U.S. Small Business Administration to Hold Roundtable Discussing Consumer Product Safety Regulations On Wednesday, July 16, 2025, the Office of Advocacy will hold a Small Business Roundtable seeking feedback on Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) regulations that should be repealed or reformed. The roundtable will take place from 2:00pm to 3:30pm ET via Microsoft Teams. View the roundtable agenda and register here. Summary of the CPSC’s Request for Information The CPSC’s mission is to protect consumers from risks of injury or death associated with consumer products. It does this by developing safety standards, issuing recalls, and enforcing regulations for a vast range of consumer products. Regulations and other practices that do not reasonably advance the CPSC’s mission, but instead create unnecessary burdens and costs, restrict consumer choice, or reduce competition, entrepreneurship, and innovation, should generally be eliminated or modified. On June 12, 2025, the CPSC published a Request for Information (RFI) seeking comments and information on opportunities for the CPSC to reduce burdens and costs of its existing rules, regulations, or practices, without impacting safety. Advocacy is asking members of the public, including consumers, manufacturers, retailers, potential market entrants, and others, to comment on ways the CPSC can reduce burdens and costs of existing rules, regulations, guidance, interpretations, or practices without increasing the risk of death or injury to consumers. Some examples of such burdens include, but are not limited to: Product testing and certification requirements Labeling or tracking label requirements Record keeping mandates Packaging or warning label placement rules Overlapping or duplicative compliance with other federal agencies Delays or lack of clarity in approval, exemption, or waiver processes Establishing new expecations or enforcement actions without going through the appropriate rule making process To help identify burdens, here are some questions to consider: Do you make or sell physical products that people typically use in their everyday life such as things for the home, kids, personal use, or hobbies? Have you had to stop making or selling a product, or changed how you made it, because someone said it may be unsafe? Have you made changes to your prodyct packaging, design, or labeling because of a government requirement? Have you been told you need to add warning labels, hang tags, or special packaging to your products, even if customers were not asking for them? Does meeting safety rules add a lot of costs and/or time to making or selling your products? Do safety requirements make it harder for you to grow or launch new products? Have you ever delayed or canceled a product because of testing requirements or paperwork issues? Have you had to hire someone to handle safety rules or paperwork? Have you ever been confused by a government safety requirement or felt unsure about what is required? Are there safety requirements that feel unnecessary or outdated for the kinds of products you make or sell? Has a product you make or sell been rejected, even though you have not received a complaint about the product? Are there other challenges or barriers affecting your business that aren’t listed above? Advocacy is holding this roundtable to give small entities an opportunity to explain how they are impacted by current CPSC regulations and to recommend solutions. Small business owners who answered “yes” to one or more of the above questions are strongly encouraged to participate in the roundtable and share your experiences. Should you have questions, or if you’re unable to attend but would like to email your feedback, please contact Assistant Chief Counsel Shanerika Flemings at shanerika.flemings@sba.gov.
Deadline is Near to Apply for SBA Physical Disaster Loan The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is reminding businesses of all sizes, private nonprofit organizations, homeowners and renters in Pennsylvania affected by the severe storms and flooding that occurred Sept. 9, 2023, to apply for physical damage disaster loans by the March 25 deadline. Anyone in Lackawanna County and the adjacent counties of Luzerne, Monroe, Susquehanna, Wayne, and Wyoming in Pennsylvania with physical property damage should apply for the low-interest disaster loan. Businesses of all sizes and private nonprofit organizations may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets. Disaster loans up to $500,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate. Homeowners and renters are eligible for up to $100,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property, including personal vehicles. SBA can also lend additional funds to businesses and homeowners to help with the cost of improvements to protect, prevent or minimize future disaster damage. Approved loans may qualify for a loan amount increase of up to 20 percent of their physical damages, as verified by the SBA, for mitigation purposes. Eligible mitigation improvements may include a safe room or storm shelter, sump pump, French drain or retaining wall to help protect property and occupants from future damage. Interest rates can be as low as 4% for businesses, 2.375% for private nonprofit organizations and 2.5% for homeowners and renters with terms up to 30 years. Interest does not begin to accrue, and monthly payments are not due, until 12 months from the date of the initial disbursement. The SBA sets loan amounts and terms based on each applicant’s financial condition. Applicants may apply online and receive additional disaster assistance information at SBA.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services. The deadline to apply for property damage is March 25, 2024. The deadline to apply for economic injury is Oct. 25, 2024. Link to the fact sheet can be found here.
