Consumer Product Safety Act Amendments of 1981

(Reported to Senate from the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation with amendment, S. Rept. 97-102)

Consumer Product Safety Act Amendments of 1981 - Amends the Consumer Product Safety Act, the Flammable Fabrics Act, the Poison Prevention Packaging Act, and the Federal Hazardous Substances Act to prohibit the disclosure of all information obtained by the Consumer Product Safety Commission which relates to a trade secret.

Requires the Commission, prior to disclosing information which will permit the public to identify the manufacturer or private labeler of a consumer product, to give such person an opportunity to mark such information as confidential and therefore barred from disclosure. Requires the Commission to notify a manufacturer or private labeler of its decision to disclose as non-confidential, information which has been so marked. Authorizes a person receiving such notice to bring an action in Federal court to restrain disclosure.

Directs the Commission, to the extent practicable, to notify and provide a summary of information to the manufacturer or labeler of a consumer product, if the manner in which such product is described in the information will permit the public to ascertain the identity of the manufacturer or labeler. Requires the Commission to take reasonable steps to assure that such information is accurate and that its disclosure is fair in the circumstances and reasonably related to effectuating the purposes of the Acts.

Requires the Commission to notify a manufacturer or labeler of its decision to disclose information which such person claims is inaccurate. Authorizes a person receiving such notice to bring an action in Federal court to restrain disclosure.

Directs the Commission to publish a retraction of inaccurate or misleading information and to communicate to each manufacturer of a consumer product, as may be practicable, information with respect to significant risk of injury associated with the product.

Eliminates the Commission's authority to promulgate by rulemaking consumer product safety standards with respect to composition, contents, design, construction, finish, or packaging of a consumer product. Retains such authority with respect to product performance and warnings.

Directs the Commission to utilize voluntary consumer product safety standards instead of rulemaking standards whenever: (1) compliance with the voluntary standards would adequately reduce the risk of injury; and (2) substantial compliance with such standards is likely.

Directs the Commission to utilize warning standards, instead of performance standards, whenever such warnings would adequately reduce the unreasonable risk of injury.

Eliminates the current provision prohibiting the incorporation of any sampling plan in a safety standard.

Eliminates the Commission's authority to extend invitations to outside persons to develop mandatory standards.

Requires the Commission's advance notice of proposed rulemaking to include an invitation to outside persons to propose a voluntary consumer product safety standard. Requires the Commission to submit notice to the Congressional commerce committees.

Amends the Consumer Product Safety Act, the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, and the Flammable Fabrics Act to require the Commission to prepare a preliminary regulatory analysis and a final regulatory analysis, containing specified information, before publishing or promulgating a consumer product safety rule. Requires such analyses to contain cost-benefit analyses. Requires costs and benefits in the final regulatory analysis to be expressed whenever feasible in monetary terms.

Amends the Consumer Product Safety Act, the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, and the Flammable Fabrics Act to require the Commission to find that compliance with a voluntary standard is unlikely to result in elimination of risk or that substantial compliance with such standard is unlikely, before promulgating a regulation with respect to which persons have adopted a voluntary standard.

Directs the Commission to assist groups during the rulemaking process in developing safety standards and, to the extent practicable and appropriate, in developing product safety standards and test methods.

Repeals the authority of the Commission to prescribe procedures to insure that manufacturers of new consumer products (products incorporating a design, material, or form of energy exchange which have not been used substantially) notify the Commission before distributing such products in commerce.

Requires the Commission to consider the following additional factors in determining the amount of a civil penalty: the nature of the product defect, the occurrence or absence of injury, and the number of products distributed.

Eliminates the Product Safety Advisory Council, the National Advisory Committee for the Flammable Fabrics Act, and the technical advisory committee authorized under the Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970.

Eliminates the authority of the Commission to order a manufacturer, distributor, or retailer to give public or actual notice of substantial product hazards. Deletes the definition of "substantial product hazard."

Limits to five the number of field offices which the Commission may maintain.

Directs the Commission to notify the Congressional commerce committees of any consumer product information or research grant in an amount greater than $50,000.

Requires the Commission to study each rule promulgated after the date of enactment within five years of its promulgation. Requires that such study include economic, paperwork, and judicial impact analyses.

Requires that orders issued by the Commission to persons to submit reports and answers to Commission questions be designed to place the least burden on such person as is practicable taking into account the order's purpose.

Directs the Commission to appoint Chronic Hazards Advisory Panels to review the scientific data and other information respecting a consumer product which presents risk of injury from cancer, birth defects, gene mutations, or behavioral disorders. Prohibits the Commission from taking any action with respect to any such consumer product without considering the Panel's report. Provides that each Panel shall terminate upon filing of its report.

Excludes as "consumer products" for the purposes of such Act amusement park rides.

Extends the authorization of appropriations for the Consumer Product Safety Commission in the reduced amount of $33,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1982 and 1983.