BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1019
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1019 (Leno)
As Amended August 22, 2014
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE : 29-6
ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 6-1BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS
10-2
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|Ayes:|Alejo, Dahle, Bloom, |Ayes:|Bonilla, Campos, |
| |Gomez, Lowenthal, Ting | |Dickinson, Eggman, |
| | | |Gordon, Hagman, |
| | | |Maienschein, Mullin, |
| | | |Skinner, Ting |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Donnelly |Nays:|Jones, Wilk |
| | | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS 12-1
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|Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, Bradford, | | |
| | | | |
| |Ian Calderon, Campos, | | |
| |Eggman, Gomez, Holden, | | |
| |Linder, Pan, Quirk, Weber | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Ridley-Thomas | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires manufacturers of upholstered furniture to
indicate on a label currently required by law whether or not the
product contains added flame retardant chemicals. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Makes legislative findings about California's upholstered
furniture flammability standards and the adverse public health
and environmental impacts of flame retardant chemicals.
2)Defines terms, including "covered products," as any flexible
polyurethane foam or upholstered or reupholstered furniture
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sold in California that is required to meet the test
requirements set forth in Technical Bulletin (TB) 117-2013.
3)Requires a manufacturer of covered products to indicate
whether or not the product contains added flame retardant
chemicals on the label that is currently required by the
California Code of Regulations (TB 117-2013).
4)Requires the manufacturer of a covered product sold in
California to retain documentation to show whether flame
retardant chemicals were added.
5)Requires Bureau of Electronic and Appliance Repair, Home
Furnishings, and Thermal Insulation (BEARHFTI) to ensure
compliance with the labeling and documentation requirements in
this bill.
6)Specifies a method for detecting mislabeling, including
testing, and requires fines for mislabeling to be assessed in
increasing severity, depending on the frequency of the
violation.
7)Requires BEARHFTI to assess specified fines for the failure of
the manufacturer of the covered product to maintain or provide
upon request specified documentation establishing the accuracy
of the flame retardant chemical statement on the required
label.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires protection of the public to be the highest priority
for BEARHFTI in exercising its licensing, regulatory, and
disciplinary functions. Requires, whenever the protection of
the public is inconsistent with other interests sought to be
promoted, the protection of the public to be paramount.
(Business and Professions Code (BPC) Section 19004.1)
2)Requires all seating furniture sold or offered for sale by an
importer, manufacturer, or wholesaler to be fire retardant and
to be labeled in a manner specified by BEARHFTI. (BPC Section
19161)
3)Requires, pursuant to TB 117-2013, beginning January 1, 2015,
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
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specified. (Article 13, Division 3, Title 4, California Code
of Regulations Section 1374)
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, enactment of this bill could result in ongoing
special fund costs to BEARHFTI in the hundreds of thousands of
dollars from the Home Furnishing and Thermal Insulation Fund for
testing associated with enforcement.
COMMENTS :
Need for the bill: According to the author, "Consumers have the
right to know whether the furniture they are buying contains
added flame retardants. SB 1019 will provide consumers who are
purchasing furniture easily accessible information on whether
the product contains added flame retardant chemicals.
California's BEARHFTI found that flame retardant chemicals in
furniture do not provide a meaningful fire safety benefit.
These chemicals are associated with a variety of health
concerns. Current labeling law does not provide clear
disclosure of the use of these chemicals even though many
consumers would like such information? SB 1019 would require
upholstered furniture manufacturers to disclose via modifying an
existing law product label and specified point-of-sale
information as to whether or not the furniture contains added
flame retardant chemicals."
Human health and environmental impacts of flame retardant
chemicals: Many flame retardant chemicals are persistent
chemicals that bioaccumulate and biomagnify. Polybrominated
diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), the most thoroughly studied of the
flame retardant chemicals, have been found in birds, fish,
shellfish, amphibians, marine mammals, sewage sludge, sediments,
air samples, meats, dairy products, and even vegetables. There
has been extensive animal research over the past decade
indicating that PBDE exposure can lead to abnormalities in
learning, memory, and neurodevelopment, and can lead to
hyperactivity, endocrine disruption, and neurotoxic effects.
More recent research has shown that PBDE exposure in humans may
lead to endocrine disruption, reproductive difficulty,
neurodevelopment issues, reduced IQ, and elevated thyroid
levels.
Upholstered furniture flammability standard: In 1972, AB 2165
(Burton), Chapter 1183, required BEARHFT to establish
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upholstered furniture flammability standards. BEARHFTI develops
flammability standards in the form of Technical Bulletins (TBs)
which are adopted through regulation. There are also a number
of other federal flammability standards developed by the United
States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) which are
currently in effect nationwide. While CPSC has been studying a
national residential upholstered furniture standard for several
years, California remains the only state with a residential
upholstered furniture flammability standard. However, since
California is such a large portion of the national market, most
manufacturers choose to meet California's standards in all of
their products across the country.
TB 117: In October 1975, regulations were promulgated and
resulted with the development of Technical Bulletin 117 (TB 117)
entitled, Requirements, Test Procedures and Apparatus for
Testing the Flame Retardance of Filling Materials Used in
Upholstered Furniture. This mandatory performance standard
requires that the concealed filling materials and cover fabric
of upholstered furniture undergo individual component testing to
ensure that they pass open flame and cigarette smolder tests.
Manufacturers meet this requirement, predominately, through
using polyurethane foam treated with flame retardant chemicals,
which must withstand exposure to a 12-second small open flame.
Recently, BEARHFTI determined that TB 117 did not adequately
address the flammability performance of upholstered furniture
performance of the upholstery cover fabric and its interactions
with underlying filling materials, and that flame retardant foam
can actually increase smolder propensity. In addition, concerns
have been growing about the human health and environmental
impacts of flame retardant chemicals. As a response, in 2012,
Governor Brown directed BEARHFTI to revise flammability
standards for upholstered furniture sold in the state.
TB 117- 2013: In recognition of TB 117's inadequacy at
addressing the flammability performance of upholstery cover
fabric and its interactions with underlying filling materials,
as well as noting the health concerns over the use of flame
retardant chemicals, BEARHFTI published TB 117- 2013 in November
2013. TB 117-2013 updates flammability standards from the open
flame method of testing to a smoldering test and supersedes TB
117. Manufacturers have indicated that they can comply with TB
117-2013 without the use of flame retardant chemicals. TB
117-2013 became effective on January 1, 2014. Manufacturers
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will have a year to complete the transition and must come into
full mandatory compliance on January 1, 2015. This bill
requires additional information to be included in the currently
mandated TB 117-2013 label.
Analysis Prepared by : Shannon McKinney / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965
FN: 0005275