[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 235 (Thursday, December 8, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75234-75239]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-26643]


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

CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

[Docket No. CPSC-2010-0041]


Collection of Information; Proposed Extension of Approval; 
Comment Request--Publicly Available Consumer Product Safety Information 
Database

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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

SUMMARY: As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the 
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) requests comments on a 
proposed extension of approval of a collection of information for the 
Publicly Available Consumer Product Safety Information Database. The 
CPSC will consider all comments received in response to this notice 
before requesting an extension of approval 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 February 6, 2023.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-2010-
0041, 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 as described 
below. CPSC encourages you to submit electronic comments by using the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal.
    Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier/Confidential Written Submissions: 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. 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].
    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: https://www.regulations.gov. 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. If you wish to submit such 
information, please submit it according to the instructions for mail/
hand delivery/courier/confidential 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-2010-0041, into the ``Search'' box, and follow the 
prompts.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information, or a copy of 
the supporting statement, contact: Cynthia

[[Page 75235]]

Gillham, Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East-West Highway, 
Bethesda, MD 20814; (301) 504-7791, or by email to: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Background

    Section 212 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 
(CPSIA) added section 6A to the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), 
which requires the CPSC to establish and maintain a publicly available, 
searchable database (Database) on the safety of consumer products and 
other products or substances regulated by the CPSC. Among other things, 
section 6A of the CPSA requires the CPSC to collect reports of harm 
from the public for potential publication in the publicly available 
Database, and to collect and publish comments from manufacturers about 
reports of harm.
    In a proposed rule published on May 24, 2010 (75 FR 29156), the 
CPSC announced that a proposed collection of information in conjunction 
with the Database, called the Publicly Available Consumer Product 
Safety Information Database, had been submitted to OMB for review and 
clearance under 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520. The CPSC issued a final rule on 
the Database on December 9, 2010 (75 FR 76832). The final rule 
interprets various statutory requirements in section 6A of the CPSA 
pertaining to the information to be included in the Database. The final 
rule also establishes provisions regarding submitting reports of harm; 
providing notice of reports of harm to manufacturers; publishing 
reports of harm and manufacturer comments in the Database; and dealing 
with confidential and materially inaccurate information.
    OMB approved the collection of information for the Database under 
control number 3041-0146. OMB's most recent extension of approval, 
issued on March 31, 2020, will expire on March 31, 2023. Accordingly, 
the CPSC now proposes to request an extension of approval of this 
collection of information.

B. Information Collected Through the Database

    The primary purpose of this information collection is to populate 
the publicly searchable Database of consumer product safety information 
mandated by section 6A of the CPSA. The Database information collection 
has four components: reports of harm, manufacturer comments, branding 
information, and the Small Batch Manufacturer Registry (SBMR).
    Reports of Harm: Reports of harm communicate information regarding 
an injury, illness, or death, or any risk (as determined by CPSC) of 
injury, illness, or death, relating to the use of a consumer product or 
other product or substance regulated by the CPSC. Reports can be 
submitted to the CPSC by consumers; local, state, or federal government 
agencies; healthcare professionals; child service providers; public 
safety entities; and others. Reports may be submitted via the CPSC 
website (www.SaferProducts.gov), by telephone via a CPSC call center, 
or by email, fax, or mail using the incident report form (available for 
download or printing via the CPSC website). Reports may also originate 
as a free-form letter or email. Submitters must consent to including 
their report of harm in the publicly searchable Database.
    Manufacturer Comments: Pursuant to the CPSIA, CPSC transmits a 
report of harm to the manufacturer or private labeler identified in the 
report, and the manufacturer or private labeler may then submit a 
comment to CPSC related to the report of harm (hereinafter 
``manufacturer comment''). Manufacturer comments may be submitted 
through the business portal, by email, mail, or fax. The business 
portal is a feature of the Database that allows manufacturers and 
private labelers who register on the business portal to receive reports 
of harm and comment on such reports through the business portal. Use of 
the business portal expedites the receipt of reports of harm and 
business response times.
    A manufacturer or private labeler may request that the CPSC 
designate information in a report of harm as confidential. Such a 
request may be made using the business portal, by email, by mail, or by 
fax. Additionally, any person or entity reviewing a report of harm or 
comment from a manufacturer or private labeler, either before or after 
publication in the Database, may request that the report or comment, or 
portions of the report or comment, be excluded from the Database 
because it contains materially inaccurate information. Such a request 
may be made by manufacturers or private labelers using the business 
portal, by email, mail or fax, and may be submitted by anyone else by 
email, mail, or fax.
    Branding Information: Using the business portal, registered 
businesses may voluntarily submit branding information to assist CPSC 
in correctly and timely routing to them reports of harm involving their 
products. Brand names may be licensed to another entity for use in 
labeling consumer products manufactured by that entity. CPSC's 
understanding of licensing arrangements for consumer products helps to 
ensure that the correct manufacturer or private labeler is timely 
notified regarding a report of harm.
    Small Batch Manufacturers Registry: The business portal also 
contains the SBMR, which is the online mechanism by which ``small batch 
manufacturers'' (as defined in the CPSA) can identify themselves to 
obtain relief from certain third-party testing requirements for 
children's products. To register as a small batch manufacturer, a 
business must attest that the company's income level, and the number of 
units of the covered product manufactured for which relief is sought, 
both fall within the statutory limits to receive relief from third 
party testing.

C. Estimated Burden

1. Estimated Annual Burden for Respondents

    We estimate the burden of this collection of information as 
follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Frequency of responses is calculated by dividing the number 
of responses by the number of respondents.
    \2\ Numbers have been rounded.

                         Table 1--Estimated Annual Reporting Burden for Reports of Harm
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Response      Total                        Total
               Collection type                 Number of    frequency      annual      Minutes per    burden, in
                                              respondents      \1\       responses      response      hours \2\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reports of Harm--submitted through website..        4,498         1.45        6,522              12        1,304
Reports of Harm--submitted by phone.........        1,032         1.33        1,373              10          229
Reports of Harm--submitted by mail, email,            296         3.71        1,098              20          366
 fax........................................
                                             -------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 75236]]

 
    Total...................................        5,826  ...........        8,993  ..............        1,899
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


                     Table 2--Estimated Annual Reporting Burden for Manufacturer Submissions
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Response      Total                        Total
               Collection type                 Number of    frequency      annual      Minutes per   burden,  in
                                              respondents      \1\       responses      response      hours \2\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manufacturer Comments--submitted through              437         4.53        1,980             117        3,861
 website....................................
Manufacturer Comments--submitted by mail,             115         1.44          166             147          407
 email, fax.................................
Requests to Treat Information as                        1         1.00            1              42            1
 Confidential--submitted through website....
Requests to Treat Information as                        0          N/A            0              72            0
 Confidential--submitted by mail, email, fax
Requests to Treat Information as Materially            97         1.46          142             165          391
 Inaccurate--submitted through website......
Requests to Treat Information as Materially            22         1.23           27             195           88
 Inaccurate--submitted by mail, email, fax..
Voluntary Brand Identification..............          513         1.00          513              10           86
Small Batch Manufacturer Identification.....        1,747         1.00        1,747              10          291
                                             -------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total...................................        2,932  ...........        4,576  ..............        5,125
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Based on the data set forth in Tables 1 and 2 above, the annual 
reporting cost is estimated to be $443,089. This estimate is based on 
the sum of two estimated total figures for reports of harm and 
manufacturer or private labeler submissions. The estimated number of 
respondents and responses are based on the actual responses received in 
FY 2022. We assume that the number of responses and respondents will be 
similar in future years.
    Reports of Harm: Table 1 sets forth the data used to estimate the 
burden associated with submitting reports of harm. Since the previous 
renewal of the collection, the number of annual reports of harm 
submitted by mail, email or fax decreased from 15,314 to 1,098; reports 
of harm submitted by phone decreased from 1,418 to 1,373; and reports 
of harm submitted through the website increased from 6,023 to 6,522.
    We had previously estimated the time associated with the electronic 
and telephone submission of reports of harm at 12 and 10 minutes, 
respectively; and because we have had no indication that these 
estimates are not appropriate or accurate, we used those figures for 
present purposes as well. We estimate that the time associated with a 
paper or PDF form would be 20 minutes, on average.
    To estimate the costs for submitting reports of harm, we multiplied 
the estimated total burden hours associated with reports of harm (1,304 
hours + 229 hours + 366 hours = 1,899 hours) by an estimated total 
compensation for all workers in private industry of $38.61 per hour,\3\ 
which results in an estimated cost of $73,320 (1,899 hours x $38.61 per 
hour = $73,320 FY22).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table 
4 of the Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC), Private 
Industry workers, by occupational group, Mar 2022 (data extracted on 
10/3/2022 from: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/ecec_06162022.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Manufacturer Submissions: Tables 2 and 3 set forth the data used to 
estimate the burden associated with manufacturer and private labeler 
submissions to the Database. We observed that a large percentage of the 
general comments come from a few businesses, and we assumed that the 
experience of a business that submits many comments each year would be 
different from one that submits only a few. Accordingly, previously, we 
divided all responding businesses into three groups based on the number 
of general comments submitted, and then we selected several businesses 
to contact from each group. The first group contacted consisted of 
businesses that submitted 50 or more comments, accounting for 31 
percent of all general comments received. The second group contacted 
included businesses that submitted 6 to 49 comments, accounting for 39 
percent of all general comments received. The last group contacted 
included businesses that submitted no more than 5 comments, accounting 
for 30 percent of all general comments received. We asked each company 
how long it typically takes to research, compose, and enter a comment 
or a claim of materially inaccurate information.
    To estimate the burden associated with submitting a general comment 
regarding a report of harm through the business portal, we averaged the 
burden provided by each company within each group, and then we 
calculated a weighted average from the three groups, weighting each 
group by the proportion of comments received from that group. We found 
that the average time to submit a general comment regarding a report of 
harm is 117 minutes, based on the data in Table 3 (((15 minutes + 45 
minutes + 30 minutes + 15 minutes)/4 companies)*.31 + ((105 minutes + 
45 minutes + 150 minutes + 15 minutes)/4 companies)*.39 + ((240 minutes 
+ 60 minutes + 480 minutes)/3 companies)*.30 = 117 minutes).

[[Page 75237]]



  Table 3--Estimated Burden To Enter a General Comment in the Database
------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Group                      Company         General comments
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Group 1 (<=50 comments).......  Company A.............  15 minutes.
                                Company B.............  45 minutes.
                                Company C.............  30 minutes.
                                Company D.............  15 minutes.
Group 2 (6-49 comments).......  Company A.............  105 minutes.
                                Company B.............  45 minutes.
                                Company C.............  150 minutes.
                                Company D.............  15 minutes.
Group 3 (<=5 comments)........  Company A.............  240 minutes.
                                Company B.............  60 minutes.
                                Company C.............  480 minutes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Registered businesses generally submit comments through the CPSC 
website. Unregistered businesses submit comments by mail, email, or 
fax. We estimate that submitting comments via mail, email, or fax takes 
a little longer because often, we must ask businesses to amend their 
submissions to include the required certifications. Thus, we estimated 
that, on average, comments submitted by mail, email, or fax take 30 
minutes longer than comments submitted through the CPSC website (117 
minutes + 30 minutes = 147 minutes).
    The submission of a claim of materially inaccurate information is a 
relatively rare event for all respondents, so we averaged all responses 
together. Eight of the businesses contacted had submitted claims of 
materially inaccurate information. We found that the average time to 
submit a claim that a report of harm contains a material inaccuracy is 
165 minutes ((30 minutes + 90 minutes + 45 minutes + 90 minutes + 60 
minutes + 660 minutes + 45 minutes + 300 minutes)/8 companies = 165 
minutes).
    Registered businesses generally submit claims of materially 
inaccurate information through the business portal. Unregistered 
businesses submit such claims by mail, email, or fax. We estimate that 
submitting claims via mail, email, or fax takes a little longer because 
we often must ask businesses to amend their submission to include the 
required certifications. Thus, we estimate that, on average, claims 
submitted by mail, email, or fax take 30 minutes longer than those 
submitted through the CPSC website (165 minutes + 30 minutes = 195 
minutes).
    The submission of a claim of confidential information is another 
relatively rare event for all respondents, so we averaged all responses 
together. Five of the businesses contacted had submitted claims of 
confidential information. We found that the average time to submit a 
claim that a report of harm contains confidential information through 
the CPSC website is 42 minutes ((45 minutes + 15 minutes + 60 minutes + 
30 minutes + 60 minutes)/5 companies = 42 minutes).
    Registered businesses generally submit confidential information 
claims through the business portal. Unregistered businesses submit 
confidential information claims by mail, email, or fax. We estimate 
that submitting claims by mail, email, or fax takes a little longer 
because often, we must ask businesses to amend their submission to 
include the required certifications. Thus, we estimate that a 
confidential information claim submitted by mail, email, or fax would 
take 30 minutes longer than those submitted through the CPSC website 
(42 minutes + 30 minutes = 72 minutes).
    For voluntary brand identification, we estimate that a response 
would take 10 minutes, on average. Most responses consist only of the 
brand name and a product description. In many cases, a business will 
submit multiple entries in a brief period of time, and we can see from 
the date and time stamps on these records that an entry often takes 
less than 2 minutes. CPSC staff enters the same data in a similar form, 
based on our own research, and that experience was also factored into 
our estimate.
    For small batch manufacturer identification, we estimate that a 
response would take 10 minutes, on average. The form consists of three 
check boxes and the information should be readily accessible to the 
respondent.
    The responses summarized in Table 2 are generally submitted by 
manufacturers. To avoid underestimating the cost associated with the 
collection of this data, we assigned the higher hourly wage associated 
with a manager or professional in goods-producing industries to these 
tasks. To estimate the cost of manufacturer submissions, we multiplied 
the estimated total burden hours in Table 2 (5,125 hours), by an 
estimated total compensation for a manager or professional in goods-
producing industries of $72.15 per hour,\4\ which results in an 
estimated cost of $ 369,769 (5,125 hours x $72.15 per hour = $369,769).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table 
4 of the Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC), Private 
Industry workers, by occupational group, Mar 2022 (data extracted on 
8/2/2022 from: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t04.htm.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Therefore, the total estimated annual cost to respondents is 
$443,089 ($73,320 burden for reports of harm + $369,769 burden for 
manufacturer submissions = $443,089).

2. Estimated Annual Burden on Government

    We estimate the annualized cost to the CPSC to be $981,516. This 
figure is based on the costs for four categories of work for the 
Database: Reports of Harm, Materially Inaccurate Information Claims, 
Manufacturer Comments, and Small Batch Identification. Each category is 
described below. No government cost is associated with firms' voluntary 
brand identification because this information is entered directly into 
the Database by the manufacturer with no processing required by the 
government. The information assists the government in directing reports 
of harm to the correct manufacturer. Because we only have one request 
to treat information as confidential in FY 2022, we included the 
government's time to process this claim with the claims of materially 
inaccurate information.
    Reports of Harm: The Reports of Harm category includes many 
different tasks. Some costs related to this category are from two data 
entry contracts. Tasks related to these contracts include clerical 
coding of the report, such as identifying the type of consumer product 
reported and the appropriate associated hazard, as well as performing 
quality control on the data in the report. Contractor A spends an 
estimated 4,940

[[Page 75238]]

hours per year performing these tasks. With an hourly rate of $34.53 
for contractor services, the annual cost to the government of contract 
A is $170,578.
    The Reports of Harm category also includes sending consent requests 
for reports when necessary, processing that consent when received, 
determining whether a product is out of CPSC's jurisdiction, and 
confirming that pictures and attachments do not have any personally 
identifiable information. The Reports of Harm category also entails 
notifying manufacturers or private labelers when one of their products 
is reported, completing a risk of harm determination form for every 
report eligible for publication, referring some reports to a subject 
matter expert within the CPSC for a determination whether the reports 
meet the requirement of having a risk of harm, and determining whether 
a report meets all the statutory and regulatory requirements for 
publication. Detailed costs are:

                                Table 4--Estimated Costs for Reports of Harm Task
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                     Total
                        Grade level                           Number of hours     compensation     Total annual
                                                                  (annual)          per hour           cost
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contract A.................................................              4,940           $34.53         $170,578
7..........................................................              2,912            40.44          117,761
9..........................................................              1,456            49.47           72,028
12.........................................................              3,328            71.74          238,751
13.........................................................              1,248            85.31          106,467
14.........................................................                832           100.81           83,874
                                                            ----------------------------------------------------
    Total..................................................             14,716  ...............          789,459
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Materially Inaccurate Information (MII) Claims: The MII claims 
category includes reviewing and responding to claims, participating in 
meetings where the claims are discussed, and completing a risk of harm 
determination on reports when a company alleges that a report does not 
describe a risk of harm.

                                  Table 5--Estimated Costs for MII Claims Task
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                     Total
                        Grade level                           Number of hours     compensation     Total annual
                                                                  (Annual)          per hour           cost
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12.........................................................                312           $71.74          $22,383
13.........................................................                208            85.31           17,744
14.........................................................                312           100.81           31,453
15.........................................................                 21           118.57            2,490
SES........................................................                 42           132.43            5,562
                                                            ----------------------------------------------------
    Total..................................................                895  ...............           79,632
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Manufacturer Comments: The Comments category includes reviewing and 
accepting or rejecting comments.

                             Table 6--Estimated Costs for Manufacturer Comments Task
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                     Total
                        Grade level                           Number of hours     compensation     Total annual
                                                                  (Annual)          per hour           cost
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12.........................................................                 62           $71.74           $4,448
13.........................................................                104            85.31            8,872
                                                            ----------------------------------------------------
    Total..................................................                166  ...............           13,320
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Small Batch Manufacturer Identification: The Small Batch 
Manufacturer Identification category includes time spent posting the 
list of small batch registrations, as well as answering companies' 
questions on registering as a Small Batch Manufacturer and the 
implications of small batch registration.

                                  Table 7--Estimated Costs for Small Batch Task
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                     Total
                        Grade level                           Number of hours     compensation     Total annual
                                                                  (annual)          per hour           cost
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15.........................................................                642          $118.57          $76,122
                                                            ----------------------------------------------------

[[Page 75239]]

 
    Total..................................................                642  ...............           76,122
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    We estimate the annualized cost to the CPSC of $958,533, by adding 
the four categories of work related to the Database summarized in 
Tables 4 through 7 (Reports of Harm ($789,459) + MII Claims ($79,632) + 
Manufacturer Comments ($13,320) + Small Batch Identification ($76,122) 
= $958,533).
    This information collection renewal request is based on an 
estimated 7,024 burden hours per year for the Database, which 
represents a decrease of 6,319 hours since this collection of 
information was last approved by OMB in 2019. Total burden from reports 
of harm decreased by 4,647 hours (from 6,546 to 1,899), and total 
burden for manufacturer's submission decreased by 1,672 hours, from 
6,797 to 5,125. Declines in total burden hours are attributed to a 
decline in the number of reports of harm submitted by mail, email, and 
fax. However, CPSC staff discovered that the 2019 update for this 
control number contained an error that increased the estimated burden, 
by inadvertently including a large number of death certificates 
collected by CPSC staff in the reports of harm submitted by mail, 
email, and fax. In addition, for this update there was a decrease in 
small batch manufacturer activity.

D. Request for Comments

    The CPSC solicits written comments from all interested persons 
about the proposed 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.
     Whether the burden imposed by the collection of 
information could be minimized by using automated, electronic, or other 
technological collection techniques, or other forms of information 
technology.

Alberta E. Mills,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2022-26643 Filed 12-7-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P