[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 83 (Tuesday, April 30, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25256-25257]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-10093]


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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

[CPSC Docket Number: CPSC-2013-0016]


Petition Requesting Exception From Lead Content Limits: BIC USA 
Inc.

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission or CPSC) 
has received a petition requesting an exception from the 100 ppm lead 
content limit under section 101(b) of the Consumer Product Safety 
Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), as amended by Public Law 112-28 from 
BIC USA Inc. (BIC). We invite written comments concerning the petition.

DATE: Submit comments by May 30, 2013.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-2013-
0016, by any of the following methods:
    Electronic Submissions: Submit electronic comments to the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal at: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments. The Commission does not accept 
comments submitted by electronic mail (email), except through 
www.regulations.gov. The Commission encourages you to submit electronic 
comments by using the Federal eRulemaking Portal, as described above.
    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 
that you do not want to be available to the public. If furnished at 
all, 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, and insert the 
docket number, CPSC-2013-0016, into the ``Search'' box, and follow the 
prompts.

[[Page 25257]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kristina Hatlelid, Ph.D., M.P.H., 
Directorate for Health Sciences, Consumer Product Safety Commission, 5 
Research Pl, Rockville, MD 20850; email: [email protected]; telephone: 
301-987-2558.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under section 101(a) of the CPSIA, consumer 
products designed or intended primarily for children 12 years old and 
younger that contain lead content in excess of 100 ppm are considered 
to be banned hazardous substances under the Federal Hazardous 
Substances Act (FHSA).
    Section 101(b)(1) of the CPSIA provides for a functional purpose 
exception from lead content limits under certain circumstances. The 
exception allows the CPSC, on the Commission's own initiative, or upon 
petition by an interested party, to exclude a specific product, class 
of product, material, or component part from the lead limits 
established for children's products under the CPSIA if, after notice 
and a hearing, the Commission determines that: (i) The product, class 
of product, material, or component part requires the inclusion of lead 
because it is not practicable or not technologically feasible to 
manufacture such product, class of product, material, or component 
part, as the case may be, in accordance with section 101(a) of the 
CPSIA by removing the excessive lead or by making the lead 
inaccessible; (ii) the product, class of product, material, or 
component part is not likely to be placed in the mouth or ingested, 
taking into account normal and reasonably foreseeable use and abuse of 
such product, class of product, material, or component part by a child; 
and (iii) an exception for the product, class of product, material, or 
component part will have no measurable adverse effect on public health 
or safety, taking into account normal and reasonably foreseeable use 
and abuse.
    Under section 101(b)(1)(B) of the CPSIA, there is no measurable 
adverse effect on public health or safety if the exception will result 
in no measurable increase in blood lead levels of a child. In November 
2012, CPSC staff issued a report, which found that, for the purposes of 
evaluating children's products for an exception from the CPSIA lead 
limit, a product will have no measurable adverse effect on public 
health or safety if a potential exposure to lead from the product is 
estimated to result in an increase in a child's blood lead level of 
less than 0.8 [micro]g/dL. The level of exposure that would be 
associated with such an increase is approximately 2.2 [micro]g per day. 
That report may be viewed at: http://www.cpsc.gov/PageFiles/133902/lead101.pdf.
    Given the highly technical nature of the information required for 
an exception, including data on the lead content of the product and 
test methods used to obtain those data, the Commission finds that 
notice of the petition and solicitation for written comments would 
provide the most efficient process for providing an adequate 
opportunity for all interested parties to participate in the 
proceeding. However, the Commission may hold a public hearing or public 
meeting if the Commission deems a public hearing or public meeting 
appropriate and necessary to determine whether the petition for a 
functional purpose exception should be granted.
    On March 25, 2013, BIC submitted a petition requesting an exception 
from the lead content limit of 100 ppm under section 101(b) of the 
CPSIA for a new line of writing instrument products aimed at children 
age 5 and up (BIC Children's Pen) to address the needs of young 
children who are in the early stages of learning to write. BIC 
specifically requests the functional purpose exemption for the point 
component of the BIC Children's Pen. The accessible portion of the 
nickel silver points assembly that BIC proposes to use in its BIC 
Children's Pen contains total lead of approximately 8720 ppm (point and 
point support subassembly). According to BIC, all of the other 
accessible components of the BIC Children's Pen contain total lead 
below 100 ppm.
    BIC contends that removing or making excess lead inaccessible in 
manufacturing the BIC Children's Pen is neither practicable nor 
technologically feasible. BIC states that if BIC were to change the 
metal alloy to reduce the lead content to below 100 ppm, millions of 
dollars in high-speed manufacturing equipment would require retooling 
and use of cutting oil to produce the points, requiring significant 
resources and capital. In addition, BIC asserts that adjusting 
manufacturing processes in this way would result in lower point 
manufacturing productivity and a reduction in machine speeds and 
machine cycling.
    BIC further states that the only metal alloy available for pen 
points that contain lead below 100 ppm is stainless steel. However, BIC 
does not produce stainless steel points in any of its factories. 
According to BIC, stainless steel points are more commonly used with 
water-based inks typically found in roller ball pens and gel ink pens. 
The BIC Children's Pen will not contain a water-based ink; rather, the 
pen will contain a solvent-based ink that is used in BIC's ballpoint 
pens.
    BIC also contends that the BIC Children's Pen point is not likely 
to be placed in the mouth or ingested. According to BIC, the BIC 
Children's Pen is designed without a cap, clip, or pen body that can be 
opened. In addition, the point is securely adhered to the ink 
cartridge, and therefore, the point is not easily detachable, and the 
point is retractable. BIC states that the frequency of mouthing of 
objects by children who are intended to use the BIC Children's Pen is 
relatively low for the user age group (ages 5-12), and because the pen 
point is sharp, children will not mouth the pen point end of the 
product.
    Finally, BIC asserts that granting an exception will have no 
measurable adverse effect on public health or safety, taking into 
account normal and foreseeable use and abuse because the potential 
exposure to the pen point would have no measurable increase in blood 
lead levels of a child. According to BIC, a child's fingers would not 
likely be in contact with the pen point during normal use conditions, 
and the point would be extremely difficult to grip. In addition, BIC 
states that a wipe test of the pen point shows that even in a worst 
case analysis (assuming purposeful dermal contact), the potential 
exposure to lead would be 0.31 [micro]g/day, which is far less than the 
CPSC staff recommendation that 2.2 [micro]g/day can be used in a 
determination of a ``measurable increase'' in blood lead levels of a 
child.
    Through this notice, we invite written comments on the petition. 
Interested parties may view a copy of the petition under supporting and 
related materials identified by Docket No. CPSC-2013-0016, through 
http://www.regulations.gov. Interested parties also may obtain a copy 
of the petition by writing or calling the Office of the Secretary, 
Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East West Highway, Room 820, 
Bethesda, MD 20184; email: [email protected], telephone 301-504-7923.

    Dated: April 25, 2013.
Todd A. Stevenson,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2013-10093 Filed 4-29-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P