CPSC re-examines upholstered furniture issue.

A new briefing package on a possible rule covering risks associated with the flammability of upholstered furniture was sent to the CPSC Commissioners in July.

Efforts to establish a federal rule to reduce the risk of fire resulting from cigarette or small open flame ignition of upholstered furniture date back to 1973 and the establishment of CPSC. CPSC issued its first notice of intent to regulate in 1976.

Since that time, there have been thousands of man-hours and thousands of tax dollars spent on studying and testing ways to make upholstered furniture flame resistant.

The Commission had been considering a petition on upholstered furniture filed by the National Association of State Fire Marshals, but that petition has since been withdrawn.

For most of the past thirty years, industry groups steadfastly opposed federal intrusion into the manufacturing process. The American Furniture Manufacturers' Association (AFMA) was one of the strongest opponents of federal government action.

Meanwhile, industry had to manufacture products for sale in California to conform to a state standard, Technical Bulletin 117. California is currently updating that standard and a few other states are considering adopting similar rules.

At CPSC's June 2002 public meeting on upholstered furniture issues, several industry groups supported the concept of a federal regulation, mainly to pre-empt more onerous state regulation.

In May of this year, in a letter to the Commission, AFMA stated its support for a "uniform federal standard" to assure compliance among all manufacturers and importers, and to pre-empt conflicting state law.

In a similar vein, a group of six upholstery fabric manufacturers, calling themselves the "Fabric Coalition" also wrote in a letter to Chairman Stratton that they supported a national mandatory rule.

AFMA recommends that CPSC examine its own UFAC (Upholstered Furniture Action Council) voluntary standard covering cigarette ignition of furniture as a possible basis for a federal rule.

The Fabric Coalition, however, recommends adoption of a rule similar to California's TB 117, to cover small open flame hazards. The Fabric Coalition cited requirements for furniture components, including polyurethane foam and other filling materials, not just fabrics and barrier materials.

AFMA reportedly is concerned about pending revisions to the California standard that may require more stringent and therefore more expensive testing of products. It is estimated that more than 85 percent of furniture manufactured in this country conforms to the UFAC standard. Staff also states in the briefing package that "the prevalence of cigarette ignition resistant furniture, independent of UFAC affiliation, is also high (over 80 percent)."

Staff confirms that conformity to the UFAC standard has definitely "contributed" to the reduction in upholstered furniture fires. (1)

But AFMA says more furniture imports that do not comply with the voluntary standard are coming into the country.

The staff has not actually proposed a new rule at this point. Previous briefing packages in February 2003, October 2001, October 1997, and April 1994, provide data on which a rule could be based. Instead, the staff is asking that the Commission decide to issue yet another Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR).

In effect, should the Commission decide to go forward with an ANPR, the whole regulatory process could begin anew.

This time, however, with more support for a mandatory rule among affected industries, there is a greater likelihood that a rule would be promulgated in the end.

The staff packages make it clear that cigarette-ignited fire deaths have declined about 70 percent over the past twenty years. But, they say, the decline may be leveling off and that the number of deaths is still too large. (2)

The price of furniture sold in the United States would surely increase if such a rule becomes law. Look for the Commission to set a date for a briefing on the issue in late September.

(1) "Cigarette Ignition of Upholstered Furniture," Commission Options, July 2003, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Bethesda, MD.

(2) Ibid.