DATES:  Submit comments by December 5, 2017

Summary:  The Consumer Product Safety Commission has published a notice inviting comments on a Petition for Rulemaking from Zen Magnets, LLC.  The petition proposes that the CPSC establish a safety standard for small magnet set which would:

• Require individual magnets and each magnet in a magnet set that fits entirely within the cylinder described in 16 CFR 1501.4 (small parts cylinder) to have a flux index of 50 kG2mm2 or less if the product is designed, marketed, or manufactured for children under the age of 14 years.
• Establish standards for magnet set packaging, such as requiring packaging to be difficult for children to open and assist users in determining whether all magnets are returned to the package after use.
• Provide specific warning requirements relating to ingestion hazards and recommending that the product is not intended for children;
• Provide instructional requirements that indicate how to avoid using the magnet set in a way that can lead to ingesting, aspirating, or inserting the magnets into the body and how to return magnets to the packaging; and
• Require warning and instructions for magnet sets to include an age recommendation of 14 years or older.

SUMMARY: The Commission recommends that manufacturers of children’s products, upholstered furniture sold for use in residences, mattresses (and mattress pads), and plastic casings surrounding electronics refrain from intentionally adding non- polymeric, organohalogen flame retardants (‘‘OFRs’’) to their products. Further, the Commission recommends that, before purchasing such products for resale, importers, distributors, and retailers obtain assurances from manufacturers that such products do not contain OFRs. Finally, the Commission recommends that consumers, especially those who are pregnant or with young children, inquire and obtain assurances from retailers that such products do not contain OFRs.

DATES: The rule is effective on September 29, 2017

 Substance of the Rule:  Section 1308.2(a) specifies the plastics that the Commission has determined do not exceed the phthalates content limits with a high degree of assurance as that term is defined in 16 CFR part 1107

(b) Accessible component parts of children’s toys and child care articles made with the specified plastics, and specified additives, listed in paragraph (a) of this section are not required to be third party tested pursuant to section 14(a)(2) of the CPSA and 16 CFR part 1107.

(c) Accessible component parts of children’s toys and child care articles made with a plastic or additives not listed in paragraph (a) of this section that are plasticized or may contain phthalates are required to be third party tested pursuant to section 14(a)(2) of the CPSA and 16 CFR part 1107.

DATES: The rule is effective on September 7, 2017

SUMMARY: The Consumer Product Safety Commission 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 also reflects 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.

DATES: The meeting will begin at 10 a.m., September 14, 2017. Requests to make oral presentations and the written text of any oral presentations must be received by the Office of the Secretary not later than 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on August 31, 2017

Additional Information: The CPSC received a petition from Earthjustice and the Consumer Federation of America asking that the CPSC initiate rulemaking to ban products containing Organohalogen Flame Retardants.  Joining in the petition were the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Women’s Association, Consumers Union, Green Science Policy Institute, International Association of Fire Fighters, Kids in Danger, Philip Landrigan, M.D., M.P.H., League of United Latin American Citizens, Learning Disabilities Association of America, and Worksafe.

The Commission staff has prepared a briefing package on the issues.