[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 217 (Friday, November 8, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 88684-88685]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-25876]


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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

16 CFR Part 1250

[CPSC Docket No. CPSC-2024-0027]


Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Safety Standard for Toys: 
Requirements for Water Beads; Extension of Comment Period

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.

[[Page 88685]]


ACTION: Extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: On September 9, 2024, the Consumer Product Safety Commission 
(CPSC) published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed 
rulemaking (NPR) to address the risk of death and injury associated 
with children ingesting or inserting in the nose or ear water bead toys 
by adding performance and labeling requirements for water bead toys or 
toys containing water beads. The Commission also made public incident 
data relied upon and referenced in the NPR. The NPR invited the public 
to submit written comments by November 8, 2024. On October 21, 2024, 
CPSC received a request to extend the comment period to provide 
stakeholders with time to review additional testing data. The 
Commission is extending the comment period for the NPR by 30 days.

DATES: The comment period for the proposed rule published on September 
9, 2024, at 89 FR 73024, is extended. Submit comments by December 8, 
2024.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-2024-0027, by 
any of the following methods:
    Electronic Submissions: Submit electronic comments to the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal at: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments. CPSC typically does not accept 
comments submitted by email, except through www.regulations.gov. CPSC 
encourages you to submit electronic comments by using the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal, as described above.
    Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier/Confidential Written Submissions: Submit 
comments by mail, hand delivery, or courier to: Office of the 
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East-West Highway, 
Bethesda, MD 20814; (301) 504-7479. If you wish to submit confidential 
business information, trade secret information, or other sensitive or 
protected information that you do not want to be available to the 
public, you may submit such comments by mail, hand delivery, or 
courier, or you may email them to: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#ec8f9c9f8fc1839fac8f9c9f8fc28b839a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e88b989b8bc5879ba88b989b8bc68f879e">[email protected]</span></a>.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number. CPSC may post all comments without change, including any 
personal identifiers, contact information, or other personal 
information provided, to https://www.regulations.gov. Do not submit 
through this website: Confidential business information, trade secret 
information, or other sensitive or protected information that you do 
not want to be available to the public. If you wish to submit such 
information, please submit it according to the instructions for mail/
hand delivery/courier/confidential written submissions.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to: https://www.regulations.gov, and insert the 
docket number, CPSC-2024-0027, into the ``Search'' box, and follow the 
prompts.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matthew Kresse, Division of Mechanical 
Engineering, Directorate for Laboratory Sciences, Consumer Product 
Safety Commission, 5 Research Place, Rockville, MD 20850; Telephone 
301-987-2222; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#711c1a031402021431120102125f161e07"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="462b2d3423353523062536352568212930">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Background

    Pursuant to section 106 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement 
Act of 2008 (CPSIA; 15 U.S.C. 2056b(a)), the Commission is required to 
promulgate toy safety standards that are more stringent than the 
applicable voluntary standard--ASTM F963, Standard Consumer Safety 
Specification for Toy Safety--if the Commission determines that more 
stringent requirements would further reduce the risk of injury 
associated with the product, as well as to periodically review and 
revise the rules set forth under section 106 to ensure that such rules 
provide the highest level of safety for such products that is feasible. 
15 U.S.C. 2056b(c) and (d).
    Accordingly, on September 9, 2024, the Commission published an NPR 
in the Federal Register proposing to establish a safety standard for 
water bead toys and toys that contain water beads by adding 
requirements in part 1250. 89 FR 73024. In the September 9 notice, the 
Commission provided a 60-day comment period closing on November 8, 
2024.

B. Request for Comment Period Extension

    On April 11, 2024, The Toy Association submitted a Freedom of 
Information Act (FIOA) request seeking acrylamide testing data related 
to water beads. CPSC's FOIA office anticipated that the acrylamide 
testing data could be made public as part of the water bead rulemaking 
process in a Notice of Availability (NOA) and informed The Toy 
Association that it should wait until the Commission began its 
rulemaking. On September 9, 2024, CPSC published the NPR (not an NOA), 
which did not cite the requested data. The FOIA office then amended its 
response to The Toy Association's FOIA request and published the 
testing data on CPSC's website, alerting The Toy Association on October 
7, 2024.
    On October 21, 2024, Joan Lawrence, Senior Vice President, 
Standards and Regulatory Affairs of The Toy Association, submitted a 
request for a 60-day extension of the NPR comment period.<SUP>1 2</SUP> 
The Toy Association's request asserts that the provided 60-day comment 
period is insufficient for stakeholders to provide meaningful feedback 
on the NPR and that stakeholders need time to review the acrylamide 
testing data on CPSC's website.
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    \1\ The Toy Association's request has been placed on the docket 
for this rulemaking.
    \2\ On November 1, 2024, the Commission voted (4-1) to publish 
this notice.
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C. Assessment of the JPMA Request

    Section III.D of the NPR states that CPSC would make available for 
review and comment the incident data relied upon and discussed in the 
NPR, which CPSC did when the NPR was published in the Federal Register. 
Nevertheless, CPSC's FOIA office stated that the acrylamide testing 
data would be released at the same time as the NPR data, when it was 
not shared with The Toy Association until October 7, 2024. A 30-day 
extension of the comment period will be granted to address this unusual 
circumstance.

D. Conclusion

    The Commission has considered The Toy Association request to extend 
the comment period and staff's assessment of the request, and is 
granting a 30-day extension of the comment period, until December 8, 
2024. The acrylamide testing data is currently available on CPSC's FOIA 
website at: https://www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/FOIA/ReportList/all/all?month=all&year=all&nfr_type=All&title=24-f-00409, and is available 
with the incident data referenced in the NPR upon submitting a request 
to: https://forms.office.com/g/gSZi1gHic8.

Alberta E. Mills,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2024-25876 Filed 11-7-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P


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