Petition Requesting Rulemaking on Supplemental Mattresses for Play Yards With Non-Rigid Sides, 48043 [2015-19680]

Agencies

• Consumer Product Safety Commission

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 154 (Tuesday, August 11, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 48043]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-19680]


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Proposed Rules
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.

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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 154 / Tuesday, August 11, 2015 / 
Proposed Rules

[[Page 48043]]



CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

16 CFR Chapter II

[Docket No. CPSC-2015-0020]


Petition Requesting Rulemaking on Supplemental Mattresses for 
Play Yards With Non-Rigid Sides

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.

ACTION: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Consumer Product Safety Commission (``CPSC'' or 
``Commission'') has received a petition requesting a ban on 
supplemental mattresses for play yards with non-rigid sides, which are 
currently marketed to be used with non-full-size cribs, play yards, 
portable cribs, and play pens. The Commission invites written comments 
concerning the petition.

DATES: The Office of the Secretary must receive comments on the 
petition by October 13, 2015.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-2015-
0020, 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. The Commission does not accept 
comments submitted by electronic mail (email), except through 
www.regulations.gov. The Commission encourages you to submit electronic 
comments by using the Federal eRulemaking Portal, as described above.
    Written Submissions: Submit written submissions in the following 
way: mail/hand delivery/courier to: Office of the Secretary, Consumer 
Product Safety Commission, Room 820, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, 
MD 20814; telephone (301) 504-7923.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and docket number for this notice. All comments received may be posted 
without change, including any personal identifiers, contact 
information, or other personal information provided, to: https://www.regulations.gov. Do not submit confidential business information, 
trade secret information, or other sensitive or protected information 
that you do not want to be available to the public. If furnished at 
all, such information should be submitted in writing.
    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-2015-0020, into the ``Search'' box, and follow the 
prompts.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rocky Hammond, Office of the 
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East West Highway, 
Bethesda, MD 20814; telephone (301) 504-6833, email: rhammond@cpsc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 16, 2015, Keeping Babies Safe 
(referred to as ``KBS'' or ``petitioner''), submitted a petition to the 
Commission to initiate a rulemaking to ban supplemental mattresses for 
play yards with non-rigid sides, which are currently marketed to be 
used with non-full-size cribs, play yards, portable cribs, and play 
pens under the Commission's authority under section 8 of the Consumer 
Product Safety Act (``CPSA''), 15 U.S.C. 2057. KBS states that these 
supplemental mattresses should be deemed banned hazardous products 
because they present an unreasonable risk of injury and death to 
infants, and that no feasible consumer product safety standard would 
adequately protect infants from the unreasonable risk of injury and 
death associated with the product.\1\
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    \1\ KBS excludes from its request replacement mattresses offered 
for sale by manufacturers of play yards who offer mattresses as a 
replacement part for those mattresses that were originally included 
with the play yard.
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    In support, the petitioner asserts that KBS analyzed the death and 
injuries associated with supplemental mattresses, based on CPSC 
incident data. According to KBS, between 2000 and 2013, 15 incidents 
involving supplemental mattresses occurred in domestic settings and six 
incidents occurred in a child care setting. The petitioner states that 
all of the incidents involved a child being wedged between gaps created 
when a supplemental mattress was added to a play yard or portable crib. 
The petitioner additionally states that the data indicate that most of 
the supplemental mattresses involved in deaths exceeded 1\1/2\ inches 
in thickness.
    The petitioner also asserts that the current standard (ASTM F406-
13, Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Non-Full-Size Baby 
Cribs/Play Yards) does not adequately address the risk of injury posed 
by supplemental mattresses. KBS states that although ASTM F406-13 
requires each product to be sold with a mattress provided by the 
manufacturer with a total thickness not to exceed 1\1/2\ inches, and 
contain warnings never to add a mattress, supplemental mattresses 
continue to be marketed to consumers for use in portable cribs and play 
yards. According to the petitioner, modifying the existing language in 
the current ASTM standard is not adequate to educate consumers about 
the unreasonable risk of injury that these mattresses pose to 
consumers. KBS states that, because supplemental mattresses continue to 
be sold to consumers, the most effective way to address the risk of 
injury caused by supplemental mattresses is to ban the product so that 
consumers do not have access to the product.
    Interested parties may obtain a copy of the petition by writing or 
calling the Office of the Secretary, Consumer Product Safety 
Commission, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814; email: cpsc-os@cpsc.gov; telephone (301) 504-6833. The petition is also available 
at https://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. CPSC-2015-0020, 
Supporting and Related Materials.

    Dated: August 6, 2015.
Todd A. Stevenson,
 Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2015-19680 Filed 8-10-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6355-01-P