DATES:  Comments must be filed by February 6, 2017.  A December 13, 2016 notice extended the date for comments until April 24, 2017.

Purpose: Commission is proposing a rule to help reduce the injuries and deaths resulting from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by Portable Generators.  The proposed rule specifies different limits on weighted carbon monoxide emission rates for different classes of generators in recognition of the effects of factors such as engine size and other engine characteristics on CO emissions, generator size, weight, and hazard patterns and the different challenges that may be faced in meeting CO emission rates expressed in grams per hour.

DATES:  The Rule is Effective October 2, 2016, unless the Commission receives significant adverse comment by July 16, 2016.

BRIEF EXPLANATION:  The former Safety Standard was based on ASTM F833-13(b).  ASTM has updated its voluntary standard to Revision 15. Congress has passed a procedure for updating CPSC standards based on Voluntary Industry Standards when the voluntary standard has been changed.  The CPSC is implementing that procedure.

BACKGROUND:  The CPSC is proposing to modernize its rules for Adjudicative Practice to reflect changes in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) since 1980, the date on which the CPSC Rules were adopted.  The CPSC rules were based upon the FRCP.

SUMMARY: Specific changes to the Rules are proposed relating to:

• Discovery;
• electronic filing;
• the use of electronically  stored information; and
• requirements for pleadings, motions and motions for summary decisions;

In addition, the proposal would:

• clarify the computation of times;
• clarify when amendments to pleadings or supplemental pleading would require Commission approval;
• allow a Presiding Officer to exercise discretion to avoid unnecessary delay or wasteful discovery and to consolidate cases in their entirety, or partially, for any purpose that serves the ends of justice;
• set deadlines for an Initial or Recommended Decision; and
• remove references to the Equal Access to Justice Act.

DATES:  Comments should be submitted by June 13, 2016.

DATES:  The Rule is Effective May 9, 2016.

SUMMARY:  The Commission is issuing a final rule amending the regulations for the Safety Standard for Automatic Residential Garage Door Operators to reflect changes made by Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. (‘‘UL’’), in the entrapment protection provisions in UL’s standard UL 325, Sixth Edition, ‘‘Standard for Safety for Door, Drapery, Gate, Louver, and Window Operators and Systems.’’

Changes to the rule reflect changes that UL made to the entrapment protection provisions of UL 325. UL added requirements for certain types of GDOs that were not previously covered by the GDO standard. Most of the revisions to the CPSC Safety Standard for GDOs involve adding requirements for these types of GDOs and making changes related to these provisions.

In addition, the amended rule adds three new sections (§§1211.14 (unattended operation requirements), 1211.15 (vertically moving combination rigid one-piece overhead residential garage door and operator system) and 1211.40 (consolidating all of the incorporations by reference in one place).

DATES: The Rule becomes effective on September 28, 2016.  The incorporation by reference of the publication listed in this rule is approved by the Director of the Federal Register as of September 28, 2016,

EXCERPT: On July 2, 2015, the Commission issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (‘‘NPR’’) for hook-on chairs.  The NPR proposed to incorporate by reference the voluntary standard, ASTM F1235–15, Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Portable Hook-On Chairs, without modification. In this document, the Commission is issuing a mandatory safety standard for hook-on chairs. As required by section 104(b)(1)(A), the Commission consulted with manufacturers, retailers, trade organizations, laboratories, consumer advocacy groups, consultants, and the public to develop this proposed standard, largely through the ASTM process. The rule incorporates by reference the most recent voluntary standard, developed by ASTM International, ASTM F1235–15.