2024-20066. Revision to the Voluntary Standard for Soft Infant and Toddler Carriers

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Consumer Product Safety Commission

1. 16 CFR Part 1226
2. [Docket No. CPSC-2013-0014]

AGENCY:

Consumer Product Safety Commission.

ACTION:

Request for comment.

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's (Commission or CPSC) mandatory rule, Safety Standard for Soft Infant and Toddler Carriers, incorporates by reference ASTM F2236-14, Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Soft Infant and Toddler Carriers. ASTM notified the Commission that it has revised this incorporated voluntary standard. CPSC seeks comment on whether the revision improves the safety of soft infant and toddler carriers.

DATES:

Comments must be received by September 24, 2024.

ADDRESSES:

You can submit comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-2013-0014, 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. 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 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: [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 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: https://www.regulations.gov, and insert the docket number, CPSC-2013-0014, 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 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 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 that it has determined that the revised standard does not improve the safety of the consumer product and that it 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).

In 2014, the Commission adopted a mandatory rule for soft infant and toddler carriers under section 104(b)(1) of the CPSIA, which was codified in 16 CFR part 1226. The rule incorporated by reference ASTM F2236-14, Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Soft Infant and Toddler Carriers, with no modifications. 79 FR 17422 (March 28, 2014). At the time the Commission published the final rule, ASTM F2236-14 was the current version of the voluntary standard. ASTM F2236-14 applies to soft infant and toddler carriers, which it describes as a product normally of sewn fabric construction, which is designed to contain a full-term infant to a toddler, generally in an upright position, in close proximity to the caregiver. The ASTM standard includes performance requirements, test methods, and requirements for warning labels and instructional literature, to address hazards to infants associated with soft infant and toddler carriers.

After the Commission adopted the mandatory standard in 2014, ASTM approved two more revisions: ASTM F2236-16 and ASTM F2236-16a. However, ASTM did not notify CPSC of these revisions under CPSIA section 104(b)(4)(B). Consequently, these revised standards did not become the mandatory standards by operation of law, and the Commission did not update the mandatory standard to incorporate by reference these revised ASTM standards.

On August 26, 2024, ASTM notified CPSC that it had approved and published ASTM F2236-24. 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 consumer products covered by the standard. The Commission invites public comment on that question, to inform staff's ( print page 73321) assessment and any subsequent Commission consideration of the revisions in ASTM F2236-24.^[1]

The currently incorporated voluntary standard (ASTM F2236-14) and the revised voluntary standard (ASTM F2236-24) are available for review in several ways. A read-only copy of the existing, incorporated standard (ASTM F2236-14) is available for viewing, at no cost, on the ASTM website at: https://www.astm.org/​READINGLIBRARY/​. A read-only copy of the revised standard (ASTM F2236-24), including red-lined versions that identify the changes from the 2014 version to the 2024 version, are available, at no cost, on ASTM's website at: https://www.astm.org/​CPSC.htm. 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]; https://www.astm.org. 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: [phone].

Comments must be received by September 24, 2024. 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.

Footnotes

1.  The Commission voted (5-0) to approve this notice on August 30, 2024.