Stratton to head CPSC
By Jeff Linville -- Furniture Today, November 18, 2001
WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON — The Consumer Product Safety Commission takes on a more conservative look this month as attorney Harold Stratton takes the chairman's seat after his predecessor's resignation.
Stratton, a partner in an Albuquerque, N.M., law firm, was a New Mexico state legislator from 1979 to 1986 and the state's attorney general from 1987 to 1990. President Bush appointed Stratton to head the CPSC in October and the Senate approved him.
In furniture, CPSC is involved with the safety of youth furniture and the flammability of upholstery. It is considering possible mandatory rules on small-open-flame ignition of upholstered furniture. The industry is pushing for voluntary standards, which long have been in effect for fires caused by smoldering cigarettes.
Stratton specialized in commercial litigation and oil and gas law, said Russell Batson, vice president of government affairs for the American Furniture Manufacturers Assn. Stratton isn't well known in product safety, said Batson, "but everyone who knows his work says he has a very balanced approach to regulation."
He replaces Ann Brown, a former consumer activist appointed by President Clinton in 1994. Brown had five more years in her term, but resigned Nov. 1, saying she wanted to allow Bush to "appoint someone whose views are consistent with his." Stratton will fill the remainder of her term.
His lack of previous stances on CPSC issues appears to have kept him from the criticism leveled at Bush's first choice for chairman, current CPSC Commissioner Mary Sheila Gall.
The Senate derailed Gall's nomination because she had spelled out her philosophy of emphasizing consumer responsibility and parental supervision over more regulations on manufacturers, said Batson.
Stratton takes over a position that has grown in notoriety in recent years, partly because of increased civil penalties against violators. In 1993, the year before President Clinton appointed Brown, the CPSC assessed penalties of $262,500, according to the Associated Press; so far in 2001, fines have totaled $6.5 million.
At the same time, Brown noted in her farewell address, five out of every six product recalls have been carried out voluntarily by businesses. She said mandatory recalls have been the exception rather than the rule.
As first reported in eDaily
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