Agency Information Collection Activities; Extension of Collection; Comment Request; Testing and Recordkeeping Requirements for Carpets and Rugs, 99231-99232 [2024-28898]

Agencies

• Consumer Product Safety Commission

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 237 (Tuesday, December 10, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 99231-99232]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-28898]


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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

[Docket No. CPSC-2012-0030]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Extension of 
Collection; Comment Request; Testing and Recordkeeping Requirements for 
Carpets and Rugs

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.

ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC or Commission) requests 
comments on a proposed extension of approval of information collection 
requirements for manufacturers and importers of carpets and rugs in the 
Standard for the Surface Flammability of Carpets and Rugs and the 
Standard for the Surface Flammability of Small Carpets and Rugs, issued 
under the Flammable Fabrics Act (FFA). The Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) previously approved the collection of information under 
control number 3041-0017. OMB's most recent extension of approval will 
expire on March 31, 2025. The Commission will consider all comments 
received in response to this notice before requesting an extension of 
this collection of information from OMB.

DATES: Submit comments on the collection of information by February 10, 
2025.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-2012-
0030, within 60 days of publication of this notice 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. 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. The Commission typically does not accept 
comments submitted by email, except as described below.
    Mail/hand delivery/courier/written submissions: CPSC encourages you 
to submit electronic comments by using the Federal eRulemaking Portal. 
You may, however, submit comments by mail/hand delivery/courier to: 
Office of the Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission, 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. CPSC may post all comments without 
change, including any personal identifiers, contact information, or 
other personal information provided, to: https://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: https://www.regulations.gov, insert Docket 
Number CPSC-2012-0030 into the ``Search'' box, and follow the prompts.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CPSC seeks to renew the following currently 
approved collection of information:
    Title: Standard for the Flammability of Carpets and Rugs (FF-1-70), 
16 CFR 1630, and Standard for the Flammability of Small Carpets and 
Rugs (FF 2-70), 16 CFR 1631.
    OMB Number: 3041-0017.
    Type of Review: Renewal of collection.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Affected Public: Manufacturers and importers of carpets and rugs.
    General Description of Collection: Under the FFA, the Standard for 
the Surface Flammability of Carpets and Rugs (16 CFR part 1630) and the 
Standard for the Surface Flammability of Small Carpets and Rugs (16 CFR 
part 1631) establish requirements to reduce the flammability of carpets 
and rugs. 15 U.S.C. 1191-1204. The standards' provisions include 
requirements for testing and recordkeeping for manufacturers and 
importers who furnish guaranties subject to the carpet and rug 
flammability standards. The Consumer Product Safety Improvement

[[Page 99232]]

Act of 2008 (CPSIA) established product certification requirements for 
applicable consumer product safety standards and rules. 15 U.S.C. 2063. 
Manufacturers and importers of carpets and rugs intended for general 
use must certify in a general conformity certificate (GCC) that the 
product complies with the applicable standards based on testing or a 
reasonable testing program. 16 CFR part 1110. Manufacturers and 
importers of children's carpets and rugs must certify in a children's 
product certificate (CPC) that the product complies with the applicable 
standards based on testing by a CPSC accredited third-party conformity 
assessment body. Id. Under the FFA, a manufacturer or importer can 
issue a guaranty of compliance, based on reasonable and representative 
testing, to retailers, distributors, or other manufacturers to declare 
that a product conforms with the applicable flammability standards. 15 
U.S.C. 1197. 16 CFR 1608.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: Approximately 120 manufacturers 
and importers of carpets and rugs are subject to the information 
collection requirements under the FFA. An estimated 100 manufacturers 
and importers of carpets and rugs issue a GCC or a CPC. In addition, an 
estimated 20 such firms elect to issue a guaranty of compliance with 
the FFA. Staff estimates that the average firm issuing a GCC, CPC, or 
guaranty under the FFA is required to conduct, on average, 100 tests 
per year, although the actual number of tests required by a given firm 
may vary, depending upon the number of carpet styles and the annual 
production volume.
    Estimated Time per Response: For firms issuing a GCC or CPC, staff 
estimates that the time to conduct each test is two hours, including 
the time required to establish and maintain the test records. For firms 
issuing a guaranty of compliance, staff estimates that the time to 
conduct each test is 2.5 hours, including the time required to 
establish and maintain the test records.
    Total Estimated Annual Burden: The total estimated annualized 
burden to respondents is 25,000 hours (20,000 hours for firms that 
issue a GCC/CPC plus 5,000 hours for firms that issue a guaranty of 
compliance).
    Total Estimated Annual Cost to Respondents: The total annualized 
costs to all respondents for the hour burden for the collection of 
information is estimated to be as high as $1,840,250, using a mean 
hourly employer cost-per-hour-worked of $73.61 (Bureau of Labor 
Statistics: Total compensation rates for private industry workers in 
management, professional, and related occupations, Table 4, June 2024, 
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/ecec_09102024.pdf) (25,000 
hours x $73.61).

Request for Comments

    The Commission solicits written comments from all interested 
persons about the proposed collection of information. The Commission 
specifically solicits information relevant to the following topics:
     whether the collection of information described above is 
necessary for the proper performance of the Commission'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; and
     whether the burden imposed by the collection of 
information could be minimized by use of automated, electronic or other 
technological collection techniques, or other forms of information 
technology.

Alberta E. Mills,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2024-28898 Filed 12-9-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P