Add Art 37 Title 10 §§37-1001 - 37-1013, amd §71-3703, En Con L
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.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4630--B
Cal. No. 978
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 8, 2021
___________
Introduced by Sens. KAMINSKY, HARCKHAM, BAILEY, BIAGGI, BOYLE, BRISPORT,
BROOKS, COMRIE, GAUGHRAN, HINCHEY, HOYLMAN, KAPLAN, KAVANAGH, KRUEGER,
LIU, MAY, MYRIE, PERSAUD, RAMOS, RIVERA, SEPULVEDA, SERRANO, SKOUFIS,
STAVISKY, THOMAS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed
to be committed to the Committee on Environmental Conservation --
committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee -- reported favorably from said commit-
tee, ordered to first and second report, ordered to a third reading,
amended and ordered reprinted, retaining its place in the order of
third reading
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.
15 § 37-1001. Definitions.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06757-07-1
S. 4630--B 2
1 As used in this title:
2 1. "Consumer product" means any product that is regularly used or
3 purchased to be used for personal, family or household purposes. Consum-
4 er product shall not mean: (a) a food or beverage or an additive to a
5 food or beverage regulated by the United States Food and Drug Adminis-
6 tration; or (b) a drug, biologic or medical device regulated by the
7 United States Food and Drug Administration.
8 2. "Covered flame retardant chemical" means any chemical that meets
9 both of the following criteria:
10 (a) A functional use for the chemical is to resist or inhibit the
11 spread of fire or as a synergist to chemicals that resist or inhibit the
12 spread of fire; and
13 (b) The chemical is one of the following: a halogenated, organophos-
14 phorus, organonitrogen, or nanoscale chemical. As used in this title:
15 (i) "Halogenated chemical" is any chemical that contains one or more
16 halogen elements, including fluorine, chlorine, bromine, or iodine.
17 (ii) "Organophosphorus chemical" is any chemical that contains one or
18 more carbon elements and one or more phosphorus elements.
19 (iii) "Organonitrogen chemical" is any chemical that contains one or
20 more carbon elements and one or more nitrogen elements.
21 3. "Custom upholsterer" means a person who, either by himself or
22 herself or through employees or agents, repairs, reupholsters, recovers,
23 restores, or renews upholstered furniture, or who makes to order and
24 specification of the user any article of upholstered residential furni-
25 ture, using either new materials or owner's materials.
26 4. "Electronic display" means a consumer product with a display screen
27 and associated electronics that, as its primary function, displays visu-
28 al information from wired or wireless sources and is available for
29 purchase by individuals or households for personal use in a residential
30 space. Electronic display shall not include: (a) any electronic display
31 with a screen area smaller than or equal to one hundred square centime-
32 ters or fifteen and one-half square inches; (b) projectors; (c) virtual
33 reality headsets; (d) all-in-one video conference systems; or (e)
34 displays that are integrated with appliances and are not available for
35 purchase as separate products by end-users.
36 5. "Gel foam mattress" means a mattress in which interior foam layers
37 are composed of polyurethane foam or latex foam which has a polyure-
38 thane-based gel material either mixed with the foam or applied to the
39 outer surface of polyurethane or latex foam, or a mattress in which the
40 core or padding layers are composed solely of gel material.
41 6. "Intentionally added" shall have the same meaning as "intentionally
42 added chemical" in subdivision eleven of section 37-0901 of this arti-
43 cle.
44 7. "Mattress" means a ticking filled with a resilient material used
45 alone or in combination with other products intended or promoted for
46 sleeping upon.
47 8. "Memory foam mattress" means a mattress which contains interior
48 layers of foam composed of viscoelastic polyurethane foam or low-resis-
49 tance polyurethane foam.
50 9. "Organohalogen flame retardant chemical" means a chemical that
51 contains one or more halogen elements, including fluorine, chlorine,
52 bromine, or iodine, bonded to carbon.
53 10. "Reupholstered furniture" means furniture whose original fabric,
54 padding, decking, barrier material, foam, or other resilient filling has
55 been replaced by a custom upholsterer, that has not been sold since the
56 time of the replacement.
S. 4630--B 3
1 11. "Ticking" means the outermost layer of fabric or related material
2 that encloses the core and upholstery materials of a mattress or
3 mattress pad. A mattress ticking may consist of several layers of fabric
4 or related materials quilted together.
5 12. "Upholstered furniture" means any item of furniture, that
6 consists, in whole or in part, of leather, plastic, fabric or other
7 material that contains cotton, wool, polyurethane or other natural or
8 synthetic material that is placed in cushions or on the frame of the
9 furniture.
10 13. "Upholstered or reupholstered furniture component" means the sepa-
11 rate constituent parts of upholstered furniture, specifically cover
12 fabrics, barrier materials, resilient filling materials, and decking
13 materials.
14 § 37-1003. Furniture and mattresses.
15 1. Beginning January first, two thousand twenty-four, no person shall
16 sell or offer for sale in the state of New York any new, not previously
17 owned, upholstered furniture or mattress, that contains, or a constitu-
18 ent component of which contains, any intentionally added covered flame
19 retardant chemical, individually or in combination.
20 2. Beginning January first, two thousand twenty-three, a custom uphol-
21 sterer in the state of New York shall not repair, reupholster, re-cover,
22 restore, or renew upholstered furniture or reupholstered furniture using
23 replacement components that contain any intentionally added covered
24 flame retardant chemical, individually or in combination.
25 § 37-1005. Exemptions.
26 The prohibitions in section 37-1003 of this title shall not apply to
27 the following:
28 1. Electronic components of mattresses, reupholstered furniture, or
29 upholstered furniture, or any associated casing for such electronic
30 components.
31 2. Upholstered or reupholstered furniture components other than those
32 identified in subdivision seven of section 37-1001 of this title.
33 3. Thread or fiber when used for stitching mattress components togeth-
34 er.
35 4. The natural fibers wool, silk, and other animal fibers whether used
36 singly or in combination with other materials.
37 5. Textiles made using modacrylic fiber components without antimony
38 trioxide when used internally as a barrier material in a memory foam or
39 gel foam mattress or aramid fibers when used in the fabric that covers
40 the bottom (non-sleep surface) of a mattress that has a sleeping surface
41 on only one side of the mattress. This exemption shall expire on January
42 first, two thousand twenty-six.
43 § 37-1007. Electronic display.
44 Beginning January first, two thousand twenty-four, no person shall
45 sell or offer for sale in the state of New York any electronic display
46 that contains an intentionally added organohalogen flame retardant chem-
47 ical in the enclosure or stand of such electronic display.
48 § 37-1009. Reporting.
49 1. For the purposes of this section, "manufacturer" shall mean a
50 person who: (a) assembles or substantially assembles electronic displays
51 for sale in the state; (b) manufactures electronic displays, under its
52 own brand name or under any other brand name, for sale in the state; (c)
53 sells, under its own brand name, electronic displays in the state; (d)
54 owns a brand name that it licenses to another person for use on elec-
55 tronic displays sold in the state; (e) imports electronic displays for
S. 4630--B 4
1 sale in the state; or (f) manufactures electronic displays for sale in
2 the state without affixing a brand name.
3 2. Beginning one year after the effective date of this title, no elec-
4 tronic display shall be sold in the state unless the manufacturer has
5 submitted an annual report to the department identifying all of the
6 flame retardants used in the enclosure or stand of the electronic
7 display in a form determined by the department.
8 § 37-1011. Severability.
9 If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or part of
10 this act shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be
11 invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the
12 remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to the clause,
13 sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or part thereof directly
14 involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been
15 rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of the legislature that
16 this act would have been enacted even if such invalid provisions had not
17 been included herein.
18 § 37-1013. Regulations.
19 The department may adopt any rules and regulations it deems necessary
20 to implement the provisions of this title.
21 § 3. Section 71-3703 of the environmental conservation law is amended
22 by adding a new subdivision 5 to read as follows:
23 5. Any person who violates any of the provisions of or who fails to
24 perform any duty imposed by sections 37-1003 and 37-1007 of this chapter
25 or any rule or regulation promulgated pursuant hereto, shall be liable
26 for a civil penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars for each day
27 during which such violation continues, and in addition thereto, such
28 person may be enjoined from continuing such violation. Such person shall
29 for a second violation be liable to the people of the state for a civil
30 penalty not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars for each day
31 during which such violation continues.
32 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
