3041-AC31 202410 The Regulatory Plan and the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions 3041 Consumer Product Safety Commission CPSC Regulatory Options for Table Saws

In 2006, the Commission granted a petition asking that the Commission issue a rule to prescribe performance standards for an active injury mitigation (AIM) system to reduce or prevent injuries from contacting the blade of a table saw. The Commission subsequently issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would establish a performance standard requiring table saws to limit the depth of cut to 3.5 millimeters when a test probe, acting as a surrogate for a human body/finger, contacts the table saw's spinning blade. Staff has conducted several studies to provide information for the rulemaking. In November 2023, the Commission published a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPRM) based on analysis of newly available incident data, evaluation of newly available products, and other market information that did not exist at the time of the 2017 NPRM. On February 28, 2024, the Commission provided an opportunity for interested parties to make oral presentations on the SNPRM. The hybrid hearing was held in person at CPSC’s headquarters and remotely via webinar. Staff is redacting data for release for additional public comment to support a notice of availability (NOA).

]]> Section 3(f)(1) Significant Previously Published in The Unified Agenda Final Rule Stage Yes No 16 CFR 1245 5 U.S.C. 553(e) 15 U.S.C. 2056 15 U.S.C. 2058 Yes

In the NPRM, the Commission preliminarily determined that there is an unreasonable risk associated with blade-contact injuries on table saws. Based on injury data reviewed in 2015, there were an estimated 33,400 table saw, emergency department treated injuries. Of these, staff estimated that 30,800 (92 percent) are likely related to the victim making contact with the saw blade. Of the 30,800 ED treated blade-contact injuries, an estimated 28,900 injuries (93.8 percent) involved the finger, with 4,700 amputations (15.3 percent).

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Table saws are consumer products that can be regulated by the Commission under the authority of the CPSA. See 15 U.S.C. 2052(a). Section 7 of the CPSA authorizes the Commission to promulgate a mandatory consumer product safety standard that sets forth performance requirements for a consumer product or that sets forth requirements that a product be marked or accompanied by clear and adequate warnings or instructions. 15 U.S.C. 2056. Section 7(a) of the 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. Id. Section 9 of the CPSA specifies the procedure that the Commission must follow to issue a consumer product safety standard under section 7 of the CPSA.

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The Commission could: (1) pursue table saw voluntary standard activities; (2) extend the effective dates of a possible rule; (3) exempt certain categories of table saws from the draft proposed rule; (4) limit the applicability of the performance requirements to some, but not all, tables saws; or (5) pursue an information and education campaign to inform the public of the hazards of blade contact and the benefits of the AIM technology.

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As published in the regulatory analysis in the SNPRM in 2023, the estimated benefits per saw are between $3,503 to $12,865. The estimated costs per saw are between $338 to $1,376. Net benefits (i.e., benefits minus costs) per saw therefore range from $241 to $1,326.

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The CPSC has determined preliminarily that there is an unreasonable risk of blade-contact injuries associated with table saws. Each year, approximately 30,000 table saw blade contact injuries are treated in emergency room departments. The most common diagnoses in blade-contact injuries were lacerations (60.9 percent), fractures (20.6 percent), and amputations (10.7 percent).

]]> Commission Decision to Grant Petition 07/11/2006 ANPRM 10/11/2011 76 FR 62678 Notice of Extension of Time for Comments 12/02/2011 76 FR 75504 Comment Period End 02/10/2012 Notice to Open Comment Period 02/15/2012 77 FR 8751 Comment Period End 03/16/2012 Staff Sent NPRM Briefing Package to Commission 01/17/2017 Commission Decision 04/27/2017 NPRM 05/12/2017 82-FR 22190 NPRM Comment Period End 07/26/2017 Public Hearing 08/09/2017 82 FR 31035 Staff Sent 2016 NEISS Table Saw Type Study Status Report to Commission 08/15/2017 Staff Sent 2017 NEISS Table Saw Special Study to Commission 11/13/2018 Notice of Availability of 2017 NEISS Table Saw Special Study 12/04/2018 83FR62561 Staff Sends a Status Briefing Package on Table Saws to Commission 08/28/2019 Commission Decision 09/10/2019 Staff Sends SNPRM Briefing Package to Commission 09/21/2023 Commission Decision Approving SNPRM 10/25/2023 Oral comment presentations 02/28/2024 89 FR 8582 Staff Redacts Data for Release to Support NOA 07/00/2025 YES Businesses Undetermined Undetermined Yes Yes Caroleene Paul Project Manager, Directorate for Engineering Sciences 3041 301 987-2225 cpaul@cpsc.gov National Product Testing and Evaluation Center, 5 Research Place, Rockville MD 20850