Booster Seats - Supporting StatementA

Information Collection Request (ICR)
Safety Standard for Booster Seats
Supporting Statement

A.

Justification

1.
Information to be collected and circumstances that make the collection of information
necessary
Section 104(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA),
Public Law 110-314, 122 Stat. 3016 (August 14, 2008), requires the Consumer Product Safety
Commission (“Commission” or “CPSC”) to promulgate consumer product safety standards for
durable infant or toddler products. These standards are to be “substantially the same as”
applicable voluntary standards or more stringent than the voluntary standard if the Commission
concludes that more stringent requirements would further reduce the risk of injury associated
with the product. Booster seats (referred to as “booster chairs”) were specifically mentioned as a
durable infant or toddler product in section 104(f)(2). As directed by this statutory requirement,
the Commission approved a safety standard for booster seats incorporating by reference the
voluntary standard for booster seats issued by ASTM International, ASTM F2640-18, with no
modifications.
Sections 8 and 9 of ASTM F2640-18 contain requirements for marking, labeling, and
instructional literature that are disclosure requirements, thus falling within the definition of
“collections of information” at 5 C.F.R. § 1320.3(c).
Section 8.1.1 of ASTM F2640-18 requires that the name, place of business (city, state,
and mailing address, including zip code), and telephone number of the manufacturer, distributor,
or seller appear on each booster seat and its retail package. Section 8.1.2 of ASTM F2640-18
requires a code mark or other means on each product and retail package that indicates the date
(month and year as a minimum) of manufacture.
Section 9.1 of ASTM F2640-18 requires easy-to-read and understandable instructions to
be supplied with booster seats. The instructions should deal with assembly, maintenance,
cleaning, and use.
2.

Use and sharing of collected information

The information required in sections 8 and 9 of ASTM F2640-18 is intended to address
safety issues that might arise with the product. The information required in section 8 of ASTM
F2640-18 is intended to help the CPSC and the consumer identify the firm and the product,
should a safety issue arise. The instructional literature required by section 9 of ASTM F2640-18
is meant to prevent safety problems by providing assembly, maintenance, cleaning, and use
information to consumers.

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3.

Use of information technology (IT) in information collection

Information technology will not be used in these requirements. In the proposed rule,
manufacturers are required to provide labeling, marking, and instructional literature according to
ASTM F2640-18. This disclosure is provided with the purchase of the product.
4.

Efforts to identify duplication

Information being disclosed is manufacturer and product specific. To the extent that firms
do not already comply with the voluntary standard, information provided by these requirements
is not available through any other agency, organization, or individual.
5.

Impact on small businesses

The costs of marking, labeling, and instructional literature associated with the standard
for booster seats are expected to impact small firms. However, the statute requiring this action
does not contain an exemption for small firms.
As described in section 12 below, there are 46 firms known currently to be marketing
booster seats in the United States. Based on U.S. Small Business Administration guidelines, 29
are small (19 small, domestic manufacturers, 9 small, domestic importers, and 1 small, domestic
firm with an unknown supply source).
In regard to the burden associated with sections 8 and 9 of ASTM F2640-18, for those
firms already in compliance with the voluntary standard (10 small firms), there should be
minimal changes to their labels, markings, and instructional literature required, as no
modifications were made by the Commission, although it is possible that changes might be
required as the standard is updated. For those firms not currently in compliance with the
voluntary standard (19 small firms), it may be necessary to develop new labeling and marking,
which does not typically impose a large time requirement.
6.
Consequences to federal program or policy activities if collection is not conducted or is
conducted less frequently
Without the marking, labeling, and instructional literature requirements, the level of
noncompliance and consumer misuse could increase significantly, resulting in an increase in the
number of product-related deaths and injuries.
The lack of marking and labeling could complicate CPSC efforts to locate and recall
noncomplying products and result in an increase in the number of product-related deaths and
injuries.
7.
Special circumstances requiring respondents to report information more often than
quarterly or to prepare responses in fewer than 30 days

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There are no special circumstances that will require respondents to produce labels or
instructional material more often than quarterly or in fewer than 30 days.
8.

Consultation outside the agency

The CPSC consulted several manufacturers to obtain their views on the information
collection burden associated with the marking and label requirements. Additionally, the
preamble to the proposed rule published on May 19, 2017 (82 FR 22925) discussed the
information collection burden and invited public comment on the CPSC’s estimates. The public
comment period closed on June 19, 2017. No comments related to the information collection
burden were received.
9.

Decision to provide payment or gift
There is no payment or gift provided to respondents.

10.

Assurance of confidentiality

There is no assurance of confidentiality. The information in the marking, labeling, and
instructional literature is not confidential.
11.

Questions of a sensitive nature
There are no questions of a sensitive nature.

12.

Estimate of hour burden to respondents

Section 8.1.1 of ASTM F2640-18 requires that the name, place of business (city, state,
and mailing address, including zip code), and telephone number of the manufacturer, distributor,
or seller appear on each booster seat and its retail package. Section 8.1.2 of ASTM F2640-18
requires a code mark or other product identification on each product and retail package that
indicates the date (month and year as a minimum) of manufacture.
Forty-six known entities supply booster seats to the U.S. market and may need to modify
their existing labels to comply with ASTM F2640-18. CPSC estimates that the time required to
make these modifications is about 1 hour per model. Based on an evaluation of supplier product
lines, each entity supplies an average of 3 models of booster seats.
Therefore, the estimated burden associated with labels is 1 hour per model × 46 entities ×
3 models per entity = 138 hours. CPSC estimates the hourly compensation for the time required
to create and update labels is $32.47 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ‘‘Employer Costs for
Employee Compensation,’’ Dec. 2017, Table 9, total compensation for all sales and office
workers in goods-producing private industries: http://www.bls.gov/ncs/). Therefore, the
estimated annual cost associated with the proposed labeling requirements is $4,481 ($32.47 per
hour × 138 hours = $4,481). No operating, maintenance, or capital costs are associated with the
collection.
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Section 9.1 of ASTM F2640-18 requires instructions to be supplied with booster seats.
Booster seats generally require use and assembly instructions. As such, products sold without use
and assembly instructions would not compete successfully with those that supply this
information. Under OMB’s regulations, the time, effort, and financial resources necessary to
comply with a collection of information incurred by parties in the ‘‘normal course of their
activities’’ are excluded from a burden estimate when an agency demonstrates that the disclosure
activities required are ‘‘usual and customary.’’ 5 CFR 1320.3(b)(2). CPSC is unaware of booster
seats that generally require use or assembly instructions but lack such instructions. Therefore,
CPSC estimates that no burden hours are associated with section 9.1 of ASTM F2640-18
because any burden associated with supplying instructions with booster seats would be ‘‘usual
and customary,’’ and thus, excluded from ‘‘burden’’ estimates under OMB’s regulations. Based
on this analysis, the proposed standard for booster seats would impose a burden to industry of
138 hours at a cost of $4,481 annually.
13.

Estimates of Other Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents or Record Keepers

There are no costs to respondents beyond those presented in Section A.12. There are no
further operating, maintenance, or capital costs associated with the collection.
14.

Estimate of annualized costs to the federal government

The estimated annual cost of the information collection requirements to the federal
government is approximately $3,904, which includes 60 staff hours to examine and evaluate the
information as needed for Compliance activities. This is based on a GS-12 level salaried
employee. The average wage rate for a mid-level salaried GS-12 employee in the Washington,
DC metropolitan area (effective as of January 2018) is $92,421 (GS-12, step 5). This represents
68.3 percent of total compensation (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Employer Costs for
Employee Compensation,” Dec. 2017, Table 1, percentage of wages and salaries for all civilian
management, professional, and related employees: http://www.bls.gov/ncs/). Adding an
additional 31.7 percent for benefits brings average annual compensation for a mid-level salaried
GS-12 employee to $135,316 or $65.06 per hour. Assuming that approximately 60 hours will be
required annually, this results in an annual cost of $3,904.
15.

Program changes or adjustments
This is a new information request.

16.

Plans for tabulation and publication
Not applicable.

17.

Rationale for not displaying the expiration date for OMB approval
Not applicable.

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B.

Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods
Not applicable.

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