary vote In closing rila members strongly support the cpsc safety mission and share the agency's commitment to protecting consumers The agency's open door policy that extends from commissioners and their staff to all career staff within the agency Is an example for all government agencies on how to achieve important public policy goals Rila wishes to be a continued resource and i'm happy to answer any questions you have Thank you very much dr. Zuckerman Thank you. I'm dr. Diana Zuckerman. I'm president of the national center for health research and thanks very much for the opportunity to be here Our center is a nonprofit research center We're staffed by scientists medical professionals and public health experts primarily and we conduct and explain research That can improve the health and safety of adults and children We don't accept funding from companies whose products we evaluate And as a scientist i'm going to end a public health person I'm going to focus on some safety issues that are often invisible So they're a little bit harder to talk about I'm going to focus on three issues artificial turf flame retardants and sports and recreational helmets to protect against head injuries Artificial turf and playground surfaces are Particularly important because children are exposed to them day after day and year after year Crumb rubber is used on playing fields and also on playgrounds And we know that there are some risks of that product And increasingly crumb rubber is being replaced by other materials which have similar components but Unknown risks because they haven't been studied yet So when I say artificial turf, I'm talking about that plastic grass that makes that's so green all year long and it looks terrific But it also has in full made from tire waste sometimes recycled tire silica sand And also volcanic rock and we don't know very much about what the risks of all of those different products are playgrounds And I'm talking about the material that colorful material under slides and swings and other and climbing equipment Is made out of rubber rubber mulch rubber tires Sorry tiles or something called poured in place, which is also rubber And whether it's a recycled tire rubber or so-called virgin rubber, they're all made out of petroleum These these are not natural rubber products Uh, and that artificial turf includes hydrocarbons phthalates and vocs They have what are called endocrine disrupting chemicals, which I know you know about Especially phthalates and these materials Disrupt hormones and they can call cause attention deficit disorder early puberty for young children They contribute to obesity and in the long run they can increase the risk of developing cancer And we think of these materials as solid whether it's you know the grass or these playground surfaces But they release chemicals into the air all the time So the crumb rubber particles for example get kicked up Into the air, but it's all the time These chemicals are in the dust and we don't see the dust, but we're breathing the dust and if we open our mouths Sometimes we're swallowing the dust And children and athletes breathe breathe in these chemicals and particulate matter When they play and small children eat them sometimes intentionally So you can see here what looks like black weeds growing, but that's actually pieces of tire crumb that are blowing that are released into the air When people are playing on the field Artificial turf can also contribute to asthma and I'll talk about a few studies So a university of georgia faculty member found particulate matter that contained arsenic cadmium chromium and lead In the air Near artificial turf. These are not materials that we would want in our children The california epa did studies that found particulate matter containing pa h's vocs and phthalates above artificial turf in indoor soccer stadiums as well as outdoor fields A study published in the international journal of occupational medicine and environmental health Said that children with asthma Have higher levels of pa h's that are found in crub rubber and these are all chemicals that are potential carcinogens The u.s. National health and nutrition examination survey called the n. Haynes is one of the best and most important surveys that our government does On a regular basis. They've done it for many years and they did a study of more than 15,000 American children and found that Those that were had higher exposures to pa h's were more likely to have asthma And last month a lab analyzed the lead at an elementary school playground Just a couple of miles from here and they found that 24 of the samples of the rubber shred Now this is under a playground a colorful playground, but it's broken up because the kids play on it and it breaks up into little pieces and they had Lead levels over 1,951 parts per million Similarly a recently published study on the playgrounds in boston found that there was more lead in the rubber playground materials Than an engineered wood fiber or sand and those are two other materials that can be used That are similar in terms of a soft fall if a child falls off a swing Um, there was um less lead in rubber than in dirt and that's because Those of you who remember that we used to have leaded gasoline and the lead from those emissions is still in the dirt Especially dirt that's anywhere near roads and streets Unfortunately, there are no tests required for artificial turf or playgrounds Pertaining to human health and particularly not to long-term health Now thanks to the consumer product safety commission some phthalates are banned from other children's products Such as teething rings and baby bottles and rubber duckies But some of those same chemicals can be an artificial turf that kids are exposed to all the time And uh, there's no restrictions on that I also want to talk about the heat from artificial turf This was also a field just a couple of miles from here on a typical washington Day in the summer. It's actually overcast that day, but it was very warm So the grass which we measured was 93 degrees on that day would have been hotter if it had been sunny But the artificial turf next to it was 148 degrees 50 degrees warmer on that same day the same area And I just want to mention jordan McNair the football player who died From heat At the university of maryland lots of issues there. I won't go into them But he was practicing on an artificial turf field So we're so glad that the consumer product safety commission has been looking into artificial turf issues as the epa has done And we're urging that you have a chronic that you put together a chronic hazard advisory panel To examine the short term and long term risks of the different types of artificial turf and playground materials My second priority would be organo halogen flame retardants Which as you can see in this picture are everywhere in our homes couches electronics chairs Even foam baby items The national academies of science engineering and medicine is finishing a plan to assess the hazards Of these flame retardants and it would be terrific if you all put together a chronic advisory chronic hazard advisory panel to use that plan to evaluate these Flame retardants and to develop regulations for the future In addition the flammability standards do need to be improved because we have a lot of restrictions That are not working and that are actually contributing to the dangers of Flame retardant materials, especially to people firefighters Again like the others these materials Migrate out of the products. We think of the these materials as solid, but it's in the air It's on the surfaces. I'm now touching it with my fingers if I put my fingers in my mouth There it is and It's in our food And they're very long lasting and that's why research shows that just about every american has these flame retardants in their bodies Last but not least helmets for sports and recreational activities You all have worked on helmets for bike helmets But we don't have Restrictions that are needed for to prevent severe injuries from other kinds of sports. There are helmets They mostly are designed to prevent severe head injuries. That's really important, but there's almost four million Concussions those are not considered necessarily severe And these mild concussions can also be very very harmful And the helmets that we have today are not designed to prevent damage from those kind of concussions So we're asking that you develop guidelines for helmets for other sports to ensure that they can reduce the risk And we encourage you to consider how design changes Could improve the ability of helmets to prevent serious head injuries as well as mild concussions And I can't believe I actually did it in less than 10 minutes. Thank you. Thanks very much and thank you very much, mr Greg Good afternoon acting chairman burkle and members of the commission public citizen appreciates the opportunity to speak at today's priority hearing Public citizen is eager to see the cpsc increase its focus on addressing product safety hazards through mandatory standards on a number of issues including window coverings Portable generators high powered magnets and preventing furniture tip-overs among others In addition, we believe that it is crucial that the agency turn more of its focus to Increasing the recall effectiveness rate transparency and the use of technology to make the agency work better Section 6b of the consumer product safety act has restrained the cpsc's ability to proactively disclose safety hazards to the public Section 6b is outdated Anticonsumer and intended solely to protect the reputation of businesses that put harmful products on the market It was obvious when sipsia was enacted that a database would not completely eradicate the problems caused by 6b With 10 additional years of knowledge. This assertion is even truer today While we continue to applaud safer products.gov true transparency requires 6b to be removed from law Section 6b has restrained the cpsc and its ability to proactively disclose safety hazards to the public To our knowledge No other federal agency that deals with public health and safety is subject to similar public disclosure restrictions 6b negatively affects consumers by unnecessarily shielding critical product safety information from public view There is no legitimate justification for this law and congress should eliminate it We have repeatedly encouraged the agency to make the case to congress and we recently did so Second while we strongly support the consumer product safety database if administered correctly And with certain small modifications It could far better serve the mission of providing a central Repository for critical product safety information and become a more effective tool to avert death or injury to the public As the commission considers improvements to safer products.gov Public citizen has continuously urged the commission to collaborate with technologists and innovators Including those who have experience in the private sector to implement the recommendations that we have made to the commission To our knowledge the commission has failed to take our advice This is deeply disappointing We strongly urge the commission to use the talent out there that can help the agency improve its mission Third when congress passed the original consumer product safety act It gave the commission the authority to impose monetary penalties Against product manufacturers for placing unsafe products into the marketplace Criminal and civil penalties serve as an important tool to discourage companies from cutting corners when manufacturing products And they also create an incentive to ensure that manufacturers quickly report product defects Over the last 10 years the cpsc has used as broad an authority wisely and has increased the amount that it imposes on consumers According to a recent public citizen report however in president trump's first year in office the cpsc Imposed about 21.4 million dollars in penalties with an average penalty of 5.3 million That was down from 37.3 million dollars a year earlier president obama's last year in office In addition according to our research the trump administration run cpsc Completed no enforcement actions in the fourth quarter of 2017 or the first quarter of 2018 imposing its first penalty in april 2018 The dip in enforcement actions at the cpsc is troubling is a troubling trend that is directly tied to a change in the commission's leadership congress empowered the cpsc with the responsibility of imposing penalties on companies when they place dangerous products into the marketplace And fail to report or otherwise open consumers up to potential injury or death Civil penalties are a tool that should be used robustly both to protect consumers against harm and to carry out congress's intent When increased the cpsc's civil penalty authority a decade ago We hope the agency will reverse the current trend and instead go back toward imposing meaningful civil penalties on corporate wrongdoers In furtherance of its important mission This year the department of justice brought the first criminal charge against corporate wrongdoers Prefailing to promptly notify the commission that a product presented a risk of injury or death to consumers While long overdue public citizen is encouraged that the department is using its authority to hold the most blatant corporate wrongdoers criminally responsible We urge the commission to work with the department of justice to identify others who should be prosecuted under this statute Fourth we urge the commission to do more to increase the unacceptably low recall rate for all products Including ikea dresses This piece of furniture has sadly injured 91 and killed eight children after this model of dresser tipped over onto them Since the high profile recall was announced in 2016 Ikea has given only 175,000 refunds and reinstalled 268,000 dangerous dresses despite the fact that the recall affected more than 17 million dressers The commission must redouble its efforts to demand more from ikea to increase its efforts Finally in 2013 public citizen petitioned the agency to ban adult portable bedrails against and Because they posed an unreasonable risk of injury and we argue that no feasible mandatory standard Would address the risk portable bedrails are purchased as consumer products by well-meaning family members and are used in the home Or sometimes in long-term care facilities in which loved ones are living These concerned consumers and their loved ones too often fall victim to misleading advertising claims That the use of bedrails make a bed safer when evidence suggests otherwise Our petition noted that even if similar mandatory standards were developed for adult beds as they have been for children's beds Such standards would not would be insufficient to adequately protect against strangulation and fall hazards presented by portable bedrails We are happy to provide more information to you on this topic and hope that the commission will quickly address this public safety hazard Commission faces many challenges We urge the agency to more wholly embrace its mission to protect the public from unreasonable injury or death By promulgating robust rules and standards to protect consumers and hold corporate wrongdoers accountable with strong penalties That serve as an effective deterrent And when it's a clear product and when a clear product is causing harm to force companies to do a better job Of getting the recalled product out of the hands of consumers We believe if the commission proceeds with its mandate to prioritize consumer safety above all else Including above the interest the interests of business and industry the cpsc can fulfill its decree to advance product safety And protect the lives and health of americans And my time is up it appears Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments. I look forward to your questions Thank you very much. We don't have a hook here at cpsc. My lights just go out I thank you all very much for your um compelling testimony and we will now begin our round of questioning and I will begin And each commissioner will have 10 minutes to ask their questions So um, let me begin by addressing what miss kern and miss more raised and that is the issue of the Unauthorized disclosure and I will say as much as I can say publicly, but I Want to assure the regulated community and all of those who've been affected by this that the agency has made this an absolute priority And is working on it diligently to address and to make sure We number one Have the correct information before we go public with that information and that has been The priority to make sure before we go out with any information that it is accurate And that will be forthcoming, but it is it has been and Will continue to be a priority of the agency on many levels in terms of how did it happen? Why did it happen and we will? Pursue appropriate action. So I want to just send that assurance out there This is not something that we take lightly here at the cpsc. It's something that we really have taken very seriously And we'll address the issue the issue As appropriate. So thanks for that question Um, I just want to talk a little bit. Um, dr. Zuckerman As you know, we are waiting and you alluded to it in your comments We're waiting for the nas report And the chap that was convened on the issue of organo had a halogen flame retardants. I would What you presented here today? There's a lot of material Can you distill it down in terms of priorities? Where would you begin? If you were us Do you want me to focus on the organo? Halogens or all of the three issues? I think the three issues will have a little more clarity when we hear from nas with regards to What their recommendations are right now? We're all sort of we're just waiting for that to be to be sent to us Sure that makes sense. Well, I think that What's a priority about artificial turf is that it's millions of kids exposed all the time and we don't know what's going to happen We don't know how it's affecting them now except that we know it is exacerbating asthma and obesity We know that it's contributing to early puberty There are children who are starting puberty at the ages of seven eight and nine And that's not only, you know, terrible psychologically, but also very dangerous physically so because Two reasons because there's so many kids exposed to materials that we know Can cause cancer and other more immediate health problems and because the companies that make these materials have actually Misled the public by saying the consumer about a safety commission says they're perfectly safe. They've said that I've been in been at Meetings of the state government in Maryland at hearings where they've said that they've said EPA says they're perfectly safe. They'll they say things that aren't true about our federal agencies Conclusions and that's very disturbing But at the same time they know that they have a branding problem. So they are replacing Tirecrumb with volcanic rock. I mean, I'm sorry. How can that be good to breathe in? You know may not be synthetic, but that doesn't mean mean it's good and safe. So Because oh and it's treated as trade secrets. So we don't even know what's in some of these materials So for that reason, I think that artificial turf and playgrounds when you think of you know, young kids playing for hours a day You know compared to teething toys, which of course go in the mouth So they're very important, but the exposure is so much higher. I mean Exponentially higher. So for that reason, I think it's uh, Really important and I will say, uh, you know, my my kids are old enough that they had very little exposure to artificial turf But I've got a grandchild now. So now I have to think about that too Organo halogen flame retardants as you said you're waiting for but again The exposure is enormous in our homes and we don't see it and we don't know what's going on and how it affects us And then uh sports helmets I think as a parent we all assume that these helmets are really helping and protecting and they are But they aren't perhaps protecting as much as we think and there's nobody to make sure that they are and Certainly you would want to protect against the most serious head injuries that makes sense But you'd also want the more common head injuries, which are not as serious but can You know take off a few IQ points and can do other things None of us want to happen either to our children our grandchildren or ourselves So I guess that's my summary. Thank you. Thank you very much. Um, is more I I wanted to address the what you mentioned about the FOIA and the IG report and I do think that this FOIA npr that is currently out there that we will be working on next week Is in response to that and we are trying to modernize FOIA and doing it within addressing some of the current concerns we heard this morning, but again, we would Welcome from Industry as well as the consumer groups any comments and thoughts you may have on it We heard from the panel this morning miss coals With regards to how we can streamline it and and so we look forward to hearing from that And we look forward to resolving the issue and hopefully making FOIA more efficient and more effective within the agency Um, I and I also want to just address on the iot The mention about a cpsc taking leadership role and we have and we have pedia dare As the iot leading the effort in the agency and Our mid-year just came up today So hopefully we can add some resources to iot within the mid-year plan and Make sure the agency is positioned along with other government agencies and on april 23rd There was an intergovernmental agency meeting where we began not we but they began to discuss The various lanes for the various government agencies so we all know what each other is doing and we can address Whatever is ours within under our jurisdiction. So that is well underway and we'll continue to do so So just wanted to make that clear Mr. Gregg, um, I just wanted to ask a question about your first paragraph You mentioned about Focusing you were eager to see cpsc increase its focus on addressing product safety hazards through mandatory standards On a number of issues including window coverings portable generators high power magnets tipovers among others. So I would just would are you saying not in lieu of the voluntary standards or? Yes, um, correct in in lieu of the voluntary standards In the belief that We should be getting the most robust standards For for some of these I mean, especially when we've seen that some of the voluntary standards are not working As well as they should for example portable standards portable generators. So it would be in lieu of Okay, and so I guess I think it's important to understand how the agency works and that is our statute directs us to address a hazard First through the voluntary standard make sure it addresses the hazard and their substantial compliance And if there is not then we pursue a mandatory standard But I I think there's a little bit of a misunderstanding the agency just because we are pursuing a voluntary standard Does not mean that the mandatory standard the voluntary standard works does inform the mandatory standard work And so whenever we're working on a voluntary standard that work that research that data Is and can be used and will be used in whether or not we need to develop a mandatory standard But it isn't in lieu of but they they work tandemly so I am now going to turn it over. Mr. K for his questions commissioner K Thank you, madam chair and thank you to commissioner adler for flipping with me for this round Unfortunately, I have to leave after my questions, but I Will promise to the panelists to watch the remainder of the hearing Tomorrow morning with the rest of the commissioners Ms. Kern, I'd like to start with you please and on the inaccessibility of lead in apparel Just so I can understand it better because I don't recall this issue coming up before at least in the last few years Is so if the child ends up for instance, if there's a zipper that's covered or a button That's covered in apparel, but the child still ends up mouthing or sucking on that zipper or button Is it your position or the association's position that that should be considered inaccessible? That's that is correct any Component part of an apparel product that's covered in fabric. We believe that fabric should be able to serve as an inaccessibility Barrier And so have you done any studies in terms of child's children behavior in accessing that in saliva and the ability to mouth That has any data been collected on that I'm not aware of of data on that. I would consider Thinking about that sort of process logically the child may be able to You know put a in apparel product in their mouth, but as far as I would consider that kind of akin to like licking a toy or other product that's that Is outside of or larger than that five centimeter designation for other inaccessible parts. I would I would consider those to be quite similar in accessibility For a child. Okay. Thank you very much. I miss more electronic reporting and this idea of Expanding electronic reporting is actually something We looked at a few years ago and the challenge that we actually faced in terms of trying to find some way to provide Some certainty let's call it certainty. So if you are if somebody reports and provides a certain number of data elements Completely they could be in return provided some certainty that they have met their obligation I think the big one of the biggest challenges and you would be in a position to help us address this Is how to treat retailers that act as private laborers because obviously under our section 15 b regulation If you are a retailer versus a manufacturer, you have different reporting obligations And we struggle to figure out how we would know the difference And so it's not something you necessarily have to answer now But if that's something that you can provide us In terms of how we if we were to try to set up a system and we had one set of data elements tracking our reg That were for manufacturers and another for retailers because clearly retailers are in possession often of less information Than the manufacturer But in those situations where the retailer crosses over and becomes a manufacturer and that's not necessarily something We would have visibility into how would we address that does that make sense? Yeah, that makes sense I think we're happy to part you partner with you on that and try and find some solutions to that because I think there are some Great. Thanks. That's a discussion. I'd like to continue to have course. Thank you Dr. Zacherman. Good to see you again That can't help but talk about helmets obviously it's something that I've spent a long time during my career here at cpsc And agree with you completely that it would be great to have helmets that were designed To mitigate not only the risk of concussions, which is an acute injury, but long term Chronic head or brain trauma from what we call sub concussive hits So for those of you who are football fans and you envision two offensive or an offensive lineman and a defensive lineman that collide every play on the snap They are not registering rotational linear acceleration levels that would traditionally be considered to be at a concussive level But there's certainly sustaining brain trauma every play. And if you look at somebody who plays From youth leagues through middle school to high school and even beyond that is thousands and thousands of sub concussive hits to the head that are really alarming and And from the literature that i've seen that's actually a longer term concern for somebody's brain health Then sustaining one or two diagnosed concussions the point of all that is It's very challenging from a biomechanical Aspect and i'm curious to know What if you're in possession of any research or know of any research That would help us provide the kinds of guidelines that you're looking for because I think that we all share a desire To play a constructive role in this space. I just have never seen any kind of research That would allow us to say if you design a helmet that does this You can safely claim to be Impacting the amount of sub concussive or concussive blows to the brain Well, I I can't off the top of my head to give you a simple answer. I'm happy to come get back to you on that I agree with you. It's very complicated. We obviously can't do studies where we expose some children To this kind of injury with this kind of helmet and this kind of injury with a different kind of helmet I mean that makes it very very hard to study But we are learning a lot more about the brain and we have You know medical devices that can scan the brain and we can learn more that way and Have learned a lot more that way. So I think that I don't want to say any regulation is better than no regulation, but I do think that it Not only are the regulations currently Inadequate, but Parents have no idea Um, I mean I I for myself, you know, my kids had bike helmets I didn't know I was supposed to replace them every year or something like that. You know, nobody told me I had no idea So it's it's an informational issue too And I think there's a lot that the consumer product safety commission can do to at least Provide that kind of information As you know parents are Voting with their feet so to speak and fewer kids are trying out for football and so on So parents are concerned, but they don't even know what to be concerned about Yeah, and I'm a parent who has boys playing sports And so I completely understand that and I struggle with even Knowing what the agency can do at this point beyond trying to continue to track and monitor the research and encourage more Collaboration and research. I can say it's a very challenging area and even with the Advancements in brain imaging and computer modeling. I still don't think we're there unfortunately and I get not as much as I used to But I get still relatively frequent calls to my office saying we've solved the problem with x product And it's always the same thing They've been able to show in lab that their material can mitigate to some extent some of the forces that would pass through that Material but what that means in terms of concussion reduction or more importantly as I mentioned Degenerative brain condition from repeated sub concussive hits They can't say at all because there's just no science to go there. And so I'd like to see us do more I you have a very ready willing in a or at least willing group I just don't know if we have the ability to do more So I wanted to at least share that with you but open if there's more stuff that comes On artificial turf, I think that the issues are slightly different Obviously during the obama administration. We were able to get this off the ground It was envisioned at that time that epa would take the lead on artificial turf and we would do playgrounds. I think the agency has done Basically what we can do The issue that we see unfortunately is that epa has not followed through on the commitment that it had made And so all the basic tox work that we were expecting to be completed that we could work off of and use our exposure analysis to try to Provide some of these answers at least for playgrounds has not been done and not been provided to us So we're in a tough spot resource wise to figure out how to move forward on this because if epa Is not going to do this. We're not even remotely funded at a level I mean we could maybe pick off two chemicals But you listed only some of the ones that are in there's a lot of chemicals in there And I'm not taking a position on the safety or lack thereof. I'm just saying there are a lot of chemicals in there so It's going to be a long haul. I still think we can continue our playground work But at some point in the absence of epa Doing its part on the tox work. We're going to come to a standstill and I don't know if congress has to get involved or what but I think that that work has to happen for us to be able to do our part Yeah, if I could just mention that I think the the newer studies about lead And playgrounds and fields is new. I mean this is I mean we knew something about lead But we didn't know how high it could be and I think you know, everybody understands that lead is bad It's not as controversial as phthalates So I think that that puts us in a somewhat different position And if I may I just want to say in the same way that lead has dust that gets into it I would be concerned about buttons with lead that you're sucking because the dust is coming up Even if it's covered with fabric Yeah, and I appreciate the point about lead and playgrounds and obviously that's something we can take a look at But we still have to do the exposure Scenarios to make sure that we can act but thank you for that and then Mr. Gregg in the remaining time that I have it's 6b has been described As being beneficial for consumers. I don't know if you've heard that before but it's been Almost it sounds like a panacea. It solves all of our problems. It makes everybody happy Why would we ever want to mess with that? But have you ever? I've never heard any advocacy organization ever or any consumer Ever say to me that 6b is helping them and they're really glad it's there Have you ever had any advocacy organization ever take the position that 6b is good for consumer safety? Never I don't even I'm trying to think of the rationale for that and I I can't think of any And then you just look at as it's being said time again. There's no other agency that has that restriction Some make the argument that there needs to be extra safeguards, but we've got health and safety agencies That are doing their jobs that don't have it and Going farther than that it It presents a roadblock to ensuring that health and safety critical Information is put out there. Great. Thank you for that. Thank you again, madam chair and thank you commissioner adler Thank you very much commissioner k commissioner adler And thank you very much madam chairman. Um, miss more I didn't want to make a quick comment about retailers. I think more often than not you've been great partners for us More than opponents and I really hope we can continue that relationship because I think at times retailers have been able to act when We haven't been able to and others won't so I really want to commend rila for doing that So you did raise an interesting issue with respect to the retail reporting program and that's been something that has been A point of great concern to me over time and one of the great things that I am concerned about is that we get What I call data dumps where it's very hard when we look at the information that's coming in to separate signal from noise Um, and one of the points you made which is not an unreasonable point is that If we do get adequate information From a retailer that that be treated as meeting the requirements for an initial report under 15b You are very careful to say just an initial report But I just wanted to remind you that our regs say that if you filed an initial report, then you are required To submit a full report. It's an automatic requirement. And I guess my question is How often is it your sense that companies that submit Information through the retailer reporting program are then following up with full reports and how many of them are even cognizant of that requirement You know what commissioner adler. Thank you for the question. I appreciate that I have to go back and talk to some members who actually participate in the program And get their feedback and get their understanding about How they're delineating their initial report from the more full report But I think there's a way that we can thread this needle and I think there there's a way that Companies who participate in this program And I'm just thinking off the cuff here if there's a way to flag something as also needing additional information once it gets You've used the word I've used which is there needs to be it seems to be a red flag for Retail reporting where if you're submitting what I call the data dump that you have yourself the retailer Look through the information sifted it and said these are the ones that are a particular concern and they isolate them And let the commission know otherwise You know how limited our resources are we just really lack at times the ability to process this so it's program that I I think in the abstract makes sense, but at least as it's being applied today I'm a little Concerned about how it's going to work But you did make another point which I think is terrific Which is we are now in the age of not only big data But big data analytics and you made mention of that and I find that intriguing Can you give any additional details? You don't necessarily have to do it now But any additional details that would help us with the approach to the analytics for this massive amount of data that's coming in Sure. I mean, I don't think I can endorse one system over the other But I do think as technology moves forward this problem of having too much data is Can be mitigated because of the technology tools that are out there right now it can be sifted and it can be understood and Line items where before you'd have to go through line by line to figure out what was going on Can now be tracked using trigger words and a variety of other tools And I will say that the expansion of the r.r.p. Program Is important to retailers But I think it can't be done and it can't be done well until and less than until There are better data analytics and it systems put in place by the agency because Just getting more Needle haystacks doesn't mean you're going to be able to find the needles any better I couldn't have put any better than that. Thank you for that Dr. Zuckerman. It's great to see you again. Welcome back and I did want to Address this comment that you've heard and I've heard it too that cpsc says that the crumb rubber is safe And the truth is we've never said that but the one thing at least to my knowledge. We've never said is that it's unsafe I've talked to staff about this and here's what staff tentatively not any sort of definitive final conclusion have said is that What the chemicals that are in crumb rubber are horrible chemicals, you know heavily toxic But and the the argument always is they're so Tightly bound that they don't get out even in a hot humid day The vapor you see rising from the field is not the toxic chemicals and so on So I guess my question is uh, do you have any information that will help at least me understand what the The particular risks are with crumb rubber intuitively. They seem very very serious, but uh, are there are the research studies that would help us on that Sure. Thanks. Um, so some of the studies that I Mentioned in my power point and I'm happy to provide more information You know did measure what's in the air And did find, you know, these toxic chemicals in the air I don't know if they were looking on project, you know, with Particularly hot days or not hot days or whatever, but I'll find out and that would be important to know um The other studies that have been done, you know, it depends on the material So the crumb rubber in a field is different in the sense that it's these pieces it's it's um, actually tons and tons of uh, crumb rubber on on a field and It gets in It gets in kids clothes. It gets in the laundry, you know, it ends up in your washing machine or your dryer I don't know what it's doing there.  The only thing we don't know is how much and how much would you need to be exposed for it to make a difference We don't know that and I agree with you. Um, and we always try to explain this To legislators. There's a world of difference between There is no evidence that this is harmful and this isn't harmful They're not the same thing at all Thank you. And I do have one other question about organo halogen and the ofr's I have nightmares About the fact that uh, there isn't a single person in this room that doesn't have Ofr's in their bodies and I think I asked this question before but I honestly can't remember the answer If we were to go back 100 years, would we have found the same level of ofr's in people's bodies? Oh, I don't think so. How about 50 years? I don't think so. So in other words, what we have is an Exploding amount of ofr's that are ending up in people's bodies and one of the points that's often argued to me is That, you know, there's x number of deaths from fires every year And that's obviously a matter of great concern But then when you contrast that to the millions and millions of people who are exposed to ofr's You're trying to get a sense of perspective. I wonder if you have any comments about that Well, in addition to the perspective of You know preventing a few fires versus everybody being exposed, but there's also the firefighters themselves Are often more damaged by the chemicals of these flame retardants that when the even though they're not In flames there's smoke When there's a fire and there's this You know material with flame retardants in it and they're breathing in the smoke and it can you know cause cancer and other things You know terrible lung diseases So that in many cases the smoke is more dangerous to the firefighters than the fire would be Madam chair at this point an idea just struck me. You asked me to Press the question, but I thought I would just defer my time What is remaining to me for you to ask the question if that's okay. That's very kind of you. Thank you Dr. Zacharman, I just was wondering in terms of your comments regarding Concussions and head injuries and all that has been said here today Do you have any experience with the inflatable helmets and are you familiar with the helmets? Havding is making and they're over in europe and being used in sweden and france and some other countries in europe I've heard of them, but I haven't looked at the data on them And I don't know if how good the data are, but I'd be happy to get back to you on that I would appreciate that very much. Thank you Just I was going to ask uh, mr. Greg a question about 6b, but I thought that commissioner k Summarized the issue much more succinctly and much more accurately and I thought your answer responded wonderfully to that so actually I Have no further questions. Thank you very much. Commissioner baoko Thank you Ms. Kern thank you for your comments today about Your members who have been so kind with regard to The most recent release of data from this agency I I think that their positive approach to this has been quite a gift to the agency under the circumstances So please pass along our thanks for that Um, this more with regard to the retail reporting program I I do think that it needs to be revamped and revisited And um commissioner Feldman and I proposed an amendment during the budget period to update our software And I think what I heard you say and please correct me if I'm mistaken But there is plenty of software out there that could sort through You know, even the worst had a dump to give us what we are actually seeking. I I think that's what you meant I believe that's correct Okay, so there's a lot of ways to go about doing that and the idea of the retail reporting Program is certainly a good one, but I do think it's fallen Victim if you will to just large amounts of data that the agency hasn't been able to really capitalize on and I do think that's something I'd like to see us work on so Certainly willing to hear any suggestions that your organization or members have Great. I look forward to parking partnering with the agency on this and getting the rrp off the ground again. Great. Thank you Dr. Zuckerman, thank you for your presentation. I found it incredibly interesting I don't know a lot about the issues that you've spoken about. I have done just some Research into the kerm rubber issue in my prior life And it's a much bigger issue than we have time to discuss today But the one question that pops into my mind as we're sitting here is let's let's just assume we get rid of it What's our alternative are we back to asphalt or is there a different alternative for these playgrounds? What would be the best scenario in your mind? Well, if you want to go Geez, I think it's half a mile from here at norwood park right off wisconsin avenue There's a they have what's called engineered wood fiber It's small pieces of wood that doesn't sound very soft But actually it's amazingly spongy because it's a lot of it, I guess And that's one of the materials that seems to be really good because it it absorbs falls Um, it doesn't cause splinters apparently because of the way it's made And it doesn't have any of these chemicals in it and it costs in a cost You know, I think less or you know comparable and it does need to be maintained like any Playground would need to be but that would be a good a good option that At least some of the Montgomery county and some of the other local Jurisdictions have started using not so much in dc though in dc. It's Colorful rubber everywhere. Okay. Thank you. I appreciate that. I don't have anything else Thank you very much commissioner feldman Thank you And thank you all for being here today. I think I'm the last ones. I'll try to wrap this up quickly Ms. Kern, I'm glad that you mentioned counterfeits in your prepared remarks This is probably one of the largest concerns and frustration that I'm hearing consistently from industry and Frankly from your industry in particular But not exclusively It's my sense that this is a problem that extends beyond cpsc's jurisdiction. We're a Safety regulator not an ip regulator, but I do recognize that there's a strong nexus between authenticity and safety I'm interested right now in hearing more about how industry is pursuing innovative solutions to combat counterfeiting Including blockchain applications that might be deployed to improve traceability Is this something that your members are working on or have have deployed? I can't speak to what programs they're using if it's blockchain specifically but given the amount of Interest our members And especially financial interests that they have in protecting their brands and educating their consumers about what genuine and authentic and safe products look like Yes, I think our companies are looking into any innovative and new solution that they can use to protect their Brand and intellectual property as well as preventing unsafe counterfeits from ending up in consumers hands I'd be interested in hearing more about what their experience has been and what role if any cpsc might play in this area um Ms. Moore, I want to ask you. I know that you've talked extensively about it today But I want you to talk a little bit more about the retailer reporting program Um, why it's important how we might expand it Sure. Thank you. I appreciate that. I would say the biggest benefit to the retailer reporting retailer reporting program Is just the standardization of the data So it can come in from any number of places and as I mentioned in my testimony potentially doing a tiered level participation buy-in so that you could get The same information coming in the same format directly to the agency, which I think is really important I think because it is standardized It's able to be malleable and maneuvered and manipulated to to determine any number of outcomes and maybe The idea is to find product safety hazards much sooner and I think that's exactly what the data can do I would say third also While consumers may or may not know about safer products.gov Knowing about is step number one Reporting actually submitting a report is step number two And I think consumers don't do that very often But you know what they do do they do contact their retailers whenever they're looking for a refund or Reacting to a recall or they call the manufacturer directly So I think the agency could and should harness that data as much as they can Is this excuse that oh, it's too much data an acceptable excuse in 2019 Uh Not in my opinion, but There has to be a way to manage the data and there has to be a way to understand it because as I mentioned to commissioner adler Just having more data isn't helpful unless you have the right tools to analyze it But those tools and solutions do exist It's my understanding and are widely deployed elsewhere throughout the federal government that I can't answer okay, um Ms. Moore and miss kern. I want to thank you both for Raising a recent data breach in in your prepared remarks It's my sense based on your statement that uh that your members have a great deal of pause about our ability to keep sensitive consumer pii and Six be protected corporate information confidential um Is it possible that the breach might have a chilling effect on firm's ability or or willingness to report above and beyond What's required under section 15? I don't know that I can speak definitively to that. I think there's potential but I think companies in good faith likely It's hard to say I guess I should say it's very difficult at this stage in the game to know exactly What the impact of this Unintentional release could be miss karn. I would Say we we are on the same page on that for the most part. Um, I I suspect that it could have that effect it's important that companies continue to have faith in in the organization Are in the agency and and an ability to partner with with the agency does come from Knowing that certain information as is um agreed upon in in the law is is maintained I hear that Is it your sense that cpsc is doing everything in its power to respond to this breach with transparency and accountability? I I guess I'll say that our um, you know, I can't necessarily speak to the capacity of staff but our our members who have been affected by this incident would Certainly appreciate more information. Um and are struggling with the information that they have currently Whether that's, um, you know full capacity of the staff or not. I I can't say but You know full information as to what was released is is helpful to our companies right now in in proceeding I appreciate that and and I hear you Dr. Zuckerman, um, we you covered this a little bit in your back and forth with uh commissioner k I'll ask the question a little bit more directly. Do you believe that helmets can prevent concussions? Yes Okay, but you know Don't trust me. No, I mean I I believe it, but you know, it's it's very hard to know because the data are not there Uh, it makes sense that they can We don't know how often they do Okay, thank you. And uh, finally mr. Remington Uh in your remarks you urge the commission to collaborate with technologists to help it achieve its safety mission Do you think it makes sense for cpsc to hire a chief technologist as so many of our sister agencies have done? I think it makes sense Obviously, you're going to have to weigh that decision with the resources that you have but you could also think about partnering with other organizations um, why not um partner with the ftc for example to use theirs um, so I think there are there are many ways to get a to To to solve the problem. Um, it's just a question of the willingness to do so the willingness or the resources I'm hearing sort of both in your answer. Well, I mean if the will I don't know if the willingness is there from all all five members um, so uh, but Hopefully the resources and the willingness is there and I would urge you to to do so because there are so many issues that I believe would Benefit from a technologists expertise. Okay. I appreciate that and I don't want to keep everybody here longer than we need to be I want to thank you all for being here. That's that concludes my questions Thank you very much commissioner Feldman and again, thank you to all of you for being here miss kern miss more Dr. Zuckerman and mr. Gregg We do appreciate your time and Your comments here today and your willingness to answer questions This third panel concludes our uh panels for today and again the commission greatly appreciates all of your input As a reminder, um, I said it in this morning in my comments. The record will be kept open for one week So for any of the information that maybe you have been asked for Or has been requested from you the record will be open and you can provide it to the agency And I would appreciate you doing so I want to acknowledge for the record that we did receive additional written comments from people who were not able to testify here today Those comments were received from Janet McGee the lyfted lcc lc Dan mustico from the outdoor power equipment institute Nancy nord from the magnet safety association Andy counts from the american home furnishings alliance Kimberley immato from megan's hope lisa seaford from shane's foundation Brett horn from charlie's house Nancy blogan from the national fireworks association Nancy nord from hovding of sweden And a joint submission from the american academy of pediatrics and consumer federation of america consumer reports kids in danger north american society for pediatrics gastroenterology Heptology and nutrition and the u.s public interest research group This written testimony, of course will be reviewed closely and we are very grateful again for the submission of those comments Finally i want to thank our executive director and her staff the office of the secretary office of facilities Office of general counsel in the office of communications for all of their efforts to make Today's public hearing happen and run so smoothly with the exception of the lights Thank you again to all three participants of all three panels and those who submitted written comments And also those attending and watching online. We do appreciate your engagement with this agency It's critical for us to accomplish our mission. This concludes the public meeting of the united states consumer product safety commission. Thank you


How's it going everybody dachodoy here with a very exciting video because this is going to be our first ranked match day out of a full week of ranked with GT Goku here. So usually with these when these start out I like to share some tech at the beginning of the video because the character is new and if I show off what I'm going to be going for it makes more sense when I say oh I'm trying to hit this or I hope I don't drop this etc. So this is basically Goku GT's bread and butter corner combo it might be a little bit basic hopefully it's not it's day one if you're by yourself you can do this and afterwards you can try to catch their up tech with down s that's his power pole bounce but also if you have assist you can easily add on more damage depending on the assist there and maybe even go into a sliding knockdown which of course you can add on either your level three or level one depending on what you want to go for and of course I also wanted to show off that if you're feeling really fancy and have a lot of bar maybe Goku GT is your last character left and they super dash at you you can just go ahead and catch that with a spirit bomb and then go ahead and combo into your normal level three with Super Saiyan 4 I don't think that's gonna happen too many games but when it does man it feels good so that's pretty much all I had to show off now it's time to jump into some ranked matches and see how we do on day one oh yeah and I should also mention that in order to get Goku GT early I had to go on the Xbox version of the game so that I could do that uh you know old old time trick please don't report me to the Xbox cops I definitely do live in New Zealand yeah man I'm definitely okay with a little bit lower ranked matches in order to get Goku GT as early as I am and part of the reason I'm okay with that is because of how clean this intro is look at my dude okay damn I appreciate him letting my intro rock I really do though as a common courtesy I do let his intro rock I'm gonna put the controller down let's get prepared for the the powerful beatdown that's coming oh oh wow I can't believe they actually have lines for that I'm backing up David I switched out already I forgot you can um down heavy in the air with him so that that's probably not a great sign but we'll get him out as soon as we can that and his bar is filling up slow though here we go oh let me hit that Super Saiyan 1 I and guess who's coming right back out boys it's the older version wow hey we picked up a kill super early though and we're right back at it oh when they're in the when they're in the air like that you want to use a want to use 214 L to knock him down a peg that your assist can pick him up this is gonna be an easy tag out for me so that I can know he did wasn't supposed to block that it's okay we're just gonna run it back if he's not gonna block at that time oh same saw putting the absolute work on this guy with Goku GT I'm just doing it all okay sure you can watch the okie watch the okie back dash back dash on him oh watch the throw I dropped it I dropped it I got a little too excited come on is anybody really gonna fault me for that one dude down this is the best character in the game he's so good I really hope he's top-tier he feels top tier Super Saiyan 1 destructive finish oh you can feel the top-tier energy radiating off this man what's the win oh yeah the wind pose it's so good he knew English dub boys for Goku I'm just riding off into the sunset psych I got absorbed watch the lore let me see those lore videos boys I'm out of here man they got voice lines for everybody in this game yeah and we get the rematch I can appreciate that all right we're right back at it again what's the what's the goal this time though oh I went too high I messed it up messed it up didn't go for the high Jenna went high oh multi punch I forgot it's been a while since I played against of the Dell actually oh missed them by a little bit our pole oh they hate go they hate yoncha I saw the numbers and I was like I'm getting high let me let me bust out the combo I should have done the normal version oh big lag it's the Xbox version oh no and this might actually kill me unbelievable all right we're good we're good we're good we're good back it up let me see that super dash all right never mind that wasn't the version I was expecting and I don't know if it's true for everybody but the Xbox version of the game definitely has more lag like you matches I don't know why that would be I don't think that has anything to do with the console just my matches have had that is that the beam assist look at the look at the pressure dude I could have come up there I'm gonna finish off the bill nice and easy not gonna lie to you I kind of want to save up bar and hit the double level 3 double level 3 I showed it off at the beginning of this video let me not let me not pretend like we don't know what it is oh I gotta do it before this internet connection dies haha oh no the crushing blow MK 11 we in here this guy's really gonna take me out with stray hits and nothing but ice a step one of get it we just need the bar yeah that's a safe jump come on all right well you know I'll take it wow he actually pushed me out I'm gonna be so upset if yamcha dies right now all right good I mean I'm okay with yamcha dying just I just need him a little lower as all oh it's at it that's gonna be it all right well we've got him in position all we can do now is try to read a super dash that's really all we can do it's all we can hope for my finger got jammed oh tick throw no I big miss it doesn't vanish that's gonna give me time to get over to him all right what should we do I think we should just Sonic speed over there you really cannot mess around with Goku on the loose I back dash just keep the pressure with it dude I don't want to see you throwing at any beams I'm faster than yamcha's beams that's really the end all be all dude if the object can get his beam out before I can get to him it's over oh got me right in the face that's probably the end of Goku GT it is oh wait well we put up a good fight with him we didn't get that double level 3 though which is to be honest that's all I need in the world right now ooh slam them to the ground all right I need it dude I need me that double level 3 all right come on rematch let me get it I know there was some lag that's the Xbox or what can we hopeful for only human humans that bought an Xbox my turn no not my turn hi hi let's get out of the corner you and me that's just kidding I actually kind of want you in the corner now that I'm thinking about it let's get this combo I messed it up look at the power pull in action I'm gonna try to start building up bar now come on me in there we go I'm in okay we do get it off actually no I said I wanted to save bar I must stick to that I know we can kill but I don't want to oh safe jump not a safe jump in fact very not safe can I get out thank you alright getting out was more important than almost anything right there save up the blue health and then it's we're free to go we'll have six bars no matter what by that time as long as we play the game I guess keep it blocking keep it blocking I don't see anything wrong with a little bit of blocking oh god can I a little bit of neutral here and there nothing wrong with that okay GT come out I keep the distance actually he's gonna die no the down heavy doesn't come out in time not that fast I gotta get used to that you could let me go that'd be great this should kill him nice that sets us up nicely we don't you don't want to waste we want to get the full thing we don't want to just kill with spear bomb quest for the double level three come here come here I'm doing it too slow who would have thought in a real game it would be hard to do this here we go we got it boys here we go no what the hell I can't believe it I can't believe my eyes what I'm gonna kick you in the face understandable what the hell happened did it lag I can't believe it all right general I really don't need to be seeing you right now I'm I'm heartbroken where did it go all right all right one more one more try one more try I desperately want it it was just a matter of super dashing let's hit this combo then down heavy doesn't connect even worse we're in the corner hey grabbing oh keep in the corner nice oh keep them right there hey I do want to save all the bar weekend oh nice kick in the air to keep me okay we're getting switched out I might too much we had a little bit of health liked I'm not trying to play any games here dad dragon rush the only game I don't know how to play along with Dragon Ball Fighter's hard docked out coming in it's okay I've spent years mastering the defense man how was I supposed to block that all right well he doesn't have too much to his name right now there we go finally that was that was just a story of a bunch of whiffs nice that's yoncha out of the way we're keeping Goku out so that we get that Super Saiyan 4 just for the extra style points really the only step left is to die all those characters are low enough okay I'm to go now you did your part Goku and that's all you could really ask for in these days oh yeah he's very worried about that uh yeah yeah what should we call it super dashing but you know for good reason I guess whoop back it up and I don't think that grab works I don't think it might I don't think that grab works is like a throw which is a real shame you're not gonna come to me are you gonna beat me up if you there it is there it is again there it is again alright that's that's your last straw my boy I can't let it get away twice alright I'm spamming right trigger you can see the game doesn't want me to have it but I'm gonna get it come on please you gotta be kidding me what kind of lag bot is here the absolute strength of this Xbox you gotta be kidding me I can't I'm so upset I'm so upset that's it if you click rematch again it's it we're exchanging hands straight fist the cuffs please one more alright please alright it's fist the cuffs time no formalities hook for fist the cuffs thing it's that time well don't even leave the corner oh oh don't try don't try overhead got me no Goku not like this kid Goku you got you got so much to live for I don't want to waste a bar I have not learned my lesson by the way you thought you thought I was actually just going for a clean fight nah I wouldn't be me that's an over I keep forgetting I don't ever want to stand up against the Videl because again overhead because of that stupid grab that only hits you when you're standing it's not even that like crazy of a damage move it's just it makes you feel like an idiot like that only hits me with them when I'm standing and I purposefully stood up to take it I lived I mean I didn't expect to live let's go first knockout goes to me that's all she wrote boys back at it again oh down heavy does come out so we get that going for us dragon rush connects oh everything's just connecting boys overhead yoncha doesn't work oh down we're out of there okay now the question is does he change there it is wow I probably could have caught him with a spear bomb the old-fashioned way no every time I super dash he does and dude he's gotten good at mixing up the timing let me get away no I can't believe it dude he's making this so hard no he's he's really just going for it now come on no don't do this you know what you're doing and that's the part that really gets to me you're like an evil genius like an evil genius taking taking advantage of my biggest weakness I still got one bar to spend on you though I can spend that one bar no problem oh no no no oh gotta get him get him there we go punch this man in the face Goku as many times as you need actually oh come on it's so unfair this world we live in is so cruel why am I cool what there we go why is it going so slow all right I'm ready now I'm sorry I know but it's all I have did you do that one more time one more time this is so pathetic I know please one more time I know I know I know it's pathetic but grant me this last wish I don't feel good about this this was supposed to be a triumphant victory but the Xbox the opponent gave it to me bro that is the saddest shit I've ever seen that is like the set this is I feel like I lost come on Xbox what are you doing bro where does my thank you stamp oh my god thank you so much to my opponent for the games and the pity and hopefully you guys enjoyed this we did show off a little bit of what Goku GT could do not the double super though that one's not going in the thumbnail or title because I have not earned that right yet but man that was a lot of fun though we'll be back with some more Goku GT ranked matches on the ps4 so we're gonna have the same rank that you know in love and I gotta hope we don't get the motive but we might so stick around if that sounds interesting to you so make sure to go down below in the comments let me know your favorite moment and hit that like button and subscribe if you're looking forward to the week of GT Goku yeah I should also let you know that a buddy of mine John Grimm is doing a little bit of a giveaway thing he's a really good painter and he painted this scene from the Broly movie and he just wants to give it to somebody so if you want to get that or get a chance to get that I guess go over to his Instagram or twitch and I'm sure I'll have more information over there for you he might even post on his Twitter I think but other than that it's really undecided that's just something I really wanted to throw out there he's the guy that did this cool Yamcha painting for me Team Yamcha and other than that I'm Dr. Doya I'm just gonna go ahead and be getting out of here