Notice2021-15735
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Survey on Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 23, 2021
Issuing agencies
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Abstract
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 for an information collection on a survey that will estimate the use of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in United States households. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) previously approved the collection of information under OMB Control No. 3041-0180. The current information collection will expire on October 31, 2021. CPSC will consider all comments received in response to this notice before requesting an extension of approval of this collection of information from OMB.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 139 (Friday, July 23, 2021)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 139 (Friday, July 23, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39006-39007]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-15735]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
[Docket No. CPSC-2018-0005]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request; Survey on Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms
AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 for an information
collection on a survey that will estimate the use of smoke and carbon
monoxide alarms in United States households. The Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) previously approved the collection of information
under OMB Control No. 3041-0180. The current information collection
will expire on October 31, 2021. CPSC will consider all comments
received in response to this notice before requesting an extension of
approval of this collection of information from OMB.
DATES: Submit written or electronic comments on the collection of
information by September 21, 2021.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-2018-
0005, by any of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit electronic comments to the Federal
eRulemaking Portal at: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments. CPSC does not accept comments
submitted by electronic mail (email), except through <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and as described below. CPSC encourages you to
submit electronic comments by using the Federal eRulemaking Portal, as
described above.
Mail/hand delivery/courier Written Submissions: Submit comments by
mail/hand delivery/courier to: Division of the Secretariat, Consumer
Product Safety Commission, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814;
telephone: (301) 504-7479. Alternatively, as a temporary option during
the COVID-19 pandemic, you may email such submissions to: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5f3c2f2c3c72302c1f3c2f2c3c71383029"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5b382b28387634281b382b2838753c342d">[email protected]</span></a>.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and
docket number for this notice. CPSC may post all comments received
without change, including any personal identifiers, contact
information, or other personal information provided, to: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. Do not submit electronically: Confidential
business information, trade secret information, or other sensitive or
protected information that you do not want to be available to the
public. If you wish to submit such information, please submit it
according to the instructions for mail/hand delivery/courier written
submissions.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, go to: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, insert Docket
No. CPSC-2018-0005 into the ``Search'' box, and follow the prompts. A
copy of the proposed survey titled ``SCOA ICR 2021 60-day'' is
available at: <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a> under Docket No. CPSC-2018-
0005, Supporting and Related Material.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia Gillham, Consumer Product
Safety Commission, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814; (301)
504-7991, or by email to: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#82e1e5ebeeeeeae3efc2e1f2f1e1ace5edf4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3350545a5f5f5b525e73504340501d545c45">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Background
The Commission is authorized under section 5(a) of the Consumer
Product Safety Act (CPSA), 15 U.S.C. 2054(a), to conduct studies and
investigations relating to the causes and prevention of deaths,
accidents, injuries, illnesses, other health impairments, and economic
losses associated with consumer products. Section 5(b) of the CPSA, 15
U.S.C. 2054(b), further provides that the Commission may conduct
research, studies, and investigations on the safety of consumer
products or test consumer products and develop product safety test
methods and testing devices.
In 1992, the CPSC sponsored a national in-home survey to collect
information on the number of residential smoke alarms in actual use in
homes and to evaluate the operability of the sampled alarms. The
results were published in the 1994 report, Consumer Product Safety
Commission Smoke Detector Operability Survey Report on Findings.\1\
Although the survey results were instrumental for many years in
developing state and local codes and standards related to smoke alarms,
subsequent changes in technology, installation codes, and state/local
ordinances in the past 25 years have rendered the information outdated
and less effective. Stakeholders' groups for fire loss prevention have
identified a need for an updated national survey to increase the
installation and maintenance of smoke alarms in the United States. In
addition, installations of CO alarms have increased since 1992.
Accordingly, CPSC sought to update its data information collection
related to smoke and CO alarm use through a new survey, the National
Smoke and CO Alarm Survey (SCOA survey).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ 1. Charles L. Smith, Smoke Detector Operability Survey--
Report on Findings, (Bethesda, MD: CPSC, November 1993).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Although the SCOA survey initially commenced in January 2019, CPSC
experienced lower response rates relative to expectations in the
administration of the SCOA survey in fielding locations than had been
established by the study's approved methodology. To correct for this
challenge, and to complete the number of homes surveyed in the
contract, CPSC undertook a revised sampling method and contact protocol
of participant recruitment. Among the revisions to the methodology,
CPSC included a redesign of the recruitment, screening, and in-home
survey based on a random walk door-to-door knocking sample methodology.
The SCOA survey seeks to collect information from 1,185 households
within the United States. The survey will be conducted only through
face-to-face, in-home interviews. Following all COVID-19 safety
precautions, survey professionals will provide pre-notification door
hangers requesting participation in the survey. These households will
be recruited, and willing participants will be provided with consent
forms, and the survey team will administer questions regarding the
residence type, and smoke and CO alarm availability and functionality
in the residences. The survey team also will identify, test, and
examine several of the alarms in the home, as time permits, and if they
are found faulty, provide new alarms or batteries, if requested by the
participant. No action will be taken if participants choose not to have
the alarm fixed or replaced.
CPSC entered into a contract with Eureka Facts to conduct the SCOA
survey through a national in-home survey that would estimate the use
and
[[Page 39007]]
functionality of smoke and CO alarms in households, as well as assess
user hazard perceptions regarding such alarms. The purpose of the SCOA
survey is to collect data that will assist CPSC with better estimation
of the number and types of smoke and CO alarms installed in U.S.
households, the proportion of working smoke and CO alarms, the
characteristics of residences and residents where the smoke and CO
alarms are not operational, perceptions of residents related to the
causes of ``false'' alarms or causes of faulty alarms, consumer hazard
awareness, and consumer behavior related to alarm use and smoke and CO
hazards.
The information collected from the SCOA survey would provide CPSC
updated national estimates regarding the use of smoke alarms and CO
alarms in households, based on direct observation of alarm
installations. The survey also would help CPSC identify the groups that
do not have operable smoke alarms and/or CO alarms and understand the
reasons why they do not have such alarms. With this information, CPSC
would be able to target better its messaging to improve consumer use
and awareness regarding the operability of these alarms. In addition,
the survey results would help to inform CPSC's recommendations to
voluntary standards groups and state/local jurisdictions regarding
their codes, standards, and/or regulations on smoke and CO alarms.
B. Burden Hours
We estimate the number of respondents to be 1,185. We estimate the
total annual burden hours for respondents to be 1,552 hours, based on
the total time required to respond to the invitation, screener, and the
actual survey. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the
total compensation for civilian workers in March 2021 was $39.01 per
hour (Employer Cost for Employee Compensation, Table 2, <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t02.htm">https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t02.htm</a>). Therefore, CPSC estimates the
cost burden for respondents to be $60,544 ($39.01 per hour x 1,552
hours = $60,543.52). The total cost to the federal government for the
contract to design and conduct the revised survey is $562,725.
C. Request for Comments
The CPSC invites comments on these topics:
<bullet> Whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of CPSC's functions, including
whether the information will have practical utility;
<bullet> The accuracy of CPSC's estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
<bullet> Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
<bullet> Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of
information on respondents, including through the use of automated
collection techniques, when appropriate, and other forms of information
technology.
Alberta E. Mills,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2021-15735 Filed 7-22-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P
</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on July 23, 2021.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.