[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 20, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12178-12180]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-05554]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

[Docket No. CPSC-2018-0005]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Survey on Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC or Commission) is 
announcing an opportunity for public

[[Page 12179]]

comment on a new proposed collection of information by the agency. 
Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), federal agencies are 
required to publish notice in the Federal Register for each proposed 
collection of information and to allow 60 days for public comment in 
response to the notice. This notice solicits comments on a survey that 
will estimate the use of smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms in 
United States households.

DATES: Submit written or electronic comments on the collection of 
information by May 21, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-2018-
0005, 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 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-2018-0005, into the ``Search'' box, and follow the 
prompts. A copy of the draft survey is available at: http://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. CPSC-2018-0005, Supporting and 
Related Material.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charu Krishnan, Consumer Product 
Safety Commission, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814; (301) 
504-7221, or by email to: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), federal 
agencies must obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for each collection of information they conduct or sponsor. 
``Collection of information'' is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 
1320.3(c) and includes agency surveys. Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA 
(44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)) requires federal agencies to provide a 60-day 
notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of 
information before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. 
Accordingly, CPSC is publishing notice of the proposed collection of 
information set forth in this document.

A. Smoke and Carbon Monoxide (CO) Alarms Survey

    The Commission is authorized under section 5(a) of the Consumer 
Product Safety Act (CPSA), 15 U.S.C. 2054(a), to conduct 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.
    In 1992, the CPSC sponsored a national in-home survey to collect 
information on the number of residential smoke alarms in actual use in 
homes and to evaluate the operability of the sampled alarms. The 
results were published in the 1994 report, Consumer Product Safety 
Commission Smoke Detector Operability Survey Report on Findings.\1\ 
Although the survey results were instrumental for many years in 
developing state and local codes and standards related to smoke alarms, 
subsequent changes in technology, installation codes, and state/local 
ordinances in the past 25 years have rendered the information outdated 
and less effective. Stakeholders' groups for fire loss prevention have 
identified a need for an updated national survey to increase the 
installation and maintenance of smoke alarms in the United States. In 
addition, installations of CO alarms have increased since 1992. 
Accordingly, CPSC seeks to update its data information collection 
related to smoke and CO alarm use through a new survey.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Charles L. Smith, Smoke Detector Operability Survey--Report 
on Findings, (Bethesda, MD: CPSC, November 1993).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    CPSC has entered into a contract with Eureka Facts to conduct a 
national in-home survey that will estimate the use and functionality of 
smoke and CO alarms in households, as well as user hazard perceptions 
regarding such alarms. The information collected from this survey will 
provide CPSC updated national estimates regarding the use of smoke 
alarms and CO alarms in households based on direct observation of alarm 
installations. The survey also will help CPSC identify the groups that 
do not have operable smoke alarms and/or CO alarms and the reasons they 
do not have such alarms. With this information, CPSC will be able to 
target better its messaging to improve consumer use and awareness 
regarding the operability of these alarms. In addition, the survey 
results will help to inform CPSC's recommendations to voluntary 
standards groups and state/local jurisdictions regarding their codes, 
standards, and/or regulations on smoke and CO alarms.
    The survey seeks to collect information from 1,185 households 
within the United States, with an initial group of 50 households that 
will be processed and analyzed to identify any issues regarding the 
survey instrument and data collection procedures. The survey will use a 
mixed-mode, multistage approach to data collection. The data will be 
collected through two modes: Face-to-face, in-home interviews, and 
telephone surveys. The survey instrument will be programmed on Vovici 
software and will be administered via in-home interviews using a 
Computer-Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) format, or by telephone, 
using a Computer-Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) format.
    Smoke alarms are more prevalent in homes than CO alarms are. 
Accordingly, during the screening process, if respondents indicate that 
they have a smoke alarm that may be tested directly, the respondents 
will be scheduled for an in-home interview for the full survey. 
However, if the smoke alarm cannot be tested directly because the 
household does not have a smoke alarm installed, or the smoke alarms 
are connected to a central alarm system that will notify the police or 
fire department, the respondent is not eligible for the in-home survey. 
Instead of the in-home survey, these households would be given a subset 
of survey questions about safety attitudes and demographics that would 
be collected over the telephone. For participants eligible for in-home 
interviews, a two-member survey team will ask household residents 
questions

[[Page 12180]]

related to installed smoke and CO alarms. The survey team will then 
test residents' smoke and CO alarms. If any of the alarms do not work, 
the survey team will offer to replace them free of charge.

B. Burden Hours

    The survey interview will take between 20 to 60 minutes, depending 
on whether the survey is administered via the telephone (about 20 
minutes) or by an in-home interview (60 minutes). We estimate the 
number of respondents to be 1,185. We estimate the total annual burden 
hours for respondents to be 1,422 hours based on the total time 
required to respond to the invitation, screener, and the actual survey. 
The monetized hourly cost is $35.64, as defined by the average total 
hourly cost to employers for employee compensation for employees across 
all occupations as of September 2017, reported by the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics. Accordingly, we estimate the total annual cost burden to 
all respondents to be $50,680. (1,422 hours x $35.64 = $50,680.). The 
total cost to the federal government for the contract to design and 
conduct the survey is $721,773.

C. Request for Comments

    The CPSC invites comments on these topics:
     Whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of CPSC's functions, including 
whether the information will have practical utility;
     The accuracy of CPSC's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
     Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
     Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on respondents, including through the use of automated 
collection techniques, when appropriate, and other forms of information 
technology.

Alberta E. Mills,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2018-05554 Filed 3-19-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P