[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 221 (Friday, November 15, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62515-62516]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-24784]


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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

[Docket No. CPSC-2009-0088]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB 
Review; 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, the 
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announces that the CPSC has 
submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for 
extension of approval of a collection of information under the 
requirements pertaining to the third party conformity assessment bodies 
registration form, approved previously under (OMB No. 3041-0143). In 
the Federal Register of September 6, 2019, the CPSC published a notice 
announcing the agency's intent to seek extension of approval of the 
collection of information. The Commission received no comments. 
Therefore, by publication of this notice, the CPSC announces that the 
agency has submitted to the OMB a request for extension of approval of 
that collection of information, without change.

DATES: Submit written comments on this request for extension of 
approval of information collection by December 16, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments about this request by email: 
[email protected] or fax: 202-395-6881. Comments by mail 
should be sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
Attn: OMB Desk Officer for the CPSC, Office of Management and Budget, 
Room 10235, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503. In addition, 
written comments that are sent to OMB also should be submitted 
electronically at http://www.regulations.gov, under Docket No. CPSC-
2009-0088.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bretford J. Griffin, Consumer Product 
Safety Commission, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814; (301) 
504-7037, or by email to: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CPSC has submitted the following currently 
approved collection of information to OMB for extension:
    Title: Requirements Pertaining to Third Party Conformity Assessment 
Bodies.
    OMB Number: 3041-0143.
    Type of Review: Renewal of collection.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Affected Public: Third party conformity assessment bodies seeking 
acceptance of accreditation or continuing accreditation.
    General Description of Collection: The Consumer Product Safety 
Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) requires certificates of conformity to 
be based in some cases on testing conducted by third party conformity 
assessment bodies. The CPSIA allows third party conformity assessment 
bodies to be accredited either by the Commission or by an independent 
accreditation organization designated by the Commission, and

[[Page 62516]]

requires that the Commission maintain on its website an up-to-date list 
of entities that have been accredited to assess conformity with 
specific children's product safety rules. Except for 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.
    To evaluate 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 who are voluntarily seeking acceptance by CPSC. The 
information collected relates to location, accreditation, and 
ownership. CPSC staff uses this information to assess:
     A third party conformity assessment body's status as 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 website.
    Part 1112 requires the collection of information in CPSC Form 223:
     Upon initial application by a third party conformity 
assessment body for acceptance by CPSC;
     Whenever there is a change in accreditation or ownership 
information; and
     At least every 2 years, as part of a regular audit 
process.
    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............              40               1              40               1              40
Re-Registration.................             291               1             291               1             291
Changes in Information..........               6               1               6            0.25             1.5
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    Total.......................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............           332.5
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    These estimates are based on the following information:
     Based on applications received from FY 2013, to date, we 
estimate the number of third party conformity assessment bodies that 
would register initially each year for the next 3 years to be 40.
     Under 16 CFR part 1112, third party conformity assessment 
bodies are required to resubmit CPSC Form 223 every 2 years. Because 
all third party conformity assessment bodies have not submitted their 
first CPSC Form 223s at the same time, only about half would be 
expected to resubmit a CPSC Form 223 in any 1 year.
     As of August 2019, 581 third party conformity assessment 
bodies have registered with CPSC. Approximately half (291) of these 
firms would be required to re-register with CPSC each year.
     Under 16 CFR part 1112, third party conformity assessment 
bodies are required to ensure that the information submitted on CPSC 
Form 223 is current and must submit a new CPSC Form 223 whenever the 
information changes. Based on current experience with third party 
conformity assessment bodies, we estimate that two third party 
conformity assessment bodies will make revisions per year to update 
their information. A change in information is a change that does not 
require review of laboratory accreditation documents, such as scope or 
test methods. Examples of revised information include changes in the 
website URL, name of the laboratory, and name of point of contact.
     Therefore, the total burden is 332.5 hours, which we will 
round up to 333 hours. We estimate that hourly compensation for the 
time required for recordkeeping is $34.61 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, March 2019: https://www.bls.gov/ect/data.htm). 
The total cost burden to the respondents is approximately $11,525 
($34.61 x 333 hours = $11,525).

Alberta E. Mills,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2019-24784 Filed 11-14-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P