 Good afternoon and welcome to this public meeting of the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission We have one item on the agenda to this afternoon CPSC staff will brief the Commission on the fiscal year 2020 operating plan CPSC's annual operating plan provides information on program activities and strategies as set forth in the agency budget process Along with specific performance targets and key milestones for the agency Essentially the ops plan is a roadmap for the CPSC CPSC staff members at the table today are mr. Dwayne Ray Deputy executive director of safety operations Mr. Jay Hoffman our chief financial officer and director office of financial management mr. James Baker Sorry, I read that wrong. I missed a comma Let me go back In case anyone doesn't know you too Mr. Jay Hoffman who is our chief financial officer and director in the office of financial management and mr. James Baker budget office and division director for budget planning and evaluation At the conclusion of the staff's briefing here this afternoon We will turn to questions from the commissioners and those rounds will last 10 minutes each Program staff members are also here and will be available to answer and answer any questions as needed Thank you all very much for being here for your preparation of this document And we will now begin with the staff briefing. You may proceed. Thank you Good afternoon. It's nice to be here with all of you. I'm gonna go through a brief PowerPoint presentation before we get to your your questions First just a recap of the FY 2020 operating plan process and where we are in that process We're not quite to the end yet the FY 2020 operating plan is premised on the 2020 performance budget requests that we sent to Congress last February at a level of a hundred and twenty seven million dollars that document still pending before the Congress As you recall that document includes an appendix with approximately eight million dollars of unfunded items Those are not included in this operating operating plan Some of the unfunded items do parallel requests that need made in the 2021 budget request And so we're we're keeping track of all of that depending on where the appropriations process settles out I'm sure you're all familiar with where we're at in the appropriations But let me just summarize that quickly so Congress has not yet enacted an FY 2020 appropriation for us However, the house did pass a CR through November 21st. We think that's probable The house passed an appropriations bill at a hundred and thirty five million dollars that included 1.3 million dollars in additional VGB grant funding and Just a few days ago the Senate appropriations committee approved an FY 2020 appropriations Bill that was consistent with the FY 2020 request at a hundred and twenty seven million dollars Wherever this settles out, hopefully the next few months will we intend to use the mid-year process that will happen in early Spring to reconcile any any differences between the request and the final enacted As is the case of prior operating plans the Operating plan is aligned to our strategic plan and our budget priorities I won't brief these in detail here, but we have four strategic goals of workforce prevention response and communication and four established priorities that are articulated in the budget request of Focusing on risk import surveillance outreach and education and being data-driven Slide four For those of you watching at home The document this is how the document is organized the contents of the document are listed in the left-hand column The document contains a summary of changes from the FY 2019 enacted to the FY 2020 again The request is a hundred and twenty seven million dollars year to year so not a lot of changes although We do articulate those provides the funding and the FTE levels proposed by organization key performance measures It will be reporting to Congress the proposed voluntary and mandatory standards activities Epidemological reports that we're planning on publishing this year Plan details by organization really getting into the meat of what's going to be delivered and an appendices That articulates changes to performance measures as well as operating plan alignment to the strategic plan if you haven't delved into the Appendix I would just draw you to from page 47 to the end It's a really good enunciation of the priority activities in each office and how those align to accomplishing the strategic goals objective So it's a useful crosswalk There are a number of detailed chapters For each the major mission delivery organizations those provide a resource summary again funding and FTE an overview and priority Activities those offices are proposing for the coming year how their projects aligned to the strategic plan their performance measures specific operating plan measures and milestones a Few key assumptions in this document again. This is a planning document There are 539 positions planned and that was from the FY 2020 budget request However, there are only 534 FTE funded for a full year That's a little bit of an unusual way to handle it The issue here is that the salary account is just a little bit short However, we're also understaffed right now And so the working assumption in the operating plan is that as a result of being understaffed We should be able to close the resulting payroll gap of about a hundred thousand dollars between now and a few months from now So it's it's it's not a major concern and we do have internal controls on this So we won't over staff and exceed that budget level to put you at ease there It does assume a 2% pay raise The non-pay inflation we did put forward a request for non payroll inflation However, we do not have sufficient funding to adjust our operating allowances for inflation So those are largely flat with a few reprogrammings here and there and then VGB grants is Budgeted at two million dollars. There's currently eight hundred thousand dollars set aside in the FY 2020 We'll see where the appropriation settles out and then there's one point two million dollars in prior year money That's been appropriated that we have not yet executed So that would give us under this document about two million dollars for additional VGB grants if we decide to go that way This is our summary of changes From the prior year again pretty straightforward We've reallocated one point seven four four million dollars to account for Changes to payroll mostly pay inflation and pay increases again. There's still a slight shortfall in that That's the eight hundred thousand dollar adjustment We did have a substantial savings and shared services this year of 973 thousand dollars as a result of switching to a new shared services provider on July 1st and Then a small change to the OIG's contract audit support budget at twenty nine thousand dollars So everything balances out at a hundred and twenty seven million Voluntary standards the voluntary standards look very similar as they did in the FY 2020 budget request that went up in February There were 72 voluntary standards articulated in that document since that time Seven have been added and one deleted. They're listed here. The additions are adult portable bed rails flooring magnet sets torch fuels additive manufacturing mowers and wearables and the one that was taken off was Portable fireplaces, so a new total is 78 for mandatory standards, we had seven in the FY 2020 requests since that time Proposal is to add seven more For a total of 14. I will just I'm just gonna enunciate the ones that are added in the right hand column The additions are infant inclined sleep products non full-size cribs and play yards toddler beds mattress 16 CFR part 1632 surface testing exemptions foie fee update table saws and window coverings One thing that the office has worked very hard on over the summer was to really try to enunciate what their priority activities and deliverables were and in a very concrete manner So we've added some additional slides to that this year And it's going to try to summarize by major mission delivery organization what those key priorities and deliverables are this isn't inclusive of everything But we've tried to hit the hit the most important ones So any X HR they are proposing to implement and evaluate the use cases for automated data Classification and product matching as you recall that was the mid-year to part of the data analytics initiative that we put forward back in May Implementing the online data clearing house to enable access to authorized incident data Drive development of custom custom window covering voluntary standards initiate and Information education campaign for senior safety Focus on micro-mobility devices continue voluntary standards and research on 3d printing Developing Internet of Things connected product best practices guidelines addressing fire hazards associated with rechargeable high-energy density batteries pursuing development of OHV voluntary standards for fire and to be a Penetration hazards and conduct testing of the effectiveness of requirements for COC to shut down systems similar detailed priorities in the office of compliance or Evaluate business process review and make resource recommendations on the integrated field system As you recall there was a study that we put forward as part of the mid-year to to look at this process And now this is setting aside some time and resources to try to take a look at those Recommendations facilitate credit card notice to enhance recall effectiveness seek feedback from stakeholders on potential fast-track program changes Maximize recalling firms notification to consumers evaluate enforcement program and align resources to address growth of e-commerce Develop an enforcement program to address compliance and safety related issues with counterfeit bicycle helmets and conduct follow-up to the FY 2019 liquid nicotine enforcement On the import surveillance side Conducting an e-commerce pilot at an express carrier facility. I understand that's getting underway soon Implement a national program to target all 15 J rules improve sampling and detention processes and implement a pilot for timely removal of Violative products while reducing burden training first-time violators in the import community and coordinating with compliance to implement a program on the non-compliant bicycle helmets an International a couple items here participating in the OECD global consumer information campaign and producing product safety videos for Chinese manufacturers on children's sleepwear high-energy density batteries and mattresses in Communications key priorities and deliverables are conduct outreach and consumer safety campaigns on pool safety furniture and tip-over prevention baby safety fire carbon oxide and community outreach To expand social media engagement with safety messages and recalls and to conduct community outreach events to at-risk consumers to raise awareness on furniture tip-over safe to sleep child drowning and child poisons Lastly in the exit or information technology for those of you not familiar with the acronym Some of their highlights are to evaluate the enterprise data analytics strategy proposal and pilot results to inform at next steps again These are from the mid-year items one and two back in May update the CPSC's Recall app conduct safer products dot gov research redesign and relaunch including the mobile compatibility again This was part of the mid-year Request that you all approved and expand cloud-based service offerings by transitioning agency email to the clock excuse me to the cloud that concludes Staff's presentation turned over to you for any questions you might have Thank you very much So the commissioners will begin their rounds of questions We'll each have ten minutes for questions and we'll go as many rounds as we need deem necessary to Make sure all the questions are answered First of all, Jay, I just want to thank you publicly to you in your office The shared services saving the agency close to a million dollars because of that transition to the shared services Thank you for your hard work on that. Thank you for knowing that's available to us And really you want to commend you and your staff for making that happen? The 2% increase in pay. What are you basing that on? Okay, so the payroll when we figure it out assuming what we know now with current projections as well as What is occurring? We are basing that on there's one million dollars in salaries That's to annualize the 2019 pay raise that we never received additional funding for and that was identified in the 2020 Request to Congress for the million dollars and then on top of that the other $700,000 is probably is for locality promotions and within grades that we know will occur. Okay. Very good. Thank you Let's start with ex hr Maybe mr. Boniface can come up and join us So the first bullet point is implement and evaluate you evaluate use cases for automatic data Classification product managing this J goes more or mr. Hop and this goes more to you in terms of Because you've referred to mid-year a couple times have both of those contracts mid-year one and mid-year two have they both been let Yes, they both been awarded and I believe we're kicking off mid-year two Which is the use cases one that you're directing to mr. Boniface any day Okay, thank you and mr. Boniface if you could just elaborate on what you anticipate will happen because of mid-year two and this initiative right so the The second meteorite and provides resources for us to get assistance in terms of bringing advanced capabilities artificial intelligence machine learning to Classifying data as it comes in and helping us to identify pattern emerging patterns and incident data It's really helping us leverage and maximize the use of of our available data and hopefully set the foundation for us to In the future expand data efforts Okay, thank you Can you elaborate and bullet point three drive development of custom window coverings voluntary standard Yes, so we as the commissioners is well aware we had worked with window coverings manufacturing association on A voluntary standard for stock window coverings we had had an agreement And worked that particular standard getting in place. It is now in effect We had an agreement with them to reopen that standard to address custom Window coverings that has to date not happened yet. And so this bullet point speaks to our intent to Work with them and get them to reopen that standard and take that issue up very good And then on the fourth bullet point Initiate an information education campaign for senior safety now Does that come out of your shop or that comes out of communications both actually so the This continues kind of a collaboration that we've had with our office communications On a variety of issues this particular one focuses on senior safety heavy emphasis on Slips trips and falls as well as fire hazards associated with clothing Here I asked where that idea came from Just kidding just kidding And then the fifth bullet point focus on micro mobility devices. Can you just elaborate on that a little bit sure? We have we've certainly all seen the growth in the market associated with these devices and so micro mobility devices are e-scooters e-bikes And so forth hoverboards We're seeing a Significant increase in the number of these products out there in their utilization. We have certainly participated in Voluntary standards development in these areas are our focuses on Continuing to address that and particularly focusing on the increased exposure with some of these products If you look at the traditional let's take e-scooters as an example They're being utilized in the commercial market On a much more intensive basis than a typical consumer product different riders and so forth Using overtime so our intent is to work with the voluntary standards organizations to try to get a better understanding of What that brings in terms of hazards and what might be done to address those And just along those same lines when you're looking at e-scooters and you're looking at e-bikes Do we have the expertise within the agency to to be able to evaluate those or do we need to be thinking about that? That's a new technology. That's I'm not sure if it relates back to someone's expertise. We have a lot of experts in it but Yeah, so we we do have tremendous capabilities within the staff organically, however, this is an area particularly in the area of Because these products entail the use of software That's an area where we focus on obtaining additional capabilities So we're working we've got an effort underway with NIST to help us on the technical infrastructure side of things and we're in the process of Getting a contract in place to get technical assistance in terms of how we do the top product testing How do we do the evaluation of that software because that's a that's a new and emerging area for us And will there be any new work on on the second column bullet point three address fire heads There's associated with rechargeable high-end energy density batteries. I know we've done a lot of work With this issue, but will there be additional work and how do you see that? Yeah, we we certainly continue to focus on that on that area As I'm sure the Commission is seeing there are just a Extensive growth in the number of products using these high energy density batteries. The applications are growing so we're working to A get a better understanding of the technologies and potentially available Technologies to help mitigate some of the hazards we've seen in terms of thermal runaway and fires and so forth and then lastly When it comes to its ex HR the last bullet point is conduct testing of effectiveness of requirements to seal safety shut down systems and voluntary standard for portable generators the Agency along with industry has really made tremendous strides in the time period that I've been here and and really is Just as recently from 2016 forward. We now have products in the market That with the shut-off technology and as well as the low emission technology Can you just elaborate a little bit on and what you anticipate with this? Is this a continuation of the testing and what we've done with this but maybe just spend a little time on that sure so Certainly over the past several years. We've seen two voluntary standards come out one from PGMA and one from UL And so what we are in the process of doing is testing generators To those operating to those two particular standards so we can evaluate the effectiveness of those two standards It's ongoing work. We had a we put out the test plan over the summer for a public review and comment We're in the process of actually right now Distilling those comments and seeing what we can learn in terms of are there areas that We should refine that test plan before going forward That's great. I do want to commend staff and all their work on this issue. It's been a Critical issue. It's been one that has needed attention and staff has done a really good job with through both voluntary standards processes to to get standards in place and we look forward to To Finding out the technology and what's most effective. I'm going to go to Commissioner Adler next, but I do want to publicly commend you and congratulate you on Your recent promotion as the new director for EX HR I know I speak for my colleagues We wish you well, and we're delighted to have you in the position. So thank you very much commissioner Adler Thank you very much madam chairman. I want to echo her sentiment about Dwayne welcome aboard We've known you a while and you've done an excellent job. We look forward to working with you in a ex HR Just a quick comment It's my eternal regret that the Congress in its infinite wisdom does not ever see seem fit to give us an Adjustment in our budgets for inflation and pay increases even though they're giving us the pay increases And so I think you what you've done is a very clever and a Useful approach to addressing that so I want to thank staff also for an excellent presentation and a well-written Opland it's very clear and even I could follow it so I did have a couple of questions and I thought I'd start with The campaign for seniors and this is one where I just need to have my memory Refresh because I thought somewhere down the line. I had Seen that we had committed to doing on an annual or at least a biannual basis an epi report on senior citizen hazards Is that something that we've incorporated? Is that something that needs to be brought up if it's not part of our general operating procedures could somebody Refresh my recollection about this You get either Dwayne or Dwayne to answer Unfortunately, then Dwayne you pick Dwayne great I think the the short version is we don't have a regularly scheduled list like you see In our typical list of epi reports. I think the way we've been viewing that is on an as needed basis We would refresh and look at that data However Dwayne can probably talk in great detail about the work that their risk management group is doing and looking at risk that are Specific to this and trying to incorporate that kind of work into the operating plan Yes, so as for all the product areas and hazard areas we're looking at producing Risk profiles based of looking at what the hazards And risks are across a number of areas one of which is the older consumer safety hazards Our intent is that if we identify Any differences or anything unusual there then we would bring that forward As you're well aware of this This area has been dominated over many years by by two areas and those are two areas we're focusing on with the Information education campaign the trips and falls and the clothing fires, but certainly if we identify anything in that analytic process we would We would bring that forward well I just look on page 10 of the outplan and I see some of the other reports that are done and It does seem to me that having an ongoing update of those products that are particularly Dangerous to seniors and where seniors suffer a disproportionate number of injuries would be useful just to know And and there are a lot of folks who would be very interested in that And I know groups like AARP and other citizen senior citizens groups would be interested in that So it certainly seems to me to be consistent to fit within this So I may well be coming back with a proposal that we include that as part of our regular process of issuing reports, so I have a couple of questions I tried to give my questions to staff and I mean I get through all my questions, but I look forward to having discussions there Rich O'Brien, I'm sorry. I didn't I wasn't in the office when you came by to explain this so I'm going to just ask it I see that we have what I think is a new metric and that is recalls per billion dollars in consumer product imports for top 50 import sources nations that seems to me to be an incredibly useful and meaningful Piece of information. I'm just wondering are the data out there for us to capture this as a as a metric Yes, and if I can back up a little bit every year International staff put together a business plan for the coming year and in fact every year We provide a written report of the outcomes from the plan that we wrote And we use data extensively to plan the work that we do so we pin our activities both to the agency's strategic plan and in the reports we specify which portion of the strategic plan we're aiming at with an activity and We also base the work that we do on data that we get from the econ office within EXHR so One of the data areas that we're very interested in and we actually require for our planning is To know where do consumer products come from as far as which countries are the key exporters of consumer products and For the goal we're discussing What we've done is we looked at the top 50 sources of consumer products by the way they are identified by their international customs classification numbers and the US Number that correlates also to the standard global numbers So we can see where the top 50 sources of consumer products are We know their value So that's part of how we measure it and then we take that information And we we actually do it country by country for purposes of planning our geographic emphasis but we certainly have the aggregate number of Value and number of recalls for those 50 sources Thank you, and that that to me is the epitome of being a data-driven agency is to be able to gather information like that and use that to Be focused on future activities. So thank you for sharing that I Didn't want to ask a question about the Proposed ROV rulemaking termination does the termination of the Rulemaking project on ROVs mean that we're no longer going to gather data on ROV stability issues Are we going to continue to gather that information? It does not preclude data gathering and we will continue to gather okay Question about window coverings if I understand correctly and I thank Commissioner Kay for sharing this information with me I think I'd known it but Health Canada has just issued a new standard for window coverings. Am I correct about that? Yes, and so if we came out with a 15j rule that was substantially different and somewhat less stringent would that not create all sorts of international problems and commerce problems between us and Health Canada and the Canadians Well, I'm not not entirely sure we would propose something less stringent at this point I do think the big difference as I see it right now is the choice in how the standards were segregated the WCMA approach that we would look to incorporate assuming it's widely complied with and And we believe adequate to address the stock product while continuing to work and try to drive that that work on the custom product so I'm not sure that They're completely You know different from that perspective. I think they cover a different set of products But did the Canadian standard not also cover custom? Yes, it is all inclusive. Okay, so that that is automatically a point of departure that also makes me nervous, okay One of the questions about this and I'm looking on Page 13 about urgent care centers I just want to make clear in my own mind that what we're doing with respect to assessing urgent care centers is that we're not actually Doing a study of them and gathering the data epidemiologically But we're looking to see whether it's feasible and whether it makes sense to Proceed to gather data from urgent care centers. Am I correct in stating that? Yes, so we are our efforts are focused on evaluating whether it makes sense for us to collect those data and not to Not to engage in a full collection. Okay. Yeah, I'm reassured to hear that because that would be a big investment of CPSC Resources it may be worthwhile, but I'd really like to make sure before we jumped into that like that. We understood what what's involved May ask for a quick summary on Tip-overs, where are we in the voluntary standards? Procedure and are we still on track with the mandatory standard not that I care about that Yes, so we've we continue to work In in support of both efforts so in the voluntary standards area. We are actively engaged Particularly in the development of test methods to deal with the difference Hazard dimensions, I think we've talked about before drawer loading impact loading Draw openings and closings and so forth floor surface In parallel with that we are also working on the mandatory standard as As proposed in this operating plan. Yeah, and I just want to commend staff for taking a very comprehensive Perspective on hazards associated with tip-overs and furniture. I seem that my time has expired. Thank you Thank you commissioner Kay Thank You madam chair Thanks to the staff for a good operating plan. I appreciate that it's Mr.. Boniface, I would not get up if I were you unless you need to stretch your legs for about three seconds feel free I appreciate that the staff has Proposed I would I would describe as a more ambitious operating plan that we've seen in the last couple of years At least at a high level, and I also appreciate that staff has looked to incorporate Specific projects into the operating plan that have been of concern at the commission level Mr. Hoffman, I wanted to start with you on the numbers and the staffing numbers, and I'm on page 2 of the draft in the in column 2 at the FTE's I Didn't go ahead and add them up but above the in the part where it says budget details above centrally managed costs Does that FTE total for 2020 add up to 539? Before you minus the five out yes, and your assumption is that through attrition basically that we will Not that we will get down to 534 correct. That's basically correct. I mean we're under now So I don't even need to wait on attrition and so You need to change those Somewhere from somewhere of those five will disappear and so do you need to change the office allocations to? Reconcile with the changes to get down to 534 That's something the Commission wanted to do they could do it. I think what I'm trying to convey is I don't think it's necessary It remember FTE or hours, so we're talking about 10,400 hours out of 1.12 million 9 tenths of 1% I doubt we'll get to that level of precision Okay, but it's so when we see the mid-year for instance, you don't think it'll change I don't think it'll change keep in mind We set aside $800,000 for VGP grants if we weren't directed to do VGP grants that gap would close itself You're saying if we were fully staffed and we had other costs We would just draw from the VGP if depending on how Congress settles it out So in the Senate it was not included in the house It was that's another variable that we're waiting to see for the full-year appropriation so we can do the math So let's say we're fully staffed on October 1, and I realize that never happened But if we were then you're saying we would need an additional $800,000 to meet our Pay raise and an associated cost. Yeah, that's right And so let's say we were appropriated, you know split the difference in the house in the Senate number of arguments Say 131 and so you're saying we would have an additional 4.2 Left over at that point to spend in the mid-year at a reconciled on the mid-year I won't stipulate to the numbers, but yes, there would be a delta that we would have something like that Keep in mind you'd have a pay raise likely in January. Correct. And so what I'm trying to get to with all these questions is What will the staff process be? I'm anticipating we'll get more than 127 and I'm anticipating we'll get more than 127.8 meaning there will be some kind of surplus Even if we have been fully staffed by October 1 clearly the surplus will be more than that because we're not fully staffed by October 1 The staff plan to hold off on Executing the allocation of any of those additional funds until the Commission approved something at mid-year or will staff Start executing allocation of funds and then seek to get ratification by the commission at mid-year, you know I would I would obviously want to consult with the executive director But it seems to me that you're approving a hundred and twenty seven million dollars And so that's what we're gonna be spending and we would come back to you with what the plan was to spend above that level I will say that you know we're thinking ahead We've already started to do the analysis to say well of the things we requested in the 2021 and the 2020 How would those sort out under a hundred and thirty million dollar scenario a hundred and thirty one million dollar scenario So whatever we end up getting and I hope you're right. I hope it is above a hundred and twenty seven million I think we'll be very Nimble and working with the executive director to bring proposals forward I think we could wait to mid-year, but if the Commission wanted to move faster that would be you know, you're prerogative sure and just to make it clear I'm not Speaking on any other commissioners behalf But my request would be whether it's the mid-year or even sooner that the Commission make the decisions on how any additional funds are Allocated I understand are allocated. Mr. Boniface. I want to turn now to some of the EXH our items in the plan I wanted to start with the table saw rulemaking at the time the operating plan was drafted I'm imagining staff did not anticipate that there would be a direction from the Commission to move forward with the final rule on table Saw's is that correct? That is correct And so what changes were made to the draft to accommodate the resources needed? To fit in a table saw final rule I think that staff had planned resources to work in that area It was just a shift of what exactly those resources would be doing as you recall staff had proposed a particular research effort to to get at some of the issues We just Refocus those within that same MIS code to work on the final rule got it So it was a total wash in terms of what was into anticipated from staff months to either do an additional study Or to draft a final rule Largely a wash. Yes. Okay. That's good to know and then on furnaces. How come staff is proposing DATR instead of an NPR? This is an area that We've worked on for many many years. So certainly have thoughts in terms of what a rule would look like however, we've Commissioned has put out the NPR. We are working through And anticipate working through comments for much of the year and Anticipate we may have to do some additional technical research to address some of those questions I see okay, and when do you think you'll have a sense of what what that technical research would be? Certainly, we'd be shooting to have that Identified before the mid-year process. Okay bring that forward. Okay. That's good to know something like to continue to track with you, please on Window coverings so I'm trying to get a better sense of what the deliverable be you say And chairman Burkle Quoted a drive development of custom window coverings Voluntary standards. What's the deliverable on that? What should we expect the result to be? right, so the initial activity will be working to bring a letter to WCMA and Actively pushing them to to reopen that particular standard. I think we're in Once we get that opening then Then it's a matter of working with them our technical staff As we did for the stock solutions Identifying particular hazards and solutions that that we can address I see and you anticipate the technical solutions are any different than What was incorporated on the stock side? I? Think there's going to be a lot of similarity, but this stage it'd be difficult to say definitively Yes on all or no one on some and in the letter you mentioned Is it do you just staff plan on a technical basis to track? The stock requirements or as Commissioner Adler pointed out there are different slightly different requirements for instance the pole cord Force on inner cords Do we anticipate tracking the health Canada requirements? Yeah, we are certainly looking into that that issue that's Really WCMA is cited as as a reason for not opening the standard We are looking to try to incorporate that into some other plan technical work on child pole strength It's a it's a bit of a different Different phenomenology because the way you would the child would actually grasp the cord but but we do anticipate looking into that And does that additional work have to happen before you settle on the technical requests in the letter? No, I don't I don't anticipate I think our initial for a is going to be pushing hard again to try to get them to reopen that standard and To start addressing some of the things we know we need to address got it and on the 15j or the proposed 15j one of the areas that Has repeatedly been brought to my office's attention is concerned that there is not really a very good understanding of The definition or the difference between a stock product and a custom product to staff feel that it has a Concrete grasp on what the difference is between the two. I think it's part of our Work with WCMA on a standard. I think we developed a good understanding I Think it will take I think the work on the custom Solution may help or find that sharpen the the point on that understanding, but I do think we have a Good basis for that got it So it sounds like then we might not see even see a draft 15j until the custom Work progresses. I think we're looking at Co-evolving those those two particular efforts. Okay. I look forward to the co-evolution. Thank you Thank you, Commissioner Biacco Thank you I have one general question, and then I tried to group my questions by department So mr. Boniface if you don't mind hanging out and congratulations on your new post I think you're gonna be great in that job, and I know it's a it's a big It's a big job so anything we can do to help certainly let us know I'm not sure who this question goes to but on page two buried in footnote, too There's an addition of an FTE under the office of executive director for consumer ombudsman. What is this? Why do we need it? Why is it under the executive director, and what are the job duties? This is a new one for us here at the CPSC. I Think I get to answer that one this is our attempt to reflect some of the Priorities that we heard in this most recent mid-year cycle For a desire for this Ombudsman position. I think with regards to where it sits organizationally There's no like perfect location But we do have within the executive director's office an ombudsman small business ombudsman So we thought that would make sense from that perspective As I understand the desire is to Been ombudsman to represent consumer interest in our work A lot of focus on voluntary standards and trying to get more representation and engagement from Consumer interest in that in that process. Where did you get that understanding because that's this is new for me I haven't I don't remember this at the mid-year. No, it's okay I think just through going through the process and then through our weekly meetings with the commission office as we We reflected on that and presented that as an option for the commission to consider Okay You have a description of the job duties that this person would do I do not in front of me But I'm sure we can get that together for you. Okay, and have you been interviewing or who's interviewing for this? This is nothing's been no vacancy has been put out none of that process has started Starting on page 9. Mr. Boniface. I think this all falls under your your umbrella and in no particular order burden reduction there are two projects listed here One is a burden reduction for manufactured Fibers and the other is a general wearing apparel burden reduction review Are either of these burn reduction projects in response to the RFI on possible testing exemption for spandex fibers? the Parts 1610 would be associated with that but Include other dimensions as well. Okay, because I was under the impression that the spandex fibers exemption was to come up under this year's op plan and I haven't seen it yet So I'm just wondering how it spilled over into neck into 2020, right? So we as you recall we issued the request for information and got some information back on that staff is I Think that comment period wrapped up mid-summer staff has been chewing through that if If you bear with me a moment we have I believe a deliverable a milestone to take a To bring forward additional data the results of that additional analysis to the commission this fiscal year Okay, and so what would these two additional burden reduction reduction projects include? so the Manufactured fibers is again a final rule briefing package So we've got the notice of proposed rulemaking That staff has prepared this year the final role will look to to obviously finalize that the part 1610 we're looking at again an analysis of the Of the comments received there may be some additional data collection Needed for that and so we would have to have a discussion with the commission about that that effort Okay, the under on page nine under the other ongoing or potential rulemaking related activities helmet petition I thought that was withdrawn It was I believe that it's a matter of timing on this day So it just needs to come off. Okay, and while we're talking about helmets. I've been noticing. I've been seeing on Twitter a Request from the CPSC for information from parents regarding any concussions that their children suffer But while wearing a helmet and to report that information to us I know that Commissioner Kay has been involved with some of the athletic equipment And I asked him about it and he wasn't sure either So I'm not sure where that tweet comes from and what project that is where that's reflected and what we're doing with that information Do you know sort of I think this is a joint effort with the Office of Compliance What we are looking to try to do is get a better understanding of Of head impacts and head impact injuries We feel that there's an under reporting of that to us and what we're basically trying to do is encourage reporting Get better data in so you have a better under inform a better understanding Okay, I understand that is it reflected in the OPLAN anywhere because I just didn't see it I Don't know if it's explicitly Called out, but it would be in the Mechanical hazards voluntary codes area and it does not look like it's explicitly delineated. Okay Mandatory on page 9 mandatory standard summary table the FOIA fee update deliverable noted as a final rule here Is this still on track since I think we pulled I think we're pulling to withdraw this Notice of proposed rulemaking and I thought this was on our on our plates now So I'm not sure how that fits into the OPLAN now I would actually have to defer to the office of general counsel on that one. They own that any idea There is a current package in front of the Commission the discussions have been to withdraw that package and update it to reflect the latest Financials and a reg flex analysis and that package would come back up this week as an NPR Okay mandatory standards again on page 9 on the mandatory standard summary table clothing storage unit tip-overs the Deliverable as an NPR. Do we have an expected timeframe on this? I have this piggyback song What I believe Commissioner Adler asked. Yes, we anticipate that will be later in the fiscal year Again, what we are doing is we're doing it an awful lot of testing to inform test methods and criteria And working with the voluntary standards. So we're we're looking at that being later in the fiscal year Okay Epidemiology reports on eat the e scooter report. What does that mean? so what we're looking at is again with These devices is a Major expansion in terms of utilization number products and the utilization out there And so we're looking at is a similar to our other epi reports a characterization of the incidents and injuries that we've seen with those So so on the what are you calling this micro mobility? I have several questions on this I've been following this pretty closely and actually taught a class on this not that long ago So I do know that there are several voluntary standards for scooters and e-bikes currently in place So when we have that listed as something we're going to be working on what exactly are we going to be working on and I want to make sure we're not Reinventing the will if you will and same thing on the reports. I mean, there's a lot of there's a lot of data out there There are a lot of data out there We actually have a lot of data Ourselves and so part of this effort part of the epidemiology report is to Aggregate synthesize and bring that information forward so it can be better used by by the community In terms of voluntary standards, we are certainly engaging in in groups with the ULA STM Working in this area and we anticipate Doing more of the same this year. We have a specific plan or set of goals that's written down Are we just so on that particular area what we're looking at doing is bringing forward the incidents that we the growth and incidents that we've seen particularly associated with Commercial use of these these products which we see as a driving exposure up significantly And looking at and working with a STM UL and others to try to identify are there changes in the hazard pattern resulting from the higher use that then Requires to make some adjustments in those voluntary standards. Okay Are we working with any other organizations because a lot of the rules and regulations that apply to the Share the bike shares. I call them our scooter shares You know are outside of our jurisdiction. I'm just wondering how that interacts. We certainly had discussions with NHTSA who has a Jurisdictional element here as well There are a lot of state and local Governments working on this issue as well more from the Interaction with the public And less so from safety, but we look to work with all the parties. Okay terrific my time is up. I'll be back Thank you very much commissioner Feldman Thank you, and I want to thank all of you and your staffs for being here and putting on the presentation today And and this was a useful walk-through of the proposed plan and clearly a lot of thoughts gone into that At this time, I don't have any questions But the plan is it's currently drafted does not address all of my priorities for the agency But I nevertheless think it is a good starting point for for third discussion And I look forward to having that and working with you and all my colleagues here on the dais To get this into final form so that we can get it implemented. Thank you Thank you, I will now begin the second round of questions I Guess Dwayne, I apologize to ask you to come back up here I because I want to follow up on a nice and what commissioner Adler talked about with regards to the urgent care centers I think what you had mentioned was What's in this ops plan proposal is In terms of Doesn't make sense for us to even look at Urgent care centers, and I just wanted to as opposed to just hospital emergency rooms. Can you how will we find that out and just maybe You're a little more specific on that sure so we've We've done a fair bit of research looking at emergency department utilization Urgent care center utilization over the last year. We've gotten a I think a solid sense of Changes in the impact the urgent care centers have had in the emergency departments what we're looking to do is we've contracted for a frame to get a More detailed quantitative characterization of the urgent care center utilization And our intent is to analyze that to take a look at Does that then validate or change our understanding of the impact urgent care centers have had on emergency department utilization? I think we went into this process With questions about whether some of the injuries that had typically been seen by emergency departments Whether they're going to urgent care centers, I think we're a little less sure of that now We're just looking for the second additional data Thank you And then while you're still sitting there on the ROV termination that Commissioner Adler brought raised and the whole issue I think his question had to go to the point Are we going to continue to have the ROV reports or actually the ATV reports with I think there's been a real desire to Pull out if we can the ATVs and the ROVs So my understanding in your responses that is not going to change with the ROV termination That is correct. We will and we'll continue report what we're looking at In the epi report is a segregated but combined report for all off-road vehicles ATVs, UTVs, ROVs, but have them be identifiable as distinct subcategories. That's good. That is very good to hear and then just to Just to clarify even further on that point the ROV termination has to do with lateral stability not Debris penetration not the thermal issues that Are being discussed in the voluntary standards. That's absolutely correct. Okay I want to just talk a little bit about window coverings just to clarify Because the comment was made about health Canada and their new standard. I mean, I don't think we I think Harmonization is an ideal and I've been hearing about it since since I've come to this agency But that isn't how we operate we do what we think is best and what our data What our data reflects and and we proceed accordingly, but just my understanding of the health Canada Standard it is not an effect. It doesn't go into effect for two years when it was passed last May So I don't know the I thought I thought I heard and correct me if I'm wrong that there would be Tracking health Canada and seeing whether or not their new their new standard is Effect I'm not sure I heard that correctly. Maybe I misunderstood that No, I think what? What Mr. Ray was was saying is that so we have a particular evaluation of Under 15 J that we have to make is it widely complied with and it is it effective and I think what we're looking at is is As part of bringing that 15 J package forward is doing that analysis But the health Canada issue is not fully linked with that Health Canada has developed their own standard implemented their own standard as you note It's two years away, so it's not being complied with and certainly there are elements within the industry that are Citing challenges with that. Yes, and I think that that's different than what we've achieved We already have a voluntary standard for stock products, which I think is a huge step forward when it comes to window safety I don't have any more questions for EXHR I can't speak for my colleagues though. That's right. I Was would just like to ask richo brine to come up for a second I wanted to just ask a question that first bullet Participate in the OECD global consumer information campaign if you could speak to that Yes, every year the OECD working party on consumer product safety Works with a number of its members those who are most interested to develop a topic and then Media Messaging for a topic that would be exposed globally at the same time so I Have to confess that I forgot The topic that's coming up, but maybe from communications. You can remind me What? Oh That's right. Sorry. Thank you for that So the the messaging and the one that we're going to be working on next is if the products recalled respond to the recall and So again, that would be a global message and it would be something we will contribute to locally for use in the United States We'll share with our colleagues around the world some of the things that we develop in case they want to use them Others will do the same thing and to the extent that the communications office wants to take advantage of that They'll be used here Thank you very much. I'm sorry. Did you have something to add? I've just that Joe may want to say more But that's all I that's all I have mr. Marty act you have anything to add Thank you I Was going to ask mr. K to come up talk a little bit about compliance and some of his priorities So what was highlighted in the briefing today the first bullet is evaluate business process review make resource Recommendations on the integrated field system. Can you just elaborate on that a little bit? Sure. So as I think the Commission is aware IFS is a system that we rely on for a variety of tasks particularly in the regulated group in the field and it is antiquated and Doesn't have the reporting capabilities doesn't have the consistency of input facilities that you really would want to have nor does it really? It wasn't constructed with the the other systems that we have here at the Commission in mind And so ultimately we want to move to a point where we have a modern system that works well Collectively and individually with with our our other systems But the starting point for any such system is to come up with the business process that you want it to reflect In my experience where you know IT systems go off the rails is when you get a lot of Technical input and and a lot of building that goes on before you really understand what the best Fundamental business processes are and so we'll be working closely with with the contractor that we appreciate the Commission authorizing at the mid-year to Really flesh out our business processes and and try to get ourselves positioned well for for a technology improvement So at this point you're really just trying to figure out what what would work What would be the best way to approach this? So what's the best way for us to do our our work with sort of knowing sort of what the technological options are in mind And and sort of developing those thoughts Collectively together but but with an emphasis on making sure that that ultimately we feel confident We're processing the work in the right way and then finding the technology match for that Thank you, and while I have you at the table, and I have a minute left Can you just talk a little bit about bullet point to? I'm just kidding. I'll tell you what it is Facilitate credit card notice to enhance recall effectiveness. Sure. So I think you know as we've as we learned from the Recall workshop and as as we discussed frequently, you know the very best And most effective way we can reach consumers when there is a recall is when we can contact them directly and you know, we know that in many cases the the the that Information is is available to some people Through the credit card information system. It's not something that we've really involved ourselves with There's a number of different players from the retailers to the banks and the like And and there clearly are potentially some obstacles to us being able to work with business to try and access that data more readily But we want to explore the extent to which the Commission might be able to facilitate more readied use of that data to Accentuate direct notice in recalls And so we intend to have some some dialogue with the stakeholders involved to learn more about how we might be able to play that role Very good, and I would just add that would include more likely than not Rila. I would hope they'd be out at the table Yes, okay good commissioner Adler Thank you very much. I notice both compliance and EXIS have specific projects Addressed to counterfeit non-compliant bicycle helmets And I guess my question is is there a particular issue or a particular risk that we've discovered with these that has us set them separate and apart from Regular compliance and import surveillance activities. Well, well, we do think you know our mission is not the counterfeit mission, but we do think that when there is a Likely nexus between Counterfeit and safety that that that does draw our attention to it and that's what we see in the bike helmet arena Yeah, and I'm sorry to interrupt. I certainly understand that but my question is is that's that's a case for lots of products But we've specifically Isolated bicycle helmets. Is there a particular issue with bicycle helmets? Well, there has been some public attention to the fact that that certain counterfeit helmets have not passed safety standards That has also been our anecdotal Observation I don't think we've done a an extensive report on on an analysis of such helmets over time, but our our general observation is that when a Bike helmet is counterfeit it is there is a high likelihood that it won't meet the safety standards And and so we are looking at it as an opportunity to explore that nexus and trying to see how we can enhance So our targeting how we can enhance, you know, you're working very closely with Jim's group and how we can most efficiently address those Those violations or potential violations knowing that the testing process itself is somewhat cumbersome and resource intensive As well as what role we might be able to play with some of the online purveyors of helmets to see what kind of Additional safeguards might be able to be put in place to prevent the listings And so that's what we'll be looking at. So in terms of things explicitly identify I want to ask about something that I couldn't find explicitly identified and that's residential elevators Do we have resources dedicated to residential elevators in what general category would would one find those resources? Well, I obviously can't comment on any particular not talking about a specific just Where the resources that? Are they do we have resources dedicated to maybe some better way of asking? We certainly have a focus on the issue and I think in conjunction with the executive director We're working to make sure we can bring the resources we need to the issue Okay, I certainly appreciate that with respect to a point that the chair brought up about urgent care centers the one thing that I'm not asking this question of you and this is of course Dwayne is that before we would find it worthwhile I would guess to Do a big project on urgent care centers? We'd have to find that there's at least a different mix or a different frequency or severity of injuries associated With urgent care centers, then we're finding in emergency rooms, and I remember years ago We did a physician's office survey because we were absolutely Insistent that they would be huge discrepancies been my as I recall they weren't huge with discrepancies Is it your impression at least at this point that we're going to find big big discrepancies or differences Yeah, I think our preliminary evidence on the urgent care centers is that they are not Seeing sort of the higher-end Consumer product related injuries, but again That's what we're looking for that that data frame and subsequent analysis that to defend the more definitively establish Okay, well, I that's that's a good thing, and I'm glad you're doing that. I wanted to come back to window coverings and Is it your eventual goal that if we get the voluntary standard sector to do a An upgrade or an expansion to cover custom windows window coverings that we would then be able to do a 15j rule Or because it's custom and does that mean it's a more challenging approach? I Think that's an interesting question I'm not sure I have an answer at this stage because one of the challenges there is is it readily identifiable readily observable Exactly. I'm not a hundred percent sure that that will be the case Yeah, and that's a fair assessment. That's actually my best guess, and I'm glad that Everybody's still grappling with that question. I wanted to Jump to communications if I might because I had two questions about changes from last year one of the Things I do Obsessively as I look at last year's out plan and I go through and say where's it changed? Because sometimes that tells me there's a difference in focus. So when I looked at page 36 I saw that the metric for in this I'll just quote number of engagements with CPSC safety messaging on Social media channels by stakeholders has jumped from 320,000 last year to 840,000 This year that's a big jump. Can you explain that? Yes? Thank you That number the 320 was from the previous year and as we went into this year We realized that we are actually doing I'm glad to say very well, and we're surpassing that number and we're much higher So that's why we set the ceiling higher for next year Wow, okay. I wish you good luck, and it sounds like you're on top of that I also noticed the change in the number of Collaborative collaborative activities initiated with state stakeholder groups has jumped from 28 last year 55 this year Can you explain what's going on with that again? It's a similar situation where the number was from the previous year and this again this year We've been performing very well with that and so we are hitting higher than that And so we set the ceiling higher for next year Okay, those are all the questions I have at the moment. Thank you very much. Thank you very much commissioner K Thank You madam chair Dwayne, please if you don't mind or mr. Boniface. Thank you Thank you for coming back the ROV termination package. Is it already drafted? We have the package that came before a commission previously But we do not have a fresh version of that package so we would have to go in and work on that Okay, and so you that's not done yet correct And you have a rough estimate of the staff months that would take I do not off the top my head We can bring that back. Okay. I'd be curious to know and would it be the same Staff that would be working on that package putting aside the general counsel's office. I understand that if any involvement they have I mean the Technical staff the team would it be the same team that would be Drafting that package that would also be working on the voluntary standards work with regard to fires and debris penetration I think certainly they would be involved. I don't know at this stage whether we would have them Be the primary staff on that or whether we'd have some other staff to help out with that Presently they'd have some involvement in there. Okay, and Recognizing that the Commission did not evolve adopt the termination package years ago and Also recognizing that the Commission since then has become aware of additional Non-related hazards associated with these products. What's the safety benefit? What's the consistency with the agency's mission to be spending the resources on a termination package? I think that the What this allows us to do is focus collective efforts on what we're seeing is the current hazards and what we're seeing is the current hazards are the The thermal issues and the debris penetration I do think that there's some uncertainty with the regulated industry with this other Stability out there Meaning it's your sense that they can't focus on the debris penetration and the fire hazards because they're still so freaked out by the rollover and occupant protection issues I'm not sure I would use those exact words, but I do think that there's concern on the part of the regulated community And do you feel like that's materially impacting staff's ability to have productive conversations in the voluntary standards arena? I think we continue to look for ways to streamline our Engagements and get things moved through. I see got it and then on another voluntary standard Relationship to a mandatory standard so inclined sleepers originally came from the bassinet standards correct Correct, so at some point in last whatever it was five six seven years ago ASTM decided with staff's blessing to carve out and create a new inclined sleeper standard Is that accurate? That is correct. And so at this point What's the benefit of having a separate standard as opposed to just returning it to bassinet? I think where staff is looking at this particular issue is make a Sleep standard it's either going to be a bassinet or other and try to Exhaustively capture what what products are out there outside of that's nuts Pardon outside of that and outside of cribs and pack-in-place or around Excited play arts. Yeah So I think what that provides is the opportunity is to say you're either in bucket one or bucket two and prevent any kind of Regulatory loopholes got it so the draft Whatever would be coming up then that's not a bassinet. That's not a play art. That's not a crib would be in this other Draft standards you're talking about correct, but why call it inclined sleeper then since it sounds like it encompasses a lot more I think what we're looking at is that the crib standard would Would address the non-inclined Range of products and then you're either so either you're either inclined or you're not if you're inclined then you're either a bassinet Or you're not and so capture it that way I see and is there any other term that would be more inclusive than just inclined sleepers Certainly staff would be open to suggestions on that We've not seen a better term Okay, I would encourage it only because I do think that there is an internal inconsistency with the idea of an inclined sleeper I don't think that that is consistent with the best practices that staff itself promotes Scientifically, and so I think that we would be doing the public a favor if we would come up with something It sounds like he would also be more consistent with what you're talking about that it wouldn't be narrowly viewed as just One type of product category, but would incorporate more That's it for now. Thanks, madam chair. Thank you. Commissioner Bianco Dwayne back to scooters When we were talking about the report where will that data come from is it going to come from these data? so from all sources we have the certainly nice data we have Doc by docks from manufacturers we've got consumer reports consumer reported information And then available literature. You don't mean the magazine like consumers who are reporting or I've safer products that go Do you know whether niece currently has injury codes for micro my like this micro mobility devices? It's not subdivided to the degree that That we'll be able to defend at least as well. We'll be able to talk about the trends in this category as a whole Are we able to encourage that the niece data codes to be broken down that way? We can and continue to look at that and I think given the emergence of this area Rapid emergence of this area over this product over the last couple years. That is certainly something we are looking carefully at. I Want to switch a little over to vaping? I'm concerned that we are experiencing a vaping crisis in this country and I'm wondering First of all in the electrical hazards voluntary standards code section of the OPLAN The third bullet point states study of high energy density batteries used in and products So my question would be are there plans for the staff to be involved in ul 8 1 3 9 Which is the electrical systems of electronic cigarettes which would evaluate the safety of the heating battery charging systems of vaping? We we try to cover as many of the Related standards as possible under the on these areas I can't speak at this stage of how much time we're devoting that one particular standard But in general we try to cover as much as possible and we work with our partners for example in that area with food and drug administration To try to extend our our reach What is our current interaction with the FDA on at least vaping? We continue to have discussions we And part of this I think is a question for compliance, but from that ex-HR perspective work with them on identifying Emerging battery issues sharing information sharing Insights in terms of what we've seen in this growing high-energy density battery arena and try to try to work with them at that The battery issue goes to both scooters and vaping actually Okay, do you know whether it while we're on the knees topic whether knees has injury codes for vaping products? Like whether it's exploding or whether it's overheating batteries or Do you know if we're gathering that type of information? I do not know. I have to bring that back Are we working at all with the poison control centers when it comes to the nicotine portion of vaping? I Would have to check to see if our collection for CDC includes that I do not know off the top of my head But we would not collect that for our purposes. Okay We could follow up on that I do have more detailed questions that I think you and I can discuss more individually on nanotech How much of our resources are being spent on this project and how does it compare with previous years because I if I remember correctly We we were doing some nanotech and then we decided not to pursue that as much because other federal agencies were doing it Now I see it back on the op plan Can you give me a little bit of background there? Sure. We We had historically made significant investments on the order of approximately two million dollars a year That is tapered down over the last several years in this current operating plan I think it's on the order of fifty thousand dollars largely in the voluntary standards arena We may we had to make significant investments in that area initially just to lay the foundation on measurement of the particles how to Quantify and characterize them and so forth With that investment, I think we've laid a foundation that then we can work with the voluntary standards community at Bring voluntary standards Performance standards in that in that area. So it's a lot of us to shift our resources. Okay, you know I studied nanotechnology years ago. It's very technical and very specialized. Do we have You know a person or persons within is it your department or or that the specializes in nanotech? Or do we need that? We do we've About a year ago we we fill the position that Focuses on a nanotechnology program manager have had had her leading those efforts since perfect, okay Chemical hazards they're the first bullet sub bullet point in on page 17 talks about The OFR's and we do note that as part of the commission's 2017 vote to grant the petition the Commission also directed the staff to publish an interim guidance on the Federal Register We now have the OFR report as you know from the National Academies of Science and We have some interim guidance that was published, but now it's a little outdated So are we drafting an updated an update of this guidance? What's the status of that? We spent a lot of money on that so the Interim guidance we do not have Plan for update in as part of this our resources in this area for OFR's is really working to make concrete and set up to implement the Approach outlined by the National Academy of Science Engineering and Medicine So trying to lay the foundation so that's It should be obtained the funding for for that research. We can shift the execution right away So it's more on that the implementation of the National Academy's plan than on updating guidance or other elements So when you're thinking about implementing their plan, what does that look like in your mind? So it's we've got So in granting the petition petition the Commission directed us to Initiate rulemaking and bring a chap Chronic hazard which we get panel Which we've initiated rulemaking and what we are in the process of is gathering the evidence that then the chap would eventually use and so that Evidence is comprised of toxicological information exposure information so that the the hazard risk can be characterized What we are what the National Academy has helped us with is that talks? Toxicological piece, how do we how do we get at the the effects of of the OFR's? But they did it at a somewhat high level so what we're looking at in in fiscal year 2019 is how do we set up a Structure with a contractor so that we can get that in evidence together on the tox piece And then bring that before the chap down the road Does anybody express concern or do you have any concern and I've been reading a lot about flame retardants and alternatives to flame retardants Including plant-based flame retardants as anyone concerning this is a big project with a lot of money attached and And of course a good project, but I'm wondering whether by the time we get to the end of that project There are other options that we are not going to have information on I think that the What this project is focuses on focused on is a particular subset of the flame retardants and flame retardant chemicals So the organo halogen I think They will the National Academy has identified about a hundred and sixty chemicals at the at that particular time We certainly would expect that to evolve however, what we are What we work with the National Academy's on and would continue to evaluate is are those 14 subcategories are those evolving? Are we just seeing different chemicals in each of those 14 different buckets? And I think that's one of the challenges. We'll have going forward is looking at Identifying do we have a for lack of a better phrase a new bucket that we have to be concerned with Dwayne I think that's it for you. I have a couple for compliance if you don't mind Since my time is limited Rob. I'll try to hit the shorter ones on page 27 of the op plan. There's a milestone m29 that discusses that e Exe had a milestone in 2019 to assess the fast track program for possible changes to process and policies and then going forward implementing those Can you describe what you learned about the fast track program in? 2019 and what changes you're planning to implement to improve the fast track program in 2020 well We did take a hard look at fast track to to find out, you know, what if any? Not only process improvements, but it's been a number of years since we really thought through sort of what the overall Objectives were what some of the trade-offs were that were made when the product when the program started You know and I we have some ideas and I I don't Which I'm happy to come back with you and we meet with you and give you some more details I think what we what we want to do as part of our our next steps is to get some feedback from the stakeholders Is to some of the things that we're thinking about Some of the changes we might make to the entry way for example of the program To make it more consistent get people on the same timeline And also make sure that everybody knows going in Exactly what's required and and has an easy access to providing that I've got nothing but feedback from stakeholders, so we should probably talk so I can share some of that with you. Sure. Okay My time is up. I Would yield you five minutes of my time if you'd like to continue sure. Thank you. I want to follow up on Commissioner Adler's Questions about the non-compliant bike helmets. I'm just wondering what Challenges you're seeing and targeting those types of products not just bike helmets, but all bike helmets Or I mean all of the non-compliant products that pose a safety hazard, especially on a e-commerce platforms And what do we have a plan to address those types of products? Well, you know the first step I think in terms of any changes we would make to the way We're focusing on the sale of products in e-commerce and obviously we have seen in the last several years You know enormous changes in the retail market and the shift to to e-commerce selling You know is to evaluate the baseline of where we are now, you know We have in in our mandatory standards our regulatory enforcement office We have Annual programs that are focused on each of the different products that we that we regulate and they each have Components that reach into the e-commerce space and the first question is well Is that sufficient to meet the needs of where commerce has moved or do we need to make changes? And then I think with that baseline in hand and also with an you know an understanding and a discussion of sort of what the legal Parameters are as it relates to certain players in the marketplace, you know then decide what additional changes or nor next steps We want to take As an agency in that area. I think that needs to be a priority I know we've been evaluating it for some time and it is it's I'm afraid that it's passing us by and we're Not capitalizing on that so I would encourage That particular goal in the op plan to be something that that we focus on There's also a note under the office of compliance That there was a discussion of the possibility of hosting a workshop at workshop with partner agencies to have an open discussion about jurisdictional issues We've had this discussion in the past I mean is this something that maybe we should make a line item under milestones for or is this something that you know We've done in the past or and we're not doing now I'm not exactly sure which portion you're you're focused on commissioner Is that in this year's plan? Yes So there was an expansion of liquid nicotine enforcement There was there was some notes in here that it's been difficult to Prescribe compliance activities with these cigarettes. We talked about some of the vaping issues and then possibility of hosting a workshop We Rob we can follow up on okay Let's follow up on that. I'm sure I'm sure there's something here that I can give you some I don't know where my time is I have one one or two questions for communications To two and a half minutes left or more if you need it. Thank you Thanks, Rob Thank You mr. Marty act on page 34 under priorities Activities the penultimate bulletin bullet states to develop one communications activity on a major emerging emerging hazard Can you expand on this bullet and why we only have one? Sure. Thank you commissioner We've tried to earmark in our budgeting and going forward with the agency will be working with to do something a PSA or video But we're not identifying what it is yet We'll be working on that as we work with compliance in the other and with has a reduction about that for example Could be e-scooters it could be something else and so we haven't identified that yet But we are planning on it and then we put it into our budget, okay? I know we have almost a half a million dollars in communications marked for some of the communications activities So I would hope that once you identify it you would bring it to the commission for us to You know give you direction on what we think is is best at the time that you identify it I also note in the And the table here that there are six your goal is six Particularly CPSC and I'm paraphrasing because I can't find it that quickly Placing six yet national media. Yes. Tell me about that and how you pick six and what you're thinking there We've been trying to move from just impressions to actual engagements as a measurement And we think that engagement will give us a better feedback on actually what's being done with the information We put out there to that end we're looking at doing these National media placements as an indicator of the kind of resonance We're hoping to get through interviews on a national scale and so that's why we've picked a half a dozen here as a target to start with and To see how that goes but the whole the fundamental point behind it is not to be just doing Impressions where it goes into publication and this many eyes could have seen it But it doesn't tell us whether they actually have or not to get something a little closer to where we get some Feedback of what's going on. Okay. Thank you. I think my time is up Thank you. I just have one question I just want to because To pick up on something that Commissioner Bianco raised and that is the guidance that's up on the website with regards to organo halogen flame retardants and let's see I guess that would be Dwayne again doing So Commissioner Bianco talked about updating it But it seems to me right now what is up there the guidance that was provided by the Commission is Inconsistent with what NAS has recommended to us as well as what staff recommended to us And it would seem to me I guess my question is if we removed that guidance would that require any staff time or any hours or any kind of expenditure of resources And then I'll just copy at that with Until we find out what is the guidance we should be we should be providing I Can take a shot at that I just trying to get back I think our memory on this was this was a Commission directed guidance document I don't think there was a lot of staff involvement in the development of that guidance document So if the Commission decided to change that I don't think there'd be a lot of staff time associated with that very good Thank you very much Commissioner Edler Well with respect to that issue. I would Most respectfully disagree with my colleague that it's outdated or inconsistent with what NAS Reported what they is is a guidance. It's a general concern document that I think I'd really be hard-pressed to find any sort of disagreement or inconsistency in the in the guidance document But in order to remove it it would require as far as I'm concerned a Commission vote I did want to associate myself very very strongly with the comments that Commissioner Kay made with respect to The inclined sleeper pride project I think that terminology is much too narrow if we're really going to try to have the buckets that are comprehensive across children's products and so I Would urge you to consider coming up with a better title for it In one of the things that pops into my mind. It's just called a sleeper standard In define it Precisely, but I do think this is sends a strong wrong signal to the world to use the term inclined sleeper So I do agree strongly with with Commissioner Kay Commissioner but Bianco. I just wanted to say one thing with respect to the consumer ombudsman When we did mid-year, I circulated a very very thick document Proposing the idea of a consumer ombudsman, which I'll be delighted to share with you again But it does seem to me that we have this incredibly successful SBO program that is really a Role model for other agencies and it seems to me if you look at what other agencies are doing They all I shouldn't say all many many of them have Things that our consumer ombudsman or look tremendously like consumer ombudsman programs And I think the CPSC would be well Guided to adopt something along those lines. So I strongly endorse what's in the staff Package and I really don't have any other questions. Thank you. Thank you Commissioner Kay Nothing. Thank you, madam chair. Mr. Biakko just a couple more and commissioner idler I remember that but I also remember we did not vote on it and we did not Put a count for it in the budget So there is I'm not sure who answers this one. This is on office of research resource management On page 41. We have a key performance measure That is the percentage of hiring managers trained on recruitment is targeted at 80 percent Can someone provide a brief description of our current recruitment training program and what more we can do? To train hiring managers to make sure we get and retain the appropriate talents. I Don't think we have the right person around but we're happy to follow up with you on that there enough And then I would have a question on coaching last question for this particular Briefing where in the op plan and I might have missed it Is it are we accounting for or aren't we fixing the website as far as our safer products gov? Because we've been working on this for quite some time and I think everybody agrees It's not really all that user friendly. Are we fixing it or we just let that one go But we we have some funding that the commission had approved on mid-year So that would be an FY 2019 So I think it was I forget the exact dollar amount, but it was five or six hundred thousand dollars And that contract is going to be let any day. Okay, maybe it already has the safer products. It's out Terrific. Thank you. I have a lot more questions But sounds like my colleagues are done and rather than keep you all here I will follow up with with some of you individually and I appreciate I know I had a lot of them So thank you Thank you very much commissioner Adler you're finished with questions commissioner. Okay, and commissioner Bianca you'll follow up Okay, having heard no further questions at least at this time. I'd like again to thank staff Mr. Ray mr. Hoffman and mr. Baker for your time and all of the rest of the staff who stepped up to the table and Provided us with answers, and I'm sure there will be more questions and more details We'll be asking of all of you as the days goes on go on before the decisional. I also want to Thank the department the Executive director in her office because this plan She sits on top of this plan and has really kept everyone In line to get what they needed done to her and to put this document together And it's a very well done document and I want to express my appreciation to that as well And just one final housekeeping item Well, I plan to complete my term here at the agency till the end of October today marks my final Excuse me. My final public hearing is the acting chairman I just want to say what an honor it has been to lead this agency And I thank you all for your support in your hard work With that this concludes the public meeting the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission. Thank you