PUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 23-1661

JAKE’S FIREWORKS INC.,

Plaintiff – Appellant,

v.

UNITED STATES CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION; ALEXANDER HOEHN-SARIC, in his official capacity as Chairman of the CPSC,

Defendants – Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Greenbelt. Theodore D. Chuang, District Judge. (8:21-cv-02058-TDC)

Argued: May 8, 2024 Decided: June 26, 2024

Before DIAZ, Chief Judge, WILKINSON, Circuit Judge, and MOTZ, Senior Circuit Judge.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Motz wrote the opinion, in which Chief Judge Diaz and Judge Wilkinson joined.

ARGUED: Oliver J. Dunford, PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, for Appellant. Daniel Tenny, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Appellees. ON BRIEF: Damien M. Schiff, Sacramento, California, Molly E. Nixon, PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION, Arlington, Virginia; Timothy L. Mullin, Jr., Dwight W. Stone II, MILES & STOCKBRIDGE PC, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellant. Brian M. Boynton, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Cynthia A. Barmore, Civil Division, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, USCA4 Appeal: 23-1661 Doc: 41 Filed: 06/26/2024 Pg: 2 of 13

Washington, D.C.; Erek L. Barron, United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellees.

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DIANA GRIBBON MOTZ, Senior Circuit Judge:

Jake’s Fireworks Inc., a large importer and distributer of consumer fireworks, seeks

judicial review of several warning notices it received from the U.S. Consumer Product

Safety Commission. The district court dismissed the complaint after determining that the

notices do not constitute final agency actions under the Administrative Procedure Act. For

the reasons explained below, we affirm.

I.

Congress created the Consumer Product Safety Commission (“the Commission” or

“the agency”) in 1972 “to protect the public against unreasonable risks of injury associated

with consumer products.” See 15 U.S.C. §§ 2051(b)(1), 2053(a). The Commission is

composed of up to five Commissioners, each appointed by the President and confirmed by

the Senate. Id. § 2053(a). The Commission regulates consumer fireworks under the

Federal Hazardous Substances Act and the Consumer Product Safety Act. See id. §§ 2079,

1261(q)(1)(B), 1263(a); id. § 2068(a)(1), (2)(D); see also 16 C.F.R. pt. 1507 (safety

regulations for fireworks). The staff of the Commission includes the Office of Compliance

and Field Operations (“Compliance Office”), which aids in investigatory and enforcement

matters and provides guidance to industry on complying with product safety rules. See 16

C.F.R. § 1000.21.

Jake’s Fireworks Inc. (“Jake’s Fireworks”) is a large importer and distributer of

consumer fireworks. From 2014 to 2018, the Commission’s staff sampled fireworks

imported by Jake’s Fireworks. About one-third of those samples indicated that the

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fireworks were dangerously overloaded with explosive material, rendering them “banned

hazardous substances” unde

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