Commission Votes On Safety Standard

I am today reaffirming my vote not to revoke the Safety Standard for Unvented Gas-Fired Space Heaters. I believe this standard is vitally important for American consumers and that the Commission should retain this standard.

The standard has been in effect only since December 31, 1981. It provides the vital requirement that unvented gas fired space heaters have oxygen depletion safety shutoff systems. I believe we need the nationwide consistency that this standard affords. The Commission is best able to enforce this important requirement on a nationwide basis. It seems to me that it is just too early to revoke this important standard.

It will be very costly to the Commission's very limited staff resources and financial resources to revoke this standard. The staff estimates that it will take at least 9 months to 1 year to complete the revocation process and that substantial staff resources will be required. This effort would compete with other important product safety work of this Commission. I do not believe it makes sense to devote Commission resources to this effort to revoke a standard when we have so many other important new problems needing our attention.

In summary, I believe this is an important standard for consumers and1 vote to reaffirm my decision not to revoke the standard.

I have dissented from the majority in the Commission's decision to revoke the mandatory standard for unvented gas-fired space heaters for the following reasons:

1. As the standard has not yet been in effect for a year (effective date - June, 1982), I believe it is impossible to state that the mandated standard has worked so well there is no longer a need for it as some of my colleagues have maintained.

2. The lack of a Federal standard will drop the burden of safety measures on the localities, counties, and states where there are such safety standards for unvented gas-fired space heaters.

3. CPCS's standard only addresses the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning for the use of these heaters. Under the doctrine of Federal preemption, state, local and county standards addressing other hazards would not be preempted by the Federal standard.

4. County and local governments cannot effectively monitor or control movements of units which do not meet their safety standards from other jurisdictions into theirs.

5. We will be unable to stop the introduction of heaters from foreign markets without oxygen depletion sensors purchased at spot sales by less than scrupulous agents into local, state and county markets and their consumers.

6. State, local and county government with reduced budgets may not have enforcement capability where there are safety standards.

7. The Commission has chosen to revoke the standard that addressed a hazard that has claimed too many lives, and leave the production and sale of safe heating units to the vagaries of "market forces."

I consider this act by my colleagues to be a grave error. sometime In the near future, a consumer will be overcome and perhaps die, due to the malfunctioning of an unvented gas-fired space heater purchased after June, 1982, because the Federal safety standard was revoked. Undoubtedly, it will be a family member of a low-income consumer attempting to both "eat and heat." And then who will the Commission have served? Certainly not that consumer!

As one who for some time has advocated revoking the CPSC mandatory standard on unvented gas space heaters, I welcome the Commission's decision to accept the agency's staff recommendation to withdraw this regulation.

I favor revocation because the industry has now developed a voluntary standard that is more stringent than the CPSC mandatory standard and equally likely to be adhered to by industry and less expensive to enforce.

The voluntary standard, developed under the auspices of the American Gas Association (AGA) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) addresses the hazard of carbon monoxide poisoning in exactly the same manner as the CPSC mandatory standard. Both require the use of an oxygen-depletion sensor (ODS) that will shut off the heater when dangerous levels of carbon monoxide build up.

In addition to the ODS requirement, the voluntary standard addresses hazards beyond those in the CPSC standard, such as contact burns and improper performance of the heaters. Compliance with other ANSI/AGA standards has been high. CPSC economics staff indicates that every known manufacturer or importer of unvented gas space heaters plans to use the ODS device and most will comply with the added safeguards of the voluntary standard.

Lest there be any misunderstanding on one point, I should make clear that the Commission split vote in no way lessens the agency's approval of ODS devices. To the contrary, both the Commission majority and minority gave an unequivocal endorsement of the device. As I understand it, ODS devices have been used since 1956 in over 30 million heaters without a record of a single fatality. They are mandatory in England, Germany, Belgium, Australia, Austria, Italy, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Middle Eastern countries and Argentina.

The CPSC mandatory standard arose because we faced what we then felt was a recalcitrant industry. I shared the Commission's frustration about the slow progress of ODS in the United States. Given the existence of ODS devices abroad for 27 years, industry should have moved forward faster. Nevertheless, that was in the past --due apparently in part to misgivings about ODS technology rather than reluctance to promote safety -- and should not govern CPSC actions today.

The CPSC mandatory standard would have added government regulation where an industry voluntary standard was completed and in place. Indeed, the CPSC standard would have, provided less safety than the voluntary standard. The CPSC standard would have cost many dollars and many hours of staff time to enforce. Additional costs would have been required to consider and decide requests for exemptions from the standard -- costs that will now be avoided by deferring to the voluntary standard. In such circumstances, consumer safety and calm logic indicated a vote to revoke.

In voting on May 26, 1983, to revoke the mandatory standard for unvented gas- fired space heaters, thereby breaking the 2-2 tie, I considered two primary issues:

Many local jurisdictions have indicated a desire to address risks in addition to those addressed by the CPSC standard and have adopted store stringent restrictions. Such a position is found in a recent letter from the City of Baltimore. As was pointed out, Baltimore's ordinance--a ban on residential use--was based upon "fire and burn, as well as asphyxiation risks." If the mandatory standard is revoked, local bans of or other restrictions on unvented gas-fired space heaters would not be precluded.

It was my view that the CPSC should not needlessly preempt such local restrictions and autonomy. Revocation of the mandatory standard should result in increased consumer safety on the local level as well.

For additional information contact John P. Mackey (202) 634-7771.