CPSC - Toddler Beds Voluntary Standard Revision Consultation

Content

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 Toddler Beds, incorporates
by reference ASTM F1821-19
ε 1, Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Toddler Beds. ASTM notified the Commission that it has revised this incorporated
voluntary standard. CPSC seeks comment on whether the revision improves the safety of toddler beds.

DATES:

Comments must be received by March 25, 2026.

ADDRESSES:

You can submit comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-2017-0012, 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: cpsc-os@cpsc.gov.

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-2017-0012, into the “Search” box, and follow the prompts.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Daniel Taxier, Project Manager, Division of Mechanical and Combustion Engineering, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission,
5 Research Place, Rockville, MD 20850; telephone: (301) 987-2211; email: dtaxier@cpsc.gov.

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 previously had 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 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 (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, in 2011 the Commission issued a mandatory safety rule for toddler beds. The rulemaking created 16 CFR
part 1217, which incorporated by reference ASTM F1821-09, Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Toddler Beds, with certain
modifications to make the standard more stringent. 76 FR 22019 (Apr. 20, 2011). (1) At the time the Commission published the final rule, ASTM F1821-09 was the current version of the voluntary standard. The

  mandatory standard included performance requirements and test methods, as well as requirements for warning labels and instructions,
  to address hazards to children associated with toddler beds.

After the Commission adopted the mandatory standard in 2011, ASTM subsequently revised the voluntary standard ten times. In
accordance with the procedures set out in section 104(b)(4)(B) of the CPSIA, some of these revised standards (2) became the new mandatory standard for toddler beds. (3) 78 FR 73692 (Dec. 9, 2013), 82 FR 11317 (Feb. 22, 2017), 84 FR 57315 (Oct. 25, 2019). The mandatory standard currently incorporates
by reference ASTM F1821-19
ε 1, an editorial version of ASTM F1821-19. (4) In 2022, ASTM published another editorial version of the 2019 standard, ASTM F1821-19
ε 2, which removed a figure that was no longer relevant or being used in the standard. This editorial revision otherwise made
no changes to the content of ASTM F1821-19
ε 1.

On March 2, 2026, ASTM notified the Commission that it had approved and published another revised version of the voluntary
standard, ASTM F1821-26. 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 toddler beds subject to 16 CFR part 1217. The Commission invites public comment
to inform CPSC staff's assessment and subsequent Commission consideration of the revisions in ASTM F1821-26.

The currently incorporated voluntary standard (ASTM F1821-19
ε 1) and the revised voluntary standard (ASTM F1821-26) are available for review in several ways. A read-only copy of the existing,
incorporated standard (ASTM F1821-19
ε 1) 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 F1821-26), including red-lined versions that identify the changes from the
2019 versions to the 2026 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 March 25, 2026. 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. 2026-04749 Filed 3-10-26; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6355-01-P

Footnotes

(1) A correction notice was published because the Office of the Federal Register inadvertently omitted the last two sections
and figures from the April 20, 2011
Federal Register
Notice. 76 FR 27882 (May 13, 2011).

(2) ASTM F1821-13, ASTM F1821-16, and ASTM F1821-19.

(3) ASTM revised the voluntary standard three times in 2011 (ASTM F1821-11, ASTM F1821-11a, and ASTM F1821-11b). ASTM notified
CPSC of F1821-11b, however, the Commission voted to retain the existing consumer product safety standard (ASTM F1821-09).
ASTM revised the voluntary standard in 2015 (ASTM F1821-15) and notified CPSC, however, the Commission voted to retain the
existing consumer product safety standard (ASTM F1821-13). ASTM approved another revision in 2018 (ASTM F1821-18), however,
ASTM did not notify CPSC of this revision under CPSIA section 104(b)(4)(B). Consequently, this revised voluntary standard
did not become the mandatory standard by operation of law, and the Commission did not update the mandatory standard to incorporate
by reference this revised ASTM standard.

(4) ASTM F1821-19
ε (1) corrected two typographical errors but did not otherwise change the content of ASTM F1821-19.

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