[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3437 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3437

  To direct the Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue standards 
    addressing open flame ignition of consumer products containing 
                             polyurethane.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 4, 2003

 Mr. Langevin (for himself, Mr. Kennedy of Rhode Island, Mr. Delahunt, 
and Mr. McGovern) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                  the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To direct the Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue standards 
    addressing open flame ignition of consumer products containing 
                             polyurethane.

    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 ``Foam Fire Safety Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) More than two billion pounds of polyurethane foam are 
        sold in the United States every year.
            (2) Polyurethane foam is found in mattresses, bedding, 
        upholstered furniture, carpet padding, soundproofing materials, 
        and countless other objects commonly found in homes and office 
        buildings.
            (3) Firefighters refer to polyurethane foam as ``solid 
        gasoline'' because of its flammability, and when burning, it 
        emits deadly gases including arsenic.
            (4) Between 1980 and 1998, mattress, bedding, and 
        upholstered furniture fires killed almost 30,000 people in the 
        United States. During the same period, these fires injured more 
        than 95,000 people.
            (5) Direct property damage from foam fires over the same 
        period was nearly $10 billion.
            (6) Exposed polyurethane soundproofing foam led to 100 
        deaths and 200 injuries at the Station nightclub fire in West 
        Warwick, Rhode Island, on February 20, 2003.
            (7) A typical room fire will reach flashover, the high 
        temperature point at which all combustible materials in a room 
        ignites, in 5 minutes or less from the time at which 
        polyurethane foam filled furniture catches fire. National Fire 
        Protection Association requirements state that 90 percent of 
        the time firefighters must respond within 4 minutes. The 
        abundance of foam makes it nearly impossible for first 
        responders to arrive on the scene before it is too late.
            (8) The United Kingdom and the State of California have 
        enacted laws and regulations requiring that fire-retardant 
        materials be added to the foam used in furniture, but 
        nationally, the United States lags behind.

SEC. 3. OPEN FLAME IGNITION STANDARDS.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Consumer Product Safety Commission shall, pursuant to section 4 of 
the Flammable Fabrics Act (15 U.S.C. 1193(a)), promulgate safety 
standards that address open flame ignition of mattresses, bedding, 
upholstered furniture, and sound proofing materials, and other 
materials containing polyurethane.
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