Commission Votes Unanimously to Publish Magnets NPR

“Despite my concerns about the proposed standard, I voted for this to be put to the public because this is the right way to pursue the regulatory process when a significant hazard involving a class of products is brought to the attention of the Commission. When the Commission believes that a hazard is so imminent that it cannot wait for the results of rulemaking, we have statutory authority to act. In this case, however, instead of using that authority, we have brought compliance actions against certain companies and asked others to withdraw the products from the market in an attempt to reach the entire market. This amounts to back?door rulemaking. Approaching the hazard through the front door – that is, through the rulemaking process – is more appropriate. In this way, we do not take formal or informal actions that reach conclusions about a potential hazard before the Commission has all the relevant evidence and all affected stakeholders have the opportunity to be heard.”

The rule would prohibit sets with magnets that fit in the small parts cylinder and with flux indexes over 50. The agency in July (PSL, 7/30/12, p. 1) sued Maxfield & Oberton, the maker and Buckyballs and Buckycubes. Two weeks later (PSL, 8/13/12, p. 1) it sued Zen Magnets, which makes similar products. In both cases, the agency seeks to force the companies to recall the products. Those actions occurred with 3-1 decisions with Nord cast the negative votes.