OMB0014_mattress_flamm_2020_1632_1633_PRA

Supporting Statement
Standard for the Flammability of Mattresses and Mattress Pads (16 CFR Part 1632)
And Standard for the Flammability (Open Flame) of Mattresses (16 CFR Part 1633)
A. Justification
1. Information to be collected and circumstances that makes the collection of
information necessary
The Standard for the Flammability of Mattresses and Mattress Pads (16 CFR Part 1632)
was issued in 1972 and amended in 1984. The standard was issued and amended under
section 4 of the Flammable Fabrics Act (FFA) 15 U.S.C. 1193 to reduce the unreasonable
risk of burn injuries and deaths from fires associated with mattresses and mattress pads.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission issued in 2007 a flammability standard (16
CFR Part 1633) under the authority of the Flammable Fabrics Act that addresses open
flame ignition of mattresses and foundations labeled by the manufacturer for sale together
(“mattress sets”), or a mattress labeled by the manufacturer for sale alone. The rule
became effective on July 1, 2007 and applies to mattresses and mattress sets
manufactured, imported, or renovated on or after that date. The standard sets
performance requirements that each mattress set must meet before being introduced into
commerce. Mattress sets that comply with the requirements will limit the spread and
intensity of a fire, thus reducing the possibility of flashover occurring. These improved
mattresses should result in significant reductions in deaths and injuries associated with
mattress fires.
16 CFR Part 1633 requires manufacturers to maintain certain records to document
compliance with the standard. This includes records concerning prototype testing,
pooling and confirmation testing, and quality assurance procedures and any associated
testing. The required records must be maintained for as long as mattress sets based on
the prototype are in production and must be retained for three years thereafter.
2. Use and sharing of collected information and impact on privacy
16 CFR Part 1632 prescribes a test to assure that a mattress or mattress pad will resist
ignition from a smoldering cigarette. To comply with the mattress flammability standard,
a manufacturer or importer of mattresses must test each combination of materials and
construction methods used in the production of mattresses or mattress pads. Regulations
implementing the standard require the manufacturer or importer to maintain records of
testing conducted in accordance with the standard for as long as a particular prototype is
in production and for a period of three years thereafter. The records must be retained by
the manufacturer or importer and made available to a designated officer or employee of
the Commission at her or his request. Such requests are generally made during an on-site
inspection to assure compliance with the standard. If the records required by the
implementing regulations are not maintained, the Commission would be unable to

determine whether manufacturers and importers of mattresses and mattress pads have
complied with the standard.
16 CFR Part 1633 prescribes a test method that assures that mattress sets will generate a
smaller size fire when ignited by open flame sources. Detailed prototype records, test
records and component records must be kept by the mattress industry.
Based on a review of the proposed information collection activities, staff has found that
the Privacy Act does not apply because no system of records subject to the Privacy Act
will be created.
The purpose of these recordkeeping requirements is to enable manufacturers to keep track
of materials, construction methods and testing. Thus, if a manufacturer produced a
mattress set that failed to meet the test criteria, he/she should be able to use the records to
determine the prototype on which the failing mattress was based, as well as the
components and method of construction that were used and the number of units in the
production cycle affected. This information would help the manufacturer correct the
problem that caused the mattress to fail the test criteria. (See 16 CFR §1633.ll, 16 CFR
§1632.31(c)).
3. Use of information technology (IT) in information collection
16 CFR 1632: Information maintained by the manufacturer or importer must be made
available to a designated officer or employee of the Commission during an onsite
inspection.
16 CFR 1633: At the option of the firm, any technology, including electronic
recordkeeping, to compile and maintain business records may be used to comply with the
regulation. Information is not normally submitted to CPSC unless specifically requested
during compliance related activities.
4. Efforts to identify duplication
In 1984, when the standard and implementing regulations were amended, the record
keeping requirements were reviewed for potential duplication by the Commission, by
members of the affected industry, and by other interested parties. These records were not
kept before being required under the Flammable Fabrics Act.
5. Impact on small businesses
16 CFR 1632: The standard and implementing regulations affect many small firms,
because most mattress and mattress pad manufacturers are small firms. As stated above,
the standard and implementing regulations were amended in 1984 to eliminate
requirements for periodic production testing of mattresses and for maintenance of records
of production tests. In issuing the amendment, the Commission concluded that the
amendment would reduce the costs of testing and recordkeeping for all manufacturers

(including small firms) without decreasing protection to the public from the risk of fires
associated with ignition of mattresses and mattress pads from smoldering cigarettes.
16 CFR 1633: The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) generally requires that agencies
review proposed rules for their potential economic impact on small entities, including
small businesses. Using data available from the Census Bureau, we estimate that there
are currently 344 establishments producing mattresses. Using the Small Business
Administration (SBA) definition, all but four firms in this industry sector would be
considered small businesses. Note that a firm may have multiple establishments,
therefore the majority of firms and establishments can be considered small businesses, as
defined by SBA.
Section 610 of the RFA calls for agencies to prepare and make available for public
comment a retrospective analysis describing the impact of the proposed rule on small
entities and identify impact-reducing alternatives the agency can enact to improve the
rule. This analysis found that the cost of testing, information collection and
recordkeeping and quality control/quality assurance programs estimated in the final
regulatory flexibility analysis were consistent with the costs producers faced in
complying with the rule.
Targeted efforts were made to relay and explain information to small businesses. The
CPSC Mattress Flammability webpage (https://www.cpsc.gov/Business-Manufacturing/Business-Education/Business-Guidance/Mattresses) was created as a
portal to convey information to interested entities. Documentation related to the standard,
including pdf versions of laboratory test manuals, presentations, and questions and
answers are available on the webpage for the public to access and review. In addition, a
listserve sends periodic updates to those who sign up.

6. Consequences to Federal program or policy activities if collection is not conducted or
is conducted less frequently
The standards require manufacturers to conduct prototype tests of all new mattress and
mattress pad designs prior to production. This is the minimum amount of testing needed
to demonstrate that a mattress and mattress pad will resist cigarette ignition. Any further
reduction in the amount of testing and record keeping required by the standard and
regulations could significantly alter the protection afforded by the standards.
Without the paperwork requirements, manufacturers would be unable to track
information about mattress manufacturing that would enable them to determine why a
mattress was failing, how to correct the problem, and how to limit the scope of a recall if
that became necessary.
7. Special circumstances requiring respondents to report information more often than
quarterly or to prepare responses in fewer than 30 days

Not applicable.
8. Agency’s Federal Register Notice and related information
The first FR notice announcing CPSC’s intent to request an extension of approval of
information collection requirements was published on January 25, 2017 (82 FR 8409).
No comments were received.
The second FR notice announcing CPSC’s intent to request an extension of approval of
information collection requirements was published on March 13, 2020 (85 FR 14655).
No comments were received.
9. Decision to provide payment or gift
Not applicable.
10. Assurance of Confidentiality
Any information required to be maintained by the standard and implementing regulations
which the manufacturer or importer claims to be confidential is subject to procedures for
withholding confidential information from public disclosure set forth at 16 CFR Part
1015, subpart B.
11. Questions of a sensitive nature
There are no questions of a sensitive nature.
12. Estimate of hour burden to respondents
16 CFR 1632: The staff estimates that there are 344 respondents. It is estimated that each
respondent will spend 26 hours for testing and record keeping annually for a total of
8,944 hours (344 establishments x 26 hours = 8,944 total hours requested. The hourly
compensation for the time required for record keeping is $70.17 (U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics, “Employer Costs for Employee Compensation,” September 2019,
Supplementary table 1, total compensation of all management, professional, and related
occupations in goods-producing industries: http://www.bls.gov/ncs). The annualized cost
to respondents would be $627,600 (8,944 hours x $70.17).
16 CFR 1633: The standard requires detailed documentation of prototype identification
and testing records, model and prototype specifications, inputs used, name and location
of suppliers, and confirmation test records, if establishments choose to pool a prototype.
This documentation is in addition to documentation already conducted by mattress
manufacturers in their efforts to meet the cigarette standard, 16 CFR 1632. Based on
staff estimates, the recordkeeping requirements are expected to require about 4 hours and
44 minutes per establishment, per qualified prototype. Although some larger
manufacturers reportedly are producing mattresses based on more than 100 prototypes,

most mattress manufacturers probably base their complying production on 15 to 20
prototypes, according to an industry representative contacted by the staff. Assuming that
establishments qualify their production with an average of 20 different qualified
prototypes, recordkeeping time is about 94.6 hours (4.73 hours x 20 prototypes) per
establishment per year. (Note that pooling among establishments or using a prototype
qualification for longer than one year will reduce this estimate.) This translates to an
annual recordkeeping time cost to all mattress producers of 32,542 hours (94.6 hours x
344 establishments.)
The hourly compensation for the time required for record keeping is $70.17 (U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics, “Employer Costs for Employee Compensation,” September 2019,
Supplementary table 1, total compensation of all management, professional, and related
occupations in goods-producing industries: http://www.bls.gov/ncs). Total estimated
costs for recordkeeping are about $2,283,500 (32,542 hours x $70.17).
Total cost to the 344 establishments for both 16 CFR 1632 and 16 CFR 1633 is
approximately $2.9 million.
13. Estimate of total annual cost burden to respondents
Not applicable.
14. Estimate of annualized costs to Federal government
16 CFR 1632: The estimated annual cost of the information collection requirements to
the Federal government is approximately $119,210. This sum includes 10 staff months
and travel costs expended for examination of the information in records required to be
maintained by the standard and enforcement rule. This estimate uses an annual wage of
$97,848 (the equivalent of a GS-12 Step 5 employee) which comprises 68.4 percent of
the costs of compensation, with the remaining 31.6 percent added for benefits (U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Employer Costs for Employee Compensation,” September
2019, Table 1, percentage of wages and salaries for all civilian management,
professional, and related employees) for total annual compensation $143,053 per FTE.
16 CFR 1633: The estimated annual cost of information collection requirements to the
federal government is approximately $3,427. This represents 50 staff hours. Record
review will be performed during compliance inspections conducted to follow-up on
consumer complaints and reports of injury which indicate possible violations of the
regulations. This estimate uses an average hourly wage of $46.88 (the equivalent of a GS12 Step 5 employee) which comprises 68.4 percent of the costs of compensation, with the
remaining 31.6 percent added for benefits (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Employer
Costs for Employee Compensation,” September 2019, Table 1, percentage of wages and
salaries for all civilian management, professional, and related employees) for total hourly
compensation $68.54.
Total cost to the federal government of the collection is $122,637.

15. Program changes or adjustments
Not applicable.
16. Plans for tabulation and publication
Not applicable; there are no plans to tabulate or publish the information. Because CPSC
does not plan to disseminate the data collected, the requirements of the OMB and the
CPSC Information Quality Guidelines do not apply.
17. Rationale for not displaying the expiration date for OMB approval
Not applicable.
18. Exception to the certification statement
Not applicable.
B. Collection of information does not employ statistical methods.