This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

42026 

Vol. 78, No. 135 

Monday, July 15, 2013 

CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY 

COMMISSION 

16 CFR Chapter II 

[Docket No. CPSC–2013–0028] 

Petition for Rulemaking To Eliminate 

Accessible Cords on Window Covering 

Products 

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of petition for 

rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Consumer Product Safety 

Commission (CPSC or Commission) 

received a petition requesting the 

Commission to: promulgate a mandatory 

standard that prohibits any window 

covering cords, when a feasible cordless 

alternative exists; and require that all 

window covering cords be made 

inaccessible through the use of a passive 

guardian device when a feasible 

cordless alternative does not exist. The 

Commission invites written comments 

concerning the petition. 

DATES: The Office of the Secretary must 

receive comments on the petition by 

September 13, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by Docket No. CPSC–2013– 

0028, 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–2013–0028, into 

the ‘‘Search’’ box, and follow the 

prompts. A copy of the petition is 

available at http://www.regulations.gov 

under Docket No. CPSC–2013–0028, 

Supporting and Related Materials. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Rockelle Hammond, Office of the 

Secretary, U.S. Consumer Product 

Safety Commission, Room 820, 4330 

East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 

20814; telephone (301) 504–6833. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Consumer Product Safety Commission 

(CPSC or Commission) received a 

petition requesting initiation of a 

rulemaking to promulgate a mandatory 

standard to eliminate accessible cords 

on window covering products. The 

petition was filed by nine organizations 

representing consumer groups, safety 

consultants, and legal counsel: Parents 

for Window Blind Safety; Consumer 

Federation of America; Consumers 

Union; Kids in Danger; Public Citizen; 

U.S. PIRG; Independent Safety 

Consulting; Safety Behavior Analysis, 

Inc.; and Onder, Shelton, O’Leary & 

Peterson (collectively petitioners). CPSC 

has docketed the petition (CP13–2). 

The petition asserts that a mandatory 

rule is necessary because attempts to 

develop a voluntary standard that 

adequately mitigates the risk of injury 

associated with window covering cords 

have failed. Petitioners state that, based 

on CPSC’s data, between 1985 and 2012, 

324 children have been killed, and 122 

have been injured by window covering 

cords. 

To support their request for 

rulemaking, petitioners detail the 

history of the voluntary standards 

process for window coverings since 

1985. Petitioners argue that although the 

first voluntary standard, ANSI/WCMA 

A100.1–1996, issued in 1996, addressed 

some hazards associated with outer cord 

loops, the manner in which this hazard 

was addressed did not fully resolve the 

strangulation and asphyxiation risk. The 

voluntary standard was subsequently 

updated in 2002, 2007, 2009, and 2010, 

following CPSC recalls for unaddressed 

hazards related to rear inner cord 

fatalities on roman shades and lifting 

loops on roll-up shades. Petitioners 

argue that these efforts also had limited 

success, detailing additional fatalities 

and injuries. Petitioners assert that the 

most recent version of the ANSI 

standard, approved on November 28, 

2012, still fails to adequately address 

the strangulation hazard posed by 

accessible cords on window coverings, 

despite increased international 

governmental and retailer pressure to 

address the hazard. 

Petitioners assert that the voluntary 

standard is inadequate. They analyzed 

the incidents associated with window 

covering cords between 1996 and 2012 

to determine what characteristic of the 

cord was involved in each incident. Of 

the 293 incidents that occurred during 

that period, enough data to determine 

the cord characteristic involved was 

available in 250 of the incidents. 

Petitioners conclude that 102 of these 

250 incidents, or 40%, would not have 

been prevented by adherence to the 

current 2012 voluntary standard. 

Petitioners also detail characteristics of 

newer window covering designs that 

meet the voluntary standard but that 

Petitioners argue are more dangerous 

than traditional corded blinds. 

Petitioners assert that substantial 

noncompliance with the voluntary 

standard is demonstrated by CPSC’s 16 

recalls involving blinds that purportedly 

complied with the voluntary standard 

since 2007. Petitioners state that CPSC 

found numerous other violations of the 

voluntary standard when evaluating 

roman shades and roll-up shades, 

including looped pull cords, no inner 

cord stops, no tension devices, and 

failure to attach tension devices to a 

continuous loop cord. Petitioners assert 

that many of these products had been on 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 135 / Monday, July 15, 2013 / Proposed Rules 42027 

the market for years before the defects 

were detected and recalled. 

Petitioners ask the Commission to 

issue a mandatory standard to eliminate 

the hazard posed by accessible cords in 

window coverings. The petition 

specifically requests that the 

Commission: (1) Promulgate a 

mandatory standard that prohibits any 

window covering cords when a feasible 

cordless alternative exists; and (2) 

require that all cords be made 

inaccessible through the use of a passive 

guardian device when a feasible 

cordless alternative does not exist. 

By this notice, the Commission seeks 

comments concerning this petition. 

Interested parties may obtain a copy of 

the petition by writing or calling the 

Office of the Secretary, U.S. Consumer 

Product Safety Commission, Room 820, 

4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 

20814; telephone (301) 504–7923. A 

copy of the petition also will be made 

available for viewing under ‘‘Supporting 

and Related Materials’’ in 

www.regulations.gov under this docket 

number. 

Dated: July 3, 2013. 

Todd A. Stevenson, 

Secretary, U.S. Consumer Product Safety 

Commission. 

[FR Doc. 2013–16403 Filed 7–12–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6355–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Employee Benefits Security 

Administration 

29 CFR Part 2520 

RIN 1210–AB20 

Proposed Amendment To Advance 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for 

Pension Benefit Statements 

AGENCY: Employee Benefits Security 

Administration, U.S. Department of 

Labor. 

ACTION: Notice of Extension of Comment 

Period for Advance Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Labor is 

extending until August 7, 2013, the 

comment period for an advance notice 

of proposed rulemaking focusing on 

lifetime income illustrations given to 

participants in defined contribution 

pension plans, such as 401(k) and 

403(b) plans. The ANPRM serves as a 

request for comments on specific 

language and concepts in advance of a 

proposed regulation. 

DATES: The Department of Labor is 

extending the comment period of an 

advance proposed rule published May 

8, 2013, 78 FR 26727. Written comments 

must be received by the Department on 

or before August 7, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by RIN 1210–AB20, by one of 

the following methods: 

Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Email: e-ORI@dol.gov. Include RIN 

1210–AB20 in the subject line of the 

message. 

Mail: Office of Regulations and 

Interpretations, Employee Benefits 

Security Administration, Room N–5655, 

U.S. Department of Labor, 200 

Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, 

DC 20210, Attention: Pension Benefit 

Statements Project. 

Comments received will be available 

for public inspection in the Public 

Disclosure Room of the Employee 

Benefits Security Administration, U.S. 

Department of Labor, Room N–1513, 

200 Constitution Avenue NW., 

Washington, DC 20210. They also will 

be available online at 

www.regulations.gov and www.dol.gov/ 

ebsa, at no charge. Warning: Do not 

include any personally identifiable 

information (such as name, address, or 

other contact information), or 

confidential business information, that 

you do not want publicly disclosed. All 

comments may be posted on the Internet 

and can be retrieved by most Internet 

search engines. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Suzanne Adelman or Tom Hindmarch at 

(202) 693–8500. This is not a toll free 

number. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 8, 

2013, the Department of Labor 

(Department) published at 78 FR 26727 

an advance notice of proposed 

rulemaking (ANPRM) regarding the 

pension benefit statement requirements 

under section 105 of the Employee 

Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, 

as amended (ERISA). The ANPRM 

requested comments on specific 

language and concepts the Department 

is considering as part of proposed 

regulations currently under 

development. 

The ANPRM provides that the 

Department is considering a rule that 

would require a participant’s ‘‘total 

benefits accrued’’ to be expressed on his 

pension benefit statement as an 

estimated lifetime stream of payments, 

in addition to being presented as an 

account balance. The ANPRM also 

states that the Department is 

considering a rule that would require a 

participant’s account balance to be 

projected to his retirement date and 

then converted to and expressed as an 

estimated lifetime stream of payments. 

The comment period for the ANPRM 

is scheduled to close on July 8, 2013. A 

substantial number of stakeholders are 

concerned that the original 60-day 

comment period is not sufficient to 

provide well thought out and useful 

feedback to the Department on the 

complex matters raised in the ANPRM. 

Accordingly, to ensure that all 

interested persons have the opportunity 

to prepare and submit comments, EBSA 

extends the comment period from July 

8 to August 7, 2013. 

Signed at Washington, DC, this 8th day of 

July, 2013. 

Phyllis C. Borzi, 

Assistant Secretary, Employee Benefits 

Security Administration, Department of 

Labor. 

[FR Doc. 2013–16739 Filed 7–12–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–29–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Coast Guard 

33 CFR Part 165 

[Docket No. USCG–2013–0476] 

RIN 1625–AA00 

Safety Zone; San Diego Bayfair; 

Mission Bay, San Diego, CA 

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is proposing 

a temporary safety zone on the 

navigable waters of Mission Bay in San 

Diego, CA for the San Diego Bayfair 

power boat races from September 13, 

2013, until September 15, 2013. The 

safety zone as proposed would be in 

effect from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily 

during this timeframe. This temporary 

safety zone is necessary to provide for 

the safety of the participants, crew, 

spectators, participating vessels, and 

other vessels and users of the waterway. 

Persons and vessels would be 

prohibited from entering into, transiting 

through or anchoring within this safety 

zone unless authorized by the Captain 

of the Port or his designated 

representative. 

DATES: Comments and related material 

must be received by the Coast Guard on 

or before August 14, 2013. 

Requests for public meetings must be 

received by the Coast Guard on or before 

July 29, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by docket number using any 

one of the following methods: 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS