2022-11900. Notice of Availability and Request for Comment: Revision to the Voluntary Standard for Sling Carriers

AGENCY:

Consumer Product Safety Commission.

ACTION:

Notice of availability and request for comment.

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's (Commission or CPSC) mandatory rule, Safety Standard for Sling Carriers, incorporates by reference ASTM F2907-19, Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Sling Carriers. The Commission has received notice of a revision to this incorporated voluntary standard. CPSC seeks comment on whether the revision improves the safety of the consumer product covered by the standard.

DATES:

Comments must be received by June 17, 2022.

ADDRESSES:

Submit comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-2014-0018, by any of the following methods:

Electronic Submissions: Submit electronic comments to the Federal eRulemaking Portal at: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. CPSC typically does not accept comments submitted by electronic mail (email), except as described below. CPSC encourages you to submit electronic comments by using the Federal eRulemaking Portal.

Mail/hand delivery/courier/confidential Written Submissions: Submit comments by mail, hand delivery, or courier to: Division of the Secretariat, Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814; telephone: [phone]. 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: [e-mail].

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: https://www.regulations.gov. 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: https://www.regulations.gov, and insert the docket number, CPSC-2014-0018, into the “Search” box, and follow the prompts.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Zachary Foster, Project Manager, Division of Human Factors, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 5 Research Place, Rockville, MD 20850; telephone: [phone]; email: [e-mail].

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 may be “more stringent” than 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.

Pursuant to section 104(b)(4)(B) of the CPSIA, if a voluntary standards organization revises a standard that has been adopted, in whole or in part, as a consumer product safety standard under CPSIA section 104, it must notify the Commission. The revised voluntary standard then shall be considered to be a consumer product safety standard issued by the Commission under section 9 of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2058), effective 180 days after the date on which the organization notifies the Commission (or a later date specified by the Commission in the Federal Register ) unless, within 90 days after receiving that notice, the Commission responds to the organization that it has determined that the proposed revision does not improve the safety of the consumer product covered by the standard, and therefore, the Commission is retaining its existing mandatory consumer product safety standard. 15 U.S.C. 2056a(b)(4)(B).

Under this CPSIA authority, the Commission issued a mandatory safety rule for sling carriers. The rulemaking created 16 CFR part 1228, which incorporated by reference ASTM F2907-15, Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Sling Carriers. 82 FR 8671 (Jan. 30, 2017). The mandatory standard included performance requirements and test methods, as well as requirements for warning labels and instructional literature, to address hazards to children associated with sling carriers. On April 20, 2020, the CPSC published a revised standard for sling carriers, which incorporated by reference ASTM F2907-19, with modifications to the requirements for test methods, labeling, and instructional literature which improved the safety of sling carriers. 85 FR 21766.

In April 2022, ASTM published a further revised version of the incorporated voluntary standard. On May 23, 2022, ASTM notified the Commission that it had approved the revised version of the voluntary standard. This revised version includes revisions made to the standard in 2021 (ASTM F2907-21) and 2022 (ASTM F2907-22).

CPSC staff is assessing the revised voluntary standard to determine, consistent with section 104(b)(4)(B) of the CPSIA, its effect on the safety of the consumer product covered by the standard. The Commission invites public comment on that question to inform Staff's assessment and any subsequent Commission consideration of the revisions in ASTM F2907-21 and ASTM F2907-22.

The existing voluntary standard and the revised voluntary standard are available for review in several ways. ASTM has provided read-only copies, at no cost, of the red-lined versions of ASTM F2907-21 and ASTM F2907-22 that identify the changes made to the ASTM F2907-19 version, and the revised standard, on ASTM's website at: https://www.astm.org/​CPSC.htm. Likewise, a read-only copy of the existing, incorporated standard is available for viewing, at no cost, on the ASTM website at: https://www.astm.org/​products-services/​reading-room.html. 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: [phone]; www.astm.org. Alternatively, interested parties can schedule an appointment to inspect copies of the standards at CPSC's Division of the Secretariat, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814, telephone: [phone]; email: [e-mail].

Comments must be received by June 17, 2022. 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 past this date.

Alberta E. Mills,

Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.