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California to begin writing flame rules

David Perry -- Furniture Today, February 2, 2003

North Highlands, Calif. — The California Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation said formal rulemaking on the state's new open-flame mattress flammability standards will begin on or about Feb. 11.

The bedding industry has been waiting for the standards since last fall, when they first were expected to be released. A January target date also has come and gone.

Producers are concerned the delays won't give them enough time to meet the date when the new standards go into effect — Jan. 1, 2004. It generally takes a year to bring out a national bedding line, they say.

The bureau, which is playing a leading role on the mattress flammability issue, told the Sleep Products Safety Council on Jan. 16 that it intends to propose that a burner developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, instead of the Technical Bulletin 129 T-burner, be used as the ignition source for California's residential open-flame mattress test standard.

The bedding industry favors use of the NIST burner.

Flame impingement times of 70 seconds for the top burner and 50 seconds for the side burner will be used, the bureau said.

"No decision has been made at this time regarding details of the test method, such as the actual pass-fail criteria to be applied, the duration of the test and other related issues," the bureau told SPSC. "These details will be provided when the formal rulemaking begins on or about Feb. 11. Licensees and other stakeholders will receive the rulemaking file notice by mail and it will be posted on the bureau's Web site (www.dca.ca.gov/bhfti), along with the actual test protocol."

After publication of the rulemaking file, stakeholders will have 45 days for formal comments on the proposal. Comments may be submitted to the bureau by mail, fax or e-mail, or presented orally at public hearings set for April 22 in San Francisco and April 24 in the Los Angeles area.

A separate rulemaking addressing the flammability of bedclothes or top-of-the-bed textiles will open in April, the bureau said.

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