Consumer Product Safety Commission – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Pursuant to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is issuing this final rule establishing a safety standard for booster seats. The Commission is also amending its regulations regarding third party conformity assessment bodies to include the safety standard for booster seats in the list of notices of requirements (NORs).

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is issuing a final rule determining that certain untreated and unfinished engineered wood products (EWPs), specifically, particleboard, hardwood plywood, and medium-density fiberboard, made from virgin wood or pre-consumer wood waste do not contain lead, the ASTM F963 elements, or specified phthalates that exceed the limits set forth under the CPSC's statutes for children's products, children's toys, and child care articles. Based on these determinations, the specified EWPs would not be required to have third party testing for compliance with the requirements for lead, ASTM F963 elements, or phthalates for children's products, children's toys, and child care articles.

In a final rule published on January 19, 2017, a number of federal departments and agencies revised to the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (often referred to as the ``Common Rule''), which each department and agency adopted into regulations in its part of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) adopted the same changes in a final rule published on September 18, 2017. The revised Common Rule was scheduled to become effective on January 19, 2018, with a general compliance date of the same date. By an interim final rule issued on January 17, 2018 and published in the Federal Register on January 22, 2018, federal departments and agencies delayed the effective date and the general compliance date for the revised Common Rule for a 6-month period, until July 19, 2018. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published an interim final rule adopting the same regulatory changes on January 26, 2018. The revised Common Rule, including technical amendments made by the January 22, 2018 interim final rule, is referred to here as the ``2018 Requirements.'' On April 20, 2018, the federal departments and agencies listed here published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) proposing and seeking comments as to whether the general compliance date for the 2018 Requirements should be delayed for an additional 6-month period. The NPRM also proposed and sought comments on whether to allow regulated entities to implement certain burden-reducing provisions of the 2018 Requirements in specified circumstances during such continued delay period. Through this final rule, we are adopting the proposals described in the April 20, 2018 NPRM. This rule delays the general compliance date for the 2018 Requirements for an additional 6-month period, until January 21, 2019. As a result of this delay, regulated entities will be required, with an exception, to continue to comply with the requirements of the pre-2018 version of the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (the ``pre-2018 Requirements'') until January 21, 2019. The one exception to this general rule is that institutions will be permitted (but not required) to implement, for certain research, three burden-reducing provisions of the 2018 Requirements during the delay period (July 19, 2018, through January 20, 2019). Those three provisions are: The revised definition of ``research,'' which deems certain activities not to be research covered by the Common Rule; the elimination of the requirement for annual continuing review with respect to certain categories of research; and the elimination of the requirement that institutional review boards (IRBs) review grant applications or other funding proposals related to the research. Institutions taking advantage of the three-burden reducing provisions must comply with all other pre-2018 Requirements during the delay period. The three burden-reducing provisions of the 2018 Requirements can only be implemented during the delay period with respect to studies initiated prior to January 21, 2019 that will transition to compliance with the revised Common Rule. Any study that implements these three burden-reducing provisions during the delay period must, beginning on January 21, 2019, comply with all of the 2018 Requirements for the balance of the study's duration.

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) directs the Commission to issue standards for durable infant or toddler products. To comply with section 104 of the CPSIA, CPSC is issuing a safety standard for high chairs. This rule incorporates by reference ASTM F404-18, Standard Consumer Safety Specification for High Chairs (ASTM F404-18). In addition, this rule amends the regulations regarding third party conformity assessment bodies to include the safety standard for high chairs in the list of Notices of Requirements (NORs).

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) received a resubmitted petition from the National Floor Safety Institute (petitioner or NFSI), requesting that the agency require manufacturers of floor coverings and coatings to label their products and provide point of purchase information regarding slip-resistance, using the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) B101.5-2014 Standard Guide for Uniform Labeling Method for Identifying the Dynamic Coefficient of Friction (Traction) of Floor Coverings, Floor Coverings with Coatings, and Treated Floor Coverings (ANSI B101.5). The Commission invites written comments concerning this petition.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission or CPSC) published a notice of availability (NOA) in the Federal Register, announcing the availability of a draft document titled, ``Guidelines for Determining Age Appropriateness of Toys,'' on March 27, 2018. The Commission invited the public to submit comments on the draft guidelines; the comment period, as set in the NOA, ends on June 11, 2018. The Commission is extending the comment period until July 31, 2018.

As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announces that CPSC has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a new proposed collection of information by the agency on a survey that will assess children's potential exposure to playground surfaces, including recycled tire material. In the Federal Register of February 5, 2018 (83 FR 5073), CPSC published a notice announcing the agency's intent to seek approval of this collection of information. CPSC received several comments in response to that notice. After review and consideration of the comments, by publication of this notice, the Commission announces that CPSC has submitted to the OMB a request for approval of this collection of information.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is correcting supplemental guidance on the Labeling of Certain Household Products Containing Methylene Chloride, which appeared in the Federal Register of March 21, 2018. The document provides guidance regarding labeling to warn of acute hazards associated with paint strippers containing methylene chloride. This correction provides the appropriate link to the petition briefing package and the format of a warning label.

It is the policy of the Commission to publish settlements which it provisionally accepts under the Consumer Product Safety Act in the Federal Register in accordance with the terms of the Consumer Product Safety Commission's regulations. Published below is a provisionally-accepted Settlement Agreement with Polaris Industries Inc. containing a civil penalty in the amount of twenty seven million, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($27,250,000), to be paid within thirty (30) days of service of the Commission's final Order accepting the Settlement Agreement.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission, or CPSC) is announcing the availability of a draft document titled, ``Guidelines for Determining Age Appropriateness of Toys.'' The Commission requests comments on the draft document.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC or Commission) is announcing an opportunity for public comment on a new proposed collection of information by the agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), federal agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register for each proposed collection of information and to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the notice. This notice solicits comments on a survey that will estimate the use of smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms in United States households.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission or CPSC) received a petition from H[ouml]vding Sweden AB (petitioner or H[ouml]vding) requesting the Commission to exempt ``inflatable head protective devices for bicyclists,'' such as H[ouml]vding's product, from the testing requirements of the Safety Standard for Bicycle Helmets, if such product complies with, and is certified to, requirements in another standard that H[ouml]vding states is appropriate to test such products. The Commission invites written comments concerning this petition.

Under provisions of its Rules of Practice for Adjudicative Proceeding, the Consumer Product Safety Commission must publish in the Federal Register Complaints which it issues. Published below is a Complaint: In the matter of Britax Child Safety, Inc.\1\

The Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), as amended by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), required the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC or the Commission) to publish, as a mandatory consumer product safety standard, the American National Standard for Four-Wheel All-Terrain Vehicles, developed by the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America (ANSI/SVIA 1-2007). CPSC published that mandatory consumer product safety standard on November 14, 2008. ANSI/SVIA issued a 2017 edition of its standard in June 2017. In accordance with the CPSA, CPSC is issuing this final rule to amend the Commission's mandatory ATV standard to reference the 2017 edition of the ANSI/SVIA standard.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC or Commission) is announcing an opportunity for public comment on a new proposed collection of information by the agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), federal agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register for each proposed collection of information and to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the notice. This notice solicits comments on a survey that will assess children's potential exposure to playground surfaces, including recycled tire material.

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.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission or CPSC) published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) regarding clothing storage unit (CSU) tip overs in the Federal Register on November 30, 2017. The ANPR invited the public to submit written comments during a 60-day comment period, beginning on the ANPR publication date. In response to a request for an extension of the comment period, the Commission is extending the comment period by 75 days.

The Children's Gasoline Burn Prevention Act (CGBPA or the Act) adopted as a consumer product safety rule, the child-resistance requirements for closures on portable gasoline containers published in the ASTM voluntary standard, Standard Specification for Determination of Child Resistance of Portable Fuel Containers for Consumer Use, ASTM F2517-05. ASTM F2517 was revised in 2015. These revisions became law under the Act, which the Commission codified through a direct final rule in 2015. On November 13, 2017, the Commission received notice from ASTM that a revision to ASTM F2517 was published in November 2017. In this direct final rule the Commission reviews and evaluates the revised ASTM F2517, finding that the revisions carry out the purposes of the CGBPA's requirements. Accordingly, the 2017 revisions to the child- resistance requirements will be automatically incorporated and apply as the statutorily mandated standard for closures on portable gasoline containers. This direct final rule updates the Commission's regulation to reflect that the requirements for closures on portable gasoline containers must meet the requirements in ASTM F2517-17.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is contemplating developing a rule to address the risk of injury and death associated with clothing storage unit furniture tipping over. This advance notice of proposed rulemaking initiates a rulemaking proceeding under the Consumer Product Safety Act. We invite comments concerning the risk of injury associated with clothing storage units tipping over, the alternatives discussed in this notice, and other possible alternatives for addressing the risk. We also invite interested parties to submit existing voluntary standards or a statement of intent to modify or develop a voluntary standard that addresses the risk of injury described in this notice.

This notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) would update the existing notice of requirements (NOR) for prohibitions of children's toys and child care articles containing specified phthalates that provide the criteria and process for Commission acceptance of accreditation pursuant to the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA). The proposed NOR would revise the current NOR to be consistent with the final phthalates rule, which is published elsewhere in this same issue of the Federal Register and will be codified in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission, or CPSC) is proposing a rule to determine that certain untreated and unfinished engineered wood products (EWPs), specifically, particleboard, hardwood plywood, and medium-density fiberboard, made from virgin wood or pre- consumer waste wood would not contain lead, the ASTM F963 elements, or specified phthalates that exceed the limits set forth under the CPSC's statutes for children's products, children's toys, and child care articles. Based on these proposed determinations, the specified EWPs would not be required to have third party testing for compliance with the requirements for lead, ASTM F963 elements, or phthalates for children's products, children's toys, and child care articles.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC or Commission) has received a petition requesting that the Commission initiate rulemaking under the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) to adopt a safety standard for high-powered magnet sets. The Commission invites written comments concerning the petition.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) with the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 (Consolidated Appropriations Act), is announcing the availability of CPSC's service contract inventory for fiscal year (FY) 2016. This inventory provides information on service contract actions exceeding $25,000 that CPSC made in FY 2016.