SENATE RULES COMMITTEE
Office of Senate Floor Analyses
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THIRD READING
SB 763
Bill No: SB 763
Author: Leno (D)
Amended: 6/2/15
Vote: 21
SENATE BUS, PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMMITTEE: 5-2, 4/13/15
AYES: Hill, Block, Hernandez, Jackson, Wieckowski
NOES: Bates, Berryhill
NO VOTE RECORDED: Galgiani, Mendoza
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE: 6-0, 4/29/15
AYES: Wieckowski, Gaines, Hill, Jackson, Leno, Pavley
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bates
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 5/28/15
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
SUBJECT: Juvenile products: flame retardant chemicals
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill requires a manufacturer of juvenile products sold in California to affix a permanent label on the product indicating whether the product has added flame retardant chemicals. This bill also directs the Bureau of Electronic and
Appliance Repair, Home Furnishing and Thermal Insulation to ensure compliance with the labeling and documents requirements.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Establishes the Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation Act (Act), administered by the Bureau of Electronic and Appliance Repair, Home

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Furnishings and Thermal Insulation (Bureau) within the Department of
Consumer Affairs (DCA). The Bureau is under the supervision and control of a Chief appointed by the Governor, and the Chief is under the supervision and control of the Director of DCA.
2) Provides for the licensing and inspection of businesses that manufacture and sell upholstered furniture, bedding and thermal insulation, and 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 to adopt regulations to implement those standards. (Business and Professions Code (BPC) § 19161)
3) Requires other bedding products to comply with regulations adopted by the
Bureau specifying that those products be resistant to open-flame ignition; and requires all seating furniture to be fire retardant and labeled as specified.
(BPC § 19161)
4) Requires all flexible polyurethane foam, except as specified, that is offered for retail sale to be fire retardant, and defines “fire retardant” to mean a product that meets the regulations adopted by the Bureau. (BPC § 19161.3)
5) Authorizes the Chief, subject to the approval of the Director of DCA, to exempt items of upholstered furniture which are deemed not to pose a serious fire hazard from the fire retardant requirements. (BPC § 19161.5)
6) Bureau regulations, beginning January 1, 2015, require 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 specified.
Specifically, the Bureau regulations require filling materials and cover fabrics contained in any article of upholstered furniture and added to reupholstered furniture to be tested and meet the requirements of Technical Bulletin (TB)
117-2013. (Article 13, Division 3, Title 4, California Code of Regulations
(CCR) § 1374)
7) Bureau regulations exempt eighteen juvenile products from meeting the flammability requirements of Technical Bulletin (TB) 117-2013.
(Article 13, Division 3, Title 4, CCR § 1374.2)

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This bill:
1) Requires a manufacturer of juvenile products to indicate whether or not a product contains added flame retardant chemicals, by including a specified statement and label.
2) Outlines the list of juvenile products requiring a flame retardant chemical statement and label.
3) Requires a manufacturer of juvenile products sold in California to retain documentation to show whether flame retardant chemicals were added.
Provides that a written affidavit by the supplier of each component of a juvenile product attesting that flame retardant chemicals were added or not added shall be sufficient documentation.
4) Requires, within 30 days of a request by the Bureau, a manufacturer of a product sold in California to provide the Bureau with the documentation establishing the accuracy of the flame retardant chemical statement on the label.
5) Requires the Bureau to provide the California Department of Toxic Substances
Control (DTSC) with samples of the product or components of the product sold in California from products marked “contains NO added flame retardant chemicals” for testing for the presence of added flame retardant chemicals.
Requires DTSC to provide the results of all testing to the Bureau.
6) Authorizes the Bureau to issue citations and assess fines for violations of the above provisions, as specified.
7) Provides that a manufacturer of juvenile products and component suppliers shall be jointly and severally liable for violations of these provisions, as specified.
8) Specifies that it shall be the duty of the Bureau to receive complaints from consumers regarding juvenile products sold in California.
9) Authorizes the Bureau to adopt regulations to carry out the provisions of the bill.

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10) Explicitly exempts juvenile products from flame retardant requirements for mattresses.
11) Codifies the current fire retardant regulatory exemption applicable to certain juvenile products.
12) Explicitly states that products subject to the requirements in BPC §19094 are not subject to the requirements highlighted in this bill.
Background:
This bill seeks to build off of the revised technical bulletin (TB 117- 2013) by providing greater transparency about the chemical content of juvenile products.
Historically, to evaluate the potential for a serious fire hazard of juvenile products, the Bureau examined the fuel load content of a large number of juvenile products and determined that most strollers, infant carriers, and nursing pillows available in the market contain a much lesser amount of resilient filling materials (e.g. foam, batting) than average adult seating furniture. Moreover, it was found that most of these items contain little or no polyurethane foams which are often the most flammable component of upholstered seating furniture. The Bureau determined that in many instances nearly all inside filling materials contained in these products are comprised of synthetic batting that met the TB 117 standard without the need for any fire retardant treatments. These juvenile products, therefore, were determined by the Bureau to not cause or sustain a large fire if ignited with a small open flame, comparable to the size of a match or charcoal lighter flame. In addition, these products were determined less likely to be ignited (come in contact with an open flame) under the exercise of great care and supervision of adults. The
Bureau concluded in 2010 that three proposed items, strollers, nursing pillows, and infant carriers will not pose a serious fire hazard to infants and children if they were exempt from TB 117 flammability requirements.
However, new regulations which became effective on January 1, 2014 added more juvenile products to the exempt list as they meet the flammability standards set forth in TB 117-2013. Now, a total of eighteen juvenile products are exempt from having to undergo testing to determine if they meet the standards: bassinets, booster seats, car seats, changing pads, floor play mats, highchair pads, highchairs, infant bouncers, infant carriers, infant seats, infant swings, infant walkers, nursing pads, nursing pillows, play yards, playpen side pads, portable hook-on chairs and strollers. The products now exempt from the TB 117-2013 flammability standard

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In addition to the eighteen juvenile products, this bill also seeks to add a disclosure statement on two other products: children’s nap mat and infant foam crib mattress.
The Author wishes to add these additional juvenile products to the list, since they fall under the umbrella of juvenile products. Also, under the Bureau’s criteria, these are similar to the existing exempt products and are not subject to the flammability standards.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee analysis:

Costs pressures, in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars, to the
Home Furnishing and Thermal Insulation Fund (special) for the enforcement of these requirements, including testing for label accuracy.
SUPPORT: (Verified 6/2/15)
California Professional Firefighters (co-sponsor)
Center for Environmental Health (co-sponsor)
Consumer Federation (co-sponsor)
Alliance for Toxic Free Fire Safety
Breast Cancer Action
Breast Cancer Fund
CalFIRE Firefighters, Local 2881
California League of Conservation Voters
Californians for a Healthy & Green Economy
CALPIRG
Center for Environmental Health
Clean Water Action
Coalition for Clean Air
Consumer Attorneys of California
Dignity Health
Earthjustice
Environment California
Environmental Working Group
Friends of the Earth
Grant David Gillham, Inc.
Health Care Without Harm

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Instituto de Educación Popular del Sur de California
International Association of Fire Fighters
Natural Resources Defense Council
Naturepedic
Pesticide Action Network North America
Physicians for Social Responsibility
San Francisco Bay Area Physicians for Social Responsibility
SoCalCOSH
Trauma Foundation
OPPOSITION: (Verified 6/2/15)
American Chemistry Council
California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse
California Manufacturers and Technology Association
Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association
National Federation of Independent Business
Southwest California Legislative Council
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The Center for Environmental Health (co-source) underscores that “juvenile products are routinely handed down to family and friends as well as donated to thrift stores, so the ability of these second-hand users to identify products that do or do not contain family retardant chemicals is essential. It will also provide businesses a standard format to communicate the information to families.”
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: A joint letter of opposition by the American
Chemistry Council, California Manufacturers and Technology Association,
California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, Juvenile Products Manufactures
Association, and National Federation of Independent Business argues that “these new requirements lack scientific justification, conflict with existing California consumer product and chemical safety laws and regulations, and as proposed, would mislead consumers about the safety of products that contain flame retardant chemicals.”
Prepared by: Mark Mendoza / B., P. & E.D. / (916) 651-1868
6/2/15 15:23:50
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