Bill Text: NY A03368 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Prohibits the use of chemical flame retardants on residential upholstered furniture.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 42-5)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-02-28 - amended on third reading 3368a [A03368 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-A03368-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3368--A Cal. No. 266 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 27, 2017 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. BRINDISI, SKOUFIS, HUNTER, GOTTFRIED, ROZIC, SEPULVEDA, ORTIZ, ENGLEBRIGHT, ZEBROWSKI, D'URSO, BLAKE, GLICK, BUCHWALD, L. ROSENTHAL, COLTON, ABINANTI, JENNE, FAHY, OTIS, WEPRIN, CARROLL, QUART, DINOWITZ, THIELE, STECK -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. GALEF -- read once and referred to the Committee on Environmental Conservation -- ordered to a third reading, amended and ordered reprinted, retaining its place on the order of third reading AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to prohibiting the use of chemical flame retardants The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Article 37 of the environmental conservation law is 2 amended by adding a new title 9 to read as follows: 3 TITLE 9 4 CHEMICAL FLAME RETARDANTS 5 Section 37-0901. Definitions. 6 37-0903. Prohibition on the use of chemical flame retardants. 7 37-0905. Increased fire safety. 8 § 37-0901. Definitions. As used in this title: 9 1. "Chemical flame retardants" shall mean any halogenated chemical 10 flame retardant, including but not limited to TDCPP Tris (1, 3 Dicholo- 11 ro-2-propyl) phosphate, and any Phosphorus-Bromine flame retardants. 12 2. "Residential upholstered furniture" shall mean a sofa, loveseat, 13 chair, ottoman, footstool, or other item of furniture, intended for 14 indoor use in a home that consists, in whole or in part, of leather, 15 plastic, fabric or other material that contains cotton, wool, polyure- 16 thane or other natural or synthetic material that is placed in cushions 17 or on the frame of the furniture. 18 § 37-0903. Prohibition on the use of chemical flame retardants. 19 1. Beginning July first, two thousand nineteen, no person, firm, part- 20 nership, association, limited liability company or corporation shall EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01978-03-8A. 3368--A 2 1 sell or offer for sale any residential upholstered furniture that 2 contains chemical flame retardants intentionally-added in order to 3 provide a specific characteristic, appearance or quality, to perform a 4 specific function, or for any other purpose. 5 2. The provisions of this section shall not apply to the sale or 6 distribution of residential upholstered furniture resold or offered for 7 resale, or distributed by consumers for consumer use. 8 § 37-0905. Increased fire safety. 9 1. Beginning December first, two thousand twenty-one, each manufactur- 10 er of residential upholstered furniture that is sold or offered for sale 11 in the state shall certify to the department that any residential uphol- 12 stered furniture sold or offered for sale in the state meets the 13 requirements of the open flame flammability standard. 14 2. a. For purposes of this section, "open flame flammability standard" 15 shall mean a standard, developed pursuant to rules and regulations of 16 the department, in consultation with the office of fire prevention and 17 control, requiring residential upholstered furniture to not lead to 18 flashover for at least fifteen minutes of time. Such standard shall be 19 reviewed for effectiveness no less than every two years, with such 20 review including, at a minimum, examination of the standards used in 21 other states. 22 b. For the purposes of this section "flashover" shall mean the point 23 at which all exposed surfaces of the residential upholstered furniture 24 reach ignition temperatures and fire spreads rapidly. 25 c. For the purposes of this section "manufacturer" shall mean a 26 person, firm, partnership, association, limited liability company or 27 corporation that assembles or substantially assembles residential uphol- 28 stered furniture for sale in the state or imports residential uphol- 29 stered furniture for sale in the state. 30 3. The department may, following public hearings, adopt rules and 31 regulations authorizing an exemption to subdivision one of section 32 37-0903 of this title upon a determination by the commissioner that the 33 proposed chemical flame retardant will not negatively affect human 34 health or the environment. Such determination may only be made after the 35 completion of a comprehensive health impact assessment conducted by the 36 department of health, following a model recommended by the centers for 37 disease control and prevention. 38 § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 39 have become a law; provided however, that section 37-0905 of the envi- 40 ronmental conservation law as added by section one of this act shall 41 take effect June 1, 2021; provided, however, that the commissioner of 42 environmental conservation is authorized and directed to promulgate any 43 rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this act 44 on or before such effective date.
