[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 180 (Friday, September 17, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56998-56999]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-23280]


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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

[Docket No. CPSC-2010-0046]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for Office 
of Management and Budget Review; Comment Request; Consumer Focus Groups

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Consumer Product Safety Commission (``CPSC'' or 
``Commission'') is announcing that a proposed collection of information 
has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') for 
review and clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Fax written comments on the collection of information by October 
18, 2010.

ADDRESSES: To ensure that comments on the information collection are 
received, OMB recommends that written comments be faxed to the Office 
of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attn: CPSC Desk Officer, 
FAX: 202-395-6974, or e-mailed to [email protected]. All 
comments should be identified with the OMB control number 3041-0136 and 
identified by Docket No. CPSC-2010-0046. In addition, written comments 
also should be submitted in http://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. 
CPSC-2010-0046, or by mail/hand delivery/courier (for paper, disk, or 
CD-ROM submissions), preferably in five copies, to: Office of the 
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Room 820, 4330 East West 
Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814; telephone (301) 504-7923.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Linda Glatz, Division of Policy and 
Planning, Office of Information Technology, Consumer Product Safety 
Commission, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814, (301) 504-7671, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In compliance with 44 U.S.C. 3507, the CPSC 
has submitted the following proposed collection of information to OMB 
for review and clearance:

[[Page 56999]]

Consumer Focus Groups--(OMB Control Number 3041-0136-Extension).
    The Commission is authorized, under section 5(a) of the Consumer 
Product Safety Act (``CPSA''), 15 U.S.C. 2054(a), to collect 
information, conduct research, and perform studies and investigations 
relating to the causes and prevention of deaths, accidents, injuries, 
illnesses, other health impairments, and economic losses associated 
with consumer products. Section 5(b) of the CPSA, 15 U.S.C. 2054(b), 
further provides that the Commission may conduct research, studies and 
investigations on the safety of consumer products or test consumer 
products and develop product safety test methods and testing devices.
    To better identify and evaluate the risks of product-related 
incidents, the Commission staff invites and obtains direct feedback 
from consumers on issues related to product safety such as recall 
effectiveness, product use, and perceptions regarding safety issues. 
Through participation in certain focus groups, consumers answer 
questions and provide information regarding their actual experiences, 
opinions and/or perceptions on the use or pattern of use of a specific 
product or type of product, including recalled products. The 
information collected from the Consumer Focus Groups will help inform 
the Commission's evaluation of consumer products and product use by 
providing insight and information into consumer perceptions and usage 
patterns. Such information also may assist the Commission's efforts to 
support voluntary standards activities and help identify areas 
regarding consumer safety issues that need additional research. In 
addition, the information will assist with forming new ways of 
providing user friendly data to consumers through CPSC's Web site and 
information and education campaigns.
    If this information is not collected, the Commission may not have 
available certain useful information regarding consumer experiences, 
opinions, and perceptions related to specific product use in its 
ongoing efforts to improve the safety of consumer products and safety 
information on behalf of consumers. Currently, the Commission staff 
relies on its expert judgment about consumer behavior, perceptions, and 
similar information related to consumer products and product use. Not 
conducting the information collection activity, therefore, could reduce 
the quality of assessments currently completed by Commission staff. The 
information collection activity would likely provide the Commission 
staff with information that would focus the staff's assessments, or 
could provide insight into consumer perceptions and usage patterns that 
could not be anticipated by Commission staff.
    In the Federal Register of June 7, 2010 (75 FR 32161), the CPSC 
published a 60-day notice requesting public comment on the proposed 
collection of information. No comments were received.
    We estimate the burden of this collection of information as 
follows. We anticipate that, over the three year period of this 
request, we will conduct 40 focus groups and 20 one-on-one interviews 
for a variety of projects. The total hours of burden to the respondents 
are: (4 hours per person x 400 participants) + (30 minutes per person x 
20 participants) = 1,610 hours (537 hours budgeted per year for three 
years). The total annual cost is: 1,610 x $29.40 (U.S. Department of 
Labor, Employer costs for Employee Compensation, September 2009) = 
$47,334 ($15,778 budgeted per year for three years).
    The estimated annual cost of the information collection 
requirements to the Federal government is approximately $140,000 per 
year for three years. Salary and benefits costs for government 
personnel assigned to this study are estimated at $127,573 based on 9 
months of staff time at an average level of GS-14 step 5 (($119,238 / 
.701) / 12 months) x 21 months), using a 70.1 percent ratio of wages 
and salary to total compensation from Table 1 of the December 2009 
Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, published by the Bureau of 
Labor Statistics. This sum also includes travel costs expended for 
meeting with contractors ($40,000, estimated at $1,000 per focus 
group), and contracts for conducting focus groups and/or one-on-one 
interviews ($250,000, estimated at $5,000 per focus group and $2,500 
per one-on-one interview).

    Dated: September 14, 2010.
Todd A. Stevenson,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2010-23280 Filed 9-16-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P