CPSC Final Rule Adopts Revised All-Terrain Vehicle Standard

The final rule adopting ANSI/SVIA¹1-2010 as a mandatory regulation is effective for products manufactured or imported on or after April 30, 2012.

CPSC Determined 2010 Changes to ATV Standard Do not Diminish Safety

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) requires that ANSI notify CPSC of any revision to the 2007 standard, and that CPSC amend its mandatory standard for the update if it determines the changes are reasonably related to the safe performance of ATVs. As CPSC has determined that the 2010 standard does it diminish safety, and that all of the changes in the 2010 standard could be related to the safe performance of ATVs, it is issuing this final rule to adopt the 2010 standard in its entirety.

(Among other things, the standard has requirements on the vehicle’s equipment and configuration, maximum speed capability, speed capability of youth ATVs, service and parking brakes, pitch stability, electromagnetic compatibility, and sound level limits. It also has definitions and requirements for new categories of single-rider ATVs (category Y-10 and category T)².

Certain Leeway for 3rd Party Testing of Youth ATVs

CPSC states that any third party conformance testing results for youth ATVs based on the 2007 standard issued by the one third party accreditation body authorized to third party test to the standard will continue to be accepted by the CPSC until the Notice of Requirements for ATV third party conformity assessment bodies has been updated for the 2010 standard. CPSC states that the update of the NOR will take the form of a rulemaking.³

Substantive Changes Include Scope Change, Test Requirements, Labeling

CPSC considers the substantive changes of ANSI/SVIA 1-2010 to be:

• the elimination from the scope section, a provision calling for expiration of the definition and requirements for the Y--12+ youth ATV age category on July 28, 2011;
• a change in how to calculate the speed for the braking test of youth ATVs;
• a change in the force applied to passenger handholds during testing;
• the addition of a requirement that youth ATVs shall not have a power take-off mechanism;
• the addition of a requirement that youth ATVs shall not have a foldable, removable, or retractable structure in the ATV foot environment;
• additional specificity concerning the location and method of operation of the brake control;
• tightening the parking brake performance requirement by requiring the transmission to be in “neutral” during testing, rather than in “neutral” or “park”; and
• the requirement that tire pressure information be on the label, when the previous requirement could be interpreted to allow tire pressure information to be on the label, or in the owner’s manual, or on the tires.

¹The Special Vehicle Institute of America

²The category Y-10 ATV is a youth model intended for use by children age 10 and older. The category "T" ATV is a transitional ATV intended for recreational use by an operator age 14 or older under adult supervision or by an operator age 16 and older.

³The original NOR was not issued through a notice and comment rulemaking. The reason is that the statutory provision requiring the Commission to issue NORs for third party testing of children’s products exempted these NORs from the notice and comment requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) for three years after enactment of the CPSIA. See 15 USC 2063(a)(3)(G). This exemption expired August 14, 2011. Therefore, for the Commission to issue any new or amended NORs after that date, it must do so through the rulemaking process.

(See ITT's Online Archives 11072523 for summary of CPSC proposed rule on the new ATV standard. See ITT's Online Archives 12022116 for summary of CPSC's unanimous vote approving the new standard.)

CPSC contact - Justin Jirgl (301) 504-7814; jjirgl@cpsc.gov

(FR Pub 02/29/12)