BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 763|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 763
Author: Leno (D)
Amended: 6/2/15
Vote: 21
SENATE BUS, PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMMITTEE: 5-2, 4/13/15
AYES: Hill, Block, Hernandez, Jackson, Wieckowski
NOES: Bates, Berryhill
NO VOTE RECORDED: Galgiani, Mendoza
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE: 6-0, 4/29/15
AYES: Wieckowski, Gaines, Hill, Jackson, Leno, Pavley
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bates
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 5/28/15
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
SUBJECT: Juvenile products: flame retardant chemicals
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill requires a manufacturer of juvenile products
sold in California to affix a permanent label on the product
indicating whether the product has added flame retardant
chemicals. This bill also directs the Bureau of Electronic and
Appliance Repair, Home Furnishing and Thermal Insulation to
ensure compliance with the labeling and documents requirements.
ANALYSIS:
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Existing law:
1) Establishes the Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation Act
(Act), administered by the Bureau of Electronic and Appliance
Repair, Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation (Bureau)
within the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA). The Bureau
is under the supervision and control of a Chief appointed by
the Governor, and the Chief is under the supervision and
control of the Director of DCA.
2) Provides for the licensing and inspection of businesses that
manufacture and sell upholstered furniture, bedding and
thermal insulation, and 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 to
adopt regulations to implement those standards. (Business
and Professions Code (BPC) § 19161)
3) Requires other bedding products to comply with regulations
adopted by the Bureau specifying that those products be
resistant to open-flame ignition; and requires all seating
furniture to be fire retardant and labeled as specified.
(BPC § 19161)
4) Requires all flexible polyurethane foam, except as specified,
that is offered for retail sale to be fire retardant, and
defines "fire retardant" to mean a product that meets the
regulations adopted by the Bureau. (BPC § 19161.3)
5) Authorizes the Chief, subject to the approval of the Director
of DCA, to exempt items of upholstered furniture which are
deemed not to pose a serious fire hazard from the fire
retardant requirements. (BPC § 19161.5)
6) Bureau regulations, beginning January 1, 2015, require all
filling materials and cover fabrics contained in upholstered
furniture sold in California to meet certain smolder
resistant testing standards, and to be labeled as specified.
Specifically, the Bureau regulations require filling
materials and cover fabrics contained in any article of
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upholstered furniture and added to reupholstered furniture to
be tested and meet the requirements of Technical Bulletin
(TB) 117-2013. (Article 13, Division 3, Title 4, California
Code of Regulations (CCR) § 1374)
7) Bureau regulations exempt eighteen juvenile products from
meeting the flammability requirements of Technical Bulletin
(TB) 117-2013.
(Article 13, Division 3, Title 4, CCR § 1374.2)
This bill:
1) Requires a manufacturer of juvenile products to indicate
whether or not a product contains added flame retardant
chemicals, by including a specified statement and label.
2) Outlines the list of juvenile products requiring a flame
retardant chemical statement and label.
3) Requires a manufacturer of juvenile products sold in
California to retain documentation to show whether flame
retardant chemicals were added. Provides that a written
affidavit by the supplier of each component of a juvenile
product attesting that flame retardant chemicals were added
or not added shall be sufficient documentation.
4) Requires, within 30 days of a request by the Bureau, a
manufacturer of a product sold in California to provide the
Bureau with the documentation establishing the accuracy of
the flame retardant chemical statement on the label.
5) Requires the Bureau to provide the California Department of
Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) with samples of the product
or components of the product sold in California from products
marked "contains NO added flame retardant chemicals" for
testing for the presence of added flame retardant chemicals.
Requires DTSC to provide the results of all testing to the
Bureau.
6) Authorizes the Bureau to issue citations and assess fines for
violations of the above provisions, as specified.
7) Provides that a manufacturer of juvenile products and
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component suppliers shall be jointly and severally liable for
violations of these provisions, as specified.
8) Specifies that it shall be the duty of the Bureau to receive
complaints from consumers regarding juvenile products sold in
California.
9) Authorizes the Bureau to adopt regulations to carry out the
provisions of the bill.
10)Explicitly exempts juvenile products from flame retardant
requirements for mattresses.
11)Codifies the current fire retardant regulatory exemption
applicable to certain juvenile products.
12)Explicitly states that products subject to the requirements
in BPC §19094 are not subject to the requirements highlighted
in this bill.
Background:
This bill seeks to build off of the revised technical bulletin
(TB 117- 2013) by providing greater transparency about the
chemical content of juvenile products. Historically, to
evaluate the potential for a serious fire hazard of juvenile
products, the Bureau examined the fuel load content of a large
number of juvenile products and determined that most strollers,
infant carriers, and nursing pillows available in the market
contain a much lesser amount of resilient filling materials
(e.g. foam, batting) than average adult seating furniture.
Moreover, it was found that most of these items contain little
or no polyurethane foams which are often the most flammable
component of upholstered seating furniture. The Bureau
determined that in many instances nearly all inside filling
materials contained in these products are comprised of synthetic
batting that met the TB 117 standard without the need for any
fire retardant treatments. These juvenile products, therefore,
were determined by the Bureau to not cause or sustain a large
fire if ignited with a small open flame, comparable to the size
of a match or charcoal lighter flame. In addition, these
products were determined less likely to be ignited (come in
contact with an open flame) under the exercise of great care and
supervision of adults. The Bureau concluded in 2010 that three
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proposed items, strollers, nursing pillows, and infant carriers
will not pose a serious fire hazard to infants and children if
they were exempt from TB 117 flammability requirements.
However, new regulations which became effective on January 1,
2014 added more juvenile products to the exempt list as they
meet the flammability standards set forth in TB 117-2013. Now,
a total of eighteen juvenile products are exempt from having to
undergo testing to determine if they meet the standards:
bassinets, booster seats, car seats, changing pads, floor play
mats, highchair pads, highchairs, infant bouncers, infant
carriers, infant seats, infant swings, infant walkers, nursing
pads, nursing pillows, play yards, playpen side pads, portable
hook-on chairs and strollers. The products now exempt from the
TB 117-2013 flammability standard are no longer required to
carry a disclosure label indicating that they are not in
compliance with TB 117-2013.
In addition to the eighteen juvenile products, this bill also
seeks to add a disclosure statement on two other products:
children's nap mat and infant foam crib mattress. The Author
wishes to add these additional juvenile products to the list,
since they fall under the umbrella of juvenile products. Also,
under the Bureau's criteria, these are similar to the existing
exempt products and are not subject to the flammability
standards.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee analysis:
Costs pressures, in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars,
to the Home Furnishing and Thermal Insulation Fund (special)
for the enforcement of these requirements, including testing
for label accuracy.
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SUPPORT: (Verified 6/2/15)
California Professional Firefighters (co-sponsor)
Center for Environmental Health (co-sponsor)
Consumer Federation (co-sponsor)
Alliance for Toxic Free Fire Safety
Breast Cancer Action
Breast Cancer Fund
CalFIRE Firefighters, Local 2881
California League of Conservation Voters
Californians for a Healthy & Green Economy
CALPIRG
Center for Environmental Health
Clean Water Action
Coalition for Clean Air
Consumer Attorneys of California
Dignity Health
Earthjustice
Environment California
Environmental Working Group
Friends of the Earth
Grant David Gillham, Inc.
Health Care Without Harm
Instituto de Educación Popular del Sur de California
International Association of Fire Fighters
Natural Resources Defense Council
Naturepedic
Pesticide Action Network North America
Physicians for Social Responsibility
San Francisco Bay Area Physicians for Social Responsibility
SoCalCOSH
Trauma Foundation
OPPOSITION: (Verified6/2/15)
American Chemistry Council
California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse
California Manufacturers and Technology Association
Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association
National Federation of Independent Business
Southwest California Legislative Council
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The Center for Environmental Health
(co-source) underscores that "juvenile products are routinely
handed down to family and friends as well as donated to thrift
stores, so the ability of these second-hand users to identify
products that do or do not contain family retardant chemicals is
essential. It will also provide businesses a standard format to
communicate the information to families."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: A joint letter of opposition by the
American Chemistry Council, California Manufacturers and
Technology Association, California Citizens Against Lawsuit
Abuse, Juvenile Products Manufactures Association, and National
Federation of Independent Business argues that "these new
requirements lack scientific justification, conflict with
existing California consumer product and chemical safety laws
and regulations, and as proposed, would mislead consumers about
the safety of products that contain flame retardant chemicals."
Prepared by:Mark Mendoza / B., P. & E.D. / (916) 651-1868
6/2/15 15:23:50
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