BILL NUMBER: SB 147	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 25, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Leno

                        FEBRUARY 1, 2011

   An act to  amend Section 19161.5 of, and to  add Section
19161.7 to  , the Business and Professions Code, relating to
furniture.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 147, as amended, Leno. Furniture: flammability standards.
   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. The act requires other bedding products to comply
with regulations adopted by the bureau specifying that those products
be resistant to open-flame ignition, requires all seating furniture
to be fire retardant and labeled as specified, and, except as
specified, requires all flexible polyurethane foam offered for retail
sale to be fire retardant. The bureau has adopted, by regulation, a
flame retardance test of the filling materials of residential
upholstered furniture.
   This bill would require the bureau, on or before March 1, 2013, to
modify  the requirements applicable to  that flame
retardance test regarding residential upholstered furniture to
include  an alternative   a smolder 
flammability  standard   test to provide an
alternative method of compliance  that can be met without the
use of fire retardants and does not compromise public safety. 
   Existing law authorizes the chief of the bureau to exempt items of
upholstered furniture which are deemed not to pose a serious fire
hazard from the fire retardant requirements.  
   This bill would also authorize the chief to provide for a similar
exemption for polyurethane foam. 
   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.    Section 19161.5 of the  
Business and Professions Code   is amended to read: 
   19161.5.  The chief of the bureau, subject to the approval of the
Director of Consumer Affairs, may in his or her discretion exempt
items of upholstered furniture  or polyurethane foam  which
are deemed not to pose a serious fire hazard from the fire retardant
requirements of Section 19161.
   SECTION 1.   SEC. 2.   Section 19161.7
is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:
   19161.7.  The bureau, on or before March 1, 2013, shall modify
Technical Bulletin 117 regarding product standards for fire retardant
furniture to include  an alternative   a
smolder  flammability  standard   test to
provide an alternative method of compliance  that can be met
without the use of chemical fire retardants and does not compromise
fire safety. In developing  the alternative standard
  this test  , the bureau shall consider  a
smoulder standard for upholstery such as  the draft 
smolder  standard proposed by the federal Consumer Product
Safety Commission (16 C.F.R. Part 1634, as published in the Federal
Register on March 4, 2008).  The bureau shall also take into
consideration the cost to manufacturers and consumers. The bureau
shall amend existing label specifications to identify any products
meeting the standard adopted pursuant to this section.