```

[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 12 (Tuesday, January 21, 2025)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 6844-6845]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-01277]

=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

16 CFR Parts 1238

[Docket No. CPSC-2018-0015]

Notice of Availability and Request for Comment: Revision to the 
Voluntary Standard for Stationary Activity Centers

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's (Commission or 
CPSC) mandatory rule, Safety Standard for Stationary Activity Centers, 
incorporates by reference ASTM F2012-18\[epsiv]1\, Standard Consumer 
Safety Performance Specification for Stationary Activity Centers. ASTM 
notified the Commission that it has revised this incorporated voluntary 
standard. CPSC seeks comment on whether the revision improves the 
safety of stationary activity centers.

DATES: Comments must be received by February 4, 2025.

ADDRESSES: You can submit comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-2018-
0015, 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. 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. CPSC typically does not accept comments 
submitted by email, except as described below.
    Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier/Confidential Written Submissions: CPSC 
encourages you to submit electronic comments by using the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal. You may, however, submit comments by mail, hand 
delivery, or courier to: Office of the Secretary, Consumer Product 
Safety Commission, 4330 East-West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814; 
telephone: (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: [email protected].
    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 to 
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-2018-0015, into the ``Search'' box, and follow the 
prompts.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bradley Gordon, Project Manager, 
Division of Mechanical and Combustion Engineering, U.S. Consumer 
Product Safety Commission, 5 Research Place, Rockville, MD 20850; 
telephone: (301) 987-2099; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 104(b) of the Consumer Product 
Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) requires the Commission to adopt 
mandatory standards for durable infant or toddler products. 15 U.S.C. 
2056a(b)(1). Mandatory standards must be ``substantially the same as'' 
voluntary standards, or they may be ``more stringent'' than the 
applicable voluntary standards, if the Commission determines that more 
stringent requirements would further reduce the risk of injury 
associated with the products. Id. Mandatory standards may be based, in 
whole or in part, on a voluntary standard.
    Section 104(b)(4)(B) of the CPSIA specifies the process for when a 
voluntary standards organization revises a standard that the Commission 
incorporated by reference under section 104(b)(1). First, the voluntary 
standards organization must notify the Commission of the revision. Once 
the Commission receives this notification, the Commission may reject or 
accept the revised standard. To reject a revised standard, the 
Commission must notify the voluntary standards organization within 90 
days of receiving the notice of revision that the Commission has 
determined that the revised standard

[[Page 6845]]

does not improve the safety of the consumer product and that CPSC is 
retaining the existing standard. If the Commission does not take this 
action, the revised voluntary standard will be considered a consumer 
product safety standard issued under section 9 of the Consumer Product 
Safety Act (CPSA) (15 U.S.C. 2058), effective 180 days after the 
Commission received notification of the revision (or a later date 
specified by the Commission in the Federal Register). 15 U.S.C. 
2056a(b)(4)(B).
    Under this authority, the Commission issued a mandatory safety rule 
that incorporates by reference ASTM F2012-18\[epsiv]1\, Safety Standard 
for Stationary Activity Centers, codified at 16 CFR part 1238 (84 FR 
28205, June. 18, 2019). The ASTM standard incorporated by CPSC defines 
a stationary activity center as ``a freestanding product intended to 
remain stationary that enables a sitting or standing occupant whose 
torso is completely surrounded by the product to walk, rock, play, spin 
or bounce, or all of these, within a limited range of motion.'' 16 CFR 
1238.2. This mandatory standard includes performance requirements and 
test methods, as well as requirements for warning labels and 
instructions, to address hazards to children.
    On January 6, 2025, ASTM notified the Commission that it had 
approved and published another revised version of the voluntary 
standard, ASTM F2012-2024. CPSC is assessing the revised voluntary 
standard to determine, consistent with section 104(b)(4)(B) of the 
CPSIA, its effect on the safety of stationary activity centers subject 
to 16 CFR part 1238. The Commission invites public comment to inform 
CPSC staff's assessment and subsequent Commission consideration of the 
revisions in ASTM F2012-2024.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ On January 10, 2025, the Commission voted (4-1) to publish 
this notice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The currently incorporated voluntary standard (ASTM F2012-
18[egr]\1\) and the revised voluntary standard (ASTM F2012-
24) are available for review in several ways. A read-only copy of the 
existing, incorporated standard is available for viewing, at no cost, 
on the ASTM website at: https://www.astm.org/READINGLIBRARY/. A read-
only copy of the revised standard (ASTM F2012-24), including red-lined 
versions that identify the changes from the 2018 versions to the 2024 
version, is available, at no cost, on ASTM's website at: https://www.astm.org/CPSC.htm. Interested parties can also download copies of 
the standards by purchasing them from ASTM International, 100 Barr 
Harbor Drive, P.O. Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959; phone: 
610-832-9585; https://www.astm.org. Alternatively, interested parties 
can schedule an appointment to inspect copies of the standards at 
CPSC's Office of the Secretary, U.S. Consumer Product Safety 
Commission, 4330 East-West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814, telephone: 301-
504-7479.
    Comments must be received by February 4, 2025. Because of the short 
statutory time frame Congress established for the Commission to 
consider revised voluntary standards under section 104(b)(4) of the 
CPSIA, CPSC will not consider comments received after this date.

Alberta E. Mills,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2025-01277 Filed 1-17-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P
```