[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 118 (Tuesday, June 18, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 51475-51476]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-13330]


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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

16 CFR Part 1218

[CPSC Docket No. CPSC-2010-0028]


Safety Standard for Bassinets and Cradles; Notice of Comment 
Period Extension

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: On April 16, 2024, the Consumer Product Safety Commission 
(CPSC) published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed 
rulemaking (NPR) to amend the existing regulation for bassinets and 
cradles, to ensure that the rule addresses identified hazards and that 
these sleep products for young infants provide the highest level of 
safety feasible. The NPR invited the public to submit written comments 
during a 60-day comment period, beginning on the NPR publication date, 
and ending on June 17, 2024. In response to a request for a 90-day 
extension of the comment period, the Commission is extending the 
comment period for this NPR by 45 days.

DATES: Submit comments by August 1, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Comments related to the Paperwork Reduction Act aspects of 
the marking, labeling, and instructional literature requirements of the 
NPR should be directed to the Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs, the Office of Management and Budget, Attn: CPSC Desk Officer, 
FAX: 202-395-6974, or emailed to: [email protected].
    Submit all other comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-2010-0028, 
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 email, except through www.regulations.gov. CPSC 
encourages you to submit electronic comments by using the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal, as described above.
    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; (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-2010-0028, into the ``Search'' box, and follow the 
prompts.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Celestine T. Kish, Project Manager, 
Division of Human Factors, Directorate for Engineering Sciences, 
Consumer Product Safety Commission, 5 Research Place, Rockville, MD 
20850; 301-987-2547; [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Background

    Pursuant to section 104(b)(1) of the Consumer Product Safety 
Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA; 15 U.S.C. 2056a(b)(1)), the Commission 
promulgated the current mandatory standard for bassinets and cradles 
(bassinets/cradles) in October 2013. 78 FR 63019 (Oct. 23, 2013); see 
Safety Standard for Bassinets and Cradles, codified at 16 CFR part 1218 
(part 1218). Part 1218 incorporates by reference the 2013 version of 
the bassinets/cradles voluntary standard, ASTM F2194-13, Standard 
Consumer Safety Specification for Bassinets and Cradles (ASTM F2194-
13), with modifications to make the standard more stringent, to

[[Page 51476]]

further reduce the risk of injury associated with bassinets/cradles.\1\
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    \1\ After issuing the mandatory standard in 2013, ASTM 
International (ASTM) published several revisions to ASTM F2194, 
including ASTM F2194-2013a, -2016, and -2016[egr]\1\. ASTM did not 
notify CPSC of these revisions, so the mandatory rule has not been 
updated since 2013. However, ASTM F2194-2016[egr]\1\ is 
substantially the same as the existing mandatory rule for bassinets/
cradles codified in part 1218. 86 FR 33022, 33034-35 (June 3, 2021).
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    Section 104(b)(2) of the CPSIA requires that after the Commission 
issues mandatory safety standards for durable infant or toddler 
products, the Commission shall periodically review and revise the 
standards to ensure that such standards provide the highest level of 
safety for such products that is feasible. 15 U.S.C. 2056a(b)(2). 
Accordingly, on April 16, 2024, the Commission published an NPR in the 
Federal Register proposing to amend part 1218 to address the hazards 
identified in the NPR and to ensure that the mandatory bassinet/cradle 
regulation provides the highest level of safety feasible.\2\ 89 FR 
27246. The proposed modifications to part 1218 would remove a product 
category--compact bassinets--and address five identified hazard 
patterns associated with young infants. The NPR proposed to incorporate 
by reference ASTM F2194-22[egr]\1\, with modifications to further 
reduce the risk of injury associated with bassinets, and to provide the 
highest level of safety that is feasible for such products. 89 FR 
27246, 27247. The 60-day comment period closes on June 17, 2024.\3\
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    \2\ On March 20, 2024, the Commission voted (4-0) to publish the 
NPR, available at: https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/Commission-Meeting-Minutes-NPR-Safety-Standard-for-Bassinets-and-Cradles.pdf?VersionId=GwpmKZ4S9sRrEiBmDFaEWn1fBre6eZ2r.
    \3\ Staff provided a February 28, 2024, Memorandum, Staff's 
Draft Proposed Rule to Revise the Safety Standard for Bassinets and 
Cradles in support of the NPR, which is available at: https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/Briefing-Package-Draft-Notice-of-Proposed-Rulemaking-Safety-Standard-for-Bassinets-and-Cradles.pdf?VersionId=l37iJVSjn32WnUTBDV27L6c37uJC4Iis. The NPR 
contains an overview of staff's assessment and analysis, and the 
Commission's basis for issuing the NPR, which is based on the 2022 
Bassinet Rejection Staff Briefing Package. Based on the information 
and analysis in the NPR and related staff packages, the Commission 
preliminarily determined that the proposed requirements are more 
stringent than the requirements in ASTM F2194-22[egr]\1\, would 
further reduce the risk of injury associated with products within 
the scope of the NPR, and would provide the highest level of safety 
that is feasible for such products. The Commission specifically 
sought comment on the feasibility of each proposed requirement, 
including technical feasibility.
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B. Request for Comment Period Extension

    On May 22, 2024, Lisa Trofe, Executive Director of the Juvenile 
Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA), on behalf of JPMA's members 
and ten companies that individually co-signed the request, submitted a 
request for a 90-day extension of the NPR comment period (JPMA 
request).4 5 The JPMA request asserts that the 60-day 
comment period is insufficient, providing three primary reasons for 
additional time to provide comments: (1) prototyping and evaluating new 
product designs to ``understand if the proposed requirements are 
feasible, and what new hazards, if any, such designs could create''; 
(2) testing to evaluate the proposed side-to-side ``zero-degree tilt 
angle, plus or minus one degree,'' including the proper equipment 
needed for repeatable measurements and considering the tilt angle 
requirement which they allege ``does not consider the stacked 
tolerances of building construction and laboratory floors or consumer 
floors'' and how this may impact the test results; and (3) evaluating 
the availability of equipment needed to test the proposed side wall 
rigidity requirement.
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    \4\ JMPA's request has been placed on the docket for this 
rulemaking, as well as attached as to Staff's June 5, 2024, Briefing 
Memorandum: Proposed Rule to Amend the Safety Standard for Bassinets 
and Cradles; Request to Extend Comment Period (Staff Briefing Memo), 
available at: https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/NPR-Safety-Standard-for-Bassinets-and-Cradles-Draft-Federal-Notice-Regarding-Extension-of-Comment-Period.pdf?VersionId=dBX_tnUc3LSd5vG6_S0UbuLliqi4wPkx.
    \5\ On June 11, 2024, the Commission voted (4-1) to publish this 
notice. Commissioner Feldman issued a statement with his vote, 
available at: https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/RCA-NPR-Safety-Standard-for-Bassinets-and-Cradles-Draft-Federal-Notice-Regarding-Extension-of-Comment-Period.pdf?VersionId=SbjP34yYPSsuhrXa6p1TG9s9bVhkjVWg.
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C. Assessment of the JPMA Request

    The testing equipment identified in the NPR is the same equipment 
currently identified in the ASTM standard and CPSC's 
regulation,6 7 and therefore, stakeholders do not require 
additional time to test and evaluate equipment. Moreover, based on CPSC 
staff's experience testing sample bassinets/cradles to the NPR 
proposals, testing should not require more than 10 business days to 
test up to 15 product samples; an additional 90 days, totaling 5 months 
(60 days plus 90 days), is unnecessary to assess products to the NPR 
requirements and provide feedback. However, we agree with JPMA that 
prototype design, evaluation, and testing to the zero-degree side-to-
side tilt angle, plus or minus one degree, and other proposed 
requirements may require additional time. Assessing how to modify 
products to feasibly meet the proposed modifications, identifying any 
new potential hazards, and providing comments on these assessments may 
benefit from more than the 60 days provided in the NPR. Providing 
additional time in the comment period will allow manufacturers to 
produce prototypes that are closer to the final design specifications 
and that will more accurately reflect what a manufacturer finds to be 
achievable.
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    \6\ ASTM F2194-22[egr]\1\ specifies in section 4.6 that angle 
measurements shall be taken using a digital inclinometer with a 
0.1[deg] minimum resolution for angle measurements. However, section 
7.8 specifies the use of a digital inclinometer with a 0.5[deg] 
minimum resolution. Users of the standard should use the more 
precise instrumentation to ensure they are following all applicable 
sections of the standard.
    \7\ It is common and a known test setup for lab floors to be 0 
+/- 0.5 degrees. This is already addressed in ASTM F2194-22[egr]\1\, 
see section 7.10 Rock/Swing Angle Tests. Additionally, the test 
requires to ZERO out the inclinometer on that test surface (floor) 
before starting the test to minimize any influence of the floor on 
the bassinet angle measurements.
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D. Conclusion

    The Commission has considered the JPMA request to extend the 
comment period and staff's assessment of the request. Currently, the 
comment period is due to close on June 17, 2024. To provide sufficient 
time for stakeholders to prototype and evaluate new designs, and to 
assess and provide comment on the NPR proposals, especially as it 
relates to specific products, the Commission will grant a 45-day 
extension of the comment period, until August 1, 2024.

Alberta E. Mills,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2024-13330 Filed 6-17-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P