Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with regulations

CPSIA - Help me get around this legislation so I can be in business again.

jaynedanger — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:35:57 -0800

CPSIA - Help me get around this legislation so I can be in business again. I started a small online business in January this year selling adorable plushies
It was nothing big by any means, but it made me happier than anything. Since January, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission has passed this piece of work:

CPSIA Guide

The CPSIA pretty much makes it illegal to sell my little guys. They are definitely deemed children's toys and I do not have the means to have each handmade custom item tested for lead, etc.

I'm hoping to find away AROUND the law without hurting the integrity of my tiny business. Once I become more familiar with running a business, I plan to take on other business ventures, so I want this one to follow the rules and be appropriate despite it's small size.

I'm aware of all the small business help I can get locally, but my work schedule has kept me from pursuing this help for months. Before I completely drop this idea, I was hoping some of you may be able to give me helpful insight. I am open to any ideas. Here are some that I have considered:

1. Raising the price. This would make them more of a "collector's" item. My customer base would not buy these at a higher price, unless I can do some major revamping. Before I took them off the market, they sold for $15-25.

2. Naming them inappropriate things. This takes care of the children part of the equation, but hurts the integrity of my business. Not really excited about this option.

3. Making them out of compliant, natural materials such as organic cotton. This is still a viable, but boring, option.

Berlin car sticker duplication?

runincircles — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:56:10 -0800

Berlin-Filter: mandatory car emissions sticker stuck in post... I got a Feinstaubplakat for my parents who are visiting this week from Britain, driving over obvs., posted it but left it too late and it hadn't arrived by the time they left (the photocopy of it, posted simultaneously but separately, did). If I go back to the KFZ-Zulassungsstelle and explain (I have the Quittung) are they going to be willing/able to issue another, or can you not have 2 Plakate issued for the same car? Or should I not contact the KFZ-Amt at all 'cos giving them details of a car without a Plakat is asking for trouble? Or if we just have the photocopy laminated and in the windscreen and the receipt in the car will that satisfy the Beamte if the car gets stopped? Thanks!

Is there a regulation in Montreal setting a mimimum distance between bars?

ManInSuit — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 08:17:08 -0800

Is there a regulation in Montreal setting a mimimum distance between bars or restaurants? I’m doing some research on how different cities regulate the density of bars in different areas. I’ve come across a couple of sources that seem to mention, in passing, that there are regulations in the city (maybe just specific areas, maybe city wide) that specify that bars must be at least 75 metres (or 100 metres, or 50 metres) apart from each other.

While the sources I came across were reasonably reliable (two articles from the Gazette, and one mention in a document on the City Hall site), they all provided very little information, just in passing, and were also around 10 years old.

I want to find out something more definitive and/or more recent and/or more informative.

Can anyone point me to information about this? I’m hoping for something like the text of a specific bylaw that states the regulation- that would be amazing. But less definitive stuff would be helpful too: a newspaper article that states plainly that such a regulation existss, or even a blog where someone gives some detail about it. I’ve put tons of time into trying to find something, but have been coming up blank.

Any help or suggestions would be very much appreciated.

(And – if anyone has information on similar regulations in Montreal – not specifically minimum-distance requirements, but general restrictions on where bars can be – that would be helpful, too… But the distance regulation is the main thing I’m trying to track down).

I'm trying to find out how the number and locations of bars and nightclubs are regulated in different places.

ManInSuit — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:54:03 -0800

I'm trying to find out how the number and locations of bars and nightclubs are regulated in different places. This may be a bit broad, but I’m hoping the green can point me in some useful directions.

I’m looking for information on how different places (especially in North America and Europe) regulate the location and number of bars, pubs, and nightclubs.

For example: Apparently in New York state, there is a law (the “Padavan Law”) that states that in order to have more than three bars within 500 feet of each other, there has to be a community hearing demonstrating that the new bar is in the public interest. And in New York city, I gather here are (are there still?) very strict regulations on the number and location of dance clubs (via cabararet laws). I’ve been able to find out a fair amount online about these New York regulations, the realities of how they are/aren’t enforced, etc.

According to on source I found, in Berlin “Before a bar can be opened the owner must prove that it will not cause a nuisance to neighbours” I’d like to know more about this, but haven’t been able to find much information anywhere.

I’m interested in finding out about similar regulations on other places. I’m especially interested in big cities and in places that have reasonably vibrant nightlife- I’m not so interested in how bars are regulated in quiet or small places.

If anyone has any information on individual cities, or suggestions on where I could find out more, that would be great.

(I ask because I’m involved, as a resident volunteer, in some municipal planning working groups in my own city. I’m interested in knowing what sorts of planning and zoning strategies other cities have taken to balance the desire for active nightlife against the downsides like noise and crime that bars can sometimes lead to… Both successful and unsuccessful measures are welcome…)

Any leads would be much appreciated!

Help bring my pipe dream down to earth.

puckish — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:38:43 -0800

What do you need to do to get a booth at the NYC greenmarket? In response to the overpriced downtown market for baked goods and home cooking, we're thinking of hawking our wares. Items we're interested in selling:

- Baked goods - pies, cakes, muffins, cookies
- Artisinal bread - this would be the main thing
- Microbrew -- I've seen stands selling wine - what are the restrictions on selling alcoholic beverages? (not for immediate consumption, obviously)
- Pickles and kimchi
- Granola

I've done a bit of looking, but can't find any information on regulations / health code / pricing for getting set up through the Greenmarket system. Are there other markets in the area that we could be looking at?

Anybody done this? What's the best first step?

help me "network" appropriately

dlugoczaj — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:15:41 -0800

Outreach to friend in HR when applying for a job? I’m interested in leaving my job of over nine years because of changes in the agency culture and my own burnout (the latter strongly influenced by the former). Today I spotted a new job posting at a nearby organization that sounds very appropriate for my level of experience.

“Linda,” the head of HR at this organization, is the former head of HR at my current agency, who was there about ten years and left approximately a year ago (and took her former assistant from our HR department with her shortly afterwards). I’ve always gotten along well with Linda; she’s been helpful to me in my own work, we were in an agency book group together for a while, and we are currently Facebook friends (at her request). I don’t know for sure, but I suspect that she struggled with the same agency-culture challenges that I’m facing now.

The job posting requests resumes to be sent to the supervisor of that position, not to HR, which I will do. However, is it kosher for me to let Linda know that I’m applying? Would it possibly do any good? Conversely, could it do any harm? (I’m thinking of employment law issues, conflict of interest, etc.) What’s considered appropriate? I'm not fond of "networking" so this is not necessarily comfortable for me.

Legality to mail US consumer vegetable seed packets to Kenya?

Quarter Pincher — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:36:32 -0800

Are there any export restrictions (or whatnot) regarding me (a US non-business entity) sending a bunch of packages of consumer vegetable-garden seeds to a foreign country (Kenya) as a gift? I'm sure there are some restrictions on receiving foreign seeds, but.. outgoing? A gentleman I met in Kenya last year (having been there myself) has requested a number of seed packets be sent to his rural/slum community. Would I be breaking some US export law (or Kenya import.. hmm) by sending them?

Dems block banking regulations?

newpotato — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 09:03:49 -0800

In a discussion that I had with my brother over the holidays, he explained to me how the banking /investment failure was all the democrats fault. After picking myself up off the floor, he continued to explain to me how the dems blocked a bill that the republicans were trying to get through the senate to increase regulations on banks and their investment practices. After much googling, I am still unable to find what he could be referring to. Does this bill sound familiar to anyone? I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have made this up, and there is a chance that something like this happened that I wasn't aware of, but it seems to me if this were the case, republicans would have been trumpeting this fact wide and clear, say around election time... Anybody?

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

barrakuda — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 09:58:33 -0800

In the mornings, there’s no hot water in my apartment – same thing happened lest year and the year before. Management doesn’t react. Help! Winter has officially started in Washington, DC, today, with the first snow. What else has started? The hot water shortage in my apartment building. When I went to take a shower this morning the water was at best lukewarm. Now, I am dreading the rest of the winter. The same thing happened last year and the year prior. After 7:45 there’s no hot showers, they’re at best lukewarm and at worst plain cold. This happens every (other) day and is seriously pissing me off. I have complained to the building management last year and due to the intensity of my annoyance I requested some sort of rent refund – they explained that they had problems with the boilers, this and that, blah blah blah and essentially told me they would get back to me regarding the refund. They never did, the winter ended, I let it go. This year I am not willing to let it go. It’s difficult enough, getting out of my bed each morning without having to imagine a cold shower.

My apartment building is in the District itself. It’s a large building with 150+ units. So, help me, what are my options here – notifying DCRA (what’s the process and the likely outcome)? Can I get any of my rent back for the unnecessary suffering (cold water is torture)? Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated as I’m sitting here grumpy and unshowered.

Please, please tell me YAAL.

mdonley — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 13:20:47 -0800

I have a question about the authentication of a Cambridge University-issued document by a California lawyer or notary for use in Latvia. I am moving to Latvia at the end of August to teach English. My teaching certificate, the CELTA, was issued by Cambridge University in England a few years ago. Upon being hired by the school in Latvia, its director sent me an email saying "it would be useful if you could start looking into the process of getting your CELTA accredited by a notary or lawyer and either sending it to us or bringing it with you."

I'm rather confused as to how to go about this, as the school's director is British, and I know that notaries in Britain have totally different powers to those in the States - hence his "or" with "notary or lawyer"; presumably he thinks they're similar. Now, Cambridge offers a service where I pay them some amount of money, and they authenticate my results and send that to me or to the school, but I don't know if that will be the same, legally, as getting something official, if that's even possible here. I've seen references to apostilles, but only in reference to public documents like birth and death certificates, not academic results, let alone those issued abroad.

I would ask the director to clarify, but he's on vacation and basically unreachable until a few weeks before I get there, and if I choose to go with the Cambridge certification of my results, I'd need to allow enough time for it to get here so I can present it to an immigration officer or something should I be asked to do so.

I also realize there are probably very few MeFites who've ever had anything to do with Latvia, so my main question is: how can I prove the authenticity of a document issued in another country in a way that will satisfy officials somewhere else? Or might this be a two-step process - first getting the certification from Cambridge sent to me, and then having a notary or lawyer in Britain (where I could theoretically stop en route to Latvia) accredit the certification?

Thanks for your help, if anyone dares to respond to such a bizarrely technical question.

Is it really that risky to take a GPS unit to Russia?

matildaben — Fri, 11 May 2007 10:06:32 -0800

This travel advisory from the State Department website, dated 1998, states that the use of GPS units is highly regulated in Russia and that it is risky to bring one unless it is fully documented. Now, GPS units are a lot more common today than they were in 1998. Do I really have to worry about this? I am planning a multi-country trip and I could mail myself the GPS ahead of time to my post-Russia destination if I had to. I am an amateur photographer and I use the unit to tag the location of photos I have taken.

He farts and he cusses and stinks up the busses

Citizen Premier — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 10:36:29 -0800

Help me defend myself against an angry bus driver! I use a San Diego youth bus pass which clearly states it's for use by people ages 6-18, however a local bus driver insists you can't use it once you turn 18, because you are an adult and not a youth. In my last encounter I simply took the next bus, but I can't do that every time. An online print-out that clarified it would be nice, but I don't know where to find them. He seems like an angry kind of guy, whereas I'm shy and avoid confrontation. How do I convince him without getting him more upset?

Let me go home already!

Leud — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 01:40:16 -0800

If an employer puts in place new security measures which can cause up to 5 minute delays on entering and leaving the building - should staff be paid for that time? Since a new contract was won by my employer the security measures in place to restrict entry/exit to the building has been increased to the point where it actually causes delays with people queueing up to get in / out. This is because it's gone from a simple magnetic swipe card to a system with rfid tags and a pin with the further restrictions that only one person can go through the doors at a time. As well as following this procedure on the way in, it's also done on the way out.

The actual area of the building where the new sensitive work is being carried out is behind another set of doors where again this process again must be followed.

Is it reasonable for the employer to expect staff to turn up a few minutes earlier and effectively leave a few minutes later due to their increased security or should this time be taken out of the normal working day and be paid for?

UK - Scotland for legal purposes if this has any bearing.

Cost of Compliance to S-OX?

apark — Mon, 19 Dec 2005 11:29:40 -0800

SOX Compliance Statistics? Hi, I know this is quite a bit more "business-like" than most questions posted here, but I have gotten so much useful info at Ask-MF that I think I'll give it a try. I'm looking for some information on Sarbanes-Oxley compliance rate and how much it is typically costing Fortune 500 companies. I don't want to have to pay for some Gartner report or whatever so I would vastly prefer that this resource be free or close to free. I need this info to settle an arguement w/ a friend about the cost of compliance to government regs vs. the social good that it does. Also, if this info is broken down by annual revenue and/or industry, that would be exceedingly helpful. TIA!

Pesticide on facial tissue?

fuzzy_wuzzy — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 19:03:43 -0800

Anti-Viral Kleenex: am I putting pesticide in my nose? On the box of KLEENEX® Anti-Viral tissues there is a warning that is normally found on pesticides and other nasty chemicals in the garage: It is a violation of Federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling. But the active ingredients listed are merely citric acid and sodium lauryl sulfate, both of which are fairly common ingredients (separately) in soap and soda pop, etc. I found at least three different shampoos and body washes in my shower that have both chemicals, but the Federal! Warning! is nowhere to be found. So my question is, does the government require the warning label on the box of Kleenex just because it makes the claim of anti-virus properties -- and not for the chemicals involved? Conversely, if a company sold bottles of plain tap water but targeted a non-typical purpose, could the company be required to label them with bizarre warnings? For example, if Miller Lite [basically the same as tap water] was marketed as a "sidewalk moistener", might the overbearing government regulations stipulate warning labels such as "sidewalk may become slippery if product freezes...", etc.

ATM regulations

rdr — Sat, 25 Jun 2005 03:11:25 -0800

Who regulate ATMs in California? A few days ago an ATM shortchanged me. I went to an ATM operated by my bank (Downey Savings) inside a grocery store, requested $100, and got $40. I was pretty shocked at first but I got angry when I found out that; the machine had been malfunctioning all day, the store refused to put an out of order sign on the machine because "it's not our property", and that the store thought it was sufficient to put a basket in front of the ATM. I immediately called the 800 number posted on the machine and was told that I had to go a branch and fill out a dispute form. I did that. The teller explained that the machine would be audited and the bank would get back to me.

Two days later the machine is obviously being used again and nothing has happened so I call the bank. The person on the other end explains to me that the ATM department doesn't have my original paperwork. This is odd since I saw the teller fax my form back to the ATM department but now it seems that only the original will do for some reason and instead of telling me that this is likely to resolved soon the customer service rep starts thowing five business days at me.

I have to wait the five business days but I'd like to know if I have any legal leverage here. Who regulates ATMs and how can I find what regulations apply to this situation? This happened in California.

if a purebread dog is impregnated by a mutt, is it still fit for breeding?

miniape — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 09:19:25 -0800

If a dog breeder has purebred dogs and the dam becomes impregnated by an impure dog, say a stray mutt, is the dam still fit for breeding (according to AKC or similiar standards)? I've tried google and AKC. I can't find a specific regulation, but I've heard that in this case the dog is not fit for breeding. What is the general opinion or reaction by breeders and buyers if this happens? Any dog breeders out there?

Moving to the UK

Marquis — Thu, 22 Apr 2004 21:29:04 -0800

I am a dual Canadian-UK citizen who has not resided in Britain for more than fifteen years. This autumn, I will be returning to live in the UK. What should I do for travel insurance, and are there any other bureaucratic hoops I should be jumping through? [more inside] Some cogent details:

* I've already picked up a new British passport.

* I do not know where I will be settling. My plan is to fly over at the end of September and travel the E.U. for a few months, returning in January to wherever it is I liked best. What is certain, however, is that I will be remaining in Europe (and almost definitely the UK).

* I want to ensure that my flight, as well as my health, are insured.

* I'm thinking that while in the UK I'll be ok - my passport should entitle me to emergency health stuff, especially if I register with a random doctor when I arrive. But when I'm elsewhere in Europe, I'm not sure if I need insurance, or whether my E.U. citizenship is good enough.

* The stickler is what I need to do to be understood as a "resident," according to different peoples' definitions.

* I have yet to find a travel insurance company that will insure me, given that I'm only buying a one-way ticket to London.

If there's anyone out there who has made a similar transition, are there any further potholes I should be watching out for? Any further bureaucratic finagling I should be aware of? The British Consulate in Ottawa isn't being very forthcoming.

Thank-you!!