I 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4233
To provide for comprehensive fire safety standards for upholstered furniture, 
mattresses, bedclothing, and candles. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 28, 2004
Mrs. CAPITO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To provide for comprehensive fire safety standards for 
upholstered furniture, mattresses, bedclothing, and candles.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Home Fire 
Safety Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find-
ings:
(1) There were 12,800 candle fires in 1998, re-
sulting in 170 deaths, 1,200 civilian injuries, and 
$174,600,000 in property damage. 
(2) In 1998, mattress and bedding fires caused 
410 
deaths, 
2,260 
civilian 
injuries, 
and 
$255,400,000 in property damage. 
(3) The United States mattress industry has a 
long history of working closely with safety officials 
to reduce mattress flammability. For the past 25 
years, mattresses have been subject to a Federal 
flammability standard that requires mattresses to 
resist ignition by smoldering cigarettes. 
(4) Nevertheless, in 1998, fires involving mat-
tresses and bedding accessories (which include pil-
lows, comforters, and bedspreads) caused 410 
deaths, 2,260 civilian injuries, and $255,400,000 in 
property damage. 
(5) In many such fires, the bedding accessories 
are the first products to ignite. Such products have 
a material impact on the fire’s intensity, duration, 
and the risk that the fire will spread beyond the 
room of origin. 
(6) Upholstered furniture fires were responsible 
for 520 deaths in 1998, with little statistical change 
in the number of fires and deaths since 1994.
(7) While the fire death rates for upholstered 
furniture fires have dropped during the period 1982 
through 1994 for both California and the entire Na-
tion, death rates in California, which has stricter 
standards, have dropped by a larger percentage than 
the nation as a whole. 
(8) Children, the elderly, and lower income fam-
ilies are at higher risk of death and injury from up-
holstered furniture fires caused primarily by the in-
creasing incidents of children playing with matches, 
candles, lighters, or other small open flames. 
(9) In view of the increased incidents of fire, it 
is important for Congress to establish fire safety 
standards for candles, mattresses, bed clothing, and 
upholstered furniture. 
(10) The Consumer Product Safety Commission 
is the appropriate agency to develop and enforce 
such standards. 
(11) The Environmental Protection Agency 
should continue to review and determine the suit-
ability of any materials used to meet any fire safety 
standard established as a result of this Act. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to protect the public against death and in-
jury from fires associated with candles, mattresses, 
bed clothing, and upholstered furniture; and 
(2) to require the Consumer Product Safety 
Commission to develop and issue comprehensive uni-
form safety standards to reduce the flammability of 
candles, mattresses, bed clothing, and upholstered 
furniture. 
SEC. 3. CONSUMER PRODUCT FIRE SAFETY STANDARDS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Within 90 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Consumer Product Safety Com-
mission shall promulgate, as final consumer product safety 
standards under section 9 of the Consumer Product Safety 
Act (15 U.S.C. 2058), the following fire safety standards: 
(1) UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE.—A fire safety 
standard for upholstered furniture that is substan-
tially the same as the provisions of Technical Bul-
letin 117, ‘‘Requirements, Test Procedure and Appa-
ratus for Testing the Flame and Smolder Resistance 
of Upholstered Furniture’’, published by the State of 
California, Department of Consumer Affairs, Bureau 
of Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation, Feb-
ruary 2002. 
(2) MATTRESSES.—A fire safety standard for 
mattresses that is substantially the same as Tech-
nical Bulletin 603, ‘‘Requirements and Test Proce-
dure for Resistance of a Residential Mattress/Box 
Spring Set to a Large Open Flame’’, published by 
the State of California, Department of Consumer 
Affairs, Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal 
Insulation, February 2003. 
(3) BEDCLOTHING.—A fire safety standard for 
bedclothing that is substantially the same as the Oc-
tober 22, 2003, draft for task force review of Tech-
nical Bulletin 604, ‘‘Test Procedure and Apparatus 
for the Flame Resistance of Filled Bedclothing’’, 
published by the State of California, Department of 
Consumer Affairs, Bureau of Home Furnishings and 
Thermal Insulation, October, 2003. 
(4) CANDLES.—A fire safety standard for can-
dles that is substantially the same as Provisional 
Standard PS 59–02, ‘‘Provisional Specification for 
Fire Safety for Candles’’, ASTM International, as 
that provisional standard existed on the date of en-
actment of this Act. 
(b) APPLICATION OF CERTAIN PROMULGATION RE-
QUIREMENTS.—The requirements of subsections (a) 
through (f) of section 9 of the Consumer Product Safety 
Act (15 U.S.C. 2058), and section 36 of that Act (15 
U.S.C. 2083), do not apply to the consumer product safety
standards required to be promulgated by subsection (a) 
of this section.
Æ