New regs for Friday: infant bathtubs, transportation safety and vocational rehab

Friday’s edition of the Federal Register contains news standards from the Consumer Product Safety Commission for infant bathtubs, a new transportation safety program from the Department of Transportation and plans from the Education Department to establish a center to assist state vocational rehabilitation agencies.

Here’s what to watch for:

Baby bathtubs: The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is considering new safety standards for infant bathtubs.

The rule is a product of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, which requires the commission to examine and assess the effectiveness of voluntary product safety standards for durable infant and toddler products and issue consumer product safety standards for those products.

In its rulemaking, the CPSC said its staff received detailed reports from various sources of 202 incidents related to infant bathtubs from Jan. 1, 2004, through May 20, 2015. Of the 202 incidents, 31 were fatal. Of the 31 fatalities, 30 were from drowning.

The public has 75 days to comment on the proposed rule. 

Transportation safety program: The Department of Transportation is considering a rule that would establish a public transportation safety program to strengthen the safety of public transportation systems throughout the U.S.

“Every day, millions of passengers take some form of public transportation to get to or from work, shopping, classes or other destination,” the DOT said in its proposed rulemaking. “While the safety performance of the public transportation industry remains strong, recent accidents, including several investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), have demonstrated weaknesses in the safety performance of critical systems, equipment, procedures, management systems and oversight.”

The rule would establish a framework for the administrator of the Federal Transit Administration to monitor, oversee and enforce safety in the public transportation industry.

The public has 60 days to comment on the proposed rulemaking.

Vocational training: The Education Department is making it a final priority under the Rehabilitation Training program to fund, develop and support a Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center for Targeted Communities (VRTAC-TC).

The agency is hoping VRTAC-TC will improve the capacity of state vocational rehabilitation agencies and their partners to increase participation levels for individuals with disabilities from low-income communities and to equip these individuals with the skills and knowledge needed to obtain high-quality competitive employment.

The public has 30 days to comment on this final rulemaking.