SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background ^[1]

On February 3, 2022, the Commission published an NPR in the Federal Register , proposing to issue a safety standard for CSUs under the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA; 15 U.S.C. 2051-2089), and seeking written comments. 87 FR 6246. The proposed rule seeks to address the risk of injuries and death, particularly to children, associated with CSUs tipping over, by requiring CSUs to be tested for stability and to exceed minimum stability requirements; to be marked and labeled with safety information; and to bear a hang tag providing performance and technical data about the stability of the CSU. The proposed rule would apply to “clothing storage units,” which the NPR proposes to define as follows:

Clothing storage unit means a freestanding furniture item, with drawer(s) and/or door(s), that may be reasonably expected to be used for storing clothing, that is greater than or equal to 27 inches in height, and with a total functional volume of the closed storage greater than 1.3 cubic feet and greater than the sum of the total functional volume of the open storage and the total volume of the open space. Common names for clothing storage units include, but are not limited to: Chests, bureaus, dressers, armoires, wardrobes, chests of drawers, drawer chests, chifforobes, and door chests. Whether a product is a clothing storage unit depends on whether it meets this definition. Some products that generally do not meet the criteria in this definition and, therefore, likely are not considered clothing storage units are: Shelving units, office furniture, dining room furniture, laundry hampers, built-in closets, and single-compartment closed rigid boxes (storage chests).

The NPR proposes to exempt clothes lockers and portable storage closets from the standard. The NPR is available at: https://www.govinfo.gov/​content/​pkg/​FR-2022-02-03/​pdf/​2022-01689.pdf, and CPSC staff's briefing package for the NPR is available at: https://www.cpsc.gov/​s3fs-public/​Proposed%20Rule-%20Safety%20Standard%20for%20Clothing%20Storage%20Units.pdf.

II. The Public Hearing

The Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 551-562) and section 9 of the CPSA require the Commission to provide interested parties with an opportunity to submit “written data, views, or arguments” regarding a proposed rule. 5 U.S.C. 553(c); 15 U.S.C. 2058(d)(2). The NPR invited such written comments. In addition, section 9 of the CPSA requires the Commission to provide interested parties “an opportunity for oral presentation of data, views, or arguments.” 15 U.S.C. 2058(d)(2). The Commission must keep a transcript of such oral presentations. Id. In accordance with this requirement, the Commission is providing a forum for oral presentations concerning the proposed standard for CSUs.

To request the opportunity to make an oral presentation, see the information under the DATES and ADDRESSES sections of this notice. Participants should limit their presentations to approximately 10 minutes, excluding time for questioning by the Commissioners or CPSC staff. To avoid duplicate presentations, groups should designate a spokesperson, and the Commission reserves the right to limit presentation times or impose further restrictions, as necessary.

87 FR 11366