[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 13, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21873-21877]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-07894]
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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
[Docket No. CPSC-2010-0038]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request; Third Party Testing of Children's Products
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) requests comments on a
proposed extension of approval of a collection of information for Third
Party Testing of Children's Products, approved previously under OMB
Control No. 3041-0159. The CPSC will consider all comments received in
response to this notice, before requesting an extension of this
collection of information from the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB).
DATES: Submit written or electronic comments on the collection of
information by June 13, 2022.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-2010-
0038, by any of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit electronic comments to the Federal
eRulemaking Portal at: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments. CPSC typically does not accept
comments submitted by electronic mail
[[Page 21874]]
(email), except through https://www.regulations.gov. CPSC encourages
you to submit electronic comments by using the Federal eRulemaking
Portal, as described above.
Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier Written Submissions: Submit comments by
mail/hand delivery/courier to: Division of the Secretariat, Consumer
Product Safety Commission, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814;
telephone: (301) 504-7479. Alternatively, as a temporary option during
the COVID-19 pandemic, you can email such submissions to: [email protected].
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and
docket number for this notice. CPSC may post all comments without
change, including any personal identifiers, contact information, or
other personal information provided, to: https://www.regulations.gov.
Do not submit electronically: Confidential business information, trade
secret information, or other sensitive or protected information that
you do not want to be available to the public. If you wish to submit
such information, please submit it according to the instructions for
mail/hand delivery/courier written submissions.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, go to: https://www.regulations.gov, and insert the
docket number, CPSC-2010-0038, into the ``Search'' box, and follow the
prompts. A copy of the revised ``Supporting Statement'' for this 2022
renewal of the burden estimate is available at: http://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. CPSC-2010-0038, Supporting and
Related Material.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia Gillham, Consumer Product
Safety Commission, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814; (301)
504-7791, or by email to: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CPSC seeks to renew the following currently
approved collection of information:
Title: Third Party Testing of Children's Products.
OMB Number: 3041-0159.
Type of Review: Renewal of collection of information for third
party testing of children's products, which includes: (1) Previously
approved burden for marking and labeling of certain durable infant and
toddler products; (2) the labeling and recordkeeping requirements (not
covered by the Commission's third party testing rule at 16 CFR part
1107) set forth in the rule establishing requirements for electrically
operated toys or other electrically operated articles intended for
children (16 CFR part 1505) (electrically operated toys and other
articles rule); and (3) recordkeeping and labeling requirements set
forth in the ban on articles known as ``baby bouncers'' or ``walker-
jumpers'' (baby bouncer/walker-jumper rule, 16 CFR 1500.18(a)(6) and
1500.86(a)(4)), or similar articles that are not covered by the safety
standard for infant walkers (16 CFR part 1216) and that also are not
covered by the third party testing rule or any other rule issued under
section 104 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.
General Description of Collection
Testing and Certification: On November 8, 2011, the Commission
issued two rules for implementing third party testing and certification
of children's products, as required by section 14 of the Consumer
Product Safety Act (CPSA):
Testing and Labeling Pertaining to Product Certification
(76 FR 69482, codified at 16 CFR part 1107; the testing rule); and
Conditions and Requirements for Relying on Component Part
Testing or Certification, or Another Party's Finished Product Testing
or Certification to Meet Testing and Certification Requirements (76 FR
69547, codified at 16 CFR part 1109; the component part rule).
The testing rule establishes requirements for manufacturers to
conduct initial third party testing and certification of children's
products, testing when there has been a material change in the product,
continuing testing (periodic testing), and guarding against undue
influence. A final rule on Representative Samples for Periodic Testing
of Children's Products (77 FR 72205, Dec. 5, 2012) amended the testing
rule to require that representative samples be selected for periodic
testing of children's products.
The component part rule is a companion to the testing rule that is
intended to reduce third party testing burdens, by providing all
parties involved in the required testing and certifying of children's
products the flexibility to conduct or rely upon testing where testing
is the easiest and least expensive to accomplish. Certification of a
children's product can be based upon one or more of the following: (a)
Component part testing; (b) component part certification; (c) another
party's finished product testing; or (d) another party's finished
product certification.
Section 1107.26 of the testing rule states the records required for
testing and selecting representative samples. 16 CFR 1107.26. Required
records include a certificate, and records documenting third party
testing and related sampling plans. These requirements largely overlap
the recordkeeping requirements in the component part rule, codified at
16 CFR 1109.5(g). Duplicate recordkeeping is not required; records need
to be created and maintained only once to meet the applicable
recordkeeping requirements. The component part rule also requires
records that enable tracing a product or component back to the entity
that had a product tested for compliance; the rule also requires
attestations of due care to ensure test result integrity.
Section 104 Rules: The Commission has issued 26 rules for durable
infant and toddler products under section 104 of the Consumer Product
Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) (section 104 rules). The Section
104 rules that have been issued, to date, appear in Table 1. Each
section 104 rule contains requirements for marking, labeling, and
instructional literature:
Each product and the shipping container must have a
permanent label or marking that identifies the name and address (city,
state, and zip code) of the manufacturer, distributor, or seller.
A permanent code mark or other product identification
shall be provided on the product and its package or shipping container,
if multiple packaging is used. The code will identify the date (month
and year) of manufacture and permit future identification of any given
model.
Each standard also requires products to include easy-to-read and
understand instructions regarding assembly, maintenance, cleaning, use,
and adjustments, where applicable. See, e.g., sections 8 (marking and
labeling) and 9 (instructional literature) of every ASTM voluntary
standard incorporated by reference into a CPSC mandatory standard, as
listed in Table 1.
OMB has assigned control numbers for the estimated burden to comply
with marking and labeling requirements in each section 104 rule. With
this renewal, CPSC is moving the marking and labeling burden
requirements for four additional section 104 rules that have been
issued since the last renewal in 2019, into the collection of
information for Third Party Testing of Children's Products (bold font
in Table 1). The paperwork burdens associated with the section 104
rules are appropriately included in the collection for Third Party
Testing of Children's Products because all the section 104 products are
also required to be third party tested. Having all of the burden
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hours under one collection for children's products provides one OMB
control number and eases the administrative burden of renewing multiple
collections. CPSC will discontinue using the OMB control numbers
currently assigned to individual section 104 rules. The discontinued
OMB control numbers are listed in Table 1.
Electrically Operated Toys and Other Articles: The requirements for
electrically operated toys and other electrically operated articles
intended for use by children are set forth in 16 CFR part 1505. The
regulation establishes certain criteria to use in determining whether
electrically operated toys and other electrically operated children's
products are banned and requires that certain warning and
identification labeling be included on both the product and the
packaging. The regulation also requires that manufacturers establish a
quality assurance program to assure compliance and to keep records
pertaining to the quality assurance program. Additionally,
manufacturers or importers must keep records of the sale and
distribution of the products.
Baby-Bouncer/Walker-Jumper Rule: The requirements for baby
bouncers, baby walkers, and similar articles that are not covered by 16
CFR part 1216 (Safety Standard for Infant Walkers) are set forth under
16 CFR 1500.18(a)(6) and 1500.86(a)(4). These regulations establish
criteria to use in determining whether certain baby-bouncers, walker-
jumpers, or similar products are banned. The regulation requires that
each product be labeled with information that will permit future
identification by the manufacturer of the particular model of bouncer
or walker-jumper. In addition, manufacturers must maintain records of
sale, distribution, and results of tests and inspections for 3 years
and make such records available to CPSC, upon request. Products covered
under this regulation are not duplicative of an existing section 104
rule.
Frequency of Response: On occasion.
Affected Public: Manufacturers and importers of children's products
subject to a children's product safety rule.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
Testing and Certification: Recordkeeping requirements in parts 1107
and 1109 apply to all manufacturers or importers of children's products
that are covered by one or more children's product safety rules
promulgated and/or enforced by the CPSC. To estimate the number of
respondents, we reviewed every industry category in the NAICS and
selected industry categories that included firms that could manufacture
or sell such children's products. Using data from the U.S. Census
Bureau, we determined that there are more than 20,000 manufacturers,
almost 85,000 wholesalers, and about 263,000 retailers in these
categories. However, not all of the firms in these categories
manufacture or import children's products that are covered by
children's product safety rules. Therefore, these numbers would
constitute a high estimate of the number of firms that are subject to
the recordkeeping requirements. Accordingly, when calculating the
recordkeeping burden, CPSC relies on estimates of the number of
children's products that are manufactured or imported. We estimate that
approximately 311,400 non-apparel children's products and approximately
1.2 million children's apparel and footwear products are covered by the
rules.
Section 104 Rules: Table 1 summarizes the section 104 rules for
durable infant or toddler products subject to the marking and labeling
requirement that have been or are now being moved into OMB control
number 3041-0159. Table 1 contains the estimated number of
manufacturers and models and the total respondent hours. The four new
section 104 rules being moved into this information collection are
shown in bold text.
Table 1--Estimated Burden for Marking and Labeling in Section 104 Rules
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Total
Discontinued OMB Control 16 CFR part Description Mfrs. Models respondent
No. hours
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3041-0145................ 1215 Safety Standard for 12 2 24
Infant Bath Seats.
3041-0141................ 1216 Safety Standard for 19 4 76
Infant Walkers.
3041-0150................ 1217 Safety Standard for 111 10 1,110
Toddler Beds.
3041-0157................ 1218 Safety Standard for 72 4 288
Bassinets and
Cradles.
3041-0147................ 1219 Safety Standard for 80 13 1,040
Full-Size Cribs.
3041-0147................ 1220 Safety Standard for 39 2 78
Non-Full-Size Cribs.
3041-0152................ 1221 Safety Standard for 34 4 136
Play Yards.
3041-0160................ 1222 Safety Standard for 13 2 26
Infant Bedside
Sleepers.
3041-0155................ 1223 Safety Standard for 6 8 48
Swings.
3041-0149................ 1224 Safety Standard for 18 2 36
Portable Bedrails.
3041-0158................ 1225 Safety Standard for 78 2 156
Hand-Held Infant
Carriers.
3041-0162................ 1226 Safety Standard for 44 3 132
Soft Infant and
Toddler Carriers.
3041-0164................ 1227 Safety Standard for 100 7 700
Carriages and
Strollers.
3041-0167................ 1228 Safety Standard for 1,000 2 \*\ 8,500
Sling Carriers.
3041-0174................ 1229 Safety Standard for 26 4 104
Infant Bouncer
Seats.
3041-0166................ 1230 Safety Standard for 14 3 42
Frame Child
Carriers.
3041-0173................ 1231 Safety Standard for 83 3 249
High Chairs.
3041-0172................ 1232 Safety Standard for 17 2 34
Children's Folding
Chairs and Stools.
3041-0170................ 1233 Safety Standard for 7 1 7
Hook-On-Chairs.
3041-0171................ 1234 Safety Standard for 27 2 54
Infant Bath Tubs.
3041-0175................ 1235 Safety Standard for 141 6 846
Baby Changing
Products.
1236 Safety Standard for 1,325 6,528 \*\ 68,650
Infant Sleep
Products.
3041-0178................ 1237 Safety Standard for 52 2 104
Booster Seats.
3041-0179................ 1238 Safety Standard for 11 4 44
Stationary Activity
Centers.
3041-0182................ 1239 Safety Standard for 127 3.6 \*\ 9,496
Gates and
Enclosures.
3041-0185................ 1241 Safety Standard for 38 10 380
Crib Mattresses.
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[[Page 21876]]
Total Burden Hours... ............... .................... .............. .............. 92,280
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* Includes additional hours for instructional literature.
* Includes 6,500 hours for instructional literature.
** Includes 60,000 hours for instructional literature.
*** Includes 8,000 hours for instructional literature. The total estimated burden associated with labels is
1,416 hours. Eighty small firms produce 2 models, while an additional 37 entities are estimated to produce 8
models. Therefore, the 127 entities produce, on average, 3.6 models.
Electrically Operated Toys and Other Articles Rule: CPSC staff
estimates that about 40 manufacturers and importers are subject to this
regulation.
Baby-Bouncer/Walker-Jumper Rule: CPSC staff estimates that about
six firms are subject to the testing and recordkeeping requirements of
this regulation.
Estimated Time per Response:
Testing and Certification: Based on the comments we received on the
proposed testing rule, we revised the estimated number of children's
products that are affected, as well as the hourly recordkeeping burden
estimate. We estimate that approximately 311,400 non-apparel children's
products are covered by the rule and that an average of 5 hours per
year will be needed for the recordkeeping associated with these
products. We also estimate that there are approximately 1.2 million
children's apparel and footwear products, for which an average of 3
hours of recordkeeping will be required per year. Manufacturers that
are required to conduct periodic testing have an additional
recordkeeping burden estimated at 4 hours per representative sampling
plan.
Section 104 Rules: Each section 104 rule contains a similar
analysis for marking and labeling that estimates the time to make any
necessary changes to marking and labeling requirements at 1 hour per
model. Some section 104 rules also contain requirements for
instructional literature, and we have included estimates for
instructional literature in this analysis, where required.
Electrically Operated Toys and Other Articles: Products subject to
this regulation are also subject to the requirements of the testing
rule. Therefore, the burden of any duplicative recordkeeping
requirements will not be reported here, as they were in the cancelled
information collection, to avoid double-counting the burden. CPSC staff
estimates that the additional burden imposed by this regulation over
that imposed by the testing rule, is 30 minutes per product, to
maintain sales and distribution records for 3 years, and 1 hour to make
labeling changes per model.
Baby-Bouncer/Walker-Jumpers CPSC staff estimates that firms will
spend 1 hour per model on recordkeeping requirements, and 1 hour per
model on labeling requirements.
Total Estimated Annual Burden:
Testing and Certification: The total estimated annual burden for
recordkeeping associated with the testing rule is 5.2 million hours
((311,400 non-apparel children's products x 5 hours per non-apparel
children's product) + (1,200,000 children's apparel products x 3 hours
per children's apparel product) = 1.6 million hours + 3.6 million
hours, or a total of 5.2 million hours). Next, we describe the
potential additional annual burden associated with use of a
representative sampling plan and component part testing.
Representative Sampling Plans for Periodic Testing: We estimate
that if each product line averages 50 individual models or styles, then
a total of 30,000 individual representative sampling plans (1.5 million
children's products / 50 models or styles) would need to be developed
and documented. This would require 120,000 hours (30,000 plans x 4
hours per plan). If each product line averages 10 individual models or
styles, then a total of 150,000 different representative sampling plans
(1.5 million children's products / 10 models or styles) would need to
be documented. This would require 600,000 hours (150,000 plans x 4
hours per plan). Accordingly, the requirement to document the basis for
selecting representative samples could increase the estimated annual
burden by up to 600,000 hours.
Component Part Testing: The component part rule shifts some testing
costs and some recordkeeping costs to suppliers of component parts and
finished products because some testing will be performed by these
parties, rather than by the finished product certifiers (manufacturers
and importers). Even if a finished product certifier can rely entirely
on component part and finished product suppliers for all required
testing, however, the finished product supplier will still have some
recordkeeping burden to create and maintain a finished product
certificate. Therefore, although the component part testing rule may
reduce the total cost of the testing required by the testing and
certification rule, the rule increases the estimated annual
recordkeeping burden for those who choose to use component part
testing.
Because we do not know how many companies participate in component
part testing and supply test reports or certifications to other
certifiers in the supply chain, we have no concrete data to estimate
the recordkeeping and third party disclosure requirements in the
component part rule. Likewise, no clear method exists for estimating
the number of finished product certifiers who conduct their own
component part testing. In the component part rulemaking, we suggested
that the recordkeeping burden for the component part testing rule could
amount to 10 percent of the burden estimated for the testing and
labeling rule. 76 FR 69546, 69579 (Nov. 8, 2011). Currently, we have no
basis to change this estimate.
In addition to recordkeeping, the component part rule requires
third party disclosure of test reports and certificates, if any, to a
certifier who intends to rely on such documents to issue its own
certificate. Without data, allocation of burden estimation between the
recordkeeping and third party disclosure requirements is difficult.
However, based on our previous analysis, we continue to estimate that
creating and maintaining records accounts for approximately 90 percent
of the burden, while the third party disclosure burden is much less,
approximately 10 percent. Therefore, if we continue to use the estimate
that component part testing will amount to about 10 percent of the
burden estimated for the testing rule, then the
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hour burden of the component part rule is estimated to be about 520,000
hours total annually (10% of 5.2 million hours); allocating 468,000
hours for recordkeeping and 52,000 hours for third party disclosure.
Section 104 Rules: The burden for marking and labeling for each
section 104 rule is provided in Table 1. The estimated total number of
respondent hours is 92,280.
Electrically Operated Toys and Other Articles Rule: Assuming each
of the 40 firms produces 10 new models per year, the estimated annual
burden is 200 hours for recordkeeping (40 firms x .5 hour x 10 models)
and 400 hours for labeling changes (40 firms x 1 hour x 10 models), for
a total estimated annual burden of 600 hours.
Baby-Bouncer/Walker-Jumper Rule: Firms are expected to test, on
average, four new models per year. Accordingly, the estimated annual
burden is 12 hours on recordkeeping (6 firms x 1 hour x 2 models), and
12 hours on labeling (6 firms x 1 hour x 2 models), for a total
estimated annual burden of 24 hours per year.
Request for Comments
The CPSC solicits written comments from all interested persons
about the proposed renewal of this collection of information. The CPSC
specifically solicits information relevant to the following topics:
--Whether the collection of information described above is necessary
for the proper performance of the CPSC'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.
Alberta E. Mills,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2022-07894 Filed 4-12-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P