Upholstery rules still under discussion
By Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, January 23, 2005
High Point — The upholstered furniture industry was heading toward the end of a 30-year effort to enact national flammability rules, but last-minute changes by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission have put the issue in limbo.
Industry groups had agreed to support a law in which fabrics would have to withstand a five-second open flame test, foam would meet the requirements of California's proposed Technical Bulletin 117-plus, and polyester cushion wraps would meet the same stringent open flame requirements used in the United Kingdom. As an alternate to fire-resistant fabric, a flame-blocking barrier material also could be used. Both small open flame and cigarette sources are addressed.
But the CPSC staff has now said that it recommends eliminating tests for fabric, but wants tougher requirements for foam than contained in the proposed TB 117-plus. In addition, the staff also wants to regulate all blown polyester fill, particularly where it's used in horizontal cushions.
The industry-supported proposal had brought together such groups as the American Home Furnishings Alliance, the Polyurethane Foam Assn., the American Fire Safety Council, textile groups and others involved in seating materials and technology.
Even the original petitioner, the National Assn. of State Fire Marshals (NASFM), said in December that it could live with the industry's proposals since they were stronger than the decades-old voluntary rules adopted by the Upholstered Furniture Action Council.
In response to NASFM's petition, the furniture industry had thrown its support behind a national standard to avoid dealing with a hodgepodge of state rules, including stringent regulations in California.
"Every group that would bear the burden of complying with regulations supported this approach," said Russ Batson, the AHFA's vice president of governmental affairs.
He added, "We basically handed the agency a golden opportunity to get this done and not have it challenged in court. That can happen with regulations and it can tie them up for years. We just assumed that they would do the rational thing, but I guess you can never assume that about anybody."
What baffles industry representatives is that current proposals formulated by the CPSC are different from rules that the agency staff proposed earlier.
"All of these things were perplexing, particularly in light of the stance the agency had taken," said Batson.
In 2001 and 1997 briefing packages submitted by the CPSC staff, emphasis was on fabric with no requirements for filling materials.
"There were very definitive statements in those briefing packages saying that the staff finds the primary determinate of open flame performance of upholstery materials is the outer fabric. Cushioning materials are less important."
When Dale Ray, CPSC project manager, presented the new recommendations late last year, "Everyone in the audience was befuddled," said Batson.
Representatives from some of the fire-resistant chemical companies couldn't believe that the proposals ignored fabric; and foamers contended their products would all have to meet the tough United Kingdom standard.
"With all this feedback flowing back to the agency, it's our understanding that the senior levels of the agency, the chief of staff, the counsel and so on, called the career staff in and asked them to take another look at what they were doing and see if they could find common cause with the stakeholders a little better," said Batson.
Batson said the CPSC staff has now modified its foam test to meet the less stringent California standard. He thinks there also will be more discussion on whether there should be an open flame fabric test.
Batson and CPSC spokesman Ken Giles think that final recommendations will be sent on to the commission for passage this year. Everyone is in agreement about foam requirements, so the task is to convince the CPSC that FR fabric is a more important safety element than batting.
And with national flammability standards for mattresses now proposed, the CPSC can concentrate on furniture. CPSC Chairman Hal Stratton has said that FR laws for mattresses and furniture are among his top priorities.
"The only thing I can say is that we are continuing to do some technical work and we do expect to have a staff memo for the commissioners soon," said the CPSC's Giles.
Once the technical work is complete, all information about the proposed standard — engineering information, test methodology, pass-fail criteria, economic analysis, data analysis and staff recommendations —will be incorporated into a briefing package that goes to CPSC commissioners. That package becomes part of the Federal Register, open for public comment.
After the comment period, the package goes back to the CPSC commissioners for a vote, and is again published in the Federal Register as the final recommendation with an effective date coming afterwards.
Meanwhile, California's Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation is apparently taking a wait-and-see attitude to what's happening at the federal level, and is holding off on passage of the revised TB 117-plus until the matter is resolved. But Batson doesn't think California will stand down indefinitely.
"I think everyone has realized that this has been kicking around for 30 years and that a less than perfect approach is better than a continued approach to a perfect one," Batson noted.
-
Upholstery rules still under discussion
Jan 28, 2005
Featured Company
-
FurnitureCore.com
FurnitureCore.com is a dynamic web application aimed at the furniture industry. Retailers and manufacturers alike will find our deep reserve of tools to be exactly what their furniture business needs.www.furniturecore.com... more
VIEW ALL GALLERIES
