Federal Agency Advances Gas Stove Proposal From Commissioner Who Floated Ban

After being filed by the commissioner who floated banning stoves, a U.S. agency requested information on hazards from gas stoves.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced on March 1 it is seeking information from the public “on chronic chemical hazards from gas ranges.”

The commission was released a draft public notice On the request for information, the commission has not yet released the final notice. The Federal Register should publish the final notice next week, according to a spokesperson for the commission. The Epoch Times was notified via email by a spokesperson for The Epoch Times.

Public members are invited to comment on the number of gas ranges in American homes, how to evaluate the risk of gas stove usage and what information should be on labels warning about stove dangers.

The commission is also asking for “proposed solutions to those hazards.”

The vote to approve publication of the notice was 3–1, a commission spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email. Commissioners Mary Boyle, Richard Trumka Jr. and Chair Alexander Hoehn–Saric voted for the notice. Commissioner Peter Feldman opposed it.

Trumka, a Biden appointee floated a ban on gas stoves In January.

“Any option is on the table. Products that can’t be made safe can be banned,” Bloomberg was told the story at the time.

Trumka is also available wrote in an internal memorandum That “the need for gas stove regulation has reached a boiling point” That the commission “has the responsibility to ban consumer products that emit hazardous substances, particularly, when those emissions harm children, under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act.”

“There is sufficient information available for CPSC to issue an NPR in FY 2023 proposing to ban gas stoves in homes,” Trumka also wrote. NPR stands for notice of proposed rulemaking.

Later, both the White House & Hoehn-Saric said that they were against banning gas stoves. Some legislators have introduced bills to block the CPSC’s ban on gas stoves.

The approved request to information (RFI). “does not constitute or propose any regulatory action or ban,” Hoehn Saric stated this in a statement last week. “The chronic hazards that can arise from toxic emissions should be studied and that is what we are doing with this RFI. I welcome the public’s input and data during the comment period.”

Trumka started the RFI at an October 2022 Meeting.

Trumka

Trumka was willing to introduce a rule that would direct staff members to prepare and submit to commission a notice proposing rulemaking for gas stoves. Trumka suggested a substitute amendment to the rule that would direct staff members to prepare an RFI. The RFI was later approved.

Trumka declared in a new statement After approval “step one in confronting a potential hazard is understanding its scope and the options for addressing it.”

He expressed his excitement about the future. “learning more about the chronic health effects of nitrogen dioxide emissions and particulate matter emissions from gas stoves.”

He added more later. “Are there technologies that can eliminate any unreasonable hazards? If technologies to improve the performance of gas stoves are not commercially viable or not demonstrated to be safe, what options remain?”

Rep. Debbie Lesko (R. Arizona) stated in a statement, “The administration…” “is once again taking steps toward possibly regulating gas stoves.”

She said, “Make no mistake—this is NOT about product safety, it’s about government control.”

Trumka, and other gas stove critics, have pointed out research including a study The Rocky Mountain Institute is an environmental group that supports their efforts to ban or restrict stoves. However, this group is not for profit. later said The study didn’t prove a causal link between stoves and asthma.

Proposed Rules

The Department of Energy is the originator of the RFI proposed new rules Gas stoves and other cooking devices

“As required by Congress, the Department of Energy is proposing efficiency standards for gas and electric cooktops—we are not proposing bans on either,” A spokesperson for the department stated that this was in February.

According to the DOE, about half of gas-cooking appliances on the current market would be affected by this proposal. a recent analysis.

Jill Notini (industry spokesperson for the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers) told The Epoch Times the rules proposed were unacceptable. “stringent” It appears that this is the intention of the department “eliminate gas products from the market.”

This report was contributed by Jack Phillips, Allen Zhong, and others.