Bill Text: NY S02718 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

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

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 18-2)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION [S02718 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S02718-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          2718

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    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:

     1    Section  1.    Article  37  of  the  environmental conservation law is
     2  amended by adding a new title 10 to read as follows:
     3                                  TITLE 10
     4                          CHEMICAL FLAME RETARDANTS
     5  Section 37-1001. Definitions.
     6          37-1003. Prohibition on the use of chemical flame retardants.
     7          37-1005. Increased fire safety.
     8  § 37-1001. 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  § 37-1003. Prohibition on the use of chemical flame retardants.
    19    1.  Beginning  July  first,  two thousand twenty-two, no person, firm,
    20  partnership, association, limited liability company or corporation shall
    21  sell or offer  for  sale  any  residential  upholstered  furniture  that
    22  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

     1  provide a specific characteristic, appearance or quality, to  perform  a
     2  specific function, or for any other purpose.
     3    2.  The  provisions  of  this  section  shall not apply to the sale or
     4  distribution of residential upholstered furniture resold or offered  for
     5  resale, or distributed by consumers for consumer use.
     6  § 37-1005. Increased fire safety.
     7    1.  Beginning  December first, two thousand twenty-four, each manufac-
     8  turer of residential upholstered furniture that is sold or  offered  for
     9  sale  in  the state shall certify to the department that any residential
    10  upholstered furniture sold or offered for sale in the  state  meets  the
    11  requirements of the open flame flammability standard.
    12    2. a. For purposes of this section, "open flame flammability standard"
    13  shall  mean  a  standard, developed pursuant to rules and regulations of
    14  the department, in consultation with the office of fire  prevention  and
    15  control,  requiring  residential  upholstered  furniture  to not lead to
    16  flashover for at least fifteen minutes of time. Such standard  shall  be
    17  reviewed  for  effectiveness  no  less  than  every two years, with such
    18  review including, at a minimum, examination of  the  standards  used  in
    19  other states.
    20    b.  For  the purposes of this section "flashover" shall mean the point
    21  at which all exposed surfaces of the residential  upholstered  furniture
    22  reach ignition temperatures and fire spreads rapidly.
    23    c.  For  the  purposes  of  this  section  "manufacturer" shall mean a
    24  person, firm, partnership, association,  limited  liability  company  or
    25  corporation that assembles or substantially assembles residential uphol-
    26  stered  furniture  for  sale  in the state or imports residential uphol-
    27  stered furniture for sale in the state.
    28    3. The department may, following  public  hearings,  adopt  rules  and
    29  regulations  authorizing  an  exemption  to  subdivision  one of section
    30  37-1003 of this title upon a determination by the commissioner that  the
    31  proposed  chemical  flame  retardant  will  not  negatively affect human
    32  health or the environment. Such determination may only be made after the
    33  completion of a comprehensive health impact assessment conducted by  the
    34  department  of  health, following a model recommended by the centers for
    35  disease control and prevention.
    36    § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day  after  it  shall
    37  have  become  a law; provided however, that section 37-1005 of the envi-
    38  ronmental conservation law as added by section one  of  this  act  shall
    39  take  effect  June  1, 2024; provided, however, that the commissioner of
    40  environmental conservation is authorized to  promulgate  any  rules  and
    41  regulations  necessary  to  implement  the  provisions of this act on or
    42  before such effective date.