A05418 Summary:
BILL NO | A05418B |
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SAME AS | SAME AS S04630-B |
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SPONSOR | Englebright |
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COSPNSR | Epstein, Griffin, Simon, Gottfried, Dickens, Galef, Otis, Colton, Thiele, Gonzalez-Rojas, Kelles, McMahon, Paulin, Jackson, Abinanti, Sillitti, Seawright, Perry, Burdick, Fahy, Richardson, Glick, Gallagher, Dinowitz, Fernandez, Hevesi, Forrest, Stern, Stirpe, Steck, McDonough, Rosenthal L, Jacobson, Jones, Barron, Anderson, Cruz, Zebrowski, Cymbrowitz, Rozic, Ramos, Braunstein, Santabarbara, Lavine |
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MLTSPNSR | DiPietro |
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Add Art 37 Title 10 §§37-1001 - 37-1013, amd §71-3703, En Con L | |
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Enacts the family and fire fighter protection act relating to the regulation of chemicals in upholstered furniture, mattresses and electronic enclosures; bans the use of certain flame retardant chemicals in furniture and mattresses; bans the use of certain flame retardant chemicals in electronic casings. |
A05418 Memo:
Go to topNEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)   BILL NUMBER: A5418B SPONSOR: Englebright
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to the regulation of chemicals in upholstered furniture, mattresses and elec- tronic enclosures   PURPOSE: The purpose of this bill is to regulate chemicals in upholstered furni- ture, mattresses and electronic enclosures.   SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section 1 amends the Environmental Conservation Law to define terms, including halogenated chemical, organophosphorus chemical, and organoni- trogen chemical. Beginning December. 31, 2023, this bill prohibits the sale of mattresses, or upholstered furniture that contain intentionally added identified flame retardant chemicals. As of January 1, 2024, no person offers for sale an electronic display that contains intentionally added organohalogen flame retardants. Section 2 amends the environmental conservation law to apply civil penalties to individuals who violate section 1, providing a civil penal- ty of up to $1,000 per day that the violation continues for the first offense and up to $2,500 per day for the second offense. adding a new Title 10, entitled Regulation of Chemicals in Upholstered Furniture, Mattresses and Electronic Enclosures. Section 3 is the effective date.   JUSTIFICATION: Flame Retardants are a class of chemicals added to furniture, electron- ics, and building materials intended to help prevent fires. However, many flame retardants are associated with adverse health effects in animals and humans, including negative impacts on the immune system, infertility, cancer, and adverse effects on fetal and child development. Children are extremely susceptible to exposure to dangerous chemicals contained in flame retardants, in large part due to their developing body systems, size, behaviors, and metabolic capabilities. Flame retar- dant chemicals are also difficult to break down, meaning they can remain persistent in the environment or a home for years. Scientists have found that some of these flame retardants may cause the undesirable effect of increasing the amounts of carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide released during combustion. These gases, not the ther- mal effects of burns on the body, can be the number one reason a person loses their life in a fire. By implementing a restriction on the sale of certain products containing identifiably dangerous flame retardant chem- icals, will ensure New Yorkers, and their children, are not exposed to hazardous toxins. Further, it will help protect firefighters from being exposed to these chemicals when they are putting their lives on the line to suppress fires. States like California, Minnesota, Washington, and others have undertaken similar actions on banning the use of flame retardant chemicals in mattresses and furniture. The European Union has gone even further and adopted regulations to ban organohalogen flame retardants in televisions and other electronic displays. It is therefore senseless to allow these chemicals to continue to be used in New York in light of their 'negative effect on people's health and development.   PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: New Bill.   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None.   EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect immediately.
A05418 Text:
Go to top STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5418--B 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 16, 2021 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ENGLEBRIGHT, EPSTEIN, GRIFFIN, SIMON, GOTTFRIED, DICKENS, GALEF, OTIS, COLTON, THIELE, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, KELLES, McMAHON, PAULIN, JACKSON, ABINANTI, SILLITTI, SEAWRIGHT, PERRY, BURDICK, FAHY, RICHARDSON, GLICK, GALLAGHER, DINOWITZ, FERNANDEZ, HEVESI, FORREST, STERN, STIRPE, STECK, McDONOUGH -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. DiPIETRO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Environmental Conservation -- reported and referred to the Committee on Codes -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- again reported from said committee with amendments, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to the regulation of chemicals in upholstered furniture, mattresses and elec- tronic enclosures The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as 2 the "family and fire fighter protection act". 3 § 2. Article 37 of the environmental conservation law is amended by 4 adding a new title 10 to read as follows: 5 TITLE X 6 REGULATION OF CHEMICALS IN UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE, MATTRESSES 7 AND ELECTRONIC ENCLOSURES 8 Section 37-1001. Definitions. 9 37-1003. Furniture and mattresses. 10 37-1005. Exemptions. 11 37-1007. Electronic display. 12 37-1009. Reporting. 13 37-1011. Severability. 14 37-1013. Regulations. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD06757-08-1A. 5418--B 2 1 § 37-1001. Definitions. 2 As used in this title: 3 1. "Consumer product" means any product that is regularly used or 4 purchased to be used for personal, family or household purposes. Consum- 5 er product shall not mean: (a) a food or beverage or an additive to a 6 food or beverage regulated by the United States Food and Drug Adminis- 7 tration; or (b) a drug, biologic or medical device regulated by the 8 United States Food and Drug Administration. 9 2. "Covered flame retardant chemical" means any chemical that meets 10 both of the following criteria: 11 (a) A functional use for the chemical is to resist or inhibit the 12 spread of fire or as a synergist to chemicals that resist or inhibit the 13 spread of fire; and 14 (b) The chemical is one of the following: a halogenated, organophos- 15 phorus, organonitrogen, or nanoscale chemical. As used in this title: 16 (i) "Halogenated chemical" is any chemical that contains one or more 17 halogen elements, including fluorine, chlorine, bromine, or iodine. 18 (ii) "Organophosphorus chemical" is any chemical that contains one or 19 more carbon elements and one or more phosphorus elements. 20 (iii) "Organonitrogen chemical" is any chemical that contains one or 21 more carbon elements and one or more nitrogen elements. 22 3. "Custom upholsterer" means a person who, either by himself or 23 herself or through employees or agents, repairs, reupholsters, recovers, 24 restores, or renews upholstered furniture, or who makes to order and 25 specification of the user any article of upholstered residential furni- 26 ture, using either new materials or owner's materials. 27 4. "Electronic display" means a consumer product with a display screen 28 and associated electronics that, as its primary function, displays visu- 29 al information from wired or wireless sources and is available for 30 purchase by individuals or households for personal use in a residential 31 space. Electronic display shall not include: (a) any electronic display 32 with a screen area smaller than or equal to one hundred square centime- 33 ters or fifteen and one-half square inches; (b) projectors; (c) virtual 34 reality headsets; (d) all-in-one video conference systems; or (e) 35 displays that are integrated with appliances and are not available for 36 purchase as separate products by end-users. 37 5. "Gel foam mattress" means a mattress in which interior foam layers 38 are composed of polyurethane foam or latex foam which has a polyure- 39 thane-based gel material either mixed with the foam or applied to the 40 outer surface of polyurethane or latex foam, or a mattress in which the 41 core or padding layers are composed solely of gel material. 42 6. "Intentionally added" shall have the same meaning as "intentionally 43 added chemical" in subdivision eleven of section 37-0901 of this arti- 44 cle. 45 7. "Mattress" means a ticking filled with a resilient material used 46 alone or in combination with other products intended or promoted for 47 sleeping upon. 48 8. "Memory foam mattress" means a mattress which contains interior 49 layers of foam composed of viscoelastic polyurethane foam or low-resis- 50 tance polyurethane foam. 51 9. "Organohalogen flame retardant chemical" means a chemical that 52 contains one or more halogen elements, including fluorine, chlorine, 53 bromine, or iodine, bonded to carbon. 54 10. "Reupholstered furniture" means furniture whose original fabric, 55 padding, decking, barrier material, foam, or other resilient filling hasA. 5418--B 3 1 been replaced by a custom upholsterer, that has not been sold since the 2 time of the replacement. 3 11. "Ticking" means the outermost layer of fabric or related material 4 that encloses the core and upholstery materials of a mattress or 5 mattress pad. A mattress ticking may consist of several layers of fabric 6 or related materials quilted together. 7 12. "Upholstered furniture" means any item of furniture, that 8 consists, in whole or in part, of leather, plastic, fabric or other 9 material that contains cotton, wool, polyurethane or other natural or 10 synthetic material that is placed in cushions or on the frame of the 11 furniture. 12 13. "Upholstered or reupholstered furniture component" means the sepa- 13 rate constituent parts of upholstered furniture, specifically cover 14 fabrics, barrier materials, resilient filling materials, and decking 15 materials. 16 § 37-1003. Furniture and mattresses. 17 1. Beginning January first, two thousand twenty-four, no person shall 18 sell or offer for sale in the state of New York any new, not previously 19 owned, upholstered furniture or mattress, that contains, or a constitu- 20 ent component of which contains, any intentionally added covered flame 21 retardant chemical, individually or in combination. 22 2. Beginning January first, two thousand twenty-three, a custom uphol- 23 sterer in the state of New York shall not repair, reupholster, re-cover, 24 restore, or renew upholstered furniture or reupholstered furniture using 25 replacement components that contain any intentionally added covered 26 flame retardant chemical, individually or in combination. 27 § 37-1005. Exemptions. 28 The prohibitions in section 37-1003 of this title shall not apply to 29 the following: 30 1. Electronic components of mattresses, reupholstered furniture, or 31 upholstered furniture, or any associated casing for such electronic 32 components. 33 2. Upholstered or reupholstered furniture components other than those 34 identified in subdivision seven of section 37-1001 of this title. 35 3. Thread or fiber when used for stitching mattress components togeth- 36 er. 37 4. The natural fibers wool, silk, and other animal fibers whether used 38 singly or in combination with other materials. 39 5. Textiles made using modacrylic fiber components without antimony 40 trioxide when used internally as a barrier material in a memory foam or 41 gel foam mattress or aramid fibers when used in the fabric that covers 42 the bottom (non-sleep surface) of a mattress that has a sleeping surface 43 on only one side of the mattress. This exemption shall expire on January 44 first, two thousand twenty-six. 45 § 37-1007. Electronic display. 46 Beginning January first, two thousand twenty-four, no person shall 47 sell or offer for sale in the state of New York any electronic display 48 that contains an intentionally added organohalogen flame retardant chem- 49 ical in the enclosure or stand of such electronic display. 50 § 37-1009. Reporting. 51 1. For the purposes of this section, "manufacturer" shall mean a 52 person who: (a) assembles or substantially assembles electronic displays 53 for sale in the state; (b) manufactures electronic displays, under its 54 own brand name or under any other brand name, for sale in the state; (c) 55 sells, under its own brand name, electronic displays in the state; (d) 56 owns a brand name that it licenses to another person for use on elec-A. 5418--B 4 1 tronic displays sold in the state; (e) imports electronic displays for 2 sale in the state; or (f) manufactures electronic displays for sale in 3 the state without affixing a brand name. 4 2. Beginning one year after the effective date of this title, no elec- 5 tronic display shall be sold in the state unless the manufacturer has 6 submitted an annual report to the department identifying all of the 7 flame retardants used in the enclosure or stand of the electronic 8 display in a form determined by the department. 9 § 37-1011. Severability. 10 If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or part of 11 this act shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be 12 invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the 13 remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, 14 sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or part thereof directly 15 involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been 16 rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of the legislature that 17 this act would have been enacted even if such invalid provisions had not 18 been included herein. 19 § 37-1013. Regulations. 20 The department may adopt any rules and regulations it deems necessary 21 to implement the provisions of this title. 22 § 3. Section 71-3703 of the environmental conservation law is amended 23 by adding a new subdivision 5 to read as follows: 24 5. Any person who violates any of the provisions of or who fails to 25 perform any duty imposed by sections 37-1003 and 37-1007 of this chapter 26 or any rule or regulation promulgated pursuant hereto, shall be liable 27 for a civil penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars for each day 28 during which such violation continues, and in addition thereto, such 29 person may be enjoined from continuing such violation. Such person shall 30 for a second violation be liable to the people of the state for a civil 31 penalty not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars for each day 32 during which such violation continues. 33 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.