Proposed Rule2026-01497
Notice of Availability and Request for Comment: Revision to the Voluntary Standard for Gates and Enclosures
Primary source
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Published
January 27, 2026
Issuing agencies
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Abstract
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's (Commission or CPSC) mandatory rule, Safety Standard for Gates and Enclosures, incorporates by reference ASTM F1004-22, Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Expansion Gates and Expandable Enclosures. ASTM notified the Commission that it has revised this incorporated voluntary standard. CPSC seeks comment on whether the revision improves the safety of gates and enclosures.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 17 (Tuesday, January 27, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 17 (Tuesday, January 27, 2026)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 3399-3400]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-01497]
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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
16 CFR Part 1239
[Docket No. CPSC-2019-0014]
Notice of Availability and Request for Comment: Revision to the
Voluntary Standard for Gates and Enclosures
AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.
ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's (Commission or
CPSC) mandatory rule, Safety Standard for Gates and Enclosures,
incorporates by reference ASTM F1004-22, Standard Consumer Safety
Specification for Expansion Gates and Expandable Enclosures. ASTM
notified the Commission that it has revised this incorporated voluntary
standard. CPSC seeks comment on whether the revision improves the
safety of gates and enclosures.
DATES: Comments must be received by February 10, 2026.
ADDRESSES: You can submit comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-2019-
0014, 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. 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. CPSC typically does not accept comments
submitted by email, except as described below.
Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier/Confidential Written Submissions: CPSC
encourages you to submit electronic comments by using the Federal
[[Page 3400]]
eRulemaking Portal. You may, however, submit comments by mail, hand
delivery, or courier to: Office of the Secretary, Consumer Product
Safety Commission, 4330 East-West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814;
telephone: (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#82e1f2f1e1afedf1c2e1f2f1e1ace5edf4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b0d3c0c3d39ddfc3f0d3c0c3d39ed7dfc6">[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 to
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-2019-0014, into the ``Search'' box, and follow the
prompts.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carlos Torres, Project Manager,
Division of Mechanical and Combustion Engineering, U.S. Consumer
Product Safety Commission, 5 Research Place, Rockville, MD 20850;
telephone: (301) 987-2504; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#4023342f3232253300233033236e272f36"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4724332835352234072437342469202831">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 104(b) of the Consumer Product
Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) requires the Commission to adopt
mandatory standards for durable infant or toddler products. 15 U.S.C.
2056a(b)(1). Mandatory standards must be ``substantially the same as''
voluntary standards, or they may be ``more stringent'' than the
applicable voluntary standards, if the Commission determines that more
stringent requirements would further reduce the risk of injury
associated with the products. Id. Mandatory standards may be based, in
whole or in part, on a voluntary standard.
Section 104(b)(4)(B) of the CPSIA specifies the process for when a
voluntary standards organization revises a standard that the Commission
previously had incorporated by reference under section 104(b)(1).
First, the voluntary standards organization must notify the Commission
of the revision. Once the Commission receives this notification, the
Commission may reject or accept the revised standard. To reject a
revised standard, the Commission must notify the voluntary standards
organization within 90 days of receiving the notice of revision that
the Commission has determined that the revised standard does not
improve the safety of the consumer product and that CPSC is retaining
the existing standard. If the Commission does not take this action, the
revised voluntary standard will be considered a consumer product safety
standard issued under section 9 of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15
U.S.C. 2058), effective 180 days after the Commission received
notification of the revision (or a later date specified by the
Commission in the Federal Register). 15 U.S.C. 2056a(b)(4)(B).
Under this authority, in 2020 the Commission issued a mandatory
safety rule for gates and enclosures. The rulemaking created 16 CFR
part 1239, which incorporated by reference ASTM F1004-19, Standard
Consumer Safety Specification for Expansion Gates and Expandable
Enclosures, with modifications. 85 FR 40100 (July 6, 2020). At the time
the Commission published the final rule, ASTM F1004-19 was the current
version of the voluntary standard. ASTM F1004-19 applied to expansion
gates, which it described as a ``barrier intended to be erected in an
opening, such as a doorway, to prevent the passage of young children,
but which can be removed by older persons who are able to operate the
locking mechanism,'' and expandable enclosures, which it described as a
``self-supporting barrier intended to completely surround an area or
play-space within which a young child may be confined.'' The mandatory
standard included performance requirements and test methods, as well as
requirements for warning labels and instructions, to address hazards to
children associated with gates and enclosures.
After the Commission adopted the mandatory standard in 2020, in
both 2021 and 2022, ASTM notified CPSC that it had issued a revised
voluntary standard for gates and enclosures. In accordance with the
procedures set out in section 104(b)(4)(B) of the CPSIA, these revised
standards became the new mandatory standard for gates and enclosures.
86 FR 53535 (Sep. 28, 2021), 87 FR 68032 (Nov. 14, 2022). The mandatory
standard currently incorporates by reference ASTM F1004-22. In 2023,
ASTM issued another revision to the voluntary standard, ASTM F1004-23.
However, ASTM did not notify CPSC of this revision under CPSIA section
104(b)(4)(B). Consequently, the revised standard did not become the
mandatory standard by operation of law, and the Commission did not
update the mandatory standard to incorporate by reference this revised
ASTM standard.
On January 20, 2026, ASTM notified the Commission that it had
approved and published a revised version of the voluntary standard,
ASTM F1004-25. CPSC is assessing the revised voluntary standard to
determine, consistent with section 104(b)(4)(B) of the CPSIA, its
effect on the safety of gates and enclosures subject to 16 CFR part
1239. The Commission invites public comment to inform CPSC staff's
assessment and subsequent Commission consideration of the revisions in
ASTM F1004-25.
The currently incorporated voluntary standard (ASTM F1004-22) and
the revised voluntary standard (ASTM F1004-25) are available for review
in several ways. A read-only copy of the existing, incorporated
standard (ASTM F1004-22) is available for viewing, at no cost, on the
ASTM website at: <a href="https://www.astm.org/READINGLIBRARY/">https://www.astm.org/READINGLIBRARY/</a>. A read-only copy
of the revised standard (ASTM F1004-25), including red-lined versions
that identify the changes from the 2022 version to the 2023 version and
from the 2023 version to the 2025 version, is available, at no cost, on
ASTM's website at: <a href="https://www.astm.org/CPSC.htm">https://www.astm.org/CPSC.htm</a>. Interested parties
can also download copies of the standards by purchasing them from ASTM
International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, P.O. Box C700, West Conshohocken,
PA 19428-2959; phone: 610-832-9585; <a href="https://www.astm.org">https://www.astm.org</a>.
Alternatively, interested parties can schedule an appointment to
inspect copies of the standards at CPSC's Office of the Secretary, U.S.
Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East-West Highway, Bethesda,
MD 20814, telephone: 301-504-7479.
Comments must be received by February 10, 2026. Because of the
short statutory time frame Congress established for the Commission to
consider revised voluntary standards under section 104(b)(4) of the
CPSIA, CPSC will not consider comments received after this date.
Alberta E. Mills,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2026-01497 Filed 1-26-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P
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