Supporting Statement A_MattressFlammability_2023

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)

OMB Control Number 3041-0014

1. 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 403 establishments producing mattresses. Using the Small Business Administration (SBA) definition, all but 11 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.

CPSC provides a variety of resources to help both new and experienced small businesses learn about safety requirements that apply to consumer products, including the CPSC Regulatory Robot, small business education videos, and the Small Business Ombudsman. Many of these resources can be accessed online at: https://www.cpsc.gov/Business--Manufacturing/Small-Business-Resources. Small firms can reach the Small Business Ombudsman by calling (888) 531-9070.

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

CPSC’s intent to request an extension of approval of information collection requirements was published on June 20, 2023 (88 FR 39832). 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

The estimated total cost of the burden to respondents for 16 CFR 1632 and 16 CFR 1633 is approximately $3.5 million.

Recordkeeping	Number of Respondents	Frequency of Response	Duration of Response (hrs.)	Estimated Annual Burden (hrs.)
16 CFR 1632	403	1	26	10,478
16 CFR 1633	403	20	4.73*	38,124
Total	806			48,602

*Rounded.

The hourly compensation for the time required for record keeping is $72.68 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Employer Costs for Employee Compensation,” March 2023, Total compensation of all management, professional, and related occupations in goods-producing industries: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/ecec_06162023.pdf). The annualized cost to the respondents would be $3,532,393 (48,602 hours × $72.68 = $3,532,393.36).

16 CFR 1632: The staff estimates that there are 403 respondents. It is estimated that each respondent will spend 26 hours for testing and recordkeeping annually for a total of 10,478 hours (403 establishments x 26 hours = 10,478 total hours requested).

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 38,124 hours (94.6 hours x 403 establishments.)

13. Estimate of total annual cost burden to respondents

Not applicable.

14. Estimate of annualized costs to Federal government

Total cost to the federal government of the collection is estimated at $134,395.50 ($130,640 + $3,755.50).

16 CFR 1632: The estimated annual cost of the information collection requirements to the Federal government is approximately $130,640. This amount is the total compensation for 10 staff months expended for examination of the information in records required to be maintained by the standard and enforcement rule. This estimate uses an annual salary of $106,759 (the equivalent of a GS-12 Step 5 employee, in the D.C. area) which represents 68.1 percent of the costs of wages and salary. The remaining 31.9 percent are added to it to account for benefits. The average annual total compensation (salary + benefits) is $156,768 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Employer Costs for Employee Compensation,” September 2022, Table 2, percentage of wages and salaries for all civilian management, professional, and related employees: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/ecec_12152022.pdf) for total annual compensation $156,768 per FTE.

16 CFR 1633: The estimated annual cost of information collection requirements to the federal government is approximately $3,755.50. 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 $51.15 (the equivalent of a GS-12 Step 5 employee, in the D.C. area) which represents 68.1 percent of the total costs of compensation. The remaining 31.9 percent are added to it to account for benefits (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Employer Costs for Employee Compensation,” September 2022, Table 2, percentage of wages and salaries for all civilian management, professional, and related employees: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/ecec_12152022.pdf) for a total hourly compensation of $75.11

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.