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Legal issue could stall Calif. flame regs

By David Perry -- Furniture Today, April 27, 2003

Diamond Bar, Calif. — A legal issue apparently has the potential to derail California's push to put new mattress flammability standards into effect on Jan. 1.

It appears that California officials will be required to file what one expert referred to as an "exemption from pre-emption" with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, since California wants to regulate a matter on which the CPSC has national authority.

The issue has given bedding industry players hope that California's proposed new standards will be stalled for some time.

Current and former California regulators have different views on how the issue might play out.

"We don't know if this will cause any delay in implementation," said Lynn Morris, chief of the California Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation. But she acknowledged that the issue is one that must be addressed.

Gordon Damant, a former Bureau chief and an authority on mattress flammability, said the issue could delay the implementation past Jan. 1.

"We don't know how long it would take CPSC to respond" to the request, said Damant. "This may be a de facto delay of the California standard."

He predicted it "could take three to five months" to resolve the issue in a process that may not be officially started until late this year, once California finalizes its proposed standards. That is expected to be about the middle of this November, according to Bureau officials.

The CPSC "has not worked at lightning speed on flammability issues," Damant noted.

But Morris said the CPSC will be encouraged to deal with the exemption issue promptly.

"There will be pressure from fire safety advocates put on CPSC to encourage facilitation of the exemption," she said.

CPSC is considering a new national mattress flammability standard, but probably would not be ready to implement one until at least 2005, experts predict.

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