Prohibition of Children's Toys and Child Care Articles Containing Specified Phthalates: Revision of Determinations Regarding Certain Plastics, 3583-3585 [2018-01451]
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Dated: January 12, 2018.
Richard E. Ashooh,
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[FR Doc. 2018–01332 Filed 1–25–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–33–P
CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY
COMMISSION
[Docket No. CPSC–2016–0017]
16 CFR Part 1308
Prohibition of Children’s Toys and
Child Care Articles Containing
Specified Phthalates: Revision of
Determinations Regarding Certain
Plastics
Consumer Product Safety
Commission.
ACTION: Direct final rule.
AGENCY:
On August 30, 2017, the
Commission issued a final rule
determining that certain plastics and
additives would not contain the
phthalates that the Consumer Product
Safety Improvement Act of 2008
(CPSIA) prohibits from use in children’s
toys and child care articles.
Subsequently, the Commission issued a
final rule that removes some phthalates
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with RULES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:29 Jan 25, 2018
Jkt 244001
*
*
*
from the statutory prohibition and adds
others. This direct final rule revises the
determinations rule to cover the
phthalates that the phthalates final rule
prohibits from use in children’s toys
and child care articles.
DATES: The rule is effective on April 25,
2018, unless we receive significant
adverse comment by February 26, 2018.
If we receive timely significant adverse
comment, we will publish notification
in the Federal Register, withdrawing
this direct final rule before its effective
date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments,
identified by Docket No. CPSC–2016–
0017, by any of the following methods:
Submit electronic comments in the
following way:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
To ensure timely processing of
comments, the Commission is no longer
accepting comments submitted by
electronic mail (email), except through
www.regulations.gov.
Submit written submissions in the
following way:
Mail/Hand delivery/Courier (for
paper, disk, or CD–ROM submissions),
preferably in five copies, to: Office of the
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety
PO 00000
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*
*
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 document. 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
electronically. Such information should
be submitted in writing.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
information, contact: John W. Boja, Lead
Compliance Officer, Office of
Compliance and Field Operations,
Consumer Product Safety Commission,
4330 East-West Highway, Bethesda, MD
20814–4408; telephone: 301–504–7300;
email: jboja@cpsc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Background
Statutory Prohibitions
Section 108 of the CPSIA established
permanent and interim prohibitions that
prohibited the use of certain phthalates
in children’s toys and child care
articles. 15 U.S.C. 2057c(a) and (b). The
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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 18 / Friday, January 26, 2018 / Rules and Regulations
CPSIA also directed the Commission to
issue a rule deciding whether to make
the interim prohibitions permanent and
whether to prohibit other children’s
products containing any phthalates. Id.
2057c(b)(3). In the following discussion,
we refer to rulemaking under section
108 of the CPSIA as the phthalates rule
or rulemaking.
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with RULES
Third Party Testing and Burden
Reduction
Section 14(a) of the CPSA requires
that products subject to a consumer
product safety rule under the CPSA, or
to a similar rule, ban, standard, or
regulation under any other act enforced
by the Commission, be certified as
complying with all applicable CPSC
requirements. 15 U.S.C. 2063(a). For
children’s products, certification must
be based on testing conducted by a
CPSC-accepted third party conformity
assessment body. Id. Public Law 112–28
(August 12, 2011) amended the CPSA
and directed the CPSC to seek comment
on ‘‘opportunities to reduce the cost of
third party testing requirements
consistent with assuring compliance
with any applicable consumer product
safety rule, ban, standard, or
regulation.’’ Public Law 112–28 also
authorized the Commission to issue new
or revised third party testing regulations
if the Commission determines ‘‘that
such regulations will reduce third party
testing costs consistent with assuring
compliance with the applicable
consumer product safety rules, bans,
standards, and regulations.’’ 15 U.S.C.
2063(d)(3)(B).
The Commission may issue
determinations that specific materials
do not contain prohibited substances
such as lead or phthalates. Based on
such a determination, the specified
material would not require third party
testing for compliance with the
applicable mandatory prohibition.
The determinations only relieve the
manufacturer’s obligation to have the
specific materials tested by a CPSCaccepted third party conformity
assessment body. Children’s products
must still comply with the applicable
substantive requirements, regardless of
any relief from third party testing
requirements. Additionally, the
manufacturer must issue a certificate
stating that the product complies with
CPSC requirements.
Determinations Rule
On August 30, 2017, the Commission
published a final rule determining that
specified plastics and additives would
not contain materials subject to the
prohibition of children’s toys and child
care articles containing specified
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:29 Jan 25, 2018
Jkt 244001
phthalates. 82 FR 41163. The rule
created a new part 1308 for ‘‘Prohibition
of Children’s Toys and Child Care
Articles Containing Specified
Phthalates: Determinations Regarding
Certain Plastics.’’ The rule determined
that the specified plastics and
accompanying additives do not contain
the statutorily prohibited phthalates
(DEHP, DBP, BBP, DINP, DIDP, DnOP)
in concentrations above 0.1 percent, and
thus, are not required to be third party
tested to assure compliance with section
108 of the CPSIA. At the time the
Commission issued the determinations
rule, the Commission had issued a
proposed rule in the phthalates
rulemaking, but had not yet
promulgated a final rule in that
proceeding. The preambles of both the
NPR and final rule for the
determinations noted that the research
providing the basis for the
determinations covering the six
phthalates subject to the statutory
prohibition, applied as well to the
additional four phthalates the
Commission had proposed prohibiting
in children’s toys and child care articles
in the phthalates NPR. In the preamble
to the final determinations rule, the
Commission indicated that when the
Commission published the final
phthalates rule, the Commission would
amend the determinations rule to reflect
the phthalates regulated in the
phthalates final rule. 82 FR 41163, at
41164.
Phthalates Final Rule
On October 27, 2017, the Commission
published the final phthalates rule in
the Federal Register. 82 FR 49938. The
phthalates rule, which is codified at 16
CFR part 1307, makes permanent the
interim statutory prohibition on
diisononyl phthalate (DINP) and
expands that restriction to prohibit all
children’s toys and child care articles
that contain concentrations of more than
0.1 percent of DINP. The phthalates rule
also lifts the interim prohibitions on
children’s toys that can be placed in a
child’s mouth and child care articles
that contain concentrations of more than
0.1 percent of di-n-octyl phthalate
(DNOP) or diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP).
Additionally, the phthalates rule also
prohibits children’s toys and child care
articles that contain concentrations of
more than 0.1 percent of diisobutyl
phthalate (DIBP), di-n-pentyl phthalate
(DPENP), di-n-hexyl phthalate (DHEXP),
and dicyclohexly phthalate (DCHP). The
permanent prohibitions on children’s
toys and child care articles that contain
concentrations of more than 0.1 percent
on the use of di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate
(DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), and
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Sfmt 4700
benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP) in
children’s toys and child care articles in
section 108 of the CPSIA are unchanged
by the phthalate rule. The phthalates
rule takes effect on April 25, 2018.
B. Revisions to 16 CFR Part 1308
This direct final rule amends 16 CFR
1308.1 to cover the phthalates listed in
the phthalates final rule discussed in
section A of the preamble. This action
will bring the determinations into
alignment with the phthalates final rule
so that firms will be able to use the
determinations to reduce testing
burdens related to the final phthalates
rule as they have with the statutory
prohibitions. The amendment does not
make any other changes to the
determinations rule.
C. Direct Final Rule Process
The Commission is issuing this rule
as a direct final rule. The
Administrative Procedure Act (APA)
generally requires notice and comment
rulemaking. 5 U.S.C. 553. The direct
final rule process is an appropriate way
to satisfy this requirement in certain
circumstances. In Recommendation 95–
4, the Administrative Conference of the
United States (ACUS) endorsed direct
final rulemaking as an appropriate
procedure to expedite promulgation of
rules that are noncontroversial and that
are not expected to generate significant
adverse comment. See 60 FR 43108
(August 18, 1995). The Commission
concludes that a direct final rule is
appropriate here. The Commission is
taking the limited action of amending
the determinations rule at 16 CFR part
1308 to reflect the phthalates that are
restricted under the Commission’s
phthalates rule. The previous
determinations rule explained that the
reports supporting the determinations
regarding the phthalates that are
covered by the statutory prohibitions in
section 108 of the CPSIA also apply to
the phthalates covered by the
Commission’s phthalates rule. We also
note that this determination rule is
separate from the Commission’s
phthalates rulemaking which was
concluded with the Commission’s
issuance of a final rule on October 27,
2017. Because this document merely
updates the regulated phthalates in the
determinations rule, the Commission
believes this rulemaking is a noncontroversial matter which is not likely
to generate comments. Therefore, the
Commission concludes that the direct
final rule process is appropriate.
Unless we receive a significant
adverse comment within 30 days, the
rule will take effect on April 25, 2018.
In accordance with ACUS’s
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recommendation, the Commission
considers a significant adverse comment
to be one where the commenter explains
why revising the list of regulated
phthalates would be inappropriate. We
note that comments on either the
underlying determinations or phthalates
final rules are not considered significant
adverse comments because the only
change this rule makes is to revise the
list of covered phthalates.
Should the Commission receive
significant adverse comment, the
Commission would withdraw this direct
final rule. Depending on the comments
and other circumstances, the
Commission may then incorporate the
adverse comment into a subsequent
direct final rule or publish a notice of
proposed rulemaking, providing an
opportunity for public comment.
D. Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)
generally requires that agencies review
proposed and final rules for their
potential economic impact on small
entities, including small businesses, and
prepare regulatory flexibility analyses. 5
U.S.C. 603 and 604. CPSC conducted a
final regulatory flexibility analysis
(FRFA) for the determinations rule that
the Commission issued in August 2017.
The FRFA found that ‘‘the impact of the
determinations on small businesses
would be to reduce the burden of third
party testing for phthalate content and
would be expected to be entirely
beneficial.’’ 82 FR 41171. As explained
above, this direct final rule takes the
limited action of revising the list of
covered phthalates to bring the
determinations rule into line with the
phthalates rule so that companies will
be able to use the determinations to
reduce third party testing under the
phthalates rule as they have under the
statutory prohibitions.
E. Effective Date
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List of Subjects in 16 CFR Part 1308
Business and industry, Consumer
protection, Imports, Infants and
children, Product testing and
certification, Toys.
Authority: Sec. 3, Pub. L. 110–314, 122
Stat. 3016; 15 U.S.C. 2063(d)(3)(B).
■
2. Revise § 1308.1 to read as follows:
§ 1308.1 Prohibited children’s toys and
child care articles containing specified
phthalates and testing requirements.
Section 108(a) of the Consumer
Product Safety Improvement Act of
2008 (CPSIA) permanently prohibits any
children’s toy or child care article that
contains concentrations of more than
0.1 percent of di-(2-ethylhexl) phthalate
(DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), or
benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP). In
accordance with section 108(b)(3) of the
CPSIA, 16 CFR part 1307 prohibits any
children’s toy or child care article that
contains concentrations of more than
0.1 percent of diisononyl phthalate
(DINP), diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP), din-pentyl phthalate (DPENP), di-n-hexyl
phthalate (DHEXP), or dicyclohexly
phthalate (DCHP) is prohibited.
Materials used in children’s toys and
child care articles subject to section
108(a) of the CPSIA and 16 CFR part
1307 must comply with the third party
testing requirements of section 14(a)(2)
of the Consumer Product Safety Act
(CPSA), unless listed in § 1308.2.
Alberta E. Mills,
Acting Secretary, U.S. Consumer Product
Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2018–01451 Filed 1–25–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355–01–P
Jkt 244001
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Veterans’ Employment and Training
Service
RIN 1293–AA21
Honoring Investments in Recruiting
and Employing American Military
Veterans (HIRE Vets) Medallion
Program; Agency Information
Collection Activities; OMB Approvals
Veterans’ Employment and
Training Service, Labor.
ACTION: OMB approval of information
collections under Paperwork Reduction
Act.
This document announces
that the Office of Management and
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00023
Fmt 4700
Budget (OMB) has approved the
information collections associated with
the Honoring Investments in Recruiting
and Employing American Military
Veterans (HIRE Vets) Medallion
Program rule under the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA).
DATES: On January 9, 2018, OMB
approved the information collection
request (ICR) the Veterans’ Employment
and Training Service (VETS) submitted
to implement the HIRE Vets Medallion
Program Rule published on November
13, 2017 (82 FR 52186) and an
associated program demonstration for
2018. Employers seeking recognition
under the HIRE Vets Medallion Program
Demonstration may submit applications
once the Program Demonstration begins
on or about January 31, 2018.
ADDRESSES: A copy of this ICR with
applicable supporting documentation,
including a description of the likely
respondents, proposed frequency of
response, and estimated total burden,
may be obtained free of charge by
contacting Randall Smith, Veterans’
Employment and Training Service, U.S.
Department of Labor, Room S–1325, 200
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington,
DC 20210, email: HIREVETS@dol.gov,
telephone: (202) 693–4700 or TTY (877)
889–5627 (these are not toll-free
numbers).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Randall Smith, Veterans’ Employment
and Training Service, U.S. Department
of Labor, Room S–1325, 200
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington,
DC 20210, email: HIREVETS@dol.gov,
telephone: (202) 693–4700 or TTY (877)
889–5627 (these are not toll-free
numbers).
The PRA,
44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., and its attendant
regulations, 5 CFR part 1320, require a
Federal agency to consider the impact of
paperwork and other information
collection burdens imposed on the
public and to solicit public comments
on the information collections. The PRA
also provides that an agency may not
collect or sponsor the collection of
information unless it displays a
currently valid OMB control number.
See 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3)(vi). OMB has
approved the HIRE Vets Medallion
Program information collections under
control number 1293–0015.
In accordance with the PRA, VETS
solicited comments on the HIRE Vets
Medallion Program information
collections as they were proposed in a
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
published August 18, 2017 (82 FR
39371). See 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2). The
Department also submitted a
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
AGENCY:
Accordingly, the Commission amends
16 CFR part 1308 as follows:
17:29 Jan 25, 2018
1. The authority citation for part 1308
continues to read as follows:
■
20 CFR Part 1011
As discussed in section C of this
preamble, this is a direct final rule.
Unless we receive a significant adverse
comment within 30 days, the rule will
take effect on April 25, 2018.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
PART 1308—PROHIBITION OF
CHILDREN’S TOYS AND CHILD CARE
ARTICLES CONTAINING SPECIFIED
PHTHALATES: DETERMINATIONS
REGARDING CERTAIN PLASTICS
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 18 (Friday, January 26, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 3583-3585]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-01451]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
[Docket No. CPSC-2016-0017]
16 CFR Part 1308
Prohibition of Children's Toys and Child Care Articles Containing
Specified Phthalates: Revision of Determinations Regarding Certain
Plastics
AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.
ACTION: Direct final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: On August 30, 2017, the Commission issued a final rule
determining that certain plastics and additives would not contain the
phthalates that the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008
(CPSIA) prohibits from use in children's toys and child care articles.
Subsequently, the Commission issued a final rule that removes some
phthalates from the statutory prohibition and adds others. This direct
final rule revises the determinations rule to cover the phthalates that
the phthalates final rule prohibits from use in children's toys and
child care articles.
DATES: The rule is effective on April 25, 2018, unless we receive
significant adverse comment by February 26, 2018. If we receive timely
significant adverse comment, we will publish notification in the
Federal Register, withdrawing this direct final rule before its
effective date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-2016-
0017, by any of the following methods:
Submit electronic comments in the following way:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments. To ensure timely processing of
comments, the Commission is no longer accepting comments submitted by
electronic mail (email), except through www.regulations.gov.
Submit written submissions in the following way:
Mail/Hand delivery/Courier (for paper, disk, or CD-ROM
submissions), preferably in five copies, 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 document. 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
electronically. Such information should be submitted in writing.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information, contact: John W.
Boja, Lead Compliance Officer, Office of Compliance and Field
Operations, Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East-West Highway,
Bethesda, MD 20814-4408; telephone: 301-504-7300; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Background
Statutory Prohibitions
Section 108 of the CPSIA established permanent and interim
prohibitions that prohibited the use of certain phthalates in
children's toys and child care articles. 15 U.S.C. 2057c(a) and (b).
The
[[Page 3584]]
CPSIA also directed the Commission to issue a rule deciding whether to
make the interim prohibitions permanent and whether to prohibit other
children's products containing any phthalates. Id. 2057c(b)(3). In the
following discussion, we refer to rulemaking under section 108 of the
CPSIA as the phthalates rule or rulemaking.
Third Party Testing and Burden Reduction
Section 14(a) of the CPSA requires that products subject to a
consumer product safety rule under the CPSA, or to a similar rule, ban,
standard, or regulation under any other act enforced by the Commission,
be certified as complying with all applicable CPSC requirements. 15
U.S.C. 2063(a). For children's products, certification must be based on
testing conducted by a CPSC-accepted third party conformity assessment
body. Id. Public Law 112-28 (August 12, 2011) amended the CPSA and
directed the CPSC to seek comment on ``opportunities to reduce the cost
of third party testing requirements consistent with assuring compliance
with any applicable consumer product safety rule, ban, standard, or
regulation.'' Public Law 112-28 also authorized the Commission to issue
new or revised third party testing regulations if the Commission
determines ``that such regulations will reduce third party testing
costs consistent with assuring compliance with the applicable consumer
product safety rules, bans, standards, and regulations.'' 15 U.S.C.
2063(d)(3)(B).
The Commission may issue determinations that specific materials do
not contain prohibited substances such as lead or phthalates. Based on
such a determination, the specified material would not require third
party testing for compliance with the applicable mandatory prohibition.
The determinations only relieve the manufacturer's obligation to
have the specific materials tested by a CPSC-accepted third party
conformity assessment body. Children's products must still comply with
the applicable substantive requirements, regardless of any relief from
third party testing requirements. Additionally, the manufacturer must
issue a certificate stating that the product complies with CPSC
requirements.
Determinations Rule
On August 30, 2017, the Commission published a final rule
determining that specified plastics and additives would not contain
materials subject to the prohibition of children's toys and child care
articles containing specified phthalates. 82 FR 41163. The rule created
a new part 1308 for ``Prohibition of Children's Toys and Child Care
Articles Containing Specified Phthalates: Determinations Regarding
Certain Plastics.'' The rule determined that the specified plastics and
accompanying additives do not contain the statutorily prohibited
phthalates (DEHP, DBP, BBP, DINP, DIDP, DnOP) in concentrations above
0.1 percent, and thus, are not required to be third party tested to
assure compliance with section 108 of the CPSIA. At the time the
Commission issued the determinations rule, the Commission had issued a
proposed rule in the phthalates rulemaking, but had not yet promulgated
a final rule in that proceeding. The preambles of both the NPR and
final rule for the determinations noted that the research providing the
basis for the determinations covering the six phthalates subject to the
statutory prohibition, applied as well to the additional four
phthalates the Commission had proposed prohibiting in children's toys
and child care articles in the phthalates NPR. In the preamble to the
final determinations rule, the Commission indicated that when the
Commission published the final phthalates rule, the Commission would
amend the determinations rule to reflect the phthalates regulated in
the phthalates final rule. 82 FR 41163, at 41164.
Phthalates Final Rule
On October 27, 2017, the Commission published the final phthalates
rule in the Federal Register. 82 FR 49938. The phthalates rule, which
is codified at 16 CFR part 1307, makes permanent the interim statutory
prohibition on diisononyl phthalate (DINP) and expands that restriction
to prohibit all children's toys and child care articles that contain
concentrations of more than 0.1 percent of DINP. The phthalates rule
also lifts the interim prohibitions on children's toys that can be
placed in a child's mouth and child care articles that contain
concentrations of more than 0.1 percent of di-n-octyl phthalate (DNOP)
or diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP). Additionally, the phthalates rule also
prohibits children's toys and child care articles that contain
concentrations of more than 0.1 percent of diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP),
di-n-pentyl phthalate (DPENP), di-n-hexyl phthalate (DHEXP), and
dicyclohexly phthalate (DCHP). The permanent prohibitions on children's
toys and child care articles that contain concentrations of more than
0.1 percent on the use of di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl
phthalate (DBP), and benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP) in children's toys
and child care articles in section 108 of the CPSIA are unchanged by
the phthalate rule. The phthalates rule takes effect on April 25, 2018.
B. Revisions to 16 CFR Part 1308
This direct final rule amends 16 CFR 1308.1 to cover the phthalates
listed in the phthalates final rule discussed in section A of the
preamble. This action will bring the determinations into alignment with
the phthalates final rule so that firms will be able to use the
determinations to reduce testing burdens related to the final
phthalates rule as they have with the statutory prohibitions. The
amendment does not make any other changes to the determinations rule.
C. Direct Final Rule Process
The Commission is issuing this rule as a direct final rule. The
Administrative Procedure Act (APA) generally requires notice and
comment rulemaking. 5 U.S.C. 553. The direct final rule process is an
appropriate way to satisfy this requirement in certain circumstances.
In Recommendation 95-4, the Administrative Conference of the United
States (ACUS) endorsed direct final rulemaking as an appropriate
procedure to expedite promulgation of rules that are noncontroversial
and that are not expected to generate significant adverse comment. See
60 FR 43108 (August 18, 1995). The Commission concludes that a direct
final rule is appropriate here. The Commission is taking the limited
action of amending the determinations rule at 16 CFR part 1308 to
reflect the phthalates that are restricted under the Commission's
phthalates rule. The previous determinations rule explained that the
reports supporting the determinations regarding the phthalates that are
covered by the statutory prohibitions in section 108 of the CPSIA also
apply to the phthalates covered by the Commission's phthalates rule. We
also note that this determination rule is separate from the
Commission's phthalates rulemaking which was concluded with the
Commission's issuance of a final rule on October 27, 2017. Because this
document merely updates the regulated phthalates in the determinations
rule, the Commission believes this rulemaking is a non-controversial
matter which is not likely to generate comments. Therefore, the
Commission concludes that the direct final rule process is appropriate.
Unless we receive a significant adverse comment within 30 days, the
rule will take effect on April 25, 2018. In accordance with ACUS's
[[Page 3585]]
recommendation, the Commission considers a significant adverse comment
to be one where the commenter explains why revising the list of
regulated phthalates would be inappropriate. We note that comments on
either the underlying determinations or phthalates final rules are not
considered significant adverse comments because the only change this
rule makes is to revise the list of covered phthalates.
Should the Commission receive significant adverse comment, the
Commission would withdraw this direct final rule. Depending on the
comments and other circumstances, the Commission may then incorporate
the adverse comment into a subsequent direct final rule or publish a
notice of proposed rulemaking, providing an opportunity for public
comment.
D. Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) generally requires that
agencies review proposed and final rules for their potential economic
impact on small entities, including small businesses, and prepare
regulatory flexibility analyses. 5 U.S.C. 603 and 604. CPSC conducted a
final regulatory flexibility analysis (FRFA) for the determinations
rule that the Commission issued in August 2017. The FRFA found that
``the impact of the determinations on small businesses would be to
reduce the burden of third party testing for phthalate content and
would be expected to be entirely beneficial.'' 82 FR 41171. As
explained above, this direct final rule takes the limited action of
revising the list of covered phthalates to bring the determinations
rule into line with the phthalates rule so that companies will be able
to use the determinations to reduce third party testing under the
phthalates rule as they have under the statutory prohibitions.
E. Effective Date
As discussed in section C of this preamble, this is a direct final
rule. Unless we receive a significant adverse comment within 30 days,
the rule will take effect on April 25, 2018.
List of Subjects in 16 CFR Part 1308
Business and industry, Consumer protection, Imports, Infants and
children, Product testing and certification, Toys.
Accordingly, the Commission amends 16 CFR part 1308 as follows:
PART 1308--PROHIBITION OF CHILDREN'S TOYS AND CHILD CARE ARTICLES
CONTAINING SPECIFIED PHTHALATES: DETERMINATIONS REGARDING CERTAIN
PLASTICS
0
1. The authority citation for part 1308 continues to read as follows:
Authority: Sec. 3, Pub. L. 110-314, 122 Stat. 3016; 15 U.S.C.
2063(d)(3)(B).
0
2. Revise Sec. 1308.1 to read as follows:
Sec. 1308.1 Prohibited children's toys and child care articles
containing specified phthalates and testing requirements.
Section 108(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of
2008 (CPSIA) permanently prohibits any children's toy or child care
article that contains concentrations of more than 0.1 percent of di-(2-
ethylhexl) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), or benzyl butyl
phthalate (BBP). In accordance with section 108(b)(3) of the CPSIA, 16
CFR part 1307 prohibits any children's toy or child care article that
contains concentrations of more than 0.1 percent of diisononyl
phthalate (DINP), diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP), di-n-pentyl phthalate
(DPENP), di-n-hexyl phthalate (DHEXP), or dicyclohexly phthalate (DCHP)
is prohibited. Materials used in children's toys and child care
articles subject to section 108(a) of the CPSIA and 16 CFR part 1307
must comply with the third party testing requirements of section
14(a)(2) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), unless listed in
Sec. 1308.2.
Alberta E. Mills,
Acting Secretary, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2018-01451 Filed 1-25-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P
