2019 Database PRA Renewal Supporting Statement

INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST
Supporting Statement
Publicly Available Consumer Product Safety Information
Database Final Rule
RIN 3041-AC87
A.

Justification

1.

Circumstances Necessitating Information Collection
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (the agency) issued a final rule in 75 Federal
Register 76832 that established a Publicly Available Consumer Product Safety Information
Database (Database) with the effective date of January 10, 2011. Section 212 of the
Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) amended the Consumer Product
Safety Act (CPSA) to require the CPSC to establish and maintain a publicly available,
searchable database on the safety of consumer products, and other products or substances
regulated by the agency. The final rule interprets various statutory requirements in section 6A
of the CPSA pertaining to the information to be included in the Database, and it also
establishes provisions regarding submitting reports of harm; providing notice of reports of
harm to manufacturers; publishing reports of harm and manufacturer comments in the
Database; and dealing with confidential and materially inaccurate information.

2.

How, by Whom, and for What Purpose Information Is Used
The primary purpose of this information collection is to populate the publicly searchable
Database of consumer product safety information mandated by section 6A of the CPSA. The
Database information collection has four components: reports of harm, manufacturer
comments, branding information, and the Small Batch Manufacturer Registry (SBMR).
Reports of Harm: Reports of harm communicate information regarding an injury, illness, or
death, or any risk (as determined by the Commission) of injury, illness, or death, relating to
the use of a consumer product. Reports can be submitted to the CPSC by consumers; local,
state, or federal government agencies; health care professionals; child service providers;
public safety entities; and others. Reports may be submitted in one of three ways: via the
CPSC website (www.saferproducts.gov), by telephone via a CPSC call center, or by e-mail,
fax, or mail, using the incident report form (available for download or printing via the CPSC
website). Reports may also originate as a free-form letter or an e-mail. Submitters must
consent to including their report of harm in the publicly searchable Database.
Manufacturer Comments: A manufacturer or private labeler may submit a comment related to
a report of harm, if the report of harm identifies the manufacturer or private labeler and the
CPSC transmits the report of harm to the manufacturer. Manufacturer comments may be
submitted through the business portal, by e-mail, mail, or fax. The business portal is a feature
of the Database that allows manufacturers who register on the business portal to receive
reports of harm and comment on those reports through the business portal. Use of the
business portal expedites the receipt of reports of harm and business response times.
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A manufacturer may request that the CPSC designate information in a report of harm as
confidential. Such a request may be made using the business portal, e-mail, mail, or fax.
Additionally, any person or entity reviewing a report of harm or a manufacturer’s comment
(either before or after publication in the Database), and who believes that the report contains
materially inaccurate information, may request that the report or comment, or portions of the
report or comment, be excluded from the Database. The request may be submitted by e-mail,
mail, or fax, and registered businesses also may use the business portal for these requests.
Branding Information: Using the business portal, registered businesses may voluntarily
submit branding information to assist CPSC in correctly and timely routing reports of harm
involving their products to them. Brand names may be licensed to another entity for use in
labeling consumer products manufactured by that entity. CPSC’s understanding of licensing
arrangements for consumer products can help to give the correct manufacturer timely
notification of a report of harm.
Small Batch Manufacturers Registry: The business portal also contains the SBMR, which is
the online mechanism by which “small batch manufacturers” (as defined in the CPSA) can
identify themselves to obtain relief from certain third party testing requirements for children’s
products. To register as a small batch manufacturer and receive relief from third party testing,
a business must attest that the company’s total gross revenue and the number of units of the
covered product manufactured both fall within the statutory limits.
3.

Consideration of Information Technology
All collections may be submitted electronically via e-mail or through the CPSC’s website at:
www.saferproducts.gov.

4.

Efforts to Identify Duplication and Similar Information Already Available
The CPSC has historically accepted incident reports from consumers and others that describe
harm or risks of harm related to consumer products (OMB Approval No. 3041-0029). These
reports were forwarded to manufacturers and the manufacturers could submit comments to the
CPSC in response. In 2011, the CPSC launched the publicly searchable Database on
www.SaferProducts.gov and updated forms for collecting reports of harm and for
manufacturer comments.
Forms to collect reports of harm are similar to the incident report forms use before Database
development. Staff developed additional report forms for the Database so that manufacturers
could submit comments and file claims alleging confidential information or a material
inaccuracy, as required by section 6A of the CPSA. The business portal also contains forms
for manufacturers to submit brand information and to register as a small batch manufacturer.
Before implementation of the Database, there was no system for obtaining this kind of
information directly from manufacturers, so no duplication exists.
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INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST
The Database required the CPSC to make reports of harm and manufacturer comments
available to the public. Before implementing the Database in 2011, neither incident reports,
nor manufacturer comments were generally made available to the public. The explicit
purpose of the Database, as mandated by the CPSIA, is for a database on the safety of
consumer products that is publicly available, searchable, and accessible through the CPSC
website. Accordingly, the information collected in the Database is made public.
5.

Impact on Small Business
The Small Business Administration generally considers a manufacturer of consumer products
to be a “small business” with a maximum number of employees ranging from 500 to 1,500.
This definition applies to more than 94 percent of manufacturing firms in the United States.
However, the only small businesses that may submit comments under this information
collection are those to which the CPSC forwards a report of harm. Because of their smaller
sales volumes, small manufacturers are less likely to receive an incident report, and hence,
experience any impacts. Therefore, it is unlikely that the collection of reports and
manufacturer comments and claims will affect a substantial number of small businesses.
A business, when registering on the CPSC business portal, will have the option to request to
be considered as a small batch manufacturer if: (i) total gross revenue from sales of consumer
products in the previous calendar year is less than $1.15 million (gross revenue includes
revenue from the sale of consumer products by other businesses the registering company
controls or is controlled by) and, (ii) the business manufactures no more than 7,500 of a
covered product in the previous calendar year. However, designation as a small batch
manufacturer does not have any effect on whether a company receives a report of harm. The
registry is used to track manufacturers who claim a statutory exemption from the obligation to
third party test children’s products. Small businesses cannot seek exemption from receipt of
reports of harm.

6.

Consequences of Less Frequent Information Collection and Technical or Legal Obstacles
Failure to provide the information would prevent the CPSC from being able to establish and
maintain the publicly searchable Database that is required by the section 6A of the CPSA.

7.

Consistency with the guidelines in 5 CFR § 1320.5(d)(2)
The Database final rule is consistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR § 1320.5(d)(2).

8.

Publication and Consultation Outside the Agency
Before finalizing the agency’s rule at 16 CFR part 1102 and implementing the Database, the
Commission sought stakeholder feedback on establishing a publicly searchable database.
Specifically, the Commission: (a) submitted a detailed implementation plan for the Database
to Congress on September 10, 2009, (b) held a public hearing on establishing the Database on
November 10, 2009, (c) CPSC staff conducted a 2-day workshop on January11 and 12, 2010,
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seeking public input, and invited comments in conjunction with the workshop; and (d) issued
a proposed rule on May 24, 2010, to elicit additional comments (75 FR 29157).
A notice soliciting comments on the Commission’s intent to request an extension of a
previously approved collection of data was published in the FR on October 8, 2019. No
comment were received.
9.

Payment or Gift to Respondents
The CPSC has not, and will not, provide any payments or gifts to respondents.

10.

Confidentiality of Information
In the case of reports of harm and manufacturer comments, the submitter must consent to the
use of the information in the Database before the CPSC posts it to the Internet Database.
Otherwise, the information submitted will be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and
its public disclosure exemptions.
In addition, a manufacturer that receives a report of harm may review that report for
information containing or relating to a trade secret or other matter referred to in 18 U.S.C. §
1905 or that is subject to 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(4). The manufacturer may request that a
portion(s) of the report of harm be designated as confidential information. If the CPSC
determines that information in a report of harm is confidential, the CPSC will notify the
manufacturer, will redact the confidential information from the report of harm, and then
publish the redacted report of harm in the Database.

11.

Sensitive Questions
No questions of a sensitive nature are asked.

12.

Estimates of Burden Hours and Explanation
We estimate the burden of this collection of information as follows:

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INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST

Table 1 – Estimated Annual Reporting Burden for Reports of Harm
Total
No. of
Response
Minutes per
Collection Type
Annual
Respdnts
Frequency 1
Response
Responses
Reports of Harm –
5,646
1.07
6,023
12
submitted through website
Reports of Harm –
1,397
1.02
1,418
10
submitted by phone
Reports of Harm –
349
43.88
15,314
20
submitted by mail, e-mail, fax
TOTAL
7,392
22,755
Table 2 – Estimated Annual Reporting Burden for Manufacturer Submissions
Total
No. of
Response
Minutes per
Collection Type
Annual
Respdnts
Frequency1
Response
Responses
Manufacturer Comments –
2,311
1.06
2,461
117
submitted through website
Manufacturer Comments –
182
1.90
346
147
submitted by mail, e-mail, fax
Requests to Treat Information as
2
1.00
2
42
Confidential –
submitted through website
Requests to Treat Information as
0
n/a
0
72
Confidential –
submitted by mail, e-mail, fax
Requests to Treat Information as
141
1.19
168
165
Materially Inaccurate –
submitted through website
Requests to Treat Information as
25
1.12
28
195
Materially Inaccurate –
submitted by mail, e-mail, fax
Voluntary Brand Identification
932
1.37
1,281
10
Small Batch Manufacturer
Identification
TOTAL

2,292
5,885

1

2,292

Total
Burden, in
Hours 2
1,205
236
5,105
6,546

Total
Burden, in
Hours2
4,799

10

6,578

848
1

0

462

91

214
382
6,797

Based on the data set forth in Tables 1 and 2, the annual reporting cost is estimated to be
$691,884. This estimate is based on the sum of two estimated total figures for reports of harm
and manufacturer submissions. The estimated number of respondents and responses are based
on the actual responses received in FY 2018. We assume that the number of responses and
respondents will be similar in future years.
Reports of Harm: Table 1 sets forth the data used to estimate the burden associated with
submitting reports of harm. We had previously estimated the time associated with the
1 Frequency of responses is calculated by dividing the number of responses by the number of respondents.
2
Numbers have been rounded.

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INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST
electronic and telephone submission of reports of harm at 12 minutes and 10 minutes,
respectively, and because we have had no indication that these estimates are not appropriate
or accurate, we used those figures for present purposes as well. We estimate that the time
associated with a paper or PDF form would be 20 minutes, on average.
To estimate the costs for submitting reports of harm, we multiplied the estimated total burden
hours associated with reports of harm (1,205 hours + 236 hours + 5,105 hours = 6,546 hours)
by an estimated total compensation for all workers in private industry of $34.05 per hour, 3
which results in an estimated cost of $222,891 (6,546 hours x $34.05 per hour = $222,891).
Manufacturer Submissions: Table 2 sets forth the data used to estimate the burden associated
with manufacturers’ submissions to the Database. We had observed that a large percentage of
the general comments come from a few businesses and assumed that the experience of a
business that submits many comments each year would be different from one that submits
only a few. Accordingly, we divided all responding businesses into three groups, based on
the number of general comments submitted in FY 2018, and then we selected several
businesses to contact from each group. The first group we contacted consisted of businesses
that submitted 50 or more comments in FY 2018, accounting for 31 percent of all general
comments received. The second group we contacted included businesses that submitted 6 to
49 comments, accounting for 39 percent of all general comments received. The last group
contacted included businesses that submitted no more than five comments, accounting for 30
percent of all general comments received. We asked each company how long it typically
takes to research, compose, and enter a comment or a claim of materially inaccurate
information.
To estimate the burden associated with submitting a general comment regarding a report of
harm through the business portal, we averaged the burden provided by each company within
each group and then calculated a weighted average from the three groups, weighting each
group by the proportion of comments received from that group. We found that the average
time to submit a general comment regarding a report of harm is 117 minutes, based on the
data in Table 3 (((15 minutes + 45 minutes + 30 minutes + 15 minutes)/4 companies)*.31 +
((105 minutes + 45 minutes + 150 minutes + 15 minutes)/4 companies)*.39 + ((240 minutes +
60 minutes + 480 minutes)/3 companies)*.30 = 117 minutes).

3 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table 9 of the Employer Costs for Employee Compensation
(ECEC), Private Industry, goods-producing and service-providing industries, by occupational group, Dec 2018 (data
extracted on 8/2/2019 from: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t09.htm.

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INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST
Table 3 – Estimated Burden to Enter a General Comment in the Database
Group
Company
General Comments
Group 1
Company A
15 minutes
(>=50 comments)
Company B
45 minutes
Company C
30 minutes
Company D
15 minutes
Group 2
Company A
105 minutes
(6-49 comments)
Company B
45 minutes
Company C
150 minutes
Company D
15 minutes
Group 3
Company A
240 minutes
(<= 5 comments)
Company B
60 minutes
Company C
480 minutes

Registered businesses generally submit comments through our website. Unregistered
businesses submit comments by mail, e-mail, or fax. We estimate that submitting comments
by mail, e-mail, or fax takes a little longer than comments submitted through our website,
because often, we must ask businesses to amend their submissions to include the required
certifications. Thus, we estimated that, on average, comments submitted by mail, e-mail, or
fax take 30 minutes longer than those submitted through our website (117 minutes + 30
minutes = 147 minutes).
The submission of a claim of materially inaccurate information is a relatively rare event for all
respondents, so we averaged all responses together. Eight of the businesses contacted had
submitted claims of materially inaccurate information. We found that the average time to
submit a claim that a report of harm contains a material inaccuracy is 165 minutes ((30
minutes + 90 minutes + 45 minutes + 90 minutes + 60 minutes + 660 minutes + 45 minutes +
300 minutes)/8 companies = 165 minutes).
Registered businesses generally submit claims through the business portal. Unregistered
businesses submit claims by mail, e-mail, or fax. We estimate that submitting claims via
mail, e-mail, or fax takes a little longer than submitting a claim through the business portal
because often, we must ask businesses to amend their submission to include the required
certifications. Thus, we estimated that on average, claims submitted by mail, e-mail, or fax
take 30 minutes longer than those submitted through our website (165 minutes + 30 minutes =
195 minutes).
The submission of a claim of confidential information is a relatively rare event for all
respondents, so we averaged all responses together. Five of the businesses contacted had
submitted claims of confidential information. We found that the average time to submit a
claim that a report of harm contains confidential information is 42 minutes ((45 minutes + 15
minutes + 60 minutes + 30 minutes + 60 minutes)/5 companies = 42 minutes).
Registered businesses generally submit confidential information claims through the business
portal. Unregistered businesses submit confidential information claims by mail, e-mail, or
fax. We estimate that submitting claims via mail, e-mail, or by fax takes a little longer
because often, we must ask businesses to amend their submission to include the required
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INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST
certifications. Thus, we estimate that a confidential information claim submitted by mail, email, or fax would take 30 minutes longer than those submitted through our website (42
minutes + 30 minutes = 72 minutes).
For voluntary brand identification, we estimate that a response would take 10 minutes, on
average. Most responses consist only of the brand name and a product description. In many
cases, a business will submit multiple entries in a brief period of time, and we can see from
the date and time stamps on these records that an entry often takes less than 2 minutes. CPSC
staff enters the same data in a similar form based on our own research, and that experience
was also factored into our estimate.
For small batch manufacturer identification, we estimate that a response would take 10
minutes, on average. The form consists of three check boxes, and the information should be
readily accessible to the respondent.
The responses summarized in Table 2 are generally submitted by manufacturers. To avoid
underestimating the cost associated with the collection of this data, we assigned the higher
hourly wage associated with a manager or professional in goods-producing industries to these
tasks. To estimate the cost of manufacturer submissions, we multiplied the estimated total
burden hours in Table 2 (6,797 hours), by an estimated total compensation for a manager or
professional in goods-producing industries of $69.00 per hour, 4 which results in an estimated
cost of $468,993 (6,797 hours x $69.00 per hour = $468,993).
Therefore, the total estimated annual cost to respondents is $691,884 ($222,891 burden for
reports of harm + $468,993 burden for manufacturer submissions = $691,884).
13.

Annual Cost to Respondents
There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs associated with this collection
of information.

14.

Annual Cost to the Government
We estimate the annualized cost to the CPSC to be $982,166. This figure is based on the
costs for four categories of work for the Database: Reports of Harm, Materially Inaccurate
Information Claims, Manufacturer Comments, and Small Batch Identification. Each category
is described below. No government cost is associated with Voluntary Brand Identification
because this information is entered directly into the Database by the manufacturer with no
processing required by the government. The information assists the government in directing
reports of harm to the correct manufacturer. We did not attempt to calculate separately the
government cost for claims of confidential information because the number of claims is so
small. The time to process these claims is included with claims of materially inaccurate

4 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table 9 of the Employer Costs for Employee Compensation
(ECEC), Private Industry, goods-producing and service-providing industries, by occupational group, December 2018
(data extracted on 09/13/2019 from: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t09.htm.

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INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST
information.
Reports of Harm: The Reports of Harm category includes many different tasks. Some costs
related to this category are from two data entry contracts. Tasks related to these contracts
include clerical coding of the report, such as identifying the type of consumer product
reported and the appropriate associated hazard, as well as performing quality control on the
data in the report. Contractor A spends an estimated 5,267 hours per year performing these
tasks. With an hourly rate of $38.10 for contractor services, the annual cost to the
government of contract A is $200,673. Contractor B spends an estimated 2,029 hours per year
performing these tasks. With an hourly rate of $41.33 for contractor services, the annual cost
to the government of contract B is $83,859.
The Reports of Harm category also includes sending consent requests for reports when
necessary, processing that consent when received, determining whether a product is out of
CPSC’s jurisdiction, and confirming that pictures and attachments do not have any personally
identifiable information. The Reports category also entails notifying manufacturers when one
of their products is reported, completing a risk of harm determination form for every report
eligible for publication, referring some reports to a Subject Matter Expert (SME) within the
CPSC for a determination of whether the reports meet the requirement of having a risk of
harm, and determining whether a report meets all the statutory and regulatory requirements
for publication. Detailed costs are estimated in Table 4:
Table 4 – Estimated Costs for Reports of Harm Task
Grade Level
Number of Hours
Total
Total Annual
(Annual)
Compensation
Cost
per Hour
Contract A
Contract B
7
9
12
13
14

5,267
2,029
200
300
5,528
428
1,068

Total

14,820

$38.10
$41.33
$37.37
$45.72
$66.31
$78.84
$93.18

$200,673
$83,859
$7,474
$13,716
$366,562
$33,744
$99,516
$825,544

Materially Inaccurate Information (MII) Claims: The MII claims category includes reviewing
and responding to claims, participating in meetings in which the claims are discussed, and
completing a risk of harm determination on reports when a company alleges that a report does
not describe a risk of harm.
Table 5 – Estimated Costs for MII Claims Task
Grade Level
Number of Hours
Total
Total Annual
(Annual)
Compensation
Cost
per Hour
12
275
$66.31
$18,235
13
167
$78.84
$13,166

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14
15
SES
Total

323
50
50
865

$93.18
$109.60
$131.52

$30,097
$5,480
$6,576
$73,554.00

Manufacturer Comments: The Comments category includes reviewing and accepting or
rejecting comments.
Table 6 – Estimated Costs for Manufacturer Comments Task
Grade Level
Number of Hours
Total
Total Annual
(Annual)
Compensation
Cost
per Hour
12
62
$66.31
$4,111
13
109
$78.84
$8,594
Total
171
$12,705

Small Batch Manufacturer Identification: The Small Batch Manufacturer Identification
category includes time spent posting the list of small batch registrations, as well as answering
manufacturers’ questions on registering as a Small Batch company, and what the implications
are to that company of registering as a small batch manufacturer.
Table 7 – Estimated Costs for Small Batch Task
Grade Level
Number of Hours
Total
Total Annual
(Annual)
Compensation
Cost
per Hour
15
642
$109.60
$70,363
Total
642
$70,363

We estimate the annualized cost to the CPSC of $982,166, by adding the four categories of
work related to the Database summarized in Tables 4 through 7 (Reports of Harm ($825,544)
+ MII Claims ($73,554) + Manufacturer Comments ($12,705) + Small Batch Identification
($70,363) = $982,166).
15.

Changes in Burden
This information collection renewal request, based on an estimated 13,343 burden hours per
year for the Database, is an increase of 983 hours since this collection of information was last
approved by OMB in 2016. The increase in burden is due primarily to the increase in the
number of incoming reports of harm, and an increase in the number of claims based on those
reports. Comments have also increased significantly, as they did shift to the more efficient
online submission types. There was also a slight increase in small batch manufacturer activity,
which has been rising steadily for years.

16.

Publication of Information Being Collected
The purpose of this information collection is to populate the publicly searchable Database of
consumer product safety information mandated by section 6A of the CPSA. Submitters of
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INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST
both reports of harm and manufacturer comments provide their information to the CPSC, and
they must provide their consent before the CPSC will post the information to the publicly
available Database. Once posted to the Database, the information will be searchable by the
public.
17.

Exemption for Display of Expiration Date
The agency does not seek an exemption from displaying the expiration date.

18.

Exemption to Certification Statement
N/A.

B.

Statistical Methods
The information collection requirements do not employ statistical methods.

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