[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1798 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1798

  To provide for comprehensive fire safety standards for upholstered 
            furniture, mattresses, bedclothing, and candles.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 30, 2003

   Mr. Hollings (for himself, Mr. Breaux, Ms. Snowe, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. 
  Graham of South Carolina, Mr. Chafee, and Mr. Reed) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                 Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for comprehensive fire safety standards for upholstered 
            furniture, mattresses, bedclothing, and candles.

    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 ``American Home Fire Safety Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) There were 12,800 candle fires in 1998, resulting in 
        170 deaths, 1,200 civilian injuries, and $174,600,000 in 
        property damage.
            (2) In 1998, mattress and bedding fires caused 410 deaths, 
        2,260 civilian injuries, and $255,400,000 in property damage.
            (3) The United States mattress industry has a long history 
        of working closely with safety officials to reduce mattress 
        flammability. For the past 25 years, mattresses have been 
        subject to a Federal flammability standard that requires 
        mattresses to resist ignition by smoldering cigarettes.
            (4) Nevertheless, in 1998, fires involving mattresses and 
        bedding accessories (which include pillows, comforters, and 
        bedspreads) caused 410 deaths, 2,260 civilian injuries, and 
        $255,400,000 in property damage.
            (5) In many such fires, the bedding accessories are the 
        first products to ignite. Such products have a material impact 
        on the fire's intensity, duration, and the risk that the fire 
        will spread beyond the room of origin.
            (6) Upholstered furniture fires were responsible for 520 
        deaths in 1998, with little statistical change in the number of 
        fires and deaths since 1994.
            (7) While the fire death rates for upholstered furniture 
        fires have dropped during the period 1982 through 1994 for both 
        California and the entire Nation, death rates in California, 
        which has stricter standards, have dropped by a larger 
        percentage than the nation as a whole.
            (8) Children, the elderly, and lower income families are at 
        higher risk of death and injury from upholstered furniture 
        fires caused primarily by the increasing incidents of children 
        playing with matches, candles, lighters, or other small open 
        flames.
            (9) In view of the increased incidents of fire, it is 
        important for Congress to establish fire safety standards for 
        candles, mattresses, bed clothing, and upholstered furniture.
            (10) The Consumer Product Safety Commission is the 
        appropriate agency to develop and enforce such standards.
            (11) The Environmental Protection Agency should continue to 
        review and determine the suitability of any materials used to 
        meet any fire safety standard established as a result of this 
        Act.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to protect the public against death and injury from 
        fires associated with candles, mattresses, bed clothing, and 
        upholstered furniture; and
            (2) to require the Consumer Product Safety Commission to 
        develop and issue comprehensive uniform safety standards to 
        reduce the flammability of candles, mattresses, bed clothing, 
        and upholstered furniture.

SEC. 3. CONSUMER PRODUCT FIRE SAFETY STANDARDS.

    (a) In General.--Within 90 days after the date of enactment of this 
Act, the Consumer Product Safety Commission shall promulgate, as final 
consumer product safety standards under section 9 of the Consumer 
Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2058), the following fire safety 
standards:
            (1) Upholstered furniture.--A fire safety standard for 
        upholstered furniture that is substantially the same as the 
        provisions of Technical Bulletin 117, ``Requirements, Test 
        Procedure and Apparatus for testing the Flame and Smolder 
        Resistance of Upholstered Furniture)'' published by the State 
        of California, Department of Consumer Affairs, Bureau of Home 
        Furnishings and Thermal Insulation, February 2002.
            (2) Mattresses.--A fire safety standard for mattresses that 
        is substantially the same as Technical Bulletin 603, 
        ``Requirements and Test Procedure for Resistance of a 
        Residential Mattress/Box Spring Set to a Large Open Flame'', 
        published by the State of California, Department of Consumer 
        Affairs, Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation, 
        February 2003.
            (3) Bedclothing.--A fire safety standard for bedclothing 
        that is substantially the same as the October 22, 2003, draft 
        for task force review of Technical Bulletin 604, ``Test 
        Procedure and Apparatus for the Flame Resistance of Filled 
        Bedclothing'', published by the State of California, Department 
        of Consumer Affairs, Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal 
        Insulation, October, 2003.
            (4) Candles.--A fire safety standard for candles that is 
        substantially the same as Provisional Standard PS 59-02, 
        ``Provisional Specification for Fire Safety for Candles'', ASTM 
        International, as that provisional standard existed on the date 
        of enactment of this Act.
    (b) Application of Certain Promulgation Requirements.--The 
requirements of subsections (a) through (f) of section 9 of the 
Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2058), and section 36 of that 
Act (15 U.S.C. 2083), do not apply to the consumer product safety 
standards required to be promulgated by subsection (a) of this section.
                                 <all>