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[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 14 (Thursday, January 22, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3226-3227]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-00907]

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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

[Docket No. CPSC-2015-0001]

Petition Requesting Rulemaking on Residential Elevators

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has received a 
petition requesting a safety standard for residential elevators to 
address an entrapment hazard between the elevator interior and exterior 
doors. The Commission invites written comments concerning the petition.

DATES: The Office of the Secretary must receive comments on the 
petition by March 23, 2015.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-2015-
0001, 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 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-2015-0001, into the ``Search'' box, and follow the 
prompts.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rocky Hammond, Office of the 
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East West Highway, 
Bethesda, MD, 20814; telephone (301) 504-6833, email: 
rhammond@cpsc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    On November 1, 2013, The Safety Institute, Carol Pollack-Nelson, 
and Cash, Krugler & Fredericks, LLC (collectively referred to as 
petitioners), submitted a petition to the Commission to initiate 
rulemaking to mandate a safety standard for residential elevators to 
address an entrapment hazard caused by excess space between the 
elevator car door/gate (interior door) and hoistway or swing door 
(exterior door).
    Petitioners assert that in many home elevators, and in similar 
versions found in older apartment and commercial buildings, the 
clearance between the interior door and exterior door is large enough 
to allow children as old as 12 years to fit between the doors. 
According to petitioners, a child can become entrapped in the door path 
when the elevator is called to another floor, and the hoistway door 
automatically locks. The child's body is carried along with the 
elevator car until the hoistway door meets the obstruction of the sill, 
where the child's body--usually the head--is crushed.
    Petitioners request that the CPSC promulgate a mandatory standard 
that constrains the space between residential elevator hoistway doors 
and car doors/gates to 4 inches when measured from the inside of the 
hoistway door to the farthest point on the car door/gate. Petitioners 
contend that the CPSC's figures show that there were an estimated 1,600 
injuries associated with residential elevators and lifts from 2011 
through 2012. According to the petitioners, some of those injuries, as 
well as several deaths, were due to children becoming entrapped in the 
gap between the residential elevators doors. In addition, the 
petitioners state that the voluntary standard (ASME Elevator Safety 
Code) has failed to safeguard children from injuries and deaths from 
the entrapment hazard because that standard allows a wider gap between 
the doors for a maximum of 5 inches.
    Interested parties may obtain a copy of the petition by writing or 
calling the Office of the Secretary, Consumer Product Safety 
Commission, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814; telephone (301) 
504-6833. The petition is also available at http://www.regulations.gov 
under Docket No.

[[Page 3227]]

CPSC-2015-0001, Supporting and Related Materials.

Alberta E. Mills,
Acting Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2015-00907 Filed 1-21-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P
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