[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 174 (Friday, September 9, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55413-55414]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-19468]
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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
[Docket No. CPSC-2009-0066]
Notice of Availability and Request for Comment: Revision to the
Voluntary Standard for Infant Walkers
AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.
ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's (Commission or
CPSC) mandatory rule, Safety Standard for Infant Walkers, incorporates
by reference ASTM F977-12, Standard Consumer Safety Specification for
Infant Walkers. The Commission has received notice of a revision to
this incorporated voluntary standard. CPSC seeks comment on whether the
revision improves the safety of the consumer products covered by the
standard.
DATES: Comments must be received by September 23, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-2009-0066, by
any of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit electronic comments to the Federal
eRulemaking Portal at: www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for
submitting comments. Do not submit through this website: confidential
business information, trade secret information, or other sensitive or
protected information that you do not want to be available to the
public. CPSC typically does not accept comments submitted by electronic
mail (email), except as described below.
Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier/Confidential Written Submissions: CPSC
encourages you to submit electronic comments by using the Federal
eRulemaking Portal. You may, however, submit comments by mail, hand
delivery, or courier to: Office of the Secretary, Consumer Product
Safety Commission, 4330 East-West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814;
telephone: (301) 504-7479.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and
docket number. CPSC may post all comments without change, including any
personal identifiers, contact information, or other personal
information provided, to: www.regulations.gov. If you wish to submit
confidential business information, trade secret information, or other
sensitive or protected information that you do not want to be available
to the public, you may submit such comments by mail, hand delivery, or
courier, or you may email them to: [email protected].
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, go to: www.regulations.gov, and insert the docket
number, CPSC-2009-0066, into the ``Search'' box, and follow the
prompts.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Benjamin J. Mordecai, Directorate for
Laboratory Sciences, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 5
Research Place, Rockville, MD 20850; telephone: (301) 987-2506; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 104(b) of the Consumer Product
Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) requires the Commission to adopt
mandatory standards for durable infant or toddler products. 15 U.S.C.
2056a(b)(1). Mandatory standards must be ``substantially the same as''
voluntary standards, or may be ``more stringent'' than voluntary
standards, if the Commission determines that more stringent
requirements would further reduce the risk of injury associated with
the products. Id. Mandatory standards may be based, in whole or in
part, on a voluntary standard.
Pursuant to section 104(b)(4)(B) of the CPSIA, if a voluntary
standards organization revises a standard that has been adopted, in
whole or in part, as a consumer product safety standard under CPSIA
section 104, it must notify the Commission. The revised voluntary
standard then shall be considered to be a consumer product safety
standard issued by the Commission under section 9 of the Consumer
Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2058), effective 180 days after the date
on which the organization notifies the Commission (or a later date
specified by the Commission in the Federal Register) unless, within 90
days after receiving that notice, the Commission responds to the
organization that it has determined that the proposed revision does not
improve the safety of the consumer product covered by the standard, and
therefore the Commission is retaining its existing mandatory consumer
product safety standard. 15 U.S.C. 2056a(b)(4)(B).
Under this authority, the Commission issued a mandatory safety rule
for infant walkers in 2010. The rulemaking created 16 CFR part 1216,
which incorporated by reference ASTM F977-07, Standard Consumer Safety
Specification for Infant Walkers, with modifications. 75 FR 35266 (Jun.
21, 2010). The mandatory standard included performance requirements and
test methods, as well as requirements for warning labels and
instructions, to address hazards to children associated with infant
walkers. Since promulgation of the final rule, ASTM revised the
voluntary standard in May 2012. On June 24, 2013, the Commission
revised the mandatory standard to incorporate by reference ASTM F977-
12, the current mandatory standard, without modification. 78 FR 37706
(Jun. 24, 2013). In 2018, ASTM revised ASTM F977 but did not notify the
Commission of that ASTM F977-18 revision.
In July 2022, ASTM published a revised version of the incorporated
voluntary standard, ASTM F977-22. ASTM subsequently published ASTM
F977-22e1to make editorial corrections to the standard. On, August 29,
2022, ASTM notified the Commission that it had approved the revised
version of the voluntary standard. This revised version, ASTM F977-
22e1, builds on the revisions made to the standard in 2018 and 2022.
CPSC staff is assessing the revised voluntary standard to
determine, consistent with section 104(b)(4)(B) of the CPSIA, its
effect on the safety of the consumer product covered by the standard.
The Commission invites public comment on that question to inform
staff's assessment and any subsequent Commission consideration of the
revisions in ASTM F977-18, ASTM F977-22, and ASTM F977-22e1.\1\
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\1\ The Commission voted 5-0 to approve this notice.
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The incorporated voluntary standard and the revisions to the
voluntary standard are available for review in several ways. ASTM has
provided on its website (at www.astm.org/CPSC.htm), at no cost for
read-only access, red-lined versions of ASTM F977-18, ASTM F977-22, and
ASTM F977-22e1 that show the changes made by these revisions. Likewise,
a read-only copy of the existing, incorporated standard (ASTM F977-12)
is available for viewing, at no cost, on the ASTM website at:
www.astm.org/READINGLIBRARY/. Interested parties can also download
copies of the
[[Page 55414]]
standards by purchasing them from ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor
Drive, P.O. Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959; phone: 610-832-
9585; www.astm.org. Alternatively, interested parties can schedule an
appointment to inspect copies of the standards at CPSC's Office of the
Secretary, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East-West
Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814, telephone: 301-504-7479; email: [email protected].
Comments must be received by September 23, 2022. Because of the
short statutory time frame Congress established for the Commission to
consider revised voluntary standards under section 104(b)(4) of the
CPSIA, CPSC will not consider comments received after this date.
Alberta E. Mills,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2022-19468 Filed 9-8-22; 8:45 am]
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