Share this on

CPSC is working diligently

By David Perry -- Furniture Today, February 22, 2004

NORTHBROOK, Ill. — NORTHBROOK, Ill. — The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is working hard to establish a national standard on open-flame mattress flammability, a CPSC official said here.

"We are working diligently and as fast as we can," said Allyson Tenney, a textile technologist with CPSC. "We hope to get a briefing package together by this summer."

The briefing package is the next key step in CPSC's rule-making on mattress flammability.

There is no deadline governing CPSC's work. And CPSC Chairman Hal Stratton has been clear that he doesn't want to commit the commission to a rule-making deadline on mattress flammability. He, like Tenney, has said CPSC is moving as fast as it can on the issue.

California begins enforcing its new mattress flammability law on Jan. 1, 2005. When a federal standard is issued, it will pre-empt the California standard.

Gordon Damant, a leading expert on mattress flammability and a technical consultant to the Sleep Products Safety Council, an industry group, doesn't see CPSC enacting a federal open-flame mattress flammability standard any earlier than January 2006.

There's no timetable for CPSC to address the issue, Damant said. "They are on their own timetable. It's been very frustrating."

In remarks prepared for the Shoptalk: Flammability seminar here, Tenney offered an outline of CPSC's three-step rule-making process, but gave no indication when a federal standard could be implemented.

The first step, the Advance Notice of Proposed Rule-making, or ANPR, was issued in October 2001. The second step is the Notice of Proposed Rule-making, or NPR, with a public comment period. The third is issuing the Final Rule, with a date when manufacturers and importers must comply, usually one year after publication.

Tenney said the CPSC staff is preparing a decision package for the commission's consideration that will:

Respond to the ANPR comments.
Include the draft of a proposed standard for mattresses, the NPR.
Provide support for the standard, including a preliminary regulatory analysis.

CPSC's draft standard will be based on the test method used in California. The "criteria, test duration and other requirements (will be) based on effectiveness, cost/benefit (analysis) and enforcement needs," she said. The briefing package "is scheduled to go to CPSC management later this year."

Damant said CPSC "certainly seems to have bought into" the burn test being used by California. "What is uncertain is if CPSC will choose the same pass/fail criteria," he said. California has a two-burner, 30-minute test in which the peak heat release rate cannot exceed 200 kilowatts, or 25 megajoules in the first 10 minutes.

Share this on

Wait on federal FR rules may be longer than hoped

Feb 12, 2006

ISPA says FR mattress standard not likely until 2007

Mar 10, 2005

CPSC staff proposes mattress FR rules take effect July'07

Jan 19, 2006

U.S. proposes 30-minute mattress burn test

Nov 21, 2004

Industry reacts to proposed CPSC FR standards

Nov 3, 2004

Also by this author

Also by David Perry

Featured Company

Brandwise Inc.

Brandwise serves a model - not just an industry - by integrating, automating, and optimizing the entire sales channel, from wholesale Suppliers to their Reps and the Retailers they service. In short, our software helps Reps and Suppliers sell more and create... more

Related Resources

Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market

Here is a selection of products shown at this month's International Gift & Home Furnishings Market here.

Networking at the 13th annual F/T Leadership Conference

NAPLES, Fla. — Industry executives and guests took the opportunity to network and play golf during down time at Furniture/Today's 13th annual Leadership Conference here this month.