16 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter A - ORGANIZATION, PROCEDURES AND RULES OF PRACTICE

The Federal Trade Commission is publishing a rule that delegates certain limited functions where the Commission is unable to act because it lacks a quorum. The functions delegated are those in which no party or intervenor has a right to petition the agency for discretionary review or in which a party or intervenor has waived such a right. In matters in which at least one Commissioner determines to participate, the delegation is made to the participating Commissioner or to the body of Commissioners who are participating. In matters in which no Commissioner is participating, the General Counsel has authority to carry out the delegated functions. This delegation is not intended to alter or affect existing delegations to Commission staff.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission or CPSC) will be holding a meeting to provide interested parties with an opportunity to present oral comments on the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) the Commission issued regarding amendments to the fireworks regulations. Any oral comments will be part of the rulemaking record.

This final rule updates the notice of requirements (NOR) for the accreditation of third party laboratories to assess conformity with the prohibitions of children's toys and child care articles containing specified phthalates. The NOR provides the criteria and process for Commission acceptance of accreditation under the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA). This rule makes the NOR consistent with the regulated phthalates in children's toys and child care articles in the phthalates final rule published in the Federal Register on October 27, 2017.

On August 30, 2017, the Commission issued a final rule determining that certain plastics and additives would not contain the phthalates that the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) prohibits from use in children's toys and child care articles. Subsequently, the Commission issued a final rule that removes some phthalates from the statutory prohibition and adds others. This direct final rule revises the determinations rule to cover the phthalates that the phthalates final rule prohibits from use in children's toys and child care articles.

The Commission amends the Rules and Regulations Under the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act (“Textile Rules”) to delete the requirement that an owner of a registered word trademark, used as a house mark, furnish the FTC with a copy of the mark's registration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) before using the mark on labels.

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC” or “Commission”) requests public comment on the overall costs, benefits, and regulatory and economic impact of its rule specifying Test Procedures and Labeling Standards for Recycled Oil (“Recycled Oil Rule” or “Rule”), as part of the Commission's systematic review of all current FTC rules and guides.

The Danny Keysar Child Product Safety Notification Act, section 104 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), requires the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission or CPSC) to promulgate consumer product safety standards for durable infant or toddler products. These standards are to be “substantially the same as” applicable voluntary standards, or more stringent than the voluntary standard if the Commission concludes that more stringent requirements would further reduce the risk of injury associated with the product. The Commission is issuing a safety standard for children's folding chairs and stools in response to the direction under Section 104(b) of the CPSIA. In addition, the Commission is amending its regulations regarding third party conformity assessment bodies to include the safety standard for children's folding chairs and stools in the list of Notices of Requirements (NORs) issued by the Commission. Finally, the Commission is amending its regulations establishing requirements for consumer registration of durable infant or toddler products to identify children's folding stools as a durable infant or toddler product.

The Children's Gasoline Burn Prevention Act (CGBPA or the Act) adopted as a consumer product safety rule, the child-resistance requirements for closures on portable gasoline containers published in the ASTM voluntary standard, Standard Specification for Determination of Child Resistance of Portable Fuel Containers for Consumer Use, ASTM F2517-05. ASTM F2517 was revised in 2015. These revisions became law under the Act, which the Commission codified through a direct final rule in 2015. On November 13, 2017, the Commission received notice from ASTM that a revision to ASTM F2517 was published in November 2017. In this direct final rule the Commission reviews and evaluates the revised ASTM F2517, finding that the revisions carry out the purposes of the CGBPA's requirements. Accordingly, the 2017 revisions to the child-resistance requirements will be automatically incorporated and apply as the statutorily mandated standard for closures on portable gasoline containers. This direct final rule updates the Commission's regulation to reflect that the requirements for closures on portable gasoline containers must meet the requirements in ASTM F2517-17.

Section 106 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) made ASTM F963-07ε1, Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Toy Safety, a mandatory consumer product safety standard. That section also provides procedures for revisions to the standard. In accordance with these procedures, the Commission (CPSC or Commission) recently allowed the update to ASTM F963, ASTM F963-17, Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Toy Safety (ASTM F963-17), to become the mandatory toy standard, with one exception. This direct final rule incorporates by reference ASTM F963-17, with one exception, and updates the existing notice of requirements (NOR) that provides the criteria and process for Commission acceptance of accreditation of third party conformity assessment bodies for testing for ASTM F963 pursuant to the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA).

The Federal Trade Commission has completed its regulatory review of its rule regarding Disposal of Consumer Report Information and Records as part of the Commission's systematic review of all current Commission rules and guides, and has determined to retain the Rule in its current form.

The Commission proposes to amend the Energy Labeling Rule (“Rule”) by updating ranges of comparability and unit energy cost figures on EnergyGuide labels for dishwashers, furnaces, room air conditioners, and pool heaters. The Commission also proposes to set a compliance date for EnergyGuide labels on room air conditioner boxes.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission, or CPSC) is proposing a rule to determine that certain untreated and unfinished engineered wood products (EWPs), specifically, particleboard, hardwood plywood, and medium-density fiberboard, made from virgin wood or pre-consumer waste wood would not contain lead, the ASTM F963 elements, or specified phthalates that exceed the limits set forth under the CPSC's statutes for children's products, children's toys, and child care articles. Based on these proposed determinations, the specified EWPs would not be required to have third party testing for compliance with the requirements for lead, ASTM F963 elements, or phthalates for children's products, children's toys, and child care articles.

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) required the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC or the Commission) to publish, as a mandatory consumer product safety standard, the American National Standard for Four-Wheel All-Terrain Vehicles Equipment Configuration, and Performance Requirements, developed by the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America (ANSI/SVIA 1-2007). CPSC published that mandatory consumer product safety standard on November 14, 2008. ANSI/SVIA issued a 2017 edition of its standard in June 2017. In accordance with the CPSIA, CPSC proposes to amend the Commission's mandatory ATV standard to reference the 2017 edition of the ANSI/SVIA standard.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission, or CPSC) is issuing a final rule that determines that certain plastics with specified additives would not contain the specified phthalates prohibited in children's toys and child care articles. Based on these determinations, the specified plastics with specified additives will not require third party testing for compliance with the mandatory prohibitions on children's toys and child care articles containing phthalates.

The Federal Trade Commission (the “Commission” or “FTC”) is amending its Telemarketing Sales Rule (“TSR”) by updating the fees charged to entities accessing the National Do Not Call Registry (the “Registry”) as required by the Do-Not-Call Registry Fee Extension Act of 2007.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission, CPSC, or we) is issuing a final rule to update its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) rule. The final rule revises the rule to conform to the amendments of the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 (the 2016 FOIA) to the FOIA. The final rule is also updated to reflect changes in Commission procedures; updates Commission contact information, including current methods of submitting requests for records to the Commission; revises employee titles; and makes various technical changes and corrections.

The Commission, with the concurrence of the Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division, Department of Justice, announces ministerial changes to the Antitrust Improvements Act Notification and Report Form (“HSR Form”) to make it conform to recently published amendments to the associated Instructions and to reflect changes to the noncompliance penalty and the Premerger Notification Office address.

Section 104 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) requires the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission or CPSC) to promulgate consumer product safety standards for durable infant or toddler products. These standards are to be “substantially the same as” applicable voluntary standards, or more stringent than the voluntary standard if the Commission concludes that more stringent requirements would further reduce the risk of injury associated with the product. The Commission is proposing a safety standard for booster seats in response to the direction under section 104(b) of the CPSIA. In addition, the Commission is proposing an amendment to include booster seats in the list of notice of requirements (NORs) issued by the Commission.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has determined preliminarily that there may be an unreasonable risk of blade-contact injuries associated with table saws. In 2015, there were an estimated 33,400 table saw, emergency department-treated injuries. Of these, CPSC staff estimates that 30,800 (92 percent) are likely related to the victim making contact with the saw blade. CPSC staff's review of the existing data indicates that currently available safety devices, such as the modular blade guard and riving knife, do not adequately address the unreasonable risk of blade-contact injuries on table saws. To address this risk, the Commission proposes a rule that is based, in part, on work conducted by Underwriters Laboratories Inc. The proposed rule would establish a performance standard that requires table saws, when powered on, to limit the depth of cut to 3.5 millimeters when a test probe, acting as surrogate for a human body/finger, contacts the spinning blade at a radial approach rate of 1 meter per second (m/s). The proposed rule would address an estimated 54,800 medically treated blade-contact injuries annually. The Commission estimates that the proposed rule's aggregate net benefits on an annual basis could range from about $625 million to about $2,300 million.

The Federal Trade Commission is implementing provisions of the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 by amending the regulation governing fees the agency may assess to offset the cost of disseminating information and records to the public. The FTC is also making other clarifying changes and updates to the fee regulation.