82 FR 8409 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Standard for the Flammability of Mattresses and Mattress Pads and Standard for the Flammability (Open Flame) of Mattress Sets

CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 15 (January 25, 2017)

As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC, or Commission) requests comments on a proposed extension of approval of a collection of information from manufacturers and importers of mattresses and mattress pads. The collection of information is set forth in the Standard for the Flammability of Mattresses and Mattress Pads, 16 CFR part 1632 and the Standard for the Flammability (Open Flame) of Mattress Sets, 16 CFR part 1633. These regulations establish testing and recordkeeping requirements for manufacturers and importers subject to the standards. The Commission will consider all comments received in response to this notice, before requesting an extension of approval of this collection of information from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 15 (Wednesday, January 25, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8409-8411]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-01643]


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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

[Docket No. CPSC-2010-0055]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Standard for the Flammability of Mattresses and 
Mattress Pads and Standard for the Flammability (Open Flame) of 
Mattress Sets

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC, or

[[Page 8410]]

Commission) requests comments on a proposed extension of approval of a 
collection of information from manufacturers and importers of 
mattresses and mattress pads. The collection of information is set 
forth in the Standard for the Flammability of Mattresses and Mattress 
Pads, 16 CFR part 1632 and the Standard for the Flammability (Open 
Flame) of Mattress Sets, 16 CFR part 1633. These regulations establish 
testing and recordkeeping requirements for manufacturers and importers 
subject to the standards. The Commission will consider all comments 
received in response to this notice, before requesting an extension of 
approval of this collection of information from the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB).

DATES: The Office of the Secretary must receive comments not later than 
March 27, 2017.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-2010-
0055, by any of the following methods:
    Electronic Submissions: Submit electronic comments to the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal at: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments. The Commission does not accept 
comments submitted by electronic mail (email), except through 
www.regulations.gov. The Commission encourages you to submit electronic 
comments by using the Federal eRulemaking Portal, as described above.
    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 820, 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 notice. All comments received may be posted 
without change, including any personal identifiers, contact 
information, or other personal information provided, to: http://www.regulations.gov. Do not submit confidential business information, 
trade secret information, or other sensitive or protected information 
that you do not want to be available to the public. If furnished at 
all, such information should be submitted in writing.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to: http://www.regulations.gov, and insert the 
docket number, CPSC-2010-0055, into the ``Search'' box, and follow the 
prompts.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information contact: 
Robert H. Squibb, Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East-West 
Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814; (301) 504-7815, or by email to: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Background

    Approximately 358 firms produce mattresses.\1\ The Standard for the 
Flammability of Mattresses and Mattress Pads, 16 CFR part 1632 (part 
1632 standard), was promulgated under section 4 of the Flammable 
Fabrics Act (FFA), 15 U.S.C. 1193, to reduce unreasonable risks of burn 
injuries and deaths from fires associated with mattresses and mattress 
pads. The part 1632 standard prescribes requirements to test whether a 
mattress or mattress pad will resist ignition from a smoldering 
cigarette. The part 1632 standard also requires manufacturers to 
perform prototype tests of each combination of materials and 
construction methods used to produce mattresses or mattress pads and to 
obtain acceptable results from such testing. Manufacturers and 
importers must maintain the records and test results specified under 
the standard.
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    \1\ In the previous information collection, CPSC used the census 
data for the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 
code to count the number of establishments that produce mattresses. 
However, firms may have multiple establishments associated with 
them. Accordingly, CPSC uses the number of firms rather than the 
number of establishments.
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    The Commission also promulgated the Standard for the Flammability 
(Open Flame) of Mattress Sets, 16 CFR part 1633 (part 1633 standard), 
under section 4 of the FFA to reduce deaths and injuries related to 
mattress fires, particularly those ignited by open-flame sources, such 
as lighters, candles, and matches. The part 1633 standard requires 
manufacturers to maintain certain records to document compliance with 
the standard, including maintaining records concerning prototype 
testing, pooling, and confirmation testing, and quality assurance 
procedures and any associated testing. The required records must be 
maintained for as long as mattress sets based on the prototype are in 
production and must be retained for 3 years thereafter. Although some 
larger manufacturers may produce mattresses based on more than 100 
prototypes, most mattress manufacturers base their complying production 
on 15 to 20 prototypes. OMB previously approved the collection of 
information for 16 CFR parts 1632 and 1633, under control number 3041-
0014, with an expiration date of April 30, 2017. The information 
collection requirements under the part 1632 standard do not duplicate 
the testing and recordkeeping requirements under the part 1633 
standard.

B. Burden Hours

    16 CFR 1632: Staff estimates that there are 358 respondents. It is 
estimated that each respondent will spend 26 hours for testing and 
record keeping annually for a total of 9,308 hours (358 firms x 26 
hours = 9,308). The hourly compensation for the time required for 
record keeping is $66.19 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ``Employer 
Costs for Employee Compensation,'' June 2016, Table 9, total 
compensation of all management, professional, and related occupations 
in goods-producing industries: http://www.bls.gov/ncs). The annualized 
cost to respondents would be approximately $616,097 (9,308 hours x 
$66.19).
    16 CFR 1633: The standard requires detailed documentation of 
prototype identification and testing records, model and prototype 
specifications, inputs used, name and location of suppliers, and 
confirmation of test records, if establishments choose to pool a 
prototype. This documentation is in addition to documentation already 
conducted by mattress manufacturers in their efforts to meet 16 CFR 
part 1632. Staff estimates that there are 358 respondents. Based on 
staff estimates, the recordkeeping requirements are expected to require 
about 4 hours and 44 minutes per establishment, per qualified 
prototype. Although some larger manufacturers reportedly are producing 
mattresses based on more than 100 prototypes, most mattress 
manufacturers probably base their complying production on 15 to 20 
prototypes, according to an industry representative contacted by staff. 
Assuming that establishments qualify their production with an average 
of 20 different qualified prototypes, recordkeeping time is about 94.6 
hours (4.73 hours x 20 prototypes) per establishment, per year. (Note 
that pooling among establishments or using a prototype qualification 
for longer than 1 year will reduce this estimate). This translates to 
an annual recordkeeping time cost to all mattress producers of 33,867 
hours (94.6 hours x 358 firms). The hourly compensation for the time 
required for record keeping is $66.19 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 
``Employer Costs for Employee Compensation,'' June 2016, Table 9, total 
compensation of all management, professional, and related occupations 
in

[[Page 8411]]

goods-producing industries: http://www.bls.gov/ncs). The annual total 
estimated costs for recordkeeping are approximately $2,241,657 (33,867 
hours x $66.19).
    The total estimated cost to the 358 firms for the burden hours 
associated with both 16 CFR part 1632 and 16 CFR part 1633 is 
approximately $2.86 million annually.

C. Request for Comments

    The Commission solicits written comments from all interested 
persons about the proposed collection of information. The Commission 
specifically solicits 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: January 18, 2017.
Todd A. Stevenson,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2017-01643 Filed 1-24-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6355-01-P