Regulatory coverage can change without moving the headline number. The CPSC's February 2, 2017 fireworks proposal retained the two-grain limit but proposed specifying the composition that identifies devices subject to it. For a market participant, the relevant mechanism was therefore the boundary around the product set, not simply whether the permitted mass had been reduced. [2017-02014][2016-21014]

The commission expected the proposed identification method to capture more devices than its current testing-manual method. It described the practical consequence as more devices considered banned. That was an agency expectation about the proposal's reach, not evidence of an observed contraction in sales, a price change or a measurable reduction in consumer injuries. [2017-02014][2016-21014]

The September 2016 proposed interpretation had framed a metallic-powder test of audible-effect intent as leaving obligations unchanged. February's account was different: because existing regulations prescribed no particular identification method, requiring one would impose a new requirement. Together, the documents show why unchanged thresholds cannot by themselves establish unchanged compliance conditions. They remain one CPSC policy chain rather than independent market evidence. [2017-02014][2016-21014]

The two-grain figure also requires its proper object: pyrotechnic composition under the relevant provision, not every device's total weight. Black-powder-only scope is different, so the threshold cannot be read as a universal coverage statement. The economic question concerns which products a proposed classification would exclude. Actual competitive responses and costs would require evidence beyond these notices, which did not establish a final rule as of February 9. [2017-02014][2016-21014]

Source documents

  1. Amendments to Fireworks Regulationshttps://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2017-02-02/html/2017-02014.htm
  2. Statement of Policy on the Commission's Interpretation of Intent To Produce Audible Effects Within the Meaning of the Commission's Fireworks Regulations Under the Federal Hazardous Substances Acthttps://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2016-09-06/html/2016-21014.htm