[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 97 (Thursday, May 19, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 30436-30437]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-10293]


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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

16 CFR Chapter II

[Docket No. CPSC-2022-0015]


Petitions Requesting Rulemaking To Amend the Safety Standard for 
Play Yards To Require a Minimum Thickness for Play Yard Mattresses, and 
To Standardize the Size of Play Yards and Play Yard Mattresses; Request 
for Comments

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.

ACTION: Notice of petitions for rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission or 
CPSC) received two petitions regarding play yards and play yard 
mattresses. The Commission invites written comments concerning these 
petitions.

DATES: Submit comments by July 18, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-2022-0015, 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 (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

[[Page 30437]]

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-2022-0015, into the ``Search'' box, and follow the 
prompts.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alberta E. Mills, Division of the 
Secretariat, Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East-West 
Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814; telephone: 301-504-7479 (office) and 240-
863-8938 (work cell); [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On November 29, 2021, Carol Pollack-Nelson, 
Ph.D. of Independent Safety Consulting, LLC, Sarah B. Newens, M.S. of 
Safety and Systems Solutions, M.S., and Alan H. Schoem, Esq. 
(collectively ``Petitioners'') submitted two documents to the 
Commission through the Division of the Secretariat, titled: (1) 
Petition to Require Minimum Thickness for Play Yard Mattresses 
(``Mattress Thickness Petition''), and (2) Petition to Standardize the 
Size of Play Yards and Play Yard Mattresses (``Play Yard Size 
Petition'') (collectively ``petitions'').\1\ The petitions seek a 
rulemaking to amend the Commission's regulation, Safety Standard for 
Play Yards, 16 CFR part 1221, to address the hazard of infants becoming 
entrapped between the edge of a play yard and the play yard mattress 
and suffocating (``gap entrapment hazard''). CSPC docketed the Mattress 
Thickness Petition as petition CP 22-1 and docketed the Play Yard Size 
Petition as CP 22-2.
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    \1\ On May 3, 2022, the Commission voted 3-1 to publish this 
Notice of Petitions for Rulemaking in the Federal Register.
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    The Mattress Thickness Petition states that to reduce consumer 
perception that a play yard floor is too hard, and the notion that soft 
bedding should be added for the comfort of an infant, the Commission 
should require a minimum play yard mattress thickness of 1.5 inches 
with a minimal tolerance allowed. Additionally, Petitioners seek a 
maximum 0.5-inch gap requirement between a play yard mattress and the 
mesh side of the play yard wall, and to allow a maximum play yard 
mattress thickness of 3 inches.
    The Play Yard Size Petition seeks to ``mitigate the risk posed by 
an undersized mattress in a play yard'' by standardizing the size of 
play yards and play yard mattresses ``to one size for each given 
perimeter shape,'' meaning ``one size for square play yards, one size 
for rectangular play yards, one size for oval play yards and one size 
for round play yards.'' Petitioners assert that this change also would 
reduce hazardous gaps between play yard mattresses and play yard walls.
    By this notice, the Commission seeks comments concerning the two 
petitions. In particular, the Commission seeks comments on the 
following:
     The Commission considered the gap-entrapment hazard in 
granting petition CP 15-2, Petition Requesting Rulemaking on 
Supplemental Mattresses for Play Yards with Non-Rigid Sides, in 
establishing a Safety Standard for Crib Mattresses, and in continuing 
to work on play yard mattress requirements with the ASTM F15.18 
Subcommittee on Play Yards and Non-Full-Size Cribs. What effect would 
these new petitions have on the Commission's work on this issue?
     Are any of the issues raised in the Mattress Thickness 
Petition supported, mooted, or rendered superfluous by the continuing 
work on the gap-entrapment hazard in the ASTM F15.18 Subcommittee on 
Play Yards and Non-Full-Size Cribs?
     The Commission, by statute, will consider any revised ASTM 
voluntary standard for play yards if ASTM notifies the Commission of a 
revised standard. 15 U.S.C. 2056a(b)(4). Based on the new petitions, 
should the Commission commit additional resources to the gap-entrapment 
issue, beyond staff's current work on mattress fit and thickness with 
the ASTM F15.18 Subcommittee on Play Yards and Non-Full-Size Cribs? Why 
or why not?
     The Commission's rules are typically stated in terms of 
performance requirements, and/or requirements for labeling and 
instructions. See, e.g., 15 U.S.C. 2056(a). Is the proposal in the Play 
Yard Size Petition to limit the sizes of play yards and play yard 
mattresses consistent with this practice? If not, is the departure 
justified?
     Can the safety objective identified in the Play Yard Size 
Petition, i.e., assisting consumers to purchase play yard mattresses 
that properly fit into a play yard, be addressed by a performance 
requirement different from that proposed in the Play Yard Size 
Petition? If so, are there reasons to favor or disfavor the requirement 
proposed in the Play Yard Size Petition? Does the existing requirement 
for play yard mattresses in the Safety Standard for Play Yards 
adequately address this hazard?
    The petitions are available at: http://www.regulations.gov, under 
Docket No. CPSC-2022-0015, Supporting and Related Materials. 
Alternatively, interested parties may obtain a copy of the petitions by 
writing or calling the Division of the Secretariat, Consumer Product 
Safety Commission, 4330 East-West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814; 
telephone: 301-504-7479 or 240-863-8938; [email protected].

Brenda Rouse,
Acting Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2022-10293 Filed 5-18-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P