62044 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 194 / Thursday, October 6, 2011 / Notices 

Special Accommodations 

These meetings are physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

Requests for sign language 

interpretation or other auxiliary aids 

should be directed to Kathy Pereira at 

the Council (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 

working days prior to the meeting. 

Dated: October 3, 2011. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–25840 Filed 10–5–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

COMMISSION OF FINE ARTS 

Notice of Meeting 

The next meeting of the U.S. 

Commission of Fine Arts is scheduled 

for 20 October 2011, at 10 a.m. in the 

Commission offices at the National 

Building Museum, Suite 312, Judiciary 

Square, 401 F Street, NW., Washington 

DC 20001–2728. Items of discussion 

may include buildings, parks and 

memorials. 

Draft agendas and additional 

information regarding the Commission 

are available on our Web site: http:// 

www.cfa.gov. Inquiries regarding the 

agenda and requests to submit written 

or oral statements should be addressed 

to Thomas Luebke, Secretary, U.S. 

Commission of Fine Arts, at the above 

address; by e-mailing staff@cfa.gov; or 

by calling 202–504–2200. Individuals 

requiring sign language interpretation 

for the hearing impaired should contact 

the Secretary at least 10 days before the 

meeting date. 

Dated: September 27, 2011 in Washington 

DC. 

Thomas Luebke, 

Secretary 

[FR Doc. 2011–25408 Filed 10–5–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6330–01–M 

CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY 

COMMISSION 

[ Docket No. CPSC–2011–0070] 

Alternative Testing Requirements for 

Small Batch Manufacturers 

AGENCY: U.S. Consumer Product Safety 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of public hearing. 

SUMMARY: Section 14(i)(4)(A)(i) of the 

Consumer Product Safety Act, 15 U.S.C. 

2063(i)(4)(A)(i), provides that the 

Commission, in implementing third 

party testing requirements, under 

certain circumstances, may allow small 

batch manufacturers to use alternative 

testing requirements in lieu of testing 

prescribed in an applicable consumer 

product safety rule, ban, standard, or 

regulation. If, however, the Commission 

determines that no alternative testing 

requirement is available or 

economically practicable, it shall 

exempt eligible small batch 

manufacturers from third party testing 

requirements. Through this notice, the 

Commission is announcing that it will 

conduct a public hearing to receive 

views from all interested parties about 

whether such alternative testing 

requirements are available or 

economically practicable or, in the 

absence of economically practicable 

alternatives, whether an exemption from 

third party testing is appropriate. 

DATES: The public hearing will begin at 

10 a.m. EST on October 26, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: The public hearing will be 

held in the Hearing Room, 4th Floor of 

the Bethesda Towers Building, 4330 

East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 

20814. 

Online Registration and Webcast: 

Members of the public who wish to 

attend the public hearing are requested 

to preregister online at: http://www/ 

cpsc.gov. You may preregister until 5 

p.m. EST on October 25, 2011. This 

public hearing also will be available live 

via webcast on October 26, 2011, at: 

http://www/cpsc.gov/webcast. 

Registration is not necessary to view the 

webcast. A transcript will be made of 

the proceedings of the public hearing. 

Oral Presentations and Written 

Comments: To make oral presentations, 

participants must preregister online. 

Presenters must also submit a request to 

make an oral presentation, and the 

written text of such presentation, 

captioned ‘‘Alternative Testing 

Requirements for Small Batch 

Manufacturers Public Hearing,’’ by 

electronic mail (e-mail) to: cpscos@cpsc.gov, or mailed or delivered to 

the Office of the Secretary, Consumer 

Product Safety Commission, 4330 East 

West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814, no 

later than 5 p.m. EST on October 21, 

2011. Commenters should limit their 

presentations to 15 minutes, exclusive 

of questioning by the Commissioners or 

CPSC staff. We may limit the time 

further for any presentation and impose 

other restrictions to avoid excessive 

duplication of presentations. 

Participants who are unable to make 

an oral presentation may submit written 

comments regarding the issues outlined 

under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

captioned, ‘‘Alternative Testing 

Requirements for Small Batch 

Manufacturers Public Hearing’’ by 

electronic mail (e-mail) to: cpscos@cpsc.gov, or mailed or delivered to 

the Office of the Secretary, Consumer 

Product Safety Commission, 4330 East 

West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814, no 

later than 5 p.m. EST on October 21, 

2011. Any information submitted in 

writing or presented orally to the CPSC 

at the public hearing will become part 

of the public record. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Concerning requests and procedures for 

oral presentations of comments, contact: 

Rockelle Hammond, Consumer Product 

Safety Commission, Bethesda, MD 

20814; telephone: (301) 504–6833; email: cpsc-os@cpsc.gov. For all other 

matters, contact: Robert Howell, Deputy 

Executive Director, Safety Operations, 

Consumer Product Safety Commission, 

Bethesda, MD 20814; telephone: (301) 

504–7621; e-mail: rhowell@cpsc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

14(a)(2)(A) of the Consumer Product 

Safety Act, 15 U.S.C. 2063(a)(2)(A), 

provides that every manufacturer of a 

children’s product that is subject to a 

children’s product safety rule shall 

submit sufficient samples of the 

children’s product, or samples that are 

identical in all material respects to the 

product, to a CPSC-approved third party 

conformity assessment body to be tested 

for compliance with such children’s 

product safety rule. Further, section 

14(i)(2) requires continued testing of 

children’s products, directing the 

Commission to, by regulation, establish 

protocols and standards— 

(i) For ensuring that a children’s 

product tested for compliance with an 

applicable children’s product safety rule 

is subject to testing periodically and 

when there has been a material change 

in the product design or manufacturing 

process, including the sourcing of 

component parts; 

(ii) For the testing of representative 

samples to ensure continued 

compliance; 

(iii) For verifying that a children’s 

product tested by a conformity 

assessment body complies with 

applicable children’s product safety 

rules; and 

(iv) For safeguarding against the 

undue influence on a third party 

conformity assessment body by a 

manufacturer or private labeler. 

The Commission has been working to 

adopt a testing and certification rule 

that sets forth the continued testing 

requirements mandated by section 14(i). 

In this context, we have explored 

possible alternatives for small batch 

manufacturers to reduce the burden and 

cost of third party testing on such 

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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 194 / Thursday, October 6, 2011 / Notices 62045 

entities. However, as originally adopted, 

section 14 imposed third party testing 

on all manufacturers of children’s 

products that are subject to a children’s 

product safety rule, irrespective of the 

size of the business or the number of 

units produced, thereby limiting the 

Commission’s ability to provide such 

relief. As recently amended by H.R. 

2715, however, section 14(i)(4) provides 

special rules for small batch 

manufacturers through which the 

Commission is required, in 

implementing third party testing 

requirements, to take into consideration 

any economic, administrative, or other 

limits on the ability of small batch 

manufacturers to comply with such 

requirements. In addition, small batch 

manufacturers of covered products, 

under certain circumstances, may use 

alternative testing requirements, if such 

alternatives are available. Under section 

14(i)(4)(E)(i), a ‘‘covered product’’ 

means a consumer product 

manufactured by a small batch 

manufacturer where no more than 7,500 

units of the same product were 

manufactured in the previous calendar 

year. Section 14(i)(4)(E)(ii) defines the 

term ‘‘small batch manufacturer’’ to 

mean a manufacturer that had no more 

than $1,000,000 in total gross revenue 

from sales of all consumer products in 

the previous calendar year. 

In light of this new authority, the 

Commission seeks to hear from 

interested stakeholders about whether 

such alternatives are available and what 

such alternatives would entail. For 

example, alternatives for a particular 

rule may include different screening 

techniques, sampling procedures, or a 

first party testing regime. Staff has also 

been exploring the idea of co-op 

approaches to testing expense. However, 

if the Commission determines that no 

such alternative testing requirement is 

available or economically practicable for 

a particular rule, ban, regulation, or 

standard, section 14(i)(4)(ii) permits the 

Commission to exempt small batch 

manufacturers from third party testing 

requirements. Thus, in addition to 

seeking information about alternative 

testing requirements, the Commission 

also wants to hear from interested 

parties about whether they seek 

exemption from third party testing 

requirements because alternatives are 

not available or are not economically 

practicable. The Commission will 

explore at the hearing whether 

exemptions are appropriate with regard 

to any and all children’s product safety 

rules for which small batch 

manufacturers may need relief. We note, 

however, that in some cases, even if 

alternatives are available and 

economically practicable, we may not 

allow the use of such an alternative (or, 

if it is determined that no alternative is 

available, the Commission may not 

permit an exemption) where the 

Commission determines that full 

compliance with the third party testing 

requirements is reasonably necessary to 

protect public health or safety. 

Moreover, sections 14(i)(4)(C)(i) and (ii) 

prohibit the Commission from providing 

alternative testing requirements or 

exemptions for any of the third party 

testing requirements contained in 

clauses (i) through (v) of section 

14(a)(3)(B) (lead paint, full-size or nonfull-size cribs, pacifiers, small parts, 

children’s metal jewelry, baby bouncers, 

walkers, and jumpers) or durable infant 

or toddler products, as defined in 

section 104(f) of the Consumer Product 

Safety Improvement Act of 2008, 15 

U.S.C. 2056(a)(f). 

In seeking information about possible 

alternative testing requirements, we 

stress that any such alternative must 

satisfy the underlying objectives 

prescribed in the children’s product 

safety rule for which the alternative is 

sought, and must provide reasonable 

methods to ensure compliance. Every 

rule, ban, standard, or regulation issued 

by the Commission is the result of 

careful analysis, review, and research 

through which alternatives are 

evaluated and certain standard criteria 

are met. In that process, Commission 

staff has considered possible alternative 

testing requirements to minimize the 

burden of testing since passage of the 

CPSIA. With regard to chemical testing, 

for example, staff has approved the 

use—in appropriate circumstances—of 

XRF screening techniques for lead. In 

addition, staff has been following 

closely the development of screening 

techniques for phthalates. Where 

appropriate, and when the screening 

methods are reliable and reproducible, 

staff would be open to allowing the use 

of screening techniques to mitigate 

testing costs for chemical content testing 

of children’s products and toys or the 

heavy metals content of the paints and 

surface coatings used on toys. 

Screening techniques, however, are 

not appropriate alternative testing 

requirements for all children’s product 

safety rules. For example, staff is not 

aware of any screening technique that 

would detect the flammability of a 

child’s carpet and rug. In addition, 

many of the performance standards and 

tests in our rules have particularized 

test methods for which an alternative 

simply does not appear to be 

practicable. The bicycle standard, for 

example, contains rigorous performance 

standards to reduce unreasonable risks 

of injury, including exacting and welldocumented test procedures that are 

analyzed to ensure the reproducibility 

of the results and minimize 

interlaboratory variability. 

Therefore, as a threshold matter, any 

alternative testing requirement 

submitted to the Commission for 

consideration, in addition to satisfying 

the fundamental purpose of the rule for 

which an alternative is presented, must 

demonstrate acceptable performance in 

the areas of: 

• Accuracy; 

• Precision; 

• Repeatability; 

• Reproducibility; 

• Range; 

• Sensitivity (to test setup and/or test 

environment); 

• Relevance (usefulness in predicting 

consumer product performance); and 

• Correlation between the proposed 

alternative and existing regulatory 

testing requirements. 

Using these criteria, stakeholders 

should submit specific and welldocumented information on the 

availability and economic practicability 

of alternative testing requirements for 

the following children’s product safety 

rules: 

16 CFR Part No. 

(or Test Method or Standard) Description 

1420 .......................................................................................................... All-Terrain Vehicles. 

1203 .......................................................................................................... Bicycle Helmets. 

1512 .......................................................................................................... Bicycles. 

1513 .......................................................................................................... Bunk Beds. 

1500.86(a)(5) ............................................................................................ Clacker Balls. 

1500.86(a)(7) and (8) ............................................................................... Dive Sticks and Other Similar Articles. 

1505 .......................................................................................................... Electrically Operated Toys or Articles. 

1615 .......................................................................................................... Flammability of Children’s Sleepwear, Sizes 0 through 6X. 

1616 .......................................................................................................... Flammability of Children’s Sleepwear, Sizes 7 through 14. 

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62046 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 194 / Thursday, October 6, 2011 / Notices 

16 CFR Part No. 

(or Test Method or Standard) Description 

1610 .......................................................................................................... Flammability of Clothing Textiles. 

1632 .......................................................................................................... Flammability of Mattresses and Mattress Pads. 

1633 .......................................................................................................... Flammability (Open-Flame) of Mattress Sets. 

1611 .......................................................................................................... Flammability of Vinyl Plastic Film. 

1215 .......................................................................................................... Infant Bath Seats. 

Sec. 101 of CPSIA (Test Method CPSC–CH–E1001–08 or CPSC–CH– 

E1001–08.1).

Lead Content in Children’s Metal Products. 

Sec. 101 of CPSIA (Test Method CPSC–CH–E1002–08 and/or CPSC– 

CH–E1002–08.1).

Lead Content in Children’s Non-Metal Products. 

Sec. 108 of CPSIA (Test Method CPSC–CH–C1001–09.3 ) .................. Phthalate Content of Children’s Toys and Child Care Articles. 

1510 .......................................................................................................... Rattles. 

1630 .......................................................................................................... Surface Flammability of Carpets and Rugs. 

1631 .......................................................................................................... Surface Flammability of Small Carpets and Rugs. 

1217 .......................................................................................................... Toddler Beds. 

(ASTM F963) ............................................................................................ Toys. 

Stakeholders seeking an exemption 

from one of the above-listed rules 

should submit information to the 

Commission demonstrating that an 

alternative testing requirement is not 

available or economically practicable. In 

addition, because the Commission 

cannot grant an exemption where it 

determines that full compliance with 

the third party testing provisions of the 

CPSIA ‘‘is reasonably necessary to 

protect the public health and safety,’’ 

the Commission is accepting comments 

on this issue. The Commission intends 

this hearing to fulfill all of the notice 

and hearing requirements of HR 2715 

with regard to the amendment of 

Section 14(i)(2)(B)(ii)(4) of the CPSA, 

‘‘Special Rules for Small Batch 

Manufacturers.’’ 

Any information submitted in writing 

or presented orally to the CPSC at the 

public hearing will become part of the 

public record. Access to the docket to 

read background documents, including 

a transcript of the public meeting, or 

comments received, will be made 

available at: http://www.regulations.gov 

under Docket No. CPSC–2011–0070. 

Dated: October 3, 2011. 

Todd A. Stevenson, 

Secretary, Consumer Product Safety 

Commission. 

[FR Doc. 2011–25876 Filed 10–5–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6355–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Office of the Secretary 

Defense Science Board; Notice of 

Advisory Committee Meetings 

AGENCY: Department of Defense (DoD). 

ACTION: Notice of Advisory Committee 

Meetings. 

SUMMARY: The Defense Science Board 

will meet in closed session on October 

26 and October 27, 2011; at the Johns 

Hopkins University Applied Physics 

Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, 

Laurel, MD 20723. 

The mission of the Defense Science 

Board is to advise the Secretary of 

Defense and the Under Secretary of 

Defense for Acquisition, Technology & 

Logistics on scientific and technical 

matters as they affect the perceived 

needs of the Department of Defense. At 

this meeting, the Board will discuss 

interim finding and recommendations 

resulting from ongoing Task Force 

activities. The Board will also discuss 

plans for future consideration of 

scientific and technical aspects of 

specific strategies, tactics, and policies 

as they may affect the U.S. national 

defense posture and homeland security. 

DATES: October 26 and October 27, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: Johns Hopkins University 

Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 

Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Debra Rose, Executive Officer, Defense 

Science Board, 3140 Defense Pentagon, 

Room 3B888A, Washington, DC 20301– 

3140, via e-mail at debra.rose@osd.mil, 

or via phone at (703) 571–0084. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with section 10(d) of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public 

Law 92–463, as amended (5 U.S.C. App. 

2) and 41 CFR 102–3.155, the 

Department of Defense has determined 

that these Defense Science Board 

Quarterly meeting will be closed to the 

public. Specifically, the Under Secretary 

of Defense (Acquisition, Technology 

and Logistics), with the coordination of 

the DoD Office of General Counsel, has 

determined in writing that all sessions 

of these meetings will be closed to the 

public because they will be concerned 

throughout with matters listed in 5 

U.S.C. 552b(c)(1). 

Interested persons may submit a 

written statement for consideration by 

the Defense Science Board. Individuals 

submitting a written statement must 

submit their statement to the Designated 

Federal Official at the address in FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, at any 

point, however, if a written statement is 

not received at least 10 calendar days 

prior to the meeting, which is the 

subject of this notice, then it may not be 

provided to or considered by the 

Defense Science Board. The Designated 

Federal Official will review all timely 

submissions with the Defense Science 

Board Chairperson, and ensure they are 

provided to members of the Defense 

Science Board before the meeting that is 

the subject of this notice. 

Dated: September 30, 2011. 

Aaron Siegel, 

Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison 

Officer, Department of Defense. 

[FR Doc. 2011–25744 Filed 10–5–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 5001–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Office of the Secretary 

Membership of the Performance 

Review Board 

AGENCY: Department of Defense (DoD), 

Defense Finance and Accounting 

Service. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces the 

appointment of the members of the 

Performance Review Board (PRB) of the 

Defense Finance and Accounting 

Service (DFAS). The publication of PRB 

membership is required by 5 U.S.C. 

4314(c)(4). 

The Performance Review Board (PRB) 

provides fair and impartial review of 

Senior Executive Service performance 

appraisals and makes recommendations 

regarding performance ratings and 

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