Proposed Rule2024-13330
Safety Standard for Bassinets and Cradles; Notice of Comment Period Extension
Primary source
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Published
June 18, 2024
Issuing agencies
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Abstract
On April 16, 2024, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) to amend the existing regulation for bassinets and cradles, to ensure that the rule addresses identified hazards and that these sleep products for young infants provide the highest level of safety feasible. The NPR invited the public to submit written comments during a 60-day comment period, beginning on the NPR publication date, and ending on June 17, 2024. In response to a request for a 90-day extension of the comment period, the Commission is extending the comment period for this NPR by 45 days.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 118 (Tuesday, June 18, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 118 (Tuesday, June 18, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 51475-51476]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-13330]
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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
16 CFR Part 1218
[CPSC Docket No. CPSC-2010-0028]
Safety Standard for Bassinets and Cradles; Notice of Comment
Period Extension
AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.
ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of comment period.
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SUMMARY: On April 16, 2024, the Consumer Product Safety Commission
(CPSC) published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed
rulemaking (NPR) to amend the existing regulation for bassinets and
cradles, to ensure that the rule addresses identified hazards and that
these sleep products for young infants provide the highest level of
safety feasible. The NPR invited the public to submit written comments
during a 60-day comment period, beginning on the NPR publication date,
and ending on June 17, 2024. In response to a request for a 90-day
extension of the comment period, the Commission is extending the
comment period for this NPR by 45 days.
DATES: Submit comments by August 1, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Comments related to the Paperwork Reduction Act aspects of
the marking, labeling, and instructional literature requirements of the
NPR should be directed to the Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, the Office of Management and Budget, Attn: CPSC Desk Officer,
FAX: 202-395-6974, or emailed to: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6b0402190a34181e09060218180204052b040609450e041b450c041d"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="aac5c3d8cbf5d9dfc8c7c3d9d9c3c5c4eac5c7c884cfc5da84cdc5dc">[email protected]</span></a>.
Submit all other comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-2010-0028,
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 typically does not accept
comments submitted by email, except through <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>. CPSC
encourages you to submit electronic comments by using the Federal
eRulemaking Portal, as described above.
Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier/Confidential Written Submissions: Submit
comments by mail, hand delivery, or courier to: Office of the
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East-West Highway,
Bethesda, MD 20814; (301) 504-7479. 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: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#fb988b8898d69488bb988b8898d59c948d"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="16756665753b7965567566657538717960">[email protected]</span></a>.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and
docket number. CPSC may post all comments 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
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. If you wish to submit such
information, please submit it according to the instructions for mail/
hand delivery/courier/confidential 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>, and insert the
docket number, CPSC-2010-0028, into the ``Search'' box, and follow the
prompts.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Celestine T. Kish, Project Manager,
Division of Human Factors, Directorate for Engineering Sciences,
Consumer Product Safety Commission, 5 Research Place, Rockville, MD
20850; 301-987-2547; <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#583b33312b30183b282b3b763f372e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2a49414359426a495a5949044d455c">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Background
Pursuant to section 104(b)(1) of the Consumer Product Safety
Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA; 15 U.S.C. 2056a(b)(1)), the Commission
promulgated the current mandatory standard for bassinets and cradles
(bassinets/cradles) in October 2013. 78 FR 63019 (Oct. 23, 2013); see
Safety Standard for Bassinets and Cradles, codified at 16 CFR part 1218
(part 1218). Part 1218 incorporates by reference the 2013 version of
the bassinets/cradles voluntary standard, ASTM F2194-13, Standard
Consumer Safety Specification for Bassinets and Cradles (ASTM F2194-
13), with modifications to make the standard more stringent, to
[[Page 51476]]
further reduce the risk of injury associated with bassinets/cradles.\1\
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\1\ After issuing the mandatory standard in 2013, ASTM
International (ASTM) published several revisions to ASTM F2194,
including ASTM F2194-2013a, -2016, and -2016[egr]\1\. ASTM did not
notify CPSC of these revisions, so the mandatory rule has not been
updated since 2013. However, ASTM F2194-2016[egr]\1\ is
substantially the same as the existing mandatory rule for bassinets/
cradles codified in part 1218. 86 FR 33022, 33034-35 (June 3, 2021).
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Section 104(b)(2) of the CPSIA requires that after the Commission
issues mandatory safety standards for durable infant or toddler
products, the Commission shall periodically review and revise the
standards to ensure that such standards provide the highest level of
safety for such products that is feasible. 15 U.S.C. 2056a(b)(2).
Accordingly, on April 16, 2024, the Commission published an NPR in the
Federal Register proposing to amend part 1218 to address the hazards
identified in the NPR and to ensure that the mandatory bassinet/cradle
regulation provides the highest level of safety feasible.\2\ 89 FR
27246. The proposed modifications to part 1218 would remove a product
category--compact bassinets--and address five identified hazard
patterns associated with young infants. The NPR proposed to incorporate
by reference ASTM F2194-22[egr]\1\, with modifications to further
reduce the risk of injury associated with bassinets, and to provide the
highest level of safety that is feasible for such products. 89 FR
27246, 27247. The 60-day comment period closes on June 17, 2024.\3\
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\2\ On March 20, 2024, the Commission voted (4-0) to publish the
NPR, available at: <a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/Commission-Meeting-Minutes-NPR-Safety-Standard-for-Bassinets-and-Cradles.pdf?VersionId=GwpmKZ4S9sRrEiBmDFaEWn1fBre6eZ2r">https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/Commission-Meeting-Minutes-NPR-Safety-Standard-for-Bassinets-and-Cradles.pdf?VersionId=GwpmKZ4S9sRrEiBmDFaEWn1fBre6eZ2r</a>.
\3\ Staff provided a February 28, 2024, Memorandum, Staff's
Draft Proposed Rule to Revise the Safety Standard for Bassinets and
Cradles in support of the NPR, which is available at: <a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/Briefing-Package-Draft-Notice-of-Proposed-Rulemaking-Safety-Standard-for-Bassinets-and-Cradles.pdf?VersionId=l37iJVSjn32WnUTBDV27L6c37uJC4Iis">https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/Briefing-Package-Draft-Notice-of-Proposed-Rulemaking-Safety-Standard-for-Bassinets-and-Cradles.pdf?VersionId=l37iJVSjn32WnUTBDV27L6c37uJC4Iis</a>. The NPR
contains an overview of staff's assessment and analysis, and the
Commission's basis for issuing the NPR, which is based on the 2022
Bassinet Rejection Staff Briefing Package. Based on the information
and analysis in the NPR and related staff packages, the Commission
preliminarily determined that the proposed requirements are more
stringent than the requirements in ASTM F2194-22[egr]\1\, would
further reduce the risk of injury associated with products within
the scope of the NPR, and would provide the highest level of safety
that is feasible for such products. The Commission specifically
sought comment on the feasibility of each proposed requirement,
including technical feasibility.
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B. Request for Comment Period Extension
On May 22, 2024, Lisa Trofe, Executive Director of the Juvenile
Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA), on behalf of JPMA's members
and ten companies that individually co-signed the request, submitted a
request for a 90-day extension of the NPR comment period (JPMA
request).<SUP>4 5</SUP> The JPMA request asserts that the 60-day
comment period is insufficient, providing three primary reasons for
additional time to provide comments: (1) prototyping and evaluating new
product designs to ``understand if the proposed requirements are
feasible, and what new hazards, if any, such designs could create'';
(2) testing to evaluate the proposed side-to-side ``zero-degree tilt
angle, plus or minus one degree,'' including the proper equipment
needed for repeatable measurements and considering the tilt angle
requirement which they allege ``does not consider the stacked
tolerances of building construction and laboratory floors or consumer
floors'' and how this may impact the test results; and (3) evaluating
the availability of equipment needed to test the proposed side wall
rigidity requirement.
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\4\ JMPA's request has been placed on the docket for this
rulemaking, as well as attached as to Staff's June 5, 2024, Briefing
Memorandum: Proposed Rule to Amend the Safety Standard for Bassinets
and Cradles; Request to Extend Comment Period (Staff Briefing Memo),
available at: <a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/NPR-Safety-Standard-for-Bassinets-and-Cradles-Draft-Federal-Notice-Regarding-Extension-of-Comment-Period.pdf?VersionId=dBX_tnUc3LSd5vG6_S0UbuLliqi4wPkx">https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/NPR-Safety-Standard-for-Bassinets-and-Cradles-Draft-Federal-Notice-Regarding-Extension-of-Comment-Period.pdf?VersionId=dBX_tnUc3LSd5vG6_S0UbuLliqi4wPkx</a>.
\5\ On June 11, 2024, the Commission voted (4-1) to publish this
notice. Commissioner Feldman issued a statement with his vote,
available at: <a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/RCA-NPR-Safety-Standard-for-Bassinets-and-Cradles-Draft-Federal-Notice-Regarding-Extension-of-Comment-Period.pdf?VersionId=SbjP34yYPSsuhrXa6p1TG9s9bVhkjVWg">https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/RCA-NPR-Safety-Standard-for-Bassinets-and-Cradles-Draft-Federal-Notice-Regarding-Extension-of-Comment-Period.pdf?VersionId=SbjP34yYPSsuhrXa6p1TG9s9bVhkjVWg</a>.
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C. Assessment of the JPMA Request
The testing equipment identified in the NPR is the same equipment
currently identified in the ASTM standard and CPSC's
regulation,<SUP>6 7</SUP> and therefore, stakeholders do not require
additional time to test and evaluate equipment. Moreover, based on CPSC
staff's experience testing sample bassinets/cradles to the NPR
proposals, testing should not require more than 10 business days to
test up to 15 product samples; an additional 90 days, totaling 5 months
(60 days plus 90 days), is unnecessary to assess products to the NPR
requirements and provide feedback. However, we agree with JPMA that
prototype design, evaluation, and testing to the zero-degree side-to-
side tilt angle, plus or minus one degree, and other proposed
requirements may require additional time. Assessing how to modify
products to feasibly meet the proposed modifications, identifying any
new potential hazards, and providing comments on these assessments may
benefit from more than the 60 days provided in the NPR. Providing
additional time in the comment period will allow manufacturers to
produce prototypes that are closer to the final design specifications
and that will more accurately reflect what a manufacturer finds to be
achievable.
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\6\ ASTM F2194-22[egr]\1\ specifies in section 4.6 that angle
measurements shall be taken using a digital inclinometer with a
0.1[deg] minimum resolution for angle measurements. However, section
7.8 specifies the use of a digital inclinometer with a 0.5[deg]
minimum resolution. Users of the standard should use the more
precise instrumentation to ensure they are following all applicable
sections of the standard.
\7\ It is common and a known test setup for lab floors to be 0
+/- 0.5 degrees. This is already addressed in ASTM F2194-22[egr]\1\,
see section 7.10 Rock/Swing Angle Tests. Additionally, the test
requires to ZERO out the inclinometer on that test surface (floor)
before starting the test to minimize any influence of the floor on
the bassinet angle measurements.
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D. Conclusion
The Commission has considered the JPMA request to extend the
comment period and staff's assessment of the request. Currently, the
comment period is due to close on June 17, 2024. To provide sufficient
time for stakeholders to prototype and evaluate new designs, and to
assess and provide comment on the NPR proposals, especially as it
relates to specific products, the Commission will grant a 45-day
extension of the comment period, until August 1, 2024.
Alberta E. Mills,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2024-13330 Filed 6-17-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P
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