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HRD-92-37R 1 (1992-07-28)

handle is hein.gao/gaobackch0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 1 111 (United states General Accounting Office Washinston, D.C. 20548 Humtan Resources Division July 28, 1992 I1011UII The Honorable Paul Simon 147177 United States Senate Dear Senator Simon: This letter responds to your request that we examine the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). In discussions with your staff on May 1, 1992, we agreed to provide information on CPSC's mission, organizational structure, budget, and general performance, and changes in focus and activities. (Enclosure 1 presents our detailed findings.) Our review shows that CPSC was vested in 1972 with broad authority and was expected to identify and remedy hazardous products. CPSC's chairman and 2 commissioners are the agency's chief policymakers. Two slots for additional commissioners have been vacant since 1986. Their decisions are carried out by an executive director, seven operating directorates, and other offices. (Enclosure 2 presents CPSC's organizational chart.) CPSC's budget decreased by 60 percent between 1975 and 1990, after adjusting for inflation. Also, CPSC had 41 percent fewer staff in 1990 than in 1975. (Enclosure 3 presents supporting figures for charts in the text.) Accordingly, CPSC gives priority to developing voluntary standards and focusing on activities to educate and inform consumers about product hazards. Recent studies have been critical of CPSC's performance, but the studies attribute different causes to CPSC's problems. To assess CPSC's performance, we reviewed agency documents and analyzed CPSC data, interviewed agency officials, and surveyed the literature. We did not verify the accuracy or completeness of the data. We conducted our review from January through July 1992 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. GAO/HRD-92-37R, Information on CPSC

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