It’s Christmas in July for the toy safety bill

Six months after Christmas, lawmakers hope to have a belated gift for consumers: tougher lead standards for toys and more money for the beleaguered agency that oversees product safety.

Members were scheduled to meet this week to resolve a few remaining differences between the House and Senate consumer safety bills. Sources in and outside of Congress said that they expected lawmakers to meet a self-imposed deadline by voting on a conference report before the July 4 recess.

{mosads}Both bills seek to overhaul the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), a federal agency that had a relatively low profile until last summer when millions of toys from China were recalled for containing excessive levels of lead.

Since then, lobbyists for consumer advocates and industry groups have battled, sometimes under the radar, as high gasoline prices overtook toy safety as the top consumer issue.

A coalition of businesses led by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) have warned the Senate’s version would lead to unnecessary litigation and could diminish the communication between companies and federal regulators about product safety.

“We, the businesses who represent the manufacturers, want CPSC and want it reformed, but they have to be the right reforms and they can’t be detrimental to manufacturers,” said Edward Krenik, a Bracewell & Giuliani lobbyist who represents the NAM-led coalition. He insisted the coalition supports “about 90 percent” of the legislation.

With few new news reports of recalls in the headlines, consumer advocacy groups have sought to keep the pressure on Congress to pass the reform bill. In May, one group brought to the Hill parents who allege that their children were harmed by the higher lead levels in toys that eventually led to last year’s recalls.

Elizabeth Fischer, a mother of four, said her 3-year-old son, Kevin, was given the Mattel-manufactured Diego and Boots dolls last June. A few weeks later, Fischer noticed a dramatic change in his behavior, including a loss of speech.

After hearing of the recalls in August, Fischer had Kevin tested for lead poisoning. Tests revealed the lead levels in his blood and urine were five times the norm. Fischer believes the poisoning has placed him within the autistic spectrum and in danger of developing attention deficit disorder.

Mattel spokesman Howard Opinsky said he doubted the Mattel toy caused the poisoning.

“We’re talking about a very small toy and a very small amount of lead,” he said.

 “Mattel supports the passage of comprehensive CPSC reform legislation this year,” Opinsky said. But he added that the company is not lobbying on the bill.

Top staff aides discussing the bill reached a few compromises last week.

The conference report, for example, was expected to adopt the House’s threshold by setting new lead standards for products aimed at children 12 years old and below, a victory for consumer advocates who had wanted a higher threshold than the 7-year-old standard also proposed. Industry groups had pushed to retain the current standard, which was reflected in the Senate bill. {mospagebreak}

The new standard should be effective within a year, staff and members involved in the discussion said.

“This has really been the year of the recall, and that has created the need to improve consumer protection and oversight,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), one of the lead negotiators on the bill.  

{mosads}Members originally hoped to have a bill passed before Christmas 2007, but the Senate draft got hung up on a variety of issues industry groups opposed.

One particular point of contention has been over whether the legislation would require the CPSC to create a searchable database that consumers could use to get updated information about possible safety concerns relating to various products.

The final bill was expected to include money for the CPSC to set up an online, searchable product database, although the exact information such a database would include has not yet been decided upon, sources said.

Joanne Doroshow of the Center for Justice and Democracy, a consumer advocacy group, said the provision was one of the most important aspects of the proposed legislation.

“[Last summer] families had a very difficult time getting a straight answer from toy companies regarding the recall procedure,” she said.

But the NAM-led coalition, which also includes the Toy Industry Association and the Consumer Electronic Association, has argued that the database would make it less likely that manufacturers would share information with the CPSC. These groups fear information in the database could hurt product sales even if the safety concern proved to be unfounded.

Krenik said manufacturers are worried the Senate’s version of the bill would give the CPSC the right to publish any information it believes is in the interest of the public.

“Failing to protect confidential business data and allowing trivial or ill-motivated complaints to be posted on a public database would unduly harm consumers, harm U.S. companies and deter important voluntary sharing of information with CPSC and public safety agencies,” said George Jungbluth, a spokesman for the coalition.

Industry groups were also concerned by a whistleblower protection in the Senate’s bill that would make it harder to fire employees who claim knowledge of a product safety violation. It wasn’t clear how that issue would be resolved.{mospagebreak}

Another controversial provision that would allow state attorneys general to sue manufacturers for failing to comply with recall procedures was expected to survive conference, according to one industry lobbyist.

Industry groups remain opposed to that language.

There are a number of other minor differences between the bills, including the specific amount of lead that should be allowed in children’s toys, and how quickly companies would have to comply with those new standards.

{mosads}The House version said lead levels may not exceed 600 parts per million (ppm) 180 days after enactment, 300 ppm after two years, and 100 ppm after four years.

Under the Senate bill, children’s products could not contain over 300 ppm after one year and 100 ppm after three years.

The manufacturing coalition was most opposed to the 180-day timeline, believing companies would need more time to gradually phase out products.

A House aide said companies would likely have to comply with a 100 ppm standard within three years of enactment, under the compromise bill.

Jim Snyder contributed to this article.

THIS WEEK IN CONGRESS 

APPROPRIATIONS
• The House Appropriations Energy and Water subcommittee has scheduled a markup for the energy and water spending bill on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in 2362 Rayburn.
• The Senate Appropriations Commerce, Justice and Science subcommittee has scheduled a markup for the commerce, justice and science spending bill on Wednesday at 10 a.m. in 192 Dirksen.
• The House Appropriations Committee has scheduled markups for the homeland security and the interior and environment spending bills on Wednesday at 10 a.m. in 2359 Rayburn.

DEFENSE
• The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing looking into detainee interrogation issues on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. in 106 Dirksen.

ENERGY
• The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will review the transmission capacity for renewable energy resources at a hearing on Tuesday at 10 a.m. in 366 Dirksen.

ENVIRONMENT
• The House Energy and Commerce Energy and Air Quality subcommittee will review various proposals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at a hearing on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.

FINANCE
• The Ways and Means Committee will mark up legislation to patch the Alternative Minimum Tax on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. in 1100 Longworth.
• The House Financial Services Committee is holding a hearing on preserving the stock of affordable housing on Thursday at 10 a.m. in 2128 Rayburn.

HEALTHCARE
• The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on an intellectual-property protection bill on Tuesday at 10 a.m. in 226 Dirksen.
• The House Education and Labor Committee will mark up education and disability rights bills on Wednesday at 10 a.m. in 2175 Rayburn.
• The Senate Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust, Competition and Consumer Rights subcommittee and Aging Committee will hold a joint hearing on nursing-home residents’ rights legislation on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. in 226 Dirksen.