Bill Text: CA AB282 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Accessible window covering cords.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-11-30 - From Senate committee without further action. [AB282 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB282-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 282 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 7, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 1, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 1, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 22, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 26, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Eggman
FEBRUARY 11, 2015
An act to add Chapter 35 (commencing with Section
22948.8) to Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, and to
add Sections 1503.3 and 1596.848 to the Health and Safety Code,
relating to window coverings.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 282, as amended, Eggman. Corded window coverings.
Accessible window covering cords.
Existing law generally regulates various business activities and
practices, including the sale within the state of cribs and bunk beds
intended for use by children.
This bill would, beginning January 1, 2018, make it unlawful to
sell to a purchaser located in the state a corded window covering.
The bill would define "corded window covering" as a window covering,
including, but not limited to, blinds, curtains, draperies, and
shades, that has an accessible cord, and would define "accessible
cord" as any cord determined to be accessible pursuant to the 2012
American National Standard for Safety of Corded Window Covering
Products adopted by the United States Consumer Product Safety
Commission and any successor standards.
Existing law provides for the licensing and regulation of
community care facilities, including, among others, residential
facilities, foster family homes, certified family homes, and group
homes by the State Department of Social Services. Existing law also
provides for the licensing and regulation of child day care
facilities by the department. A person who violates a law relating to
community care facilities, or who willfully or repeatedly violates a
law relating to child day care facilities, is guilty of a
misdemeanor.
This bill would prohibit a community care facility or child day
care facility that serves children under 6 years of age from
installing a corded window covering in the facility. The bill would
also require those facilities to remove all corded window coverings
or retrofit the corded window coverings as soon as is reasonably
possible with repair kits, as specified, by January 1, 2019. The bill
would also authorize the department to require those facilities to
replace existing corded window coverings, as specified, if a person
or facility fails to comply with the above provisions. By expanding
the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local
program. The bill would also make related findings and declarations.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required
by this act for a specified reason. make specified
findings and would declare the intent of the Legislature to
subsequently amend this bill to enact legislation to protect children
from the preventable strangulation hazard posed by cords on window
coverings by adopting standards that provide for safer window
coverings in California.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes
no . State-mandated local program: yes
no .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) Accessible window covering cords present a significant risk of
injury, particularly strangulation, to young children.
(2) The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission
identified window coverings as one of the top five hidden home
hazards in the country.
(3) The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission's
National Electronic Injury Surveillance System demonstrates that
nationwide from 1996 through 2012, an estimated 1,590 children were
treated for injuries resulting from entanglements on window covering
cords.
(4) The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission has
recorded 184 reported fatal strangulations nationwide from 1996
through 2012 involving window covering cords among children eight
years and younger.
(5) Of the 249 window covering cord incidents the United States
Consumer Product Safety Commission investigated from 1996 through
2012, they determined that 57 percent of the incidents would not have
been effectively prevented by the voluntary standards published by
the American National Standards Institute and Window Covering
Manufacturers Association.
(6) For more than a decade, manufacturers have been producing safe
window coverings designed to eliminate accessible, hazardous cords
that currently represent 20 to 25 percent of the market.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to subsequently amend
this measure to enact legislation to protect children from the
preventable strangulation hazard posed by cords on window coverings
by adopting standards that provide for safer window coverings in
California.
SEC. 2. Chapter 35 (commencing with Section
22948.8) is added to Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code,
to read:
CHAPTER 35. CORDED WINDOW COVERINGS
22948.8. For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall
have the following meanings:
(a) "Accessible cord" means any cord determined to be accessible
pursuant to the 2012 American National Standard for Safety of Corded
Window Covering Products adopted by the United States Consumer
Product Safety Commission consistent with the procedures under the
federal Consumer Product Safety Act (Public Law 92-573) and any
successor standards.
(b) "Corded window covering" means a window covering, including,
but not limited to, blinds, curtains, draperies, and shades, that has
an accessible cord.
22948.9. It is unlawful to sell to a purchaser located in this
state a window covering that does not meet the requirements of the
2012 American National Standard for Safety of Corded Window Covering
Products adopted by the United States Consumer Product Safety
Commission consistent with the procedures under the federal Consumer
Product Safety Act (Public Law 92-573) and any successor standards.
22949. This chapter shall become operative on January 1, 2018.
SEC. 3. Section 1503.3 is added to the Health
and Safety Code, to read:
1503.3. (a) For the purposes of this section, the terms
"accessible cord" and "corded window covering" have the same meaning
as in Section 22948.8 of the Business and Professions Code.
(b) A facility licensed or certified pursuant to this chapter that
serves children under six years of age shall not install any corded
window covering in the facility.
(c) By January 1, 2019, every facility licensed or certified
pursuant to this chapter that serves children under six years of age
shall remove all corded window coverings or retrofit the corded
window coverings as soon as is reasonably possible with repair kits
that are approved by either the United States Consumer Product Safety
Commission or the Window Covering Safety Council.
(d) If a person or facility fails to comply with this section, the
department may require replacement of existing corded window
coverings with cordless window coverings that meet the requirements
of the 2012 American National Standard for Safety of Corded Window
Covering Products adopted by the United States Consumer Product
Safety Commission consistent with the procedures under the federal
Consumer Product Safety Act (Public Law 92-573) and any successor
standards.
SEC. 4. Section 1596.848 is added to the Health
and Safety Code, to read:
1596.848. (a) For the purposes of this section, the terms
"accessible cord" and "corded window covering" have the same meaning
as in Section 22948.8 of the Business and Professions Code.
(b) A child day care facility that serves children under six years
of age shall not install any corded window covering in the facility.
(c) By January 1, 2019, a child day care facility that serves
children under six years of age shall remove all corded window
coverings or retrofit the corded window coverings as soon as is
reasonably possible with repair kits that are approved by either the
United States Consumer Product Safety Commission or the Window
Covering Safety Council.
(d) If a person or facility fails to comply with this section, the
department may require replacement of existing corded window
coverings with cordless window coverings that meet the requirements
of the 2012 American National Standard for Safety of Corded Window
Covering Products adopted by the United States Consumer Product
Safety Commission consistent with the procedures under the federal
Consumer Product Safety Act (Public Law 92-573) and any successor
standards.
SEC. 5. No reimbursement is required by this
act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a
new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or
changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of
Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a
crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution.
