Consumer Product Safety Commission 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission or CPSC) has determined that there is an unreasonable risk of injury and death associated with entrapment and other hazards from adult portable bed rails (APBRs). CPSC has identified 284 fatal incidents related to entrapment by APBRs between January 2003 and December 2021. To address the risk, the Commission is promulgating a rule under the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) to require that APBRs meet the requirements of the existing voluntary standard for APBRs, with modifications. CPSC estimates that the final rule will provide up to $298 million per year in societal benefits, while the costs associated with the rule's requirements are expected to be approximately $2 million per year.

The Federal Energy Management Improvement Act Update transferred authority for regulating the marking of toy, look-alike, and imitation firearms from the Department of Commerce to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. On May 11, 2023, the Commission issued a direct final rule to adopt the Department of Commerce rule for the marking of toy, look-alike, and imitation firearms, with non- substantive and conforming changes. That document contained a typographical error. This document corrects that error.

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 a collection of information from manufacturers and importers of mattresses and mattress pads. The collection of information is set forth in the Standard for the Flammability of Mattresses and Mattress Pads and the Standard for the Flammability (Open Flame) of Mattress Sets. These regulations establish testing and recordkeeping requirements for manufacturers and importers subject to the standards. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) previously approved the collection of information under control number 3041-0014. OMB's most recent extension of approval will expire on August 31, 2023. CPSC will consider all comments received in response to this notice, before requesting an extension of approval of this collection of information from OMB.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission or CPSC) is providing an opportunity for interested parties to present oral comments on the supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPR) the Commission issued regarding a safety standard for portable generators. Any oral comments will become part of the rulemaking record.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has received a petition requesting that it initiate rulemaking to eliminate the footbrake requirement for certain sidewalk bicycles, which Commission regulations define as bicycles with a seat height of no more than 635 mm (25 inches), not including recumbent bicycles and in addition, seeks comments on the adequacy of requirements for bicycles in the Commission's rules, including electric bicycles. The Commission invites written comments concerning the petition.

The Federal Energy Management Improvement Act Update transferred the authority for regulating the marking of toy, look- alike, and imitation firearms from the Department of Commerce to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The Commission is issuing this direct final rule to adopt the Department of Commerce rule for the marking of toy, look-alike, and imitation firearms, with non- substantive and conforming changes.

In January 2014, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC or Commission) published a consumer product safety standard for bedside sleepers pursuant to section 104 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). The Commission's mandatory standard incorporated by reference the ASTM voluntary standard that was in effect for bedside sleepers at the time, with modifications to further reduce the risk of injury associated with bedside sleepers. The CPSIA sets forth a process for updating mandatory standards for durable infant or toddler products that are based on a voluntary standard, when a voluntary standards organization revises the standard. On February 6, 2023, ASTM notified CPSC that it had published a revised voluntary standard for bedside sleepers. This direct final rule updates the mandatory standard for bedside sleepers to incorporate by reference ASTM's 2023 version of the voluntary standard for bedside sleepers.

In November 2022, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission published a consumer product safety standard for clothing storage units (CSUs) to protect children from tip-over-related death or injury, with an effective date of May 24, 2023. In December 2022, the President signed into law the STURDY legislation, which requires CPSC to either develop and promulgate a new consumer product safety standard for CSUs that meets certain requirements specified in STURDY or determine that a voluntary standard exists that meets STURDY's requirements. If the Commission determines that a timely issued voluntary standard satisfies STURDY's criteria, then STURDY requires the Commission to promulgate a final consumer product safety standard that adopts the applicable performance requirements of the voluntary standard, to supersede any existing CSU rule. On April 19, 2023, the Commission determined that ASTM F2057-23, Standard Safety Specification for Clothing Storage Units, is a voluntary standard that meets the requirements of STURDY. In light of that determination, this direct final rule adopts the requirements of ASTM F2057-23 as required by STURDY. Because STURDY provides that adoption of the ASTM standard will supersede CPSC's current rule, the current CSU rule, which was added in a final rule published on November 25, 2022, is stayed and will not take effect.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission or CPSC) has preliminarily determined that there is an unreasonable risk of injury and death associated with acute carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning from portable generators. To address this hazard, the Commission proposes a rule under the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) that limits CO emissions from portable generators and requires generators to shut off when specific emissions levels are reached. The Commission is providing an opportunity for interested parties to present comments on this supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPR).

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission or CPSC) is announcing the availability of proposed draft guidance for CPSC's staff on the application of the Value of Statistical Life in the agency's cost-benefit analyses, and in particular for its regulatory analyses. CPSC seeks comments on the proposed draft guidance.

In December 2010, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC or Commission) published a consumer product safety standard for non-full-size baby cribs (NFS cribs) pursuant to section 104 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). The Commission's mandatory standard incorporated by reference the ASTM voluntary standard that was in effect for NFS cribs at the time, with modifications to make the standard more stringent, to further reduce the risk of injury associated with NFS cribs, and to exclude sections of the ASTM voluntary standard inapplicable to NFS cribs. The CPSIA sets forth a process for updating mandatory standards for durable infant or toddler products that are based on a voluntary standard, when a voluntary standards organization revises the standard. In November 2022, ASTM published a revised voluntary standard for NFS cribs, and it notified the Commission of this revised standard in December 2022. This direct final rule updates the mandatory standard for NFS cribs to incorporate by reference ASTM's 2022 version of the voluntary standard for NFS cribs.

In this document, the Commission publishes its semiannual regulatory flexibility agenda. In addition, this document includes an agenda of regulations that the Commission expects to develop or review during the next year. This document meets the requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act and Executive Order 12866.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC or Commission) is issuing this supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (Supplemental NPR) to update its regulation interpreting section 6(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) (6(b) Regulation). On February 26, 2014, the Commission issued a notice of proposed rulemaking in this matter (2014 NPR). The 2014 NPR proposed to modernize the 6(b) Regulation to account for the significant improvements in information technology that have occurred since the regulation's initial adoption in 1983, and streamline the 6(b) Regulation to align more closely with the text of section 6(b), including with respect to protecting information filed by manufacturers, distributors, and retailers in accordance with the requirements of section 15(b) of the CPSA. This Supplemental NPR responds to public comments on the 2014 NPR and proposes additional changes to the 6(b) Regulation to further modernize and align the regulation with the statute.

As required by Reese's Law, to eliminate or adequately reduce the risk of injury from ingestion of button cell or coin batteries by children 6 years old and younger, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC or Commission) proposes a rule to establish performance requirements for battery compartments on consumer products that contain, or are designed to use, one or more button cell or coin batteries. The proposed rule also requires warning labels on the packaging of button cell or coin batteries, as well as on the packaging, battery compartments, and accompanying instructions and manuals of consumer products containing button cell or coin batteries. In addition to implementing Reese's Law, the proposed rule requires manufacturers and importers of button cell or coin batteries, and consumer products containing such batteries, to notify consumers of performance and technical data related to the safety of such batteries at the point of sale, both online and in stores. If the rule is finalized, consumer products subject to the rule must be tested and certified as compliant with the rule.

The Commission publishes in the Federal Register any settlement that it provisionally accepts under the Consumer Product Safety Act. Published below is a provisionally accepted Settlement Agreement with Peloton Interactive, Inc. containing a civil penalty in the amount of $19,065,000, subject to the terms and conditions of the Settlement Agreement. The Commission voted unanimously (4-0) to provisionally accept the proposed Settlement Agreement and Order pertaining to Peloton Interactive, Inc.