Safer Occupancy Furniture Flammability Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2647) to adopt a certain California flammability standard as a Federal flammability standard to protect against the risk of upholstered furniture flammability, and for other purposes, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 2647

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 ``Safer Occupancy Furniture Flammability Act'' or the ``SOFFA Act''. SEC. 2. ADOPTION OF CALIFORNIA FLAMMABILITY STANDARD AS A FEDERAL STANDARD.

(a) Definitions.--In this section--

(1) the term ``bedding product'' means--

(A) an item that is used for sleeping or sleep-related purposes; or

(B) any component or accessory with respect to an item described in subparagraph (A), without regard to whether the component or accessory, as applicable, is used--

(i) alone; or

(ii) along with, or contained within, that item;

(2) the term ``California standard'' means the standard set forth by the Bureau of Electronic and Appliance Repair, Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation of the Department of Consumer Affairs of the State of California in Technical Bulletin 117-2013, entitled ``Requirements, Test Procedure and Apparatus for Testing the Smolder Resistance of Materials Used in Upholstered Furniture'', originally published June 2013, as in effect on the date of enactment of this Act;

(3) the terms ``foundation'' and ``mattress'' have the meanings given those terms in section 1633.2 of title 16, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date of enactment of this Act; and

(4) the term ``upholstered furniture''--

(A) means an article of seating furniture that--

(i) is intended for indoor use;

(ii) is movable or stationary;

(iii) is constructed with an upholstered seat, back, or arm;

(iv) is--

(I) made or sold with a cushion or pillow, without regard to whether that cushion or pillow, as applicable, is attached or detached with respect to the article of furniture; or

(II) stuffed or filled, or able to be stuffed or filled, in whole or in part, with any material, including a substance or material that is hidden or concealed by fabric or another covering, including a cushion or pillow belonging to, or forming a part of, the article of furniture; and

(v) together with the structural units of the article of furniture, any filling material, and the container and covering with respect to those structural units and that filling material, can be used as a support for the body of an individual, or the limbs and feet of an individual, when the individual sits in an upright or reclining position;

(B) includes an article of furniture that is intended for use by a child; and

(C) does not include--

(i) a mattress;

(ii) a foundation;

(iii) any bedding product; or

(iv) furniture that is used exclusively for the purpose of physical fitness and exercise.

(b) Adoption of Standard.--

(1) In general.--Beginning on the date that is 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and except as provided in paragraph (2), the California standard shall be considered to be a flammability standard promulgated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission under section 4 of the Flammable Fabrics Act (15 U.S.C. 1193).

(2) Testing and certification.--A fabric, related material, or product to which the California standard applies as a result of paragraph (1) shall not be subject to section 14(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2063(a)) with respect to that standard.

(3) Certification label.--Each manufacturer of a product that is subject to the California standard as a result of paragraph (1) shall include the statement ``Complies with U.S. CPSC requirements for upholstered furniture flammability'' on a permanent label located on the product, which shall be considered to be a certification that the product complies with that standard.

(c) Preemption.--

(1) In general.--Notwithstanding section 16 of the Flammable Fabrics Act (15 U.S.C. 1203) and section 231 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (15 U.S.C. 2051 note), and except as provided in subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (2), no State or any political subdivision of a State may establish or continue in effect any provision of a flammability law, regulation, code, standard, or requirement that is designed to protect against the risk of occurrence of fire, or to slow or prevent the spread of fire, with respect to upholstered furniture.

(2) Preservation of certain state law.--Nothing in this Act or the Flammable Fabrics Act (15 U.S.C. 1191 et seq.) may be construed to preempt or otherwise affect--

(A) any State or local law, regulation, code, standard, or requirement that--

(i) concerns health risks associated with upholstered furniture; and

(ii) is not designed to protect against the risk of occurrence of fire, or to slow or prevent the spread of fire, with respect to upholstered furniture;

(B) sections 1374 through 1374.3 of title 4, California Code of Regulations (except for subsections (b) and (c) of section 1374 of that title), as in effect on the date of enactment of this Act; or

(C) the California standard.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. 2647.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2647, the Safer Occupancy Furniture Flammability Act, also known as SOFFA.

This bipartisan legislation, which I have cosponsored, was introduced by Representatives Doris Matsui and Morgan Griffith. It advanced out of the Committee on Energy and Commerce by voice vote.

This bill adopts California's upholstered furniture flammability standard as the Federal standard. This new standard will ensure all Americans are protected from the rise of upholstered furniture fires and will eliminate unnecessary consumer exposure to flame-retardant chemicals. These toxic chemicals are associated with adverse health effects, including hormonal disruption, reduced fertility, and even cancer.

For too long, upholstered furniture has been laden with flame- retardant chemicals and has been a significant source of human exposure to those toxic chemicals. Flame retardants are known to migrate out of the furniture and into household dust and persist in the indoor environment.

Since the chemicals also accumulate in our bodies over time, babies and children, whose bodies and brains are still developing and who spend a lot of time on the floor, are especially vulnerable to toxic effects.

Firefighters have long expressed concern that they face additional risks due to their unique exposure by the combustion of flame-retardant chemicals that occurs when they are battling fires.

Flame-retardant chemicals in furniture are all risk and no reward. Testing by the Consumer Product Safety Commission has shown flame retardants added to furniture provide no meaningful fire safety benefit and make no difference in how much time you have to escape in the event of a fire.

With this legislation, consumers will no longer have to second-guess whether or not the new sofa that they are purchasing meets stringent flammability standards. Manufacturers will be required to include a statement on a permanent label regarding the product's compliance with this new standard.

Mr. Speaker, I call on my colleagues to support this important legislation for public health and safety, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Think of it, that in our upholstered furniture there can be toxic chemicals that actually cause tremendous health hazards, not only to the people who own that furniture, but, now, to firefighters who are coming to put out fires. That is one.

And number two, we find that these don't really have any effect on fires and make the time shorter that you can get out or actually reduce the chance of fire. So as I said, there is no gain in having these chemicals.

Mr. Speaker, I have two letters that I will include in the Record, and they are:

One, a letter from 17 organizations, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, Consumer Federation of America, Earthjustice, Green Science Policy Institute, Safer Chemicals Healthy Families, and Toxic- Free Future, among many others, urging strong support by Members for SOFFA; and

Two, a letter from 15 national organizations representing consumers throughout the United States, including the Consumer Federation of America, National Consumers League, Kids in Danger, Public Citizen, and Safe Kids Worldwide, among many others, also urging strong support for this legislation. December 16, 2019.

Dear Member of Congress: The undersigned groups urge you to vote YES on the SOFFA Act (H.R. 2647), led by Representatives Matsui and Griffith. This bipartisan legislation would help safeguard public health. There is currently no flammability standard for upholstered furniture at the federal level. This is a major gap that Congress should fill. Fortunately, the state of California recently conducted an extensive process to identify a furniture flammability standard that would provide protection against the vast majority of upholstered furniture fires, without the need for flame retardant chemicals, which have been linked to a variety of adverse health effects, including impaired brain development, reproductive problems, and cancers. Firefighters and children face especially high exposures and risks. The SOFFA Act would make California's flammability standard for upholstered furniture the standard across the nation.

In 2013, California's Bureau of Household Goods and Services (``Bureau'') determined that the vast majority of upholstered furniture fires are started by smoldering materials on the fabric surface of the furniture. Therefore, it adopted a standard that addresses the safety threat of smoldering materials igniting the cover fabric of furniture. The result was California Technical Bulletin 117-2013 (TB 117-2013). TB 117-2013 was widely supported by firefighters, environmental and public health groups, and independent fire scientists.

Since the standard was adopted, additional science has reinforced its importance and effectiveness. A 2019 study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that among furniture fires, those caused by smoking products were the deadliest, and that the odds of someone dying in a furniture fire caused by smoking was three times greater than in a furniture fire caused by an open flame (such as a candle or match). It also found that standards focused on fires caused by an open flame and that relied on the addition of toxic flame retardant chemicals to furniture were ineffective in reducing the incidence of fires. The authors concluded that ``[d]ata on injury and death in residential fires support greater attention to smoking-related fires in furniture, because they are associated with a much higher risk of death than are fires ignited by open flames. Standards such as TB117-2013 are designed to address cigarette ignition of furniture without the use of toxic FR [flame retardant] chemicals. Future regulations to increase fire safety of residential furniture should continue to focus on ignition from smoking materials.''

Making California's TB 117-2013 the national flammability standard would end sporadic efforts to promulgate open flame standards that promote the use of toxic, flame retardant chemicals without providing a fire safety benefit. It would also provide a uniform standard for the furniture industry, while being health protective. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has previously relied on California flammability standards as the basis for federal health- protective standards. The SOFFA Act will create strong public health protections for people across the country and reduce the risk of harm by furniture-related fires. We urge you to safeguard public health for all Americans and vote YES on H.R. 2647. Sincerely,

Alaska Community Action on Toxics, Center for Environmental Health, Clean and Healthy New York, Clean Water Action, Coming Clean, Commonwealth Biomonitoring Resource Center, Consumer Federation of America, Earthjustice, Ecology Center (Michigan), Environmental Health Strategy Center, Green Science Policy Institute, Healthy Baby Bright Futures, Healthy Legacy Coalition, Natural Resources Defense Council, Safer Chemicals Healthy Families, Safer States, Toxic-Free Future. ____ September 12, 2019.

Dear Representative: As organizations dedicated to improving consumer protections, we write to express our support for three consumer product safety bills as they move to the House floor. These bills would enhance protections to prevent deaths from portable fuel cans, injuries and deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning, and reduce exposure to harmful flame retardants. We urge you to support these bills to protect children and all consumers from preventable injuries and deaths.

The Nicholas and Zachary Burt Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act of 2019 (H.R. 1618) would establish a grant program, administered by the CPSC, that would encourage states to require the installation of residential carbon monoxide detectors, including for vulnerable populations. According to the CDC, during 2010-2015, a total of 2,244 deaths resulted from unintentional carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, with 393 of those deaths occurring in 2015. This bill seeks to reduce carbon monoxide poisonings.

The Portable Fuel Container Safety Act of 2019 (H.R. 806) would help prevent flame jetting incidents through establishing a binding and enforceable standard that would require flame mitigation devices, or flame arrestors, on portable fuel containers to prevent flames from entering these containers and igniting the gases inside. According to National Fire Protection Association estimates, fire departments responded to an average of 160,910 fires per year between 2007 and 2011 that started with ignition of a flammable or combustible liquid, resulting in an estimated 454 civilian deaths, 3,910 civilian injuries, and $1.5 billion in direct property damage per year.

The Safer Occupancy Furniture Flammability Act, or SOFFA (H.R. 2647), would adopt a California flammability standard as a federal flammability standard to help protect against the risk of upholstered furniture fires and consumer exposure to flame retardant chemicals. Today's California standard, TB 117-2013, is currently the strongest measure U.S. consumers have to keep them protected from purchasing upholstered furniture that is either highly flammable or loaded with flame-retardant chemicals. While this bill seeks to protect consumers from both fires and flame retardant exposure, we urge members to strengthen the bill through amending it so that other states retain the ability to exceed TB 117-2013's level of protection if they so choose.

These bills offer a critical opportunity to protect children and all consumers from preventable injuries and deaths. We urge you to support these child health and safety bills, and to vote ``yes'' on them as they move to the House floor. Sincerely,

Alaska Public Interest Research Group (AkPIRG), Center for Justice & Democracy, Chicago Consumer Coalition, Child Injury Prevention Alliance, Consumer Assistance Council, Inc., Consumer Federation of America, Kids In Danger, National Consumers League, OHSU/Doernbecher Tom Sargent Safety Center, Parents for Window Blind Safety, Public Citizen, Safe Kids Worldwide, Safe States Alliance, The Society for Advancement of Violence and Injury Research (SAVIR), Virginia Citizens Consumer Council.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I urge strong support for this bipartisan legislation. I urge all Members to vote in favor, and I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source