SB 772 Bill Text

SENATE BILL No. 772
Introduced by Senator Leno
February 27, 2009

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 20, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 14, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 5, 2009

An act to add Section 19161.4 to the Business and Professions Code, relating to home furnishings.

SB 772, as amended, Leno. Home furnishings: fire retardancy: juvenile products.

Existing law, the Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation Act, which establishes the Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation, requires that all seating furniture sold or offered for sale for use in this state be fire retardant, as defined, and requires all bedding products, other than mattresses and mattress sets, that the bureau determines to contribute to mattress bedding fires to comply with specified regulations adopted by the bureau. Existing law makes a violation of these provisions a crime.

This bill would exempt strollers, infant carriers, bassinets, and nursing pillows from those requirements, and would require products that do not meet those requirements to be labeled in a specified manner. The bill would authorize the bureau to modify this exemption if it determines
that any of the exempted products pose a serious fire hazard. Because a violation of the labeling requirement would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: majority.
Appropriation: no.
Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 19161.4 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:
19161.4. (a) The requirements of subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 19161 and the regulations adopted thereunder shall not apply to strollers, infant carriers, bassinets, or nursing pillows.
(b) A stroller, infant carrier, bassinet, or nursing pillow that does not comply with subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 19161 and the regulations adopted thereunder shall be labeled in a prominent
manner on both the product’s price tag exterior packaging and permanently on the product itself. This label shall indicate that the product has not been tested under California’s flammability
standard and may not resist open flame. (c) The bureau may, by regulation, modify the exemption provided under this section if the bureau determines that any of the products identified in subdivision (a) pose a serious fire hazard. (d) The exemption provided under this section shall not apply to products subject to Part 1633 of Title 16 of the Code of Federal
Regulations.

SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.