Protecting Consumers

Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

read in full

Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

read in full

Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

read in full

Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

read in full

more news

Contaminated Drywall Incident Precedes Import Safety Summit

Sep 4, 2009 by Matthew Madia

U.S. and Chinese product safety regulators will meet in China in late October to discuss import safety. The U.S. delegation will be led by Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) chairwoman Inez Tenenbaum.

read in full

FDA to Ramp Up Enforcement Efforts

Aug 26, 2009 by Matthew Madia

The Food and Drug Administration is going to toughen some of its enforcement efforts, according to BNA news service ($). In two recent speeches senior FDA officials outlined their plans for increasing inspections and their expectations of the firms FDA regulates.

read in full

Electronic Reporting Will Lead to Safety Gains, FDA Says

Aug 20, 2009 by Matthew Madia

Tomorrow, the Food and Drug Administration will publish two proposed regulations that hold the potential to improve access to and analysis of safety information provided by the medical product industry (drug, device, and biologic makers, and others in the supply chain). Both regulations will be open for comment for 90 days.

read in full

FDA to Rule on Plastics Chemical in Coming Months

Aug 18, 2009 by Matthew Madia

The Food and Drug Administration will announce by Nov. 30 its official position on bisphenol-A, according to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Meg Kissinger.

read in full

Lead Limits, Tracking Requirements for Toys Take Effect

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) will begin enforcing new regulations on the amount of lead allowed in toys and other children's products, as well as enforcing other measures intended to prevent children's exposure to dangerous goods.

read in full

Food Safety Overhaul Approved by House

Jul 31, 2009 by Matthew Madia

Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 (H.R. 2749) by a vote of 283-142. The bill was crafted in response to a raft of foodborne illness outbreaks, tied mostly to produce and nuts, that exposed regulatory vulnerabilities at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

read in full

Product Recalls Bring Big Pain to Industry

Jul 30, 2009 by Matthew Madia

A spate of toy recalls that dominated headlines in the second half of 2007 damaged the toy industry’s bottom line, according to a new research paper.

read in full

Studies Showing Dangers of Cellphone Use while Driving Were Suppressed

Jul 21, 2009 by Matthew Madia

The Bush administration shuttered a potentially groundbreaking research project designed to examine the effects of cellphone use on driver safety, and it suppressed information that could have shed more light on the problem, according to documents uncovered by Public Citizen and the Center for Auto Safety.

read in full

Congress Looks to Boost CPSC Funding above Obama Request

Jul 14, 2009 by Matthew Madia

Both the House and the Senate are working to increase the budget of the Consumer Product Safety Commission – the beleaguered federal regulator of everything from toys to toasters.

read in full

New Food Safety Agenda Emphasizes Prevention and Protection

The Obama administration unveiled a broad food safety agenda July 7, pledging to recraft a national food safety system that focuses on preventing, rather than reacting to, foodborne illness outbreaks. The agenda includes a raft of new policies and longer-term proposals that aim to empower officials and strengthen food safety regulation.

read in full