Federal Inquiries
Discussions began in January 2009 between the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Florida officials. In February 2009, U.S. Senator Bill Nelson of Florida sent a letter to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the EPA, asking them to jointly investigate whether the Chinese drywall is toxic, and to determine the extent of potential damage to homes. The Consumer Product Safety Commission launched a formal investigation.
In April 2009, as concerns about the defective drywall grew, Senator Nelson of Florida and Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana jointly introduced a resolution and bill urging the Consumer Product Safety Commission to recall Chinese-made drywall and temporarily ban its import.
In May 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an amendment to the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act (H.R. 1728) that would require the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to study the effects of tainted Chinese drywall on foreclosures and the availability of property insurance. This measure did not pass as a standalone bill, but was incorporated into the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Subtitle H (Miscellaneous Provisions), Section 1494), signed into law on July 21, 2010.
In November 2009, the CPSC reported on an indoor air study comparing 41 "complaint" homes in five states with 10 control homes built around the same time. The report found a "strong association" between the imported drywall and levels of hydrogen sulfide gas and metal corrosion in the complaint homes.
Read more about this topic: Chinese Drywall
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