Notice of Availability and Request for Comment: Data Regarding Debris Penetration Hazards for Recreational Off-Highway Vehicles and Utility Task/Terrain Vehicles Publication: Federal Register Agency: Consumer Product Safety Commission Byline: Alberta E. Mills Date: 4 October 2024 Subject: American Government , Safety

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 193 (Friday, October 4, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 80831-80833]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-22906]


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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

16 CFR Part 1421

[Docket No. CPSC-2021-0014]


Notice of Availability and Request for Comment: Data Regarding 
Debris Penetration Hazards for Recreational Off-Highway Vehicles and 
Utility Task/Terrain Vehicles

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule; availability of supplemental information; 
request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission or 
CPSC) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) in July 2022 to 
address debris penetration hazards for recreational off-highway 
vehicles (ROVs) and utility task/terrain vehicles (UTVs). CPSC is 
announcing the availability of, and seeking comment on, details about 
incident data relevant to the rulemaking and associated with debris 
penetration hazards for ROVs and UTVs.

DATES: Submit comments by November 4, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-2021-0014, by 
any of the following methods:
    Electronic Submissions: Submit electronic comments to the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal at: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments. CPSC does not accept comments 
submitted by email, except as described below. CPSC encourages you to 
submit electronic comments by using the Federal eRulemaking Portal.
    Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier Written Submissions: Submit comments by 
mail/hand delivery/courier to: Office of the Secretary, U.S. Consumer 
Product Safety Commission, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814; 
telephone: (301) 504-7479. If you wish to submit confidential business 
information, trade secret information, or other sensitive or protected 
information that you do not want to be available to the public, you may 
submit such comments by mail, hand delivery, or courier, or you may 
email them to: cpsc-os@cpsc.gov.

[[Page 80832]]

    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number for this notice. CPSC may post all comments without 
change, including any personal identifiers, contact information, or 
other personal information provided, to: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Do not submit electronically: confidential business information, trade 
secret information, or other sensitive or protected information that 
you do not want to be available to the public. If you wish to submit 
such information, please submit it according to the instructions for 
mail/hand delivery/courier written submissions.
    Docket: To read background documents or comments regarding this 
proposed rulemaking, go to: https://www.regulations.gov, insert Docket 
No. CPSC-2021-0014 in the ``Search'' box, and follow the prompts.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Han Lim, Project Manager, Office of 
Hazard Identification and Reduction, Directorate for Engineering 
Sciences, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 5 Research Place, 
Rockville, MD 20850; telephone: (301) 987-2327; email: hlim@cpsc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 7(a) of the Consumer Product Safety 
Act (CPSA) authorizes the Commission to promulgate a mandatory consumer 
product safety standard that sets forth performance or labeling 
requirements for a consumer product, if such requirements are 
reasonably necessary to prevent or reduce an unreasonable risk of 
injury. 15 U.S.C. 2056(a). Under this statutory authority, in 2021, the 
Commission initiated a rulemaking to reduce the risk of injuries and 
deaths associated with penetration of ROVs and UTVs by debris such as 
fallen tree branches. Debris penetration through the floorboard or 
wheel well of an ROV or UTV can impale the occupants of the vehicles, 
and incidents associated with debris penetration have caused severe 
injuries and deaths. The Commission published an advance notice of 
proposed rulemaking (ANPR) on May 11, 2021 (86 FR 25817), and an NPR on 
July 21, 2022 (87 FR 43688).\1\ On December 21, 2022, the Commission 
also published a notice of availability and request for comment on a 
report from SEA, Ltd. titled ``Study of Debris Penetration of 
Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle (ROV) Proof-of-Concept (POC) 
Floorboard Guards'' (87 FR 78037).\2\
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    \1\ The NPR defines an ``ROV'' as ``a motorized vehicle designed 
or intended for off-highway use with the following features: four or 
more wheels with tires designed for off-highway use, non-straddle-
seating for one or more occupants, a steering wheel for steering 
controls, foot controls for throttle and braking, and a maximum 
vehicle speed greater than 30 miles per hour (mph).'' 87 FR 43725. 
The NPR defines an ``UTV'' as ``a motorized vehicle designed or 
intended for off-highway use with the following features: four or 
more wheels with tires designed for off-highway use, non-straddle 
seating for one or more occupants, a steering wheel for steering 
controls, foot controls for throttle and braking, and a maximum 
vehicle speed typically between 25 and 30 mph.'' 87 FR 43725-26.
    \2\ The contractor report provided test data and evaluation of 
proof-of-concept floorboard guards that were not available in the 
July 2022 NPR.
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    The Commission is now making available incident reports underlying 
the data discussed in and related to the NPR, as described below.\3\ 
These reports have been redacted to protect personal information, 
confidential medical information, and other information protected from 
disclosure under section 6 of the CPSA. 15 U.S.C. 2055.
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    \3\ The Commission voted 5-0 on September 27, 2024, to publish 
this document.
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    In particular, section 6(a) of the CPSA prohibits CPSC from 
disclosing trade secrets and commercial or financial information 
obtained from a person that is privileged or confidential, and it 
requires CPSC to offer such manufacturer or private labeler an 
opportunity to mark such information as confidential. 15 U.S.C. 
2055(a). If the Commission determines that a report marked as 
confidential by a manufacturer or private labeler may be disclosed 
because it is not confidential information as provided by section 
6(a)(2), the Commission must notify the manufacturer or private labeler 
within a specified time frame before any disclosure. 15 U.S.C. 
2055(a)(5). Section 6(b) of the CPSA also imposes limitations on CPSC's 
public disclosure of information that will permit the public to 
ascertain readily the identity of a manufacturer or private labeler but 
contains specific exceptions for disclosure of such information in the 
course of or concerning a rulemaking proceeding. 15 U.S.C. 2055(b)(4). 
Section 6(b)(5) of the CPSA contains additional limitations on public 
disclosure of information if the information was submitted to CPSC 
pursuant to section 15(b) of the CPSA, 15 U.S.C. 2064(b). 15 U.S.C. 
2055(b)(5). Section 6(b)(5)(C) also prohibits disclosure of information 
submitted pursuant to CPSA section 15(b) unless the firm submitting the 
information ``agrees to its public disclosure.'' 15 U.S.C. 
2055(b)(5)(C). Thus, prior to disclosure, CPSC offers such a 
manufacturer or private labeler an opportunity to mark such information 
as confidential, and it asks for the firm's agreement to release the 
documents.
    CPSC notified the two submitters who provided incident information 
underlying the NPR to CPSC under section 15(b) and sought consent to 
release the incident information pursuant to section 6 of the CPSA. 
Both submitters consented to disclosure with redactions.
    The NPR also contains information about incidents from two 
databases: the Consumer Product Safety Risk Management System (CPSRMS) 
\4\ and the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS).\5\ 
For the rulemaking, staff searched these databases for debris 
penetration fatalities and incidents involving all-terrain vehicles 
(ATVs), ROVs, and UTVs, reported to have occurred between 2009 and 
2021.\6\ None of the debris penetration incidents involved an ATV 
(other than an ROV or UTV incorrectly identified as an ATV). Given that 
ATVs do not have floorboards, the lack of debris penetration incidents 
involving ATVs was expected. Because of this, ATVs are not included 
within the scope of the proposed rule. For the timeframe from 2009 and 
2021, staff's search revealed data pertaining to at least six 
fatalities and 22 injuries, with 107 total incidents reported to CPSC.

[[Page 80833]]

The NPR includes information about the hazard patterns of incidents, 
such as severity of incidents, and the age and gender of the primary 
victim.
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    \4\ CPSRMS includes data primarily from three groups of sources: 
incident reports, death certificates, and in-depth follow-up 
investigation reports. A large portion of CPSRMS data consists of 
incident reports from consumer complaints, media reports, medical 
examiner or coroner reports, retailer or manufacturer reports 
(incident reports received from a retailer or manufacturer involving 
a product they sell or make), safety advocacy groups, law firms, and 
federal, state, or local authorities, among others. It also contains 
death certificates that CPSC purchases from all 50 states, based on 
selected external cause of death codes (ICD-10). The third major 
component of CPSRMS is the collection of in-depth follow-up 
investigation reports. Based on the incident reports, death 
certificates, or NEISS injury reports, CPSC field staff conduct in-
depth investigations (on-site, via telephone, or online) of 
incidents, deaths, and injuries, which are then stored in CPSRMS.
    \5\ NEISS is the source of the injury estimates; it is a 
statistically valid injury surveillance system. NEISS injury data 
are gathered from emergency departments of a representative sample 
of U.S. hospitals, with 24-hour emergency departments and at least 
six beds. The surveillance data gathered from the sample hospitals 
enable CPSC to make timely national estimates of the number of 
injuries associated with specific consumer products.
    \6\ CPSC staff performed a search of both the CPSRMS and NEISS 
databases for the following product codes: 5044 (Utility vehicles), 
3285 (All-terrain vehicles with 3 wheels), 3286 (All-terrain 
vehicles with 4 wheels), 3287 (All-terrain vehicles, number of 
wheels not specified) and 3296 (All-terrain vehicles with more than 
4 wheels). While the scope of the hazard is limited to ROVs and 
UTVs, which product code 5044 encompasses, these vehicles are 
sometimes mischaracterized as ATVs in CPSRMS and NEISS. The keywords 
used to identify the debris penetration hazard in the incident 
narratives were: floor/debris/penetrat/pierc/punctur/impal/branch/
limb/stick. The reported incidents from CPSRMS occurred between 
January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2021. The injury cases from NEISS 
occurred from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2020. The data were 
extracted in January 2022.
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    Relevant data from CPSRMS include incident reports from medical 
examiners, consumers, death certificates, manufacturers, and media 
reports. Some of the incident data relied on for the rulemaking were 
obtained from 53 in-depth investigations (IDIs) conducted by CPSC. 
Among these IDIs, five involved fatal incidents and 48 involved 
nonfatal incidents. In the NEISS data, staff identified only three 
cases with sufficient descriptive information to conclude that the 
injuries were specifically associated with debris penetration. Due to 
this small sample size, CPSC was unable to report any estimate of 
injuries. Instead, these three injury cases from NEISS were counted 
with the other reported injuries from CPSRMS.
    In addition, the Commission is considering five additional IDIs 
that were completed following publication of the NPR.\7\ Four out of 
five of these IDIs involved injuries that resulted from debris 
penetrating through the floorboards and causing impalement, laceration, 
bruising, or ligament injury.\8\ Three of those four incidents involved 
hospitalizations.
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    \7\ The IDI numbers associated with these five incidents are 
221013HCC1142, 220802HEP8213, 220822HCC1212, 230601HCC1530, and 
180125CBB3360.
    \8\ The IDI numbers associated with these four injuries are 
221013HCC1142, 220802HEP8213, 220822HCC1212, and 230601HCC1530. IDI 
180125CBB3360 involved a branch penetrating the floorboard, but no 
injury occurred.
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    The Commission invites comments on the incident data and the NPR's 
analysis of these data. CPSC is making available for review and comment 
the incident reports relied upon and discussed in the NPR, to the 
extent allowed by applicable law, along with the associated IDIs and 
additional IDIs mentioned above. To obtain access to the data, submit a 
request to: https://forms.office.com/g/Yz4tNFdhDp. You will then 
receive a website link to access the data at the email address you 
provide. If you do not receive a link within two business days, please 
contact Han Lim, email: hlim@cpsc.gov. Information on how to submit 
comments and contact information for CPSC's Office of the Secretary are 
in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.

Alberta E. Mills,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2024-22906 Filed 10-3-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P