NY State Senate Bill S2718

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Environmental Conservation Committee

Introduced
In Committee
On Floor Calendar
- Passed Senate
- Passed Assembly
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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 22, 2021	referred to environmental conservation

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S2718 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Environmental Conservation
Law Section:: Environmental Conservation Law
Laws Affected:: Add Art 37 Title 10 §§37-1001 - 37-1005, En Con L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2013-2014: S4780
2015-2016: S2745, S3619, S3844, S5585
2017-2018: S742
2019-2020: S1367

S2718 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Prohibits the use of chemical flame retardants on residential upholstered furniture beginning July first, 2022.

S2718 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

 
BILL NUMBER: S2718

SPONSOR: RITCHIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
prohibiting the use of chemical flame retardants

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this bill is to limit residential exposure to chemical
flame retardants and to increase fire safety.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends Article 37 of the Environmental Conservation Law by
adding a new Title 9, entitled Chemical Flame Retardants. This title
defines "chemical flame retardants," prohibits the use of chemical flame
retardants, and increases fire safety by requiring manufacturers to
certify, beginning December 1, 2021, that residential upholstered furni-
ture offered for sale in New York meets the requirements of the "open

flame flammability standard."

"Open flame flammability standard" is defined as a standard, developed
pursuant to the rules and regulations of the department, in consultation
with the office of fire prevention and control, requiring residential
upholstered furniture to not lead to flashover for at least fifteen
minutes of time. The standard must be reviewed no less than ever two
years and include an assessment of the standards used in other states.

The section also authorizes the Department of Environmental Conservation
(DEC) to approve exemptions to the prohibition on the use of chemical
flame retardants upon a determination that the proposed chemical flame
retardant does not pose a risk to human health or the environment.

Section 2 is the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The objective of this bill is to prohibit the use of chemical flame
retardants on residential upholstered furniture.because of their propen-
sity to combust with rapidity, as well as their adverse health conse-
quences. These retardants are ineffective in preventing the spread of
fires and, more importantly, when combusted the chemicals that are
released form harmful byproducts that have the potential to affect the
health of firefighters, especially female firefighters. Recent studies
have shown that approximately 94 percent of couches manufactured after
2005 contain chemical flame retardants.  The amount of chemical flame
retardants present in this type of upholstered furniture is capable of
being measured in pounds.  Flame retardant chemicals were added to
upholstered furniture in response to a 1975 California flammability
standard study, which was conducted in response to concerns about the
large number of cigarette fires.  However, the increased sale of flame-
retardant chemicals has not eradicated this issue because the chemicals
are so ineffective. The Chicago Tribune quoted an author of one study as
saying, "the fire just laughs at it."

The vast majority of furniture sold in the United States meets the Cali-
fornia standard due to California's large market share. However, scien-
tific studies have demonstrated that meeting the requirements of the
California standard does not accurately reflect real-world fire behav-
ior. A study conducted by the United States Department of Commerce
National Bureau of Standards found that there were no significant
differences in fire resistance between treated and untreated foams.

Not only are chemical flame retardants ineffective, they pose dangerous
health risks when used daily as well as when ignited.  During normal
use, chemical flame retardants migrate out of furniture and into house-
hold dust. Toddlers typically show three times the level of flame retar-
dants in their blood streams as their parents because of their tendency
to put household items in their mouth. This exposure is on top of what
babies are born with. Furthermore, some chemical retardants are
suspected as carcinogenic. When combusted, chemical flame retardants can
form harmful by-products that have potential adverse health risks to
firefighters. A recent study in San Francisco found that firefighters
had two to three times the rate of flame retardants in their blood
stream than the average. 110 female firefighters in the study experi-
enced a risk of breast cancer that was nearly six times higher than the
general population.

Upholstered furniture can be highly volatile when ignited and has become
a leading cause of firefighter and household deaths because of the rapid
propensity to reach an inflamed, all-consumed stage, called flashover.
Statistics demonstrate that when firefighters are able to arrive at a
scene before the contents of a room have reached flashover, a fire is
able to be contained. This bill prohibits the sale of residential uphol-
stered furniture in New York that becomes fully engulfed and subject to
flashover in less than fifteen minutes from the time it is exposed to a
heat source and prohibits the use of certain chemical flame retardants
that are added to the composition of the furniture. Furthermore, the
chemical flame retardants as stipulated in the legislation, are recog-
nized as posing a danger to both firefighters and citizens because of
their toxic qualities when used every day, as well as their particular
gaseous qualities when inhaled during a fire. For all of the foregoing
reasons it is imperative that this bill is enacted.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2019-2020: S.1367

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have
become a law; provided however, that section 37-0905 shall take effect
June 1, 2022, and the Department of Environmental Conservation may adopt
regulations necessary to implement the act prior to the effective date.

S2718 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   2718
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 22, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sens. RITCHIE, BAILEY, BENJAMIN, BRESLIN, BROOKS, COMRIE,
   FELDER, GALLIVAN,  GIANARIS,  HOYLMAN,  KAMINSKY,  KAVANAGH,  KRUEGER,
   MAYER,  RIVERA,  SAVINO,  SEPULVEDA, SERRANO, STAVISKY, THOMAS -- read
   twice and ordered printed, and when printed to  be  committed  to  the
   Committee on Environmental Conservation

 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:
 
   Section  1.    Article  37  of  the  environmental conservation law is
 amended by adding a new title 10 to read as follows:
                                 TITLE 10
                         CHEMICAL FLAME RETARDANTS
 SECTION 37-1001. DEFINITIONS.
         37-1003. PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF CHEMICAL FLAME RETARDANTS.
         37-1005. INCREASED FIRE SAFETY.
 § 37-1001. DEFINITIONS. AS USED IN THIS TITLE:
   1. "CHEMICAL FLAME RETARDANTS" SHALL  MEAN  ANY  HALOGENATED  CHEMICAL
 FLAME  RETARDANT, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO TDCPP TRIS (1, 3 DICHOLO-
 RO-2-PROPYL) PHOSPHATE, AND ANY PHOSPHORUS-BROMINE FLAME RETARDANTS.
   2. "RESIDENTIAL UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE" SHALL MEAN  A  SOFA,  LOVESEAT,
 CHAIR,  OTTOMAN,  FOOTSTOOL,  OR  OTHER  ITEM OF FURNITURE, INTENDED FOR
 INDOOR USE IN A HOME THAT CONSISTS, IN WHOLE OR  IN  PART,  OF  LEATHER,
 PLASTIC,  FABRIC  OR OTHER MATERIAL THAT CONTAINS COTTON, WOOL, POLYURE-
 THANE OR OTHER NATURAL OR SYNTHETIC MATERIAL THAT IS PLACED IN  CUSHIONS
 OR ON THE FRAME OF THE FURNITURE.
 § 37-1003. PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF CHEMICAL FLAME RETARDANTS.
   1.  BEGINNING  JULY  FIRST,  TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-TWO, NO PERSON, FIRM,
 PARTNERSHIP, ASSOCIATION, LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY OR CORPORATION SHALL
 SELL OR OFFER  FOR  SALE  ANY  RESIDENTIAL  UPHOLSTERED  FURNITURE  THAT
 CONTAINS  CHEMICAL  FLAME  RETARDANTS  INTENTIONALLY-ADDED  IN  ORDER TO
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD02768-02-1

 S. 2718                             2
 
 PROVIDE A SPECIFIC CHARACTERISTIC, APPEARANCE OR QUALITY, TO  PERFORM  A
 SPECIFIC FUNCTION, OR FOR ANY OTHER PURPOSE.
   2.  THE  PROVISIONS  OF  THIS  SECTION  SHALL NOT APPLY TO THE SALE OR
 DISTRIBUTION OF RESIDENTIAL UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE RESOLD OR OFFERED  FOR
 RESALE, OR DISTRIBUTED BY CONSUMERS FOR CONSUMER USE.
 § 37-1005. INCREASED FIRE SAFETY.
   1.  BEGINNING  DECEMBER FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FOUR, EACH MANUFAC-
 TURER OF RESIDENTIAL UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE THAT IS SOLD OR  OFFERED  FOR
 SALE  IN  THE STATE SHALL CERTIFY TO THE DEPARTMENT THAT ANY RESIDENTIAL
 UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE SOLD OR OFFERED FOR SALE IN THE  STATE  MEETS  THE
 REQUIREMENTS OF THE OPEN FLAME FLAMMABILITY STANDARD.
   2. A. FOR PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, "OPEN FLAME FLAMMABILITY STANDARD"
 SHALL  MEAN  A  STANDARD, DEVELOPED PURSUANT TO RULES AND REGULATIONS OF
 THE DEPARTMENT, IN CONSULTATION WITH THE OFFICE OF FIRE  PREVENTION  AND
 CONTROL,  REQUIRING  RESIDENTIAL  UPHOLSTERED  FURNITURE  TO NOT LEAD TO
 FLASHOVER FOR AT LEAST FIFTEEN MINUTES OF TIME. SUCH STANDARD  SHALL  BE
 REVIEWED  FOR  EFFECTIVENESS  NO  LESS  THAN  EVERY TWO YEARS, WITH SUCH
 REVIEW INCLUDING, AT A MINIMUM, EXAMINATION OF  THE  STANDARDS  USED  IN
 OTHER STATES.
   B.  FOR  THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION "FLASHOVER" SHALL MEAN THE POINT
 AT WHICH ALL EXPOSED SURFACES OF THE RESIDENTIAL  UPHOLSTERED  FURNITURE
 REACH IGNITION TEMPERATURES AND FIRE SPREADS RAPIDLY.
   C.  FOR  THE  PURPOSES  OF  THIS  SECTION  "MANUFACTURER" SHALL MEAN A
 PERSON, FIRM, PARTNERSHIP, ASSOCIATION,  LIMITED  LIABILITY  COMPANY  OR
 CORPORATION THAT ASSEMBLES OR SUBSTANTIALLY ASSEMBLES RESIDENTIAL UPHOL-
 STERED  FURNITURE  FOR  SALE  IN THE STATE OR IMPORTS RESIDENTIAL UPHOL-
 STERED FURNITURE FOR SALE IN THE STATE.
   3. THE DEPARTMENT MAY, FOLLOWING  PUBLIC  HEARINGS,  ADOPT  RULES  AND
 REGULATIONS  AUTHORIZING  AN  EXEMPTION  TO  SUBDIVISION  ONE OF SECTION
 37-1003 OF THIS TITLE UPON A DETERMINATION BY THE COMMISSIONER THAT  THE
 PROPOSED  CHEMICAL  FLAME  RETARDANT  WILL  NOT  NEGATIVELY AFFECT HUMAN
 HEALTH OR THE ENVIRONMENT. SUCH DETERMINATION MAY ONLY BE MADE AFTER THE
 COMPLETION OF A COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH IMPACT ASSESSMENT CONDUCTED BY  THE
 DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH, FOLLOWING A MODEL RECOMMENDED BY THE CENTERS FOR
 DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION.
   § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day  after  it  shall
 have  become  a law; provided however, that section 37-1005 of the envi-
 ronmental conservation law as added by section one  of  this  act  shall
 take  effect  June  1, 2024; provided, however, that the commissioner of
 environmental conservation is authorized to  promulgate  any  rules  and
 regulations  necessary  to  implement  the  provisions of this act on or
 before such effective date.

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The New York State Senate

senate Bill S2718

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Environmental Conservation Committee

Your Voice

Actions

Co-Sponsors

S2718 (ACTIVE) - Details

S2718 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S2718 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S2718 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

senate Bill S2718

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Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Environmental Conservation Committee

Your Voice

Actions

Co-Sponsors

S2718 (ACTIVE) - Details

S2718 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S2718 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S2718 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments