From: Kaye, Elliot

To: Tsacoumis, Stephanie

Cc: Fong-Swamidoss, Jana

Subject: FW: CPSC / ROHVA - January 7, 2015 hearing testimony

Date: Monday, March 02, 2015 4:44:50 PM

Attachments: ROHVA - letter to CPSC re CFA testimony.pdf

March 21, 2014 Email String.pdf

August 4, 2014 Email.pdf

Balloting Website.pdf

For the rulemaking record, please. Thanks.

From: Erik Pritchard [mailto:epritchard@rohva.org] 

Sent: Friday, February 27, 2015 4:58 PM

To: Kaye, Elliot

Cc: Adler, Robert; Buerkle, Ann Marie; Mohorovic, Joseph; Robinson, Marietta; Adkins, Patricia; Paul,

Caroleene; Rachel Weintraub

Subject: CPSC / ROHVA - January 7, 2015 hearing testimony

Dear Chairman Kaye,

Please see the attached correspondence and related documents from the

Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle Association. Thanks for your attention

to this matter. 

Erik Pritchard

ROHVA

949.255.2560 x3006
February 27, 2015

VIA EMAIL 

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Chairman Elliot F. Kaye

4330 East West Highway

Bethesda, MD 20814

Re: Recreational Off-Highway Vehicles / January 7, 2015 Hearing

Dear Chairman Kaye,

On behalf of the Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle Association (ROHVA), I write with 

regard to Rachel Weintraub’s testimony during the January 7, 2015 public comments hearing. 

As you know, she is the Legislative Director and General Counsel of the Consumer Federation of 

America (CFA). In her testimony, Ms. Weintraub correctly reported that ROHVA followed the 

ANSI procedures. [Video I, 2:04:50.] 

But Ms. Weintraub also testified that canvassee comments and criticisms were not shared 

with the other canvassees, including the CFA. For instance, the following exchange occurred 

between Commissioner Robinson and Ms. Weintraub:

CMR. ROBINSON: “In your experience with dealing with ROHVA and dealing 

with other rulemaking activities in other contexts, you said that you don’t see the 

negative comments that might be made by other organizations that are 

canvassed?”

R. WEINTRAUB: “I don’t.” [Video I, 1:50:10.]

Ms. Weintraub’s testimony led you to ask me about her testimony. I testified that I was 

“surprised” by Ms. Weintraub’s claims. [Video I, 2:07:05.] Paul Vitrano on behalf of Polaris 

Industries further testified that all of the comments and responses were shared with the 

canvassees, a website was used to help share information, and there is complete visibility as part 

of the consensus development process. [Video II, 47:45.] 

In addition, Ms. Weintraub’s claims are contradicted by the record. I have attached 

some of the correspondence between ROHVA and Ms. Weintraub. For example, on March 21, 

2014 Tom Yager at ROHVA emailed her the CFA-specific link to the balloting website, which 

confirmed her email address. If you look at that email string, you will see that Ms. Weintraub

submitted CFA’s vote on April 10, 2014 through the balloting website, demonstrating she was 

aware of it and how to use it. 
2

On August 4, 2014 Mr. Yager emailed the entire canvass regarding the recirculation 

ballot. That email directed the canvassees to the balloting website, which included all the 

comments and responses regarding the draft standard (screenshot attached). That is the website 

described by Mr. Vitrano as the “online portal” during the January 7 hearing. Hard copies of the 

unresolved objections also were mailed to all the canvassees. Your staff can confirm these facts, 

as Caroleene Paul was among the recipients. 

Following the testimony, I talked with Ms. Weintraub about this subject on January 7. I 

had no interest in embarrassing Ms. Weintraub during the hearing, and I have no interest in 

embarrassing her now. But she has refused to correct her erroneous testimony in spite of the 

facts. 

During our conversation on January 7, Ms. Weintraub told me that she is busy and may 

have overlooked the email and hard copy correspondence, and that she would look into it when 

she returned to her office. It was frustrating to hear that because her testimony was so emphatic 

on this subject, but we agreed to talk after she had a chance to look into it. 

One week later on January 14 at the Transportation Research Board meeting, 

Ms. Weintraub and I spoke again. I asked if she was going to correct her testimony regarding the 

voluntary standards process now that she had reviewed her files. She refused to do so, but also 

acknowledged that she still had not reviewed her files. I again asked her to review her files. 

Fast forward to the end of February, which has afforded Ms. Weintraub plenty of 

opportunity to review her files. I spoke with her earlier today and she told me that she had not 

located the correspondence, but that she intended to look further and proposed that we talk next 

week.

I remain ready to talk with Ms. Weintraub about this matter, but at this late date I am 

compelled to clarify the record. If you have any questions, please let me know. 

Sincerely,

Erik Pritchard

Attachments

cc:

Commissioner Robert S. Adler

Commissioner Ann Marie Buerkle

Commissioner Joseph Mohorovic

Commissioner Marietta S. Robinson

Executive Director Patricia Adkins

Caroleene Paul, Project Manager

Rachel Weintraub, CFA