BILL NUMBER: AB 706 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 27, 2007
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 1, 2007
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 25, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 1, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 17, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 9, 2007
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Leno
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bass, Berg, Brownley, DeSaulnier,
Hancock, Hayashi, Huffman, Jones, Lieber, Ruskin, and Swanson)
FEBRUARY 22, 2007
An act to amend Sections 125.9, 19161, and 19161.3 of, and to add
Section 19161.7 to, the Business and Professions Code, relating to
fire retardants.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 706, as amended, Leno. Fire retardants: toxic effects.
Existing law makes various findings related to the toxicity of
certain fire retardants containing chemicals known as brominated fire
retardants (BFRs) and chlorinated fire retardants (CFRs), and
prohibits a person from manufacturing, processing, or distributing a
flame-retardant part of a product containing more than one-tenth of
1% of prescribed retardants.
This bill would revise and extend the findings relating to fire
retardants, and would, commencing January 1, 2010, require all
seating, bedding, and furniture products to comply with certain
requirements, including that they not contain brominated fire
retardants or chlorinated fire retardants, as defined
except as specified , and be labeled as
prescribed.
Existing law, the Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation Act,
requires all mattresses and box springs manufactured for sale in this
state to be fire retardant, as defined to meet the federal standards
for resistance to open-flame test, and authorizes the Bureau of Home
Furnishings and Thermal Insulation to adopt regulations to implement
those standards. Existing law also requires other bedding products
to comply with regulations adopted by the bureau specifying that
those products be resistant to open-flame ignition.
This bill, commencing January 1, 2010, would require the bureau to
modify its standards for prescribed bedding products sold or offered
for sale in this state, including, but not limited to, the
requirement that they not contain brominated fire retardants or
chlorinated fire retardants. The bill would require the Office of
Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to review human, animal, or
environmental health risk assessments of a component or chemical used
to meet fire retardancy standards set by the bureau if specified
conditions are met, and would set forth notice and procedural
requirements for the review of the risk assessment. The bill would
require the office to provide a report to the bureau of its
conclusions and recommendations regarding the health risks of the
component or chemical and to electronically post the report. The bill
would require the bureau, upon receipt of the report, to determine
if the health risk warrants a prohibition or limitation of the use of
the component or chemical, as specified.
The bill would make a related change involving the assessment of
administrative fines pursuant to the Home Furnishings and Thermal
Insulation Act.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the
"California "Crystal Golden-Jefferson
Furniture Safety and Fire Prevention Act."
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Chemicals known as brominated fire retardants (BFRs) and
chlorinated fire retardants (CFRs) are widely used in California. To
meet stringent fire safety standards, manufacturers add BFRs and CFRs
to a multitude of products, including, but not limited to, the
flexible polyurethane foam used in commercial, residential, and
institutional furniture. On June 1, 2006, two categories of fire
retardants known as pentabrominated diphenyl ether (PentaBDE) and
octabrominated diphenyl ether (OctaBDE) were banned for use at levels
higher than one-tenth of 1 percent in virtually all new products,
including the plastic housing of electronics, computers, and circuit
boards as a result of legislation enacted in 2003 and 2004.
(a) California has been a world leader in fire safety standards
for furniture since the early twentieth century. A construction
standard for mattresses developed by the California Bureau of Home
Furnishings and Thermal Insulation and by the mattress industry has
been adopted as a national standard by the United States Consumer
Product Safety Commission.
(b) Maintaining or exceeding the current level of fire safety
provided by California's furniture standards is important to the
safety of our residents and our firefighters. Furniture provides a
major fuel source in residential fires and, if ignited, can
accelerate the onset of flashover, which is the point at which nearly
all combustible material in an enclosed area simultaneously ignites.
Preventing or delaying flashover and preventing fires that start in
furniture through fire safety standards saves lives. California
should continue its leadership in furniture fire prevention and
safety.
(c) In recent years research has revealed that some fire retardant
chemicals are dangerous to human, animal, and environmental health.
Organobromide and organochloride chemicals known as brominated fire
retardants (BFRs) and chlorinated fire retardants (CFRs) are widely
used in California. To meet our fire safety standards, many
manufacturers add BFRs and CFRs to the flexible polyurethane foam
used in residential furniture.
(b) Many
(d) Some fire retardants migrate
in air, soil, or water, and accumulate in people's bodies and the
environment. For example, polybrominated diphenyl ether
(PBDE), which is a subcategory of BFRs, has increased fortyfold in
human breast milk since the ethers (PBDEs), which are
a subcategory of BFRs, have increased more than forty-fold in human
breast milk in America since the 1970s. Women in North America
on average have 10 times the levels of women in Europe or Asia.
PBDE has PBDEs have the potential to
disrupt thyroid hormone balance and contribute to a variety of
developmental deficits, including low intelligence and learning
disabilities. PBDEs are structurally similar to dioxin, furans, and
polybrominated biphenyls which are known to cause cancer. In
addition to California's ban enacted in 2003, PentaBDE and OctaBDE
have been banned in several other states and in the European Union.
(c)
(e) According to an American Public Health Association
Consensus Resolution, virtually all organochlorides that have been
studied exhibit one or more serious toxic effects, including
endocrine dysfunction, developmental impairment, birth defects,
reproductive dysfunction, immunosuppression, and cancer, often at
extremely low doses. Organobromides are known to exhibit
even more serious effects. similar effects, and the
American Public Health Association has resolved that the
organobromides known as PBDEs should be phased out of all products.
(d)
(f) Recent studies indicate that BFRs and CFRs have
migrated into the environment, and have been detected at high
concentrations in fish, as well as marine mammals, including, but not
limited to, dolphins and harbor seals, indicating that the chemicals
are already bioaccumulating in the food chain and in marine
wildlife. Fish and meat consumption are partly responsible for
increasing levels of some BFRs and CFRs in humans.
(e)
(g) Apart from toxic effects in humans and animals from
direct exposures, these chemical substances have been disposed of in
ways that contaminate soils, groundwater, sediment, ambient air, and
natural ecosystems. Production and distribution of tens of
millions of pounds of these potentially toxic substances represents
an ongoing experiment with the health of the people and environment
of California without an adequate scientific understanding of the
long-term consequences of exposure to BFRs and CFRs.
(f)
(h) According to the federal Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, infants and children are particularly prone
to absorb BFRs and CFRs through direct physical or oral contact with
these compounds in furniture, inhalation of furniture dust containing
BFRs and CFRs, and via ingestion of these substances from their
mothers' milk and from their diets.
(g)
(i) Rates of pediatric health problems, such as
leukemia and brain cancer in children, testicular cancer in
adolescents, birth defects, and neurodevelopmental disorders,
including, but not limited to, dyslexia, mental retardation,
attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and autism, are
steadily rising.
(h)
(j) Over the last 30 years, there have been hundreds of
scientific journal articles and reviews citing these and other
negative health impacts in people and in animals
resulting from exposure to brominated and chlorinated fire
retardants.
(i) Substantial efforts to eliminate CFRs and BFRs, including, but
not limited to, PentaBDE and OctaBDE from products have been made
throughout the world, including the private and public sectors. These
efforts have made available alternatives safe to human health while
meeting fire safety standards.
(j) Fire safety education, smoke detectors, building sprinkler
systems, decreasing numbers of smokers, and mandated "fire-safe"
cigarettes with lower ignition propensity have greatly reduced the
fire risk posed by furniture and mattresses.
(k) In order to protect the public health, worker safety,
wildlife, and the environment, the Legislature believes it is
necessary for the state to prohibit the use of chlorinated and
brominated fire retardants in applications, including, but not
limited to, commercial, residential, and institutional furniture,
mattresses, box springs, futons, and bedding products including
pillows, comforters, and other filled blanket products, where the
probability of human exposure and improper disposal are high,
especially if there are technologically and economically feasible
alternatives that can maintain similar or superior fire retardancy.
For these and other reasons, in 2003 the Legislature asserted that it
is necessary for the state to develop a precautionary approach
regarding the production, use, storage, and disposal of products
containing two specific BFRs. The Legislature hereby expands its
concern to include all BFRs and CFRs in furniture, mattresses, and
bedding.
(k) Utilizing existing technologies in both chemical fire
retardants and in construction techniques, the mattress and
institutional furniture industries have achieved a higher level of
fire safety without the use of BFRs and CFRs. Updating California
statute and regulation will enable the residential furniture industry
to do the same.
(l) A 2003 study at Umea University in Sweden found that
brominated fire retardants efficiently convert into dioxins and
furans when they combust after just seconds of delayed flame
ignition. Dioxins and furans have been designated by the National
Toxicology Program of the United States Department of Health and
Human Services as known human carcinogens and, in the case of
dioxins, contact with skin is a primary route of human exposure.
(m) A 2006 study published in the Journal of Occupational and
Environmental Medicine found that firefighters have a probable cancer
risk for multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, prostate cancer,
and testicular cancer. Eight additional cancers also were found to
have a possible occupational link to firefighting. The presence of
carcinogenic chemical byproducts in soot and smoke, such as dioxins
and furans created when brominated fire retardants burn, are
considered the probable source of workplace cancer risks for
firefighters.
(n) On July 20, 2005, a Los Angeles County Fire Department
firefighter named Crystal Golden-Jefferson passed away from workplace
related non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. She was a single mother and a
dedicated paramedic firefighter with 19 years of service to the
people of Los Angeles County. While the cause of Crystal
Golden-Jefferson's cancer can not be definitively linked to dioxin
exposure, dioxins are known to cause non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and
Crystal Golden-Jefferson was regularly exposed to soot and smoke in
her work.
(o) In naming this act, it is the intent of the Legislature to
honor Crystal Golden-Jefferson and other firefighters who, like her,
have lost their lives due to toxic chemical exposure and workplace
related cancers. Removing from furniture chemicals that convert into
carcinogenic dioxins and furans during fires can reduce work place
exposures and cancer risk for firefighters who bravely sacrifice
their lives so that others may live.
(p) With technologically and economically feasible alternatives
that provide equivalent or superior fire retardancy, it is not
prudent to continue to use BFRs and CFRs in furniture without a
comprehensive assessment of their impact. In order to protect public
health, worker and firefighter safety, wildlife, and the environment,
the Legislature finds that it is necessary to prohibit the use of
brominated and chlorinated fire retardants in furniture, mattresses,
and bedding until the safety of these fire retardants can be
demonstrated using prevailing national standards for toxicity risk
assessment.
SEC. 3. Section 125.9 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
125.9. (a) Except with respect to persons regulated under Chapter
11 (commencing with Section 7500), and Chapter 11.6 (commencing with
Section 7590) of Division 3, any board, bureau, or commission within
the department, the board created by the Chiropractic Initiative
Act, and the Osteopathic Medical Board of California, may establish,
by regulation, a system for the issuance to a licensee of a citation
that may contain an order of abatement or an order to pay an
administrative fine assessed by the board, bureau, or commission if
the licensee is in violation of the applicable licensing act or any
regulation adopted pursuant thereto.
(b) The system shall contain the following provisions:
(1) Citations shall be in writing and shall describe with
particularity the nature of the violation, including specific
reference to the provision of law determined to have been violated.
(2) Whenever appropriate, the citation shall contain an order of
abatement fixing a reasonable time for abatement of the violation.
(3) In Except as provided in paragraph
(4), in no event shall the administrative fine assessed by the
board, bureau, or commission exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000)
for each inspection or each investigation made with respect to the
violation, or five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each violation or
count if the violation involves fraudulent billing submitted to an
insurance company, the Medi-Cal program, or Medicare , or if
the violation involves fines assessed pursuant to Chapter 3
(commencing with Section 19000) of Division 8 and the total fine
assessed for each inspection does not exceed twenty-five thousand
dollars ($25,000) . In assessing a fine, the board, bureau,
or commission shall give due consideration to the appropriateness of
the amount of the fine with respect to factors such as the gravity
of the violation, the good faith of the licensee, and the history of
previous violations.
(4) In the case of any violation pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing
with Section 19000) of Division 8, in no event shall the
administrative fine assessed by the bureau exceed twenty-five
thousand dollars ($25,000) for each inspection or each investigation
made with respect to the violation, or five thousand dollars ($5,000)
for each violation or count. In assessing a fine, the bureau shall
give due consideration to the appropriateness of the amount of the
fine with respect to factors such as the gravity of the violation,
the good faith of the licensee, and any history of previous
violations.
(4)
(5) A citation or fine assessment issued pursuant to a
citation shall inform the licensee that if he or she desires a
hearing to contest the finding of a violation, that hearing shall be
requested by written notice to the board, bureau, or commission
within 30 days of the date of issuance of the citation or assessment.
If a hearing is not requested pursuant to this section, payment of
any fine shall not constitute an admission of the violation charged.
Hearings shall be held pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section
11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(5)
(6) Failure of a licensee to pay a fine within 30 days
of the date of assessment, unless the citation is being appealed, may
result in disciplinary action being taken by the board, bureau, or
commission. If a citation is not contested and a fine is not paid,
the full amount of the assessed fine shall be added to the fee for
renewal of the license. A license shall not be renewed without
payment of the renewal fee and fine.
(c) The system may contain the following provisions:
(1) A citation may be issued without the assessment of an
administrative fine.
(2) Assessment of administrative fines may be limited to only
particular violations of the applicable licensing act.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if a fine is paid
to satisfy an assessment based on the finding of a violation, payment
of the fine shall be represented as satisfactory resolution of the
matter for purposes of public disclosure.
(e) Administrative fines collected pursuant to this section shall
be deposited in the special fund of the particular board, bureau, or
commission.
SEC. 4. Section 19161 of the Business and Professions Code, as
added by Section 14 of Chapter 760 of the Statutes of 2006, is
amended to read:
19161. (a) All mattresses and mattress sets manufactured for sale
in this state shall be fire retardant. "Fire retardant," as used in
this section, means a product that meets the standards for resistance
to open-flame test adopted by the United States Consumer Product
Safety Commission and set forth in Part 1633 of Title 16 of the Code
of Federal Regulations. The bureau may adopt regulations it deems
necessary to implement those standards.
(b) All other bedding products that the bureau determines
contribute to mattress bedding fires shall comply with regulations
adopted by the bureau specifying that those products be resistant to
open-flame ignition, except in the case that the bureau finds that
resistance to open-flame ignition cannot be achieved without using
components or chemicals prohibited pursuant to Section 19161.7.
(c) All seating furniture sold or offered for sale by an importer,
manufacturer, or wholesaler for use in this state, including any
seating furniture sold to or offered for sale for use in a hotel,
motel, or other place of public accommodation in this state, and
reupholstered furniture to which filling materials are added, shall
comply with the regulations adopted by the bureau specifying the
degree of fire or flame retardance, shall be labeled in a manner
specified by the bureau, and shall comply with Section 108931 of the
Health and Safety Code. This does not include furniture used
exclusively for the purpose of physical fitness and exercise.
(d) Regulations adopted by the bureau for other bedding products
shall not apply to any hotel, motel, bed and breakfast, inn, or
similar transient lodging establishment that has an automatic fire
extinguishing system that conforms to the specifications established
in Section 904.1 of Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations.
SEC. 5. Section 19161.3 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
19161.3. All flexible polyurethane foam in the form of slabs,
blocks, or sheets, or which is shredded (loose or packaged), except
polyurethane foam sold for use as carpet underlayment and
polyurethane foam which cannot reasonably be expected to be used in
or as an article of furniture or a mattress, that is offered for sale
to the general public at retail outlets in this state for
noncommercial or nonmanufacturing purposes, shall comply with the
regulations adopted by the bureau specifying the degree of fire or
flame retardance.
SEC. 6. Section 19161.7 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
19161.7. (a) The following definitions shall apply for purposes
of this section:
(1) "Brominated fire retardant" means an organobromine chemical or
organobromide used as a fire or flame retardant. It does not include
inherently fire or flame resistant fiber used in seating furniture,
mattresses, or other bedding products.
(2) "Chlorinated fire retardant" means an organochlorine chemical
or organochloride used as a fire or flame retardant. It does not
include inherently fire or flame resistant fiber used in seating
furniture, mattresses, or other bedding products.
(3) "Inherently fire or flame resistant fiber" means a polymeric
fiber or mixture of polymeric fibers, where one or more fibers is
comprised of a polymer with covalently attached fire retarding
chemical groups built directly into the molecular structure of some
or all of the repeating structural units. Nothing in this definition
shall be construed to limit the authority of the bureau to prohibit
the use of components or chemicals pursuant to subdivision (f).
(b) Commencing January 1, 2010, all seating furniture, mattresses,
box springs, mattress sets, futons, and other bedding products
including, but not limited to, pillows, comforters, other filled
blanket products, and sleeping bags that are sold or offered for sale
by an importer, manufacturer, or wholesaler for use in this state,
including any seating furniture, mattresses, box springs, mattress
sets, futons, and other bedding products including, but not limited
to, pillows, comforters, other filled blanket products, and sleeping
bags sold to or offered for sale for use in a hotel, motel, or other
place of public accommodation in this state, and reupholstered
furniture to which filling materials are added, shall comply with the
following:
(1) Shall not contain brominated fire retardants or chlorinated
fire retardants , unless the bureau has issued an exemption from
prohibition pursuant to subdivision (h) for the brominated fire
retardant or chlorinated fire retardant .
(2) Shall be labeled with a permanent label attachment in a manner
specified by the Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal
Insulation bureau .
(c) All permanent label attachments required pursuant to
subdivision (b) shall comply with the following:
(1) Use plain language understandable to consumers, and in
sufficient size as to be readily visible and legible.
(2) Include the following statement, "DOES NOT CONTAIN BROMINATED
OR CHLORINATED FIRE RETARDANTS." RETARDANTS,"
except in the case of a product that contains a brominated fire
retardant or a chlorinated fire retardant for which the bureau has
issued an exemption from prohibition pursuant to subdivision (h).
(3) Include other markings or language specified by the
Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation
bureau .
(d) By January 1, 2010, the Bureau of Home Furnishings
and Thermal Insulation bureau shall modify
Technical Bulletins 116 and 117 with product standards for furniture
that shall achieve fire retardancy properties comparable
equivalent to existing standards, sufficient to
protect human health and safety, but without the use of brominated
fire retardants and chlorinated fire retardants and without
significant increases in costs to the consumer.
(e) (1) The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment shall
review human, animal, or environmental health risk assessments of a
component or chemical used to meet fire retardancy standards set by
the bureau if all of the following conditions are met:
(A) The chief of the bureau has submitted a request for a risk
assessment or an interested person has submitted a petition for a
risk assessment pursuant to paragraph (4).
(B) The office has determined in its discretion that a risk
assessment shall be pursued.
(C) The person responsible for the manufacture of the component or
chemical has entered into an enforceable agreement with the office
to fully reimburse the office for all of the costs associated with
coordination and evidentiary review of the risk assessment.
(2) Within 90 days of receipt of a request or petition, the office
shall notify the requester or petitioner whether the office will
seek an enforceable agreement with the person responsible for
manufacture of the component or chemical used to meet fire retardancy
standards set by the bureau.
(3) The bureau may use fines collected for violations of this
chapter to reimburse the office for the actual costs associated with
determining if a risk assessment requested by the chief of the bureau
will be pursued. All other costs related to the risk assessment
shall be reimbursed by the person responsible for manufacture
pursuant to paragraph (5).
(4) A petition for risk assessment may be submitted to the office
by any interested person. The petition shall include the name and
manufacturer of the component or chemical used to meet fire
retardancy standards set by the bureau, and may include relevant
comments, data, studies, or other written information documenting the
risk to human, animal, or environmental health. The office may
charge a fee set by the office, not to exceed one thousand dollars
($1,000), to be paid by the petitioner for the actual costs
associated with determining if the risk assessment will be pursued.
All other costs related to the risk assessment shall be reimbursed by
the person responsible for manufacture pursuant to paragraph (5).
(5) If the office determines that a risk assessment shall be
pursued, the office shall send the person responsible for manufacture
of the component or chemical a request for risk assessment,
requesting evidence of safety to human, animal, or environmental
health, specifying endpoint concerns for the intended use to be
addressed, setting a due date for when the risk assessment shall be
completed, and stating the estimated cost to be reimbursed to the
state for evidentiary review of the risk assessment. Within 90 days
of the date of receipt of the request for risk assessment, the person
responsible for manufacture shall enter into an enforceable
agreement with the office to fully reimburse the office for all the
costs associated with coordinating and reviewing the risk assessment.
Failure by the person responsible for manufacture to enter into an
enforceable agreement with the office shall result in the prohibition
of use of the component or chemical in products under the
jurisdiction of the bureau. The office shall issue a failure to
comply letter to the person responsible for manufacture and shall
notify the bureau. The bureau shall determine through regulation the
date at which the resulting prohibition of use shall be effective,
except that the date shall not exceed two years from the issuance of
the failure to comply letter from the office.
(6) Each risk assessment shall be completed using prevailing
national standards for risk assessments and shall be based on
scientifically valid studies conducted according to prevailing
national standards as determined by the office prior to commencement
of the risk assessment.
(6)
(7) Upon the receipt of the risk assessment from the
person responsible for manufacture, the office shall review the risk
assessment and may request additional evidence of safety related to
the endpoint concern for the intended use identified in the request
for risk assessment.
(7)
(8) The office shall, upon the signing of an
enforceable agreement with a person responsible for manufacture as
provided by this section, electronically post on its Internet Web
site a notice that a risk assessment has been initiated. The notice
shall respect proprietary concerns of the person responsible for
manufacture and shall include both of the following:
(A) A brief description, or a bibliography, of the technical
documents or other information the office has identified to date as
relevant to the preparation of the risk assessment.
(B) A statement to inform persons who wish to submit information
concerning the component or chemical that is the subject of the risk
assessment of the name and address of the person in the office to
whom the information may be sent, the date by which the information
must be received in order for the office to consider it in
the review of the risk assessment,
and that all information submitted will be made available to any
member of the public who requests it.
(8)
(9) Upon completion of the review of the risk
assessment, the office shall do all of the following:
(A) Provide a report to the bureau of its conclusions and
recommendations regarding the risk to human, animal, or environmental
health.
(B) Include its recommendation of a level of exposure with no
significant risk to public health based on probable usage.
(C) Electronically post the report or a redacted version of the
report respecting proprietary concerns of the person responsible for
manufacture.
(9)
(10) If the office finds in its review of the risk
assessment that currently available scientific data are insufficient
to determine a safe level of exposure to the component or chemical at
which there is no significant risk to human, animal, or
environmental health based on probable usage, the office shall
recommend to the bureau a level of exposure that is expected to
protect public health. This level shall be based exclusively on
health considerations and shall be determined, to the extent
scientific data are available, using the most current principles,
practices, and methods used by public health professionals who are
experienced practitioners in the fields of epidemiology, risk
assessment, toxicology, and exposure assessment. The office may
recommend a level of exposure of zero if necessary to satisfy the
requirements of this section.
(f) The Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation, in
consultation with the California Office of Environmental Health
Hazard Assessment, may adopt regulations that protect human health
and safety, and the environment, and may prohibit
in products under its jurisdiction may prohibit or limit
the use of components or chemicals for which the safety to human
or animal , animal, or environmental
health cannot be clearly established.
(g) Upon receipt of the office's report on its review of a risk
assessment of a component or chemical used to meet the fire
retardancy standards of the bureau, the bureau shall determine if the
risk to human, animal, or environmental health warrants a
prohibition or limitation of the use of a component or chemical in
products under the jurisdiction of the bureau pursuant to
subdivision (f) . In making this determination the bureau shall
consider all of the following:
(1) The best available evidence of the degree of fire safety
achieved and the number of burn injuries or fatalities that may be
prevented by the use of the component or chemical.
(2) The safe levels of exposure to the component or chemical based
on probable usage recommended by the office's report on the risk
assessment.
(3) The human, animal, or environmental health impacts identified
by the office report of a lifetime daily exposure to the component or
chemical.
(4) The availability of alternatives for the component or chemical
in the products under the jurisdiction of the bureau.
(5) The efficacy of other means to reduce burn injuries or
fatalities including, but not limited to, furniture construction
standards, existing or expanded limitations on ignition sources,
reduction of fuel load, existing or improved electrical or building
materials and building standards, and expanded use of fire safety
equipment, including sprinkler systems, smoke detectors, and other
technologies that might extinguish or warn of the presence of fire.
(h) The chief of the bureau may submit a request for risk
assessment, or any interested person may utilize the petition for
risk assessment, for the purpose of reconsideration of a prohibition
from use or a limitation in use of a component or chemical pursuant
to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) or subdivision (f), based on
evidence of safety. All provisions of subdivision (e) shall apply to
a risk assessment for the purpose of reconsideration. If the office
determines in its report to the bureau that a risk assessment
demonstrates that the prohibited or use-limited component or
chemical, in its manufacture, handling, probable use, and disposal,
is safe to human, animal, and environmental health, the bureau may
issue to the person responsible for manufacture an exemption from
prohibition or an exemption from limited use.
SEC. 7. The provisions of this act are severable. If any provision
of this act or its application is held invalid, that invalidity
shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given
effect without the invalid provision or application.