[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 76 (Friday, April 19, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23545-23546]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-09225]


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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

[Docket No. CPSC-2009-0088]


Proposed Extension of Approval of Information Collection; Comment 
Request: Third Party Conformity Assessment Body Registration Form

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
chapter 35), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC or 
Commission) requests comments on a proposed 3-year extension of 
approval of information collection regarding a form used to evaluate 
whether third party conformity assessment bodies meet the requirements 
to test for compliance to specified children's product safety rules. 
Third party conformity assessment bodies found to meet the requirements 
are listed on the CPSC Web site. The Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) previously approved the collection of information under control 
number 3041-0143. OMB's most recent extension of approval will expire 
on July 31, 2013. The Commission will consider all comments received in 
response to this notice before requesting an extension of approval of 
this collection of information from OMB.

DATES: The Office of the Secretary must receive comments not later than 
June 18, 2013.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-2009-
0088, by any of the following methods:

Electronic Submissions

    Submit electronic comments in the following way:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
    To ensure timely processing of comments, the Commission is no 
longer accepting comments submitted by electronic mail (email), except 
through www.regulations.gov.

Written Submissions

    Submit written submissions in the following way:
    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.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and docket number for this notice. All comments received may be posted 
without change, including any personal identifiers, contact 
information, or other personal information provided, to http://www.regulations.gov. Do not submit confidential business information, 
trade secret information, or other sensitive or protected information 
electronically. Such information should be submitted in writing.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information contact: 
Robert H. Squibb, Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East West 
Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814; (301) 504-7815, or by email to: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Background

    The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) 
requires third party testing be conducted by a third party conformity 
assessment body for any children's product, that is subject to a 
children's product safety rule, before importing for consumption or 
warehousing or distributing in commerce. The CPSIA allows accreditation 
of third party conformity assessment bodies to be conducted either by 
the Commission or by an independent accreditation organization 
designated by the Commission, and requires that the Commission maintain 
on its Web site an up-to-date list of entities that have been 
accredited to assess conformity with children's product safety rules. 
With the exception of firewalled third party conformity assessment 
bodies, the Commission has chosen to accept the accreditation of third 
party conformity assessment bodies that meet accreditation requirements 
of an independent accreditation organization.
    In order to assess a third party conformity assessment body's 
qualifications for acceptance by CPSC, information related to location, 
accreditation, and ownership must be collected from third party 
conformity assessment bodies. The CPSC uses an online collection form, 
CPSC Form 223, to gather information from third party conformity 
assessment bodies voluntarily seeking acceptance by CPSC. The 
information collected relates to location, accreditation, and 
ownership. The Commission staff uses this information to assess:
     A third party conformity assessment body's status as 
either an independent third party conformity assessment body, a 
government-owned or government-controlled conformity assessment body, 
or a firewalled conformity assessment body;
     Qualifications for acceptance by CPSC to test for 
compliance to specified children's product safety rules; and
     Eligibility for acceptance on the CPSC Web site.

The Commission recently published a final rule (16 CFR part 1112) 
regarding the requirements for third party conformity assessment bodies 
in the Federal Register on March 12, 2013, which will become effective 
on June 10, 2013. Once 16 CFR part 1112 is in effect it will require 
the collection of information in CPSC Form 223:
     Upon initial application by the third party conformity 
assessment body for acceptance by CPSC;

[[Page 23546]]

     Whenever there is a change to accreditation or ownership 
information; and
     At least every 2 years as part of a regular audit process.

B. Estimated Burden

    The CPSC estimates the burden of the collection of information in 
CPSC Form 223 is as follows:

                                        Estimated Annual Reporting Burden
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                                     Number of     Frequency of    Total annual      Hours per
            Activity                respondents      responses       responses       response       Total hours
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Initial Registration............              55               1              55               1              55
Re-Registration.................             204               1             204               1             204
Changes in Information..........               3               1               3            0.25            0.75
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    Total.......................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............          259.75
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    These estimates are based on the following information:
     From March 19, 2012 to March 19, 2013, 56 new third party 
conformity assessment bodies have registered with the CPSC. Since 2011, 
the number of third party conformity assessment bodies (53) has 
remained stable. Therefore, the estimated number of third party 
conformity assessment bodies who would register initially would be 55.
     Under the final rule 16 CFR part 1112, third party 
conformity assessment bodies are required to resubmit CPSC Form 223 
every two years. As all third party conformity assessment bodies have 
not submitted their first CPSC Form 223s at the same time, only some 
would be expected to resubmit a CPSC Form 223 in any one year. As of 
March 2013, 409 third party conformity assessment bodies have 
registered with CPSC. Approximately half (204) of these firms would be 
required to re-register with CPSC.
     Under the final rule 16 CFR part 1112, third party 
conformity assessment bodies are required to keep the information 
submitted on CPSC Form 223 up to date and to submit a new CPSC Form 223 
whenever the information changes. Based on current experience with 
third party conformity assessment bodies, CPSC staff estimates that 
third party conformity assessment bodies will make no more than 3 
revisions per year to update their information. A change in information 
is a change which does not require review of laboratory accreditation 
documents, such as scope or test methods. Examples of revised 
information include changes in the Web site URL, name of the 
laboratory, and name of point of contact.
    The total burden, therefore, is 259.75 hours, which is rounded up 
to 260 hours. CPSC staff estimates that hourly compensation for the 
time required for recordkeeping is $27.12 per hour (U.S. Bureau of 
Labor Statistics, ``Employer Costs for Employee Compensation,'' Table 
9, total compensation for sales, office, and related workers in goods-
producing industries: http:www.bls.gov/ncs). The total cost burden to 
the respondents is approximately $7,052 ($27.12 x 260 hours = 
$7,051.20).

C. Request for Comments

    The Commission solicits written comments from all interested 
persons about the proposed collection of information. The Commission 
specifically solicits information relevant to the following topics:
     Whether the collection of information described above is 
necessary for the proper performance of the Commission's functions, 
including whether the information would have practical utility;
     Whether the estimated burden of the proposed collection of 
information is accurate;
     Whether the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected could be enhanced; and
     Whether the burden imposed by the collection of 
information could be minimized by use of automated, electronic or other 
technological collection techniques, or other forms of information 
technology.

    Dated: April 16, 2013.
Todd A. Stevenson,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2013-09225 Filed 4-18-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P