83 FR 41095 - Lifejacket Approval Harmonization

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 160 (August 17, 2018)

The Coast Guard announces that it is harmonizing personal flotation device (PFD) standards between the United States and Canada by accepting a new standard for approval of PFDs. Specific elements of the new standard are contained in a policy letter and deregulatory savings analysis, on which we are requesting public comment, and are intended to promote the Coast Guard's maritime safety and stewardship missions.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 160 (Friday, August 17, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41095-41096]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-17799]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[Docket No. USCG-2018-0565]


Lifejacket Approval Harmonization

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces that it is harmonizing personal 
flotation device (PFD) standards between the United States and Canada 
by accepting a new standard for approval of PFDs. Specific elements of 
the new standard are contained in a policy letter and deregulatory 
savings analysis, on which we are requesting public comment, and are 
intended to promote the Coast Guard's maritime safety and stewardship 
missions.

DATES: Comments must be submitted to the online docket via http://www.regulations.gov, or reach the Docket Management Facility, on or 
before October 16, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number USCG-
2018-0565 using the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. See the ``Public Participation and Comments'' 
portion of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for further 
instructions on submitting comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information about this document 
call or email Jacqueline Yurkovich, Coast Guard; telephone 202-372-
1389, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Public Participation and Comments

    We encourage you to submit comments on the lifejacket approval 
harmonization policy letter entitled, ADOPTION OF ANSI/CAN/UL 12402-5 
AND -9, and the deregulatory savings analysis entitled, ``Approval for 
Personal Floatation Devices/Adoption of ANSI/CAN/UL 12402-5 and 9,'' 
which are available in the docket. The policy letter is also available 
on the USCG website, https://www.dco.uscg.mil/CG-ENG, listed as CG-ENG 
Policy 02-18. We will consider all submissions and may adjust our final 
action based on your comments. If you submit a comment, please include 
the docket number for this notice, indicate the specific section of the 
document to which each comment applies, and provide a reason for each 
suggestion or recommendation.
    We encourage you to submit comments through the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. If your material cannot be 
submitted using http://www.regulations.gov, contact the person in the 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document for alternate 
instructions. Documents mentioned in this notice, and all public 
comments, are in our online docket at http://www.regulations.gov and 
can be viewed by following that website's instructions. Additionally, 
if you go to the online docket and sign up for email alerts, you will 
be notified when comments or other documents are posted.
    We accept anonymous comments. All comments received will be posted 
without change to http://www.regulations.gov and will include any 
personal information you have provided. For more about privacy and the 
docket, you may review a Privacy Act notice regarding the Federal 
Docket Management System in the March 24, 2005, issue of the Federal 
Register (70 FR 15086).

Discussion

    The United States Coast Guard (USCG) has statutory authority under 
Title 46, U.S. Code, Sections 3306(a) and (b), 4102(a) and (b), 
4302(a), and 4502(a) and (c)(2)(B) to prescribe regulations for the 
design, construction, performance, testing, carriage, use, and 
inspection of lifesaving equipment on commercial and recreational 
vessels. Since 2008, the USCG has been working closely with Transport 
Canada (TC) and a diverse group of U.S. and Canadian stakeholders to 
harmonize PFD standards with the current international standard (ISO 
12402) to create a single North American standard for PFD approval. A 
single North American standard will allow manufacturers the opportunity 
to produce more innovative equipment that meets the approval 
requirements of both the United States and Canada.
    In 2015, Underwriters Laboratories Inc. published bi-national 
standards \1\ to set forth performance requirements and manufacturing 
standards for PFDs that are being used when vessels are close to shore, 
or where a rescue may be imminent. UL 12402-5 sets forth the 
performance requirements for PFDs and, within UL 12402-5, there are two 
levels of performance: Level 50 and Level 70. A Level 70 PFD provides 
an equivalent level of safety to a Type III PFD currently approved 
under 46 CFR 160.064, 160.076, or 160.077-15, and certified to UL 1123 
(Marine Buoyant Devices). A Level 50 PFD provides a reduced level of 
performance, and is not included in this policy. UL 12402-9 sets forth 
the test methods for determining compliance with UL 12402-5.
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    \1\ ANSI/CAN/UL 12402-5, Standard for Personal Flotation 
Devices--Part 5: Buoyancy Aids (Level 50)--Safety Requirements (UL 
12402-5), and ANSI/CAN/UL 12402-9, Standard for Personal Flotation 
Devices--Part 9: Test Methods (UL12402-9).
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    In April 2017, the USCG and TC signed a Memorandum of Understanding 
(MOU) outlining intended cooperation for approval of personal 
lifesaving appliances that comply with mutually acceptable standards, 
are tested by mutually accepted conformity assessment bodies or 
independent test laboratories, and are covered by a mutually acceptable 
follow-up program. In January 2018, TC published a policy stating it 
will accept UL 12402-5 as a substitute for its PFD standards in support 
of the MOU. The policy letter on which we are requesting comment builds 
on the efforts described above by establishing that the USCG will 
accept Level 70 PFDs complying

[[Page 41096]]

with UL 12402-5 as equivalent to PFDs meeting the requirements in 46 
CFR 160.064 and 160.076, with certain exceptions.
    The adoption of this policy marks the culmination of over a decade 
of dedicated work across the lifejacket and recreational boating safety 
community and supports National Boating Safety Advisory Council 
Resolution 2009-83-01, which is available in the docket.\2\ This policy 
also responds to a comment submitted by the Lifejacket Association in 
response to the Coast Guard's request for public input on ``Evaluation 
of Existing Coast Guard Regulations, Guidance Documents, Interpretive 
Documents, and Collections of Information,'' \3\ recommending the Coast 
Guard consider full adoption of UL 12402-5 and UL 12402-9. In order to 
provide the maximum benefit to the public with minimum delay, the Coast 
Guard evaluated which elements of the new standards could be 
implemented without a change to the regulations. Those elements are 
being adopted by this policy. The remaining elements of the standards 
that cannot be adopted without a change to the regulations are being 
considered for possible future regulatory action.
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    \2\ The Resolution requested the U.S. Coast Guard work 
cooperatively with stakeholders to devise and implement within 3 
years an improved regulatory approach to the testing and approval of 
personal flotation devices, including life jackets.
    \3\ 82 FR 26632 (June 8, 2017).
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    This policy letter allows manufacturers to have their products 
certified to the new bi-national standard, in lieu of the legacy 
standards codified in title 46 CFR. This allowance is intended to 
reduce the burden of maintaining approvals in U.S. and Canadian markets 
and to make additional types of PFDs available to U.S. and Canadian 
boaters.
    This policy does not impact existing PFD approvals, and does not 
require any action on the part of boaters or mariners who have approved 
PFDs onboard. An existing approved PFD will continue to meet the same 
carriage requirements, as long as it remains in good and serviceable 
condition.
    The Coast Guard has prepared a Deregulatory Savings Analysis for 
the policy letter that identifies and examines the potential costs and 
savings associated with implementing the new standards plan and is 
available in the docket. We request your comments on any concerns that 
you may have related to the policy changes.
    This notice is issued under authority of 5 U.S.C. 552(a).

    Dated: August 9, 2018.
J.G. Lantz,
Director of Commercial Regulations and Standards, U.S. Coast Guard.
[FR Doc. 2018-17799 Filed 8-16-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 9110-04-P