Commission Accepts Staff’s Lead Exemption Proposals

All four of the CPSC staff’s proposals on exemptions to the lead limits established by the CPSIA were approved by the Commission and were printed in the Federal Register (FR) today, January 15, 2009.  You can find links to the specific FR pages and summaries of the lead-exemption proposals here.

Before finalizing their ruling, the Commission will consider public comments received by February 17, 2009.  If you or your company would like to provide information for the CPSC to review, you can do so via email.  Separate email address for each section are listed below.

Though you are encouraged to comment on any portion of the proposed rules, the Commission has specifically asked for feedback on these issues:

Exemption from Lead Testing for Children’s Products or Materials that Inherently Do Not Exceed Lead Limits (email comments to: Sec101Determinations@cpsc.gov.)

• Whether test results exist suggesting that any of the materials proposed for exemption may contain lead over the limits specified by the CPSIA.  (provide data)
• Whether there are any more materials that ought to be included in the exemption because they do not, by their nature, exceed the lead limits.

Procedures for Seeking Formal Determination that a Particular Product is Exempt from Lead Testing (email comments to: Sec101Determinations@cpsc.gov)

• General comments on the proposed procedures and the data that will be required for requesting an exemption.

Inaccessibility of Lead-Containing Components in Children’s Products (email comments to: Sec101InaccessibleRule@cpsc.gov)

• Whether fabric should be allowed as a barrier that would render a lead-containing component inaccessible.
• What effect a product’s aging may have on the use and abuse tests needed for establishing whether a lead-containing component might become accessible.

Lead Exemptions for Electronic Devices Intended for Children (email comments to: Sec101ElectronicDevices@cpsc.gov)

• What components listed in the EU Directive 2002/95/EC, other than cathode ray tubes, cannot currently be made inaccessible to a child and why.  (Note, the link provided in the Federal Register is incorrect or the page is currently down; however the staff provided this version of EU Directive 2002/95/EC with their proposal – see appendix A)

To add comment deadlines and other important dates to your own calendar, visit the Product Safety Information Calendar, click on the event, then select “Add to my calendar” at the bottom of the page.