Title 16—Commercial Practices--Volume 1
PART 1051—PROCEDURE FOR PETITIONING FOR RULEMAKING
§ 1051.1   Scope.
(a) This part establishes procedures for the submission and disposition of petitions for the issuance, amendment or revocation of rules under the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) (15 U.S.C. 2051 et seq. ) or other statutes administered by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
(b) Persons filing petitions for rulemaking shall follow as closely as possible the requirements and are encouraged to follow as closely as possible the recommendations for filing petitions under § 1051.5.
(c) Petitions regarding products regulated under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA) (15 U.S.C. 1261 et seq. ) are governed by existing Commission procedures at 16 CFR 1500.82. Petitions regarding the exemption of products regulated under the Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970 (PPPA) (15 U.S.C. 1471 et seq. ) are governed by existing Commission procedures at 16 CFR part 1702. In addition, however, persons filing such petitions shall follow the requirements and are encouraged to follow the recommendations for filing petitions as set forth in § 1051.5.
§ 1051.2   General.
(a) Any person may file with the Commission a petition requesting the Commission to begin a proceeding to issue, amend or revoke a regulation under any of the statutes it administers.
(b) A petition which addresses a risk of injury associated with a product which could be eliminated or reduced to a sufficient extent by action taken under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, the Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970, or the Flammable Fabrics Act may be considered by the Commission under those Acts. However, if the Commission finds by rule, in accordance with section 30(d) of the CPSA, as amended by Public Law 94-284, that it is in the public interest to regulate such risk of injury under the CPSA, it may do so. Upon determination by the Office of the General Counsel that a petition should be considered under one of these acts rather than the CPSA, the Office of the Secretary shall docket and process the petition under the appropriate act and inform the petitioner of this determination. Such docketing, however, shall not preclude the Commission from proceeding to regulate the product under the CPSA after making the necessary findings.
§ 1051.3   Place of filing.
A petition should be mailed to: Office of the Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, DC 20207. Persons wishing to file a petition in person may do so in the Office of the Secretary, at 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, Maryland.
§ 1051.4   Time of filing.
For purposes of computing time periods under this part, a petition shall be considered filed when time-date stamped by the Office of the Secretary. A document is time-date stamped when it is received in the Office of the Secretary.
§ 1051.5   Requirements and recommendations for petitions.
(a) Requirements. To be considered a petition under this part, any request to issue, amend or revoke a rule shall meet the requirements of this paragraph (a). A petition shall:
(1) Be written in the English language;
(2) Contain the name and address of the petitioner;
(3) Indicate the product (or products) regulated under the Consumer Product Safety Act or other statute the Commission administers for which a rule is sought or for which there is an existing rule sought to be modified or revoked. (If the petition regards a procedural or other rule not involving a specific product, the type of rule involved must be indicated.)
(4) Set forth facts which establish the claim that the issuance, amendment, or revocation of the rule is necessary (for example, such facts may include personal experience; medical, engineering or injury data; or a research study); and
(5) Contain an explicit request to initiate Commission rulemaking and set forth a brief description of the substance of the proposed rule or amendment or revocation thereof which it is claimed should be issued by the Commission. (A general request for regulatory action which does not reasonably specify the type of action requested shall not be sufficient for purposes of this subsection.)
(b) Recommendations. The Commission encourages the submission of as much information as possible related to the petition. Thus, to assist the Commission in its evaluation of a petition, to the extent the information is known and available to the petitioner, the petitioner is encouraged to supply the following information or any other information relating to the petition. The petition will be considered by the Commission even if the petitioner is unable to supply the information recommended in this paragraph (b). However, as applicable, and to the extent possible, the petitioner is encouraged to:
(1) Describe the specific risk(s) of injury to which the petition is addressed, including the degree (severity) and the nature of the risk(s) of injury associated with the product and possible reasons for the existence of the risk of injury (for example, product defect, poor design, faulty workmanship, or intentional or unintentional misuse);
(2) State why a consumer product safety standard would not be feasible if the petition requests the issuance of a rule declaring the product to be a banned hazardous product; and
(3) Supply or reference any known documentation, engineering studies, technical studies, reports of injuries, medical findings, legal analyses, economic analyses and environmental impact analyses relating to the petition.
(c) Procedural recommendations. The following are procedural recommendations to help the Commission in its consideration of petitions. The Commission requests, but does not require, that a petition filed under this part:
(1) Be typewritten,
(2) Include the word “petition” in a heading preceding the text,
(3) Specify what section of the statute administered by the Commission authorizes the requested rulemaking,
(4) Include the telephone number of the petitioner, and
(5) Be accompanied by at least five (5) copies of the petition.
§ 1051.6   Documents not considered petitions.
(a) A document filed with the Commission which addresses a topic or involves a product outside the jurisdiction of the Commission will not be considered to be a petition. After consultation with the Office of the General Counsel, the Office of the Secretary, if appropriate, will forward to the appropriate agency documents which address products or topics within the jurisdiction of other agencies. The Office of the Secretary shall notify the sender of the document that it has been forwarded to the appropriate agency.
(b) Any other documents filed with the Office of the Secretary that are determined by the Office of the General Counsel not to be petitions shall be evaluated for possible staff action. The Office of the General Counsel shall notify the writer of the manner in which the Commission staff is treating the document. If the writer has indicated an intention to petition the Commission, the Office of the General Counsel shall inform the writer of the procedure to be followed for petitioning.
§ 1051.7   Statement in support of or in opposition to petitions; Duty of petitioners to remain apprised of developments regarding petitions.
(a) Any person may file a statement with the Office of the Secretary in support of or in opposition to a petition prior to Commission action on the petition. Persons submitting statements in opposition to a petition are encouraged to provide copies of such statements to the petitioner.
(b) It is the duty of the petitioner, or any person submitting a statement in support of or in opposition to a petition, to keep himself or herself apprised of developments regarding the petition. Information regarding the status of petitions is available from the Office of the Secretary of the Commission.
(c) The Office of the Secretary shall send to the petitioner a copy of the staff briefing package on his or her petition at the same time the package is transmitted to the Commissioners for decision.
§ 1051.8   Public hearings on petitions.
(a) The Commission may hold a public hearing or may conduct such investigation or proceeding, including a public meeting, as it deems appropriate to determine whether a petition should be granted.
(b) If the Commission decides that a public hearing on a petition, or any portion thereof, would contribute to its determination of whether to grant or deny the petition, it shall publish in the Federal Register a notice of a hearing on the petition and invite interested persons to submit their views through an oral or written presentation or both. The hearings shall be informal, nonadversary, legislative-type proceedings in accordance with 16 CFR part 1052.
§ 1051.9   Factors the Commission considers in granting or denying petitions.
(a) The major factors the Commission considers in deciding whether to grant or deny a petition regarding a product include the following items:
(1) Whether the product involved presents an unreasonable risk of injury.
(2) Whether a rule is reasonably necessary to eliminate or reduce the risk of injury.
(3) Whether failure of the Commission to initiate the rulemaking proceeding requested would unreasonably expose the petitioner or other consumers to the risk of injury which the petitioner alleges is presented by the product.
(4) Whether, in the case of a petition to declare a consumer product a “banned hazardous product” under section 8 of the CPSA, the product is being or will be distributed in commerce and whether a feasible consumer product safety standard would adequately protect the public from the unreasonable risk of injury associated with such product.
(b) In considering these factors, the Commission will treat as an important component of each one the relative priority of the risk of injury associated with the product about which the petition has been filed and the Commission's resources available for rulemaking activities with respect to that risk of injury. The CPSC Policy on Establishing Priorities for Commission Action, 16 CFR 1009.8, sets forth the criteria upon which Commission priorities are based.
§ 1051.10   Granting petitions.
(a) The Commission shall either grant or deny a petition within a reasonable time after it is filed, taking into account the resources available for processing the petition. The Commission may also grant a petition in part or deny it in part. If the Commission grants a petition, it shall begin proceedings to issue, amend or revoke the rule under the appropriate provisions of the statutes under its administration. Beginning a proceeding means taking the first step in the rulemaking process (issuance of an advance notice of proposed rulemaking or a notice of proposed rulemaking, whichever is applicable).
(b) Granting a petition and beginning a proceeding does not necessarily mean that the Commission will issue, amend or revoke the rule as requested in the petition. The Commission must make a final decision as to the issuance, amendment, or revocation of a rule on the basis of all available relevant information developed in the course of the rulemaking proceeding. Should later information indicate that the action is unwarranted or not necessary, the Commission may terminate the proceeding.
§ 1051.11   Denial of petitions.
(a) If the Commission denies a petition it shall promptly notify the petitioner in writing of its reasons for such denial as required by the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 555(e).
(b) If the Commission denies a petition, the petitioner (or another party) can refile the petition if the party can demonstrate that new or changed circumstances or additional information justify reconsideration by the Commission.
(c) A Commission denial of a petition shall not preclude the Commission from continuing to consider matters raised in the petition.