[Federal Register: October 29, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 208)]
[Notices]
[Page 55817-55819]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29oc09-54]
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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
[CPSC Docket No. CPSC-2009-0088]
Proposed Collection; Comment Request--Consumer Product Safety
Improvement Act; Consumer Product Conformity Assessment Body
Registration Form
AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (``CPSC'' or
``Commission'') requests comments on a proposed collection of
information regarding a form that will be used to identify third party
conformity assessment bodies that meet the requirements to test for
compliance to specified children's product safety rules. Third party
conformity assessment bodies found to meet the requirements will be
listed on the CPSC Web site. The Commission will consider all comments
received in response to this notice before requesting approval of this
collection of information from the Office of Management and Budget.
DATES: Written comments must be received by the Office of the Secretary
not later than December 28, 2009.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-2009-
0088, by any of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions
Submit electronic comments in the following way:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
[[Page 55818]]
To ensure timely processing of comments, the Commission is no longer
accepting comments submitted by electronic mail (e-mail) except through
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.regulations.gov.
Written Submissions
Submit written submissions in the following way:
Mail/Hand delivery/Courier (for paper, disk, or CD-ROM
submissions), preferably in five copies, to: Office of the Secretary,
Consumer Product Safety Commission, Room 502, 4330 East West Highway,
Bethesda, MD 20814; telephone (301) 504-7923.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name
and docket number for this proposed collection of information. All
comments received may be posted without change, including any personal
identifiers, contact information, or other personal information
provided to http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.regulations.gov. Do not submit confidential
business information, trade secret information, or other sensitive or
protected information electronically. Such information should be
submitted in writing.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, go to http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Linda Glatz, Division of Policy and
Planning, Office of Information Technology and Technology Services,
Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda,
MD 20814; (301) 504-7671; e-mail lglatz@cpsc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Background
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (``CPSIA'' or
``Act'') was signed into law on August 14, 2008 (Pub. L. 110-314).
Section 102 of the CPSIA mandates that third party testing be conducted
for any children's product that is subject to a children's product
safety rule. Such third party testing of children's products must be
completed before importing for consumption or warehousing or
distributing in commerce. Every manufacturer of such children's
products (and the private labeler of such children's product if the
product bears a private label) must submit samples for testing to a
third party conformity assessment body which is accredited under
requirements established by the Commission. The third party conformity
assessment body will test such samples for compliance with applicable
children's product safety rules. Based on this testing, the
manufacturer or private labeler must issue a certificate that certifies
that the children's product complies with all applicable children's
product safety rules.
Section 14(f)(2)(A) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (as amended
by section 102(b) of the CPSIA) defines a third party conformity
assessment body as one that is not owned, managed, or controlled by the
manufacturer or private labeler of a product to be assessed by such
conformity assessment body. A conformity assessment body that is owned,
managed, or controlled by a manufacturer or a private labeler may, in
certain specified circumstances, be accredited as a third party
conformity assessment body. The CPSIA also refers to such entities as
``firewalled conformity assessment bodies.'' Additionally, the CPSIA
specifies that, under certain conditions, a third party conformity
assessment body may include a government-owned or government-controlled
entity.
The CPSIA provides that accreditation of third party conformity
assessment bodies may be conducted either by the Commission or by an
independent accreditation organization designated by the Commission.
The Commission must maintain an up-to-date list of entities that have
been accredited to assess compliance with children's product safety
rules on its Web site.
The CPSC uses an online collection form, CPSC Form 223, to gather
information from third party conformity assessment bodies voluntarily
seeking recognition by CPSC. The information collected relates to
location, accreditation, and ownership. This information will be used
by the Commission to assess:
A third party conformity assessment body's status as
either an independent third party conformity assessment body, a
government-owned or government-controlled conformity assessment body,
or a firewalled conformity assessment body;
Qualifications for recognition by CPSC to test for
compliance to specified children's product safety rules; and
Eligibility for recognition on the CPSC Web site.
The collection of this information on CPSC Form 223 is required in
three separate circumstances: (1) Upon initial application by the third
party conformity assessment body for recognition by CPSC (``initial
registrations''); (2) at least every 2 years as part of a regular audit
process (``re-registrations''); and (3) whenever a change to
accreditation or ownership information occurs (``information
changes'').
B. Estimated Burden
The CPSC staff estimates a total reporting burden of approximately
451 hours. This reporting burden is broken down into the categories of
submissions as follows: (1) Initial registrations--300 hours, (2) re-
registrations--150 hours, and (3) information changes--.75 hours, for a
total of 450.75 hours, which the Commission will round up to 451 hours.
Initial Registrations--The Commission tentatively estimates that
300 third party conformity assessment bodies will register initially,
with each response taking 1 hour for a total of 300 reporting hours
(300 third party conformity assessment bodies x 1 hour = 300 hours).
The 300 entity estimate is based on the fact that by June 5, 2009, 153
third party conformity assessment bodies had already registered with
the CPSC. The Commission expects to receive additional registrations,
which will be further increased by a notice of requirement for ``all
other children's product safety rules'' pursuant to CPSA section
14(a)(3)(B)(vi).
Re-Registrations--Under a separate proposed rule issued by the
Commission on August 13, 2009 (74 FR 40784), third party conformity
assessment bodies would be required to re-register using CPSC Form 223
every two years. Because not all third party conformity assessment
bodies will first submit CPSC Form 223 at the same time, only some of
these entities will re-register using CPSC Form 223 in any given year.
Because the Commission does not know how many entities will re-register
in any given year, for the purposes of this analysis, the Commission
estimates that half of the third party conformity assessment bodies
will re-register using CPSC Form 223 in any given year, for a total of
150 Re-Registrations per year (300 total third party conformity
assessment bodies x 0.5 = 150 re-registrations per year). The reporting
burden for each re-registration is estimated to be one hour, making the
total reporting burden for all re-registrations per year 150 hours (150
re-registrations x 1 hour per re-registration = 150 hours).
Information Changes--Finally, under the same separate proposed rule
noted above, third party conformity assessment bodies would be required
to ensure that the information submitted on CPSC Form 223 remains
current. Any changes in information must be submitted on a new CPSC
Form 223. Based on current experience, the Commission estimates that
only one percent of third party conformity assessment bodies will
revise or update their information yearly, so the
[[Page 55819]]
estimated number of respondents is 3 (300 third party conformity
assessment bodies x 0.01 = 3 information changes per year). Because
information changes in most cases will likely only involve updating a
phone number or contact person, the estimated reporting burden is 15
minutes per update, for a total reporting burden of 45 minutes per year
(3 information changes x 0.25 hours = 0.75 hours per year).
Estimated Total Cost Burden on Respondents--Assuming that CPSC Form
223 will be submitted by someone at the level of a general or
operations manager at each third party conformity assessment body, at a
median compensation (wages and benefits) of $68 per hour, the total
cost burden to the respondents is estimated to be $30,668 ($68 x 451
hours).
Estimated Annualized Cost Burden to the Federal Government--The
Commission estimates 150 re-registrations per year. Re-registrations
will require review by a CPSC staff member with an average rate of pay
of $67/hour (the approximate hourly compensation (wages and benefits)
of a GS-13 step 5 employee). Re-registration review involves a thorough
review of the accreditation certificate and scope documents provided by
the third party conformity assessment body to ensure, among other
things, that the accreditations are current, are to the ISO Standard
ISO/IEC 17025:2005, ``General Requirements for the Competence of
Testing and Calibration Laboratories,'' and include the appropriate
test methods. The review is estimated to take an average of 1.75 hours
per submission. Thus, the annualized cost to the Federal government is
estimated to be approximately $17,588 (150 re-registrations x 1.75
hours x $67 = $17,587.50 per year).
Additional costs to the Federal government associated with
information changes submitted on CPSC Form 223 will be negligible. The
Commission estimates that 15 minutes will be spent reviewing each
update. The annualized cost to the federal government is estimated to
be approximately $50 (3 information changes x 0.25 hours x $67 = $50.25
per year).
C. Request for Comments
The Commission invites written comments from all interested persons
about the proposed collection of information. The Commission
specifically invites information relevant to the following topics:
Whether the collection of information described above is
necessary for the proper performance of the Commission's functions,
including whether the information would have practical utility;
Whether the estimated burden of the proposed collection of
information is accurate;
Whether the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected could be enhanced; and
Whether the burden imposed by the collection of
information could be minimized by use of automated, electronic or other
technological collection techniques, or other forms of information
technology.
Dated: October 23, 2009.
Todd A. Stevenson,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. E9-26070 Filed 10-28-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P