§ 1031.17 Background.

(a) In a Federal Register Notice (Vol. 69, No. 200) dated October 18, 2004, the CPSC announced that it was launching a pilot program to open CPSC staff activities for public review and comment. The pilot program covered information on CPSC staff participation with respect to a cross-section of voluntary standards, including advance notice of proposed staff positions on issues to be considered by voluntary standards organizations. The program was based on the premise that increased public awareness and participation would enhance the quality and conclusions of the proposed recommendations made by CPSC staff. (b) The pilot program ended on April 18, 2005, after a 6-month period. CPSC invited general comments on whether to continue the programs beyond the pilot period and solicited suggestions for improving the program. (c) On July 28, 2005, the CPSC staff submitted to the Commission an assessment of the pilot program's results, including data that indicated the voluntary standards site ranked among the top 20 directories visited on the CPSC Web site. Further, the report included the staff's recommendation that the voluntary standards Web site be expanded to include information on all standards activities. (d) On August 4, 2005, in accordance with the staff's recommendation, the Commission voted unanimously to continue the voluntary standards program and expand it to include all voluntary standards activities.