[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4368 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4368

      To amend the Consumer Product Safety Act to provide for the 
  flammability testing and labeling of upholstered furniture which is 
                      sold in interstate commerce.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 3, 2000

Ms. DeLauro (for herself, Mr. Weldon of Pennsylvania, Mr. Andrews, and 
Mr. Boehlert) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To amend the Consumer Product Safety Act to provide for the 
  flammability testing and labeling of upholstered furniture which is 
                      sold in interstate commerce.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Furniture Fire Safety Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Fire statistics validate that upholstered furniture is 
        a major contributor to residential fires in the United States. 
        Upholstered furniture fire data from the National Fire Incident 
        Reporting System (NFIRS), the National Fire Protection 
        Association (NFPA), and the United States Consumer Product 
        Safety Commission (CPSC) shows that upholstered furniture 
        products continue to be a major contributor to fire deaths, 
        injuries, and property loss in the United States.
            (2) While the fire death rates for furniture fires have 
        dropped during the period 1982 through 1994 for both California 
        and the entire Nation, death rates in California have dropped 
        by a larger percentage than the Nation as a whole. In 1994, the 
        theoretical number of California fire deaths due to upholstered 
        furniture would be 65.2, based on actual national figures. 
        However, the actual number of furniture fire deaths in 
        California in that year was 10. Over this 13-year period, the 
        number of furniture fire deaths in the United States has 
        dropped from 1,159 (1982) to 652 (1994). The number of similar 
        fire deaths in California has dropped from 56 (1982) to 10 
        (1994). Thus, while United States furniture fire deaths 
        decreased to 56.3 percent of the 1982 value, California 
        furniture fire deaths during the same time period decreased to 
        17.9 percent of the 1982 value.
            (3) In the last few years, demographic studies of fires in 
        the United States have identified 3 vulnerable groups in the 
        population who are at higher risk for fire injury or death than 
        the average citizen: youth, lower-income families, and the 
        elderly. Specifically, the incidence of child play fires 
        involving use of matches, candles, lighters, or other small 
        open flames is on the increase. Studies have validated that the 
        elderly are also more likely to be involved in home fires for 
        various reasons, including physical or mental infirmity, 
        inattention, or carelessness. In addition, low-income consumers 
        tend to buy less expensive furniture, which may be built with 
        more ignitable construction materials or may have no fire 
        retardancy quality control.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY ACT.

    The Consumer Product Safety Act is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

                        ``upholstered furniture

    ``Sec. 38. (a) In General.--Upholstered furniture which is sold in 
interstate commerce for use in a dwelling unit shall be labeled and 
notice in accordance with subsections (b) and (c) and shall meet the 
performance standard established under subsection (d).
    ``(b) Warning Label.--
            ``(1) Label statement.--Each article of upholstered 
        furniture containing any quantity of polyurethane foam sold or 
        offered for sale in interstate commerce which is manufactured 
        by a manufacturer who has not certified that the manufacturer 
        is in compliance with the standard under subsection (d) shall 
        have a label permanently attached to the article, in plain 
        view, stating the following:

                               ``WARNING

    ``This label not to be removed except by the consumer.
    ``This product contains polyurethane foam and presents a severe 
fire hazard!
    ``In case of fire, serious personal injury or death can result from 
extreme heat, rapid oxygen depletion, and the production of toxic 
gases.
    ``Do not expose this product to any intense radiant heat or open 
flames such as space heaters, open burning, cigarettes, naked lights, 
matches, electrical sparks, or other intense heat sources.
            ``(2) Size and type.--The minimum size of the label 
        required in paragraph (1) shall be 2 inches by 3 inches and the 
        minimum size of the type shall be \1/8\ inches in height. All 
        type shall be in capital letters.
    ``(c) Notice.--
            ``(1) Notice statement.--Upholstered furniture conforming 
        to the requirements of subsection (d) shall have a notice label 
        permanently attached to the article, in plain view, stating the 
        following:

                                ``NOTICE

    ``This article is manufactured for use in dwelling units and meets 
the flammability requirements for sale in interstate commerce. However 
care should be exercised near open flame and with burning cigarettes.
            ``(2) Size and type.--The minimum size of the notice 
        required in paragraph (1) shall be 2 inches by 3 inches and the 
        minimum size of the type shall be \1/8\ inches in height. All 
        type shall be in capital letters.
    ``(d) Standard.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Commission shall establish a 
        performance standard under section 9 which shall be 
        substantially equivalent to the test requirement set forth in 
        the most recent edition of the State of California, Bureau of 
        Home Furnishings Technical Bulletin, Number 117, entitled 
        `Requirements, Test Procedures and apparatus for Testing the 
        Flame Retardance of Filling Materials Used in Upholstered 
        Furniture', and the most recent edition of the State of 
        California, Bureau of Home Furnishings Technical Bulletin, 
        Number 116, entitled `Test Procedures and Apparatus for Testing 
        the Flame Retardance of Upholstered Furniture'.
            ``(2) Date for action by the secretary.--The Secretary 
        shall issue a proposed performance standard under paragraph (1) 
        within 6 months of the date of the enactment of this section 
        and such standard shall take effect 24 months after such date.
    ``(e) Exemption.--The following articles of upholstered furniture 
are exempt from subsections (b), (c), and (d):
            ``(1) Cushions and pads intended solely for outdoor use.
            ``(2) Any article of upholstered furniture that is smooth 
        surfaced, contains no more than one-half inch of filling 
        material, and does not have a horizontal surface meeting a 
        vertical surface.
            ``(3) Any article of upholstered furniture manufactured 
        solely for recreational physical fitness purposes such as 
        weight lifting benches, gymnasium mats and pads, and similar 
        articles.
    ``(f) State Action.--This section shall not be construed to preempt 
any action taken by a State to establish a more stringent standard than 
the standard required by subsection (d).
    ``(g) Definitions.--The following definitions apply in the 
implementation of this section:
            ``(1) Dwelling unit.--The term `dwelling unit' means any 
        building or portion thereof, that contains living facilities, 
        including provisions for sleeping, eating, cooking, and 
        sanitation for not more than 1 family or a congregate residence 
        for 10 or fewer persons to be used.
            ``(2) Filling material.--The term `filling material' means 
        cotton, wool, kapok, feathers, down, hair, liquid, foam, or any 
        other material or substance, whether natural or manmade, or any 
        other prefabricated form, concealed or not concealed, used or 
        intended to be used in articles of seating furniture.
            ``(3) Upholstered furniture.--The term `upholstered 
        furniture' means any furniture, including children's furniture, 
        movable or stationary, which is made or sold with cushions or 
        pillows, loose or attached, or is itself stuffed or filled in 
        whole or in part with any material, is or can be stuffed or 
        filled in whole or in part with any substance or materials, 
        hidden or concealed by fabric or any other covering, including 
        cushions or pillows belonging to or forming a part thereof, 
        together with the structural units, the filling material and 
        its container and its covering that can be used as a support 
        for the body of a human being, or the limbs and feet of a human 
        being when sitting or resting in an upright or reclining 
        position.''.
                                 <all>