Bill Text: CA AB1411 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Fire protection: type 1 clothes dryers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2015-10-06 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 530, Statutes of 2015. [AB1411 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB1411-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1411 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 530
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 6, 2015
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 6, 2015
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 1, 2015
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 3, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 8, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 1, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 14, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Eduardo Garcia
FEBRUARY 27, 2015
An act to add and repeal Section 13113.95 of the Health and Safety
Code, relating to fire protection.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1411, Eduardo Garcia. Fire protection: type 1 clothes dryers.
Existing law establishes the Office of the State Fire Marshal in
the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and requires the
office to foster, promote, and develop ways and means of protecting
life and property against fire and panic. Existing law requires the
State Fire Marshal to adopt regulations and standards necessary to
control the quality and installation of fire alarm systems and
devices marketed, distributed, offered for sale, or sold in this
state.
This bill would require, on or before December 31, 2016, the State
Fire Marshal to work with fire service entities, the appliance
industry, disability advocates, and related stakeholders to
accomplish certain things, including gathering information, and
providing findings and recommendations to the Legislature, regarding
fires related to type 1 clothes dryers, as defined, and the dangers
of excessive lint.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Fire safety experts identify excess dryer lint as a potential
contributing factor in residential fires in California each year.
A 2011 report released by the United States Consumer Product
Safety Commission identified fires originating in dryers as nearly 5
percent of all residential fires occurring annually in the country.
Some experts believe that this number is grossly underestimated,
however, because nearly one-half of all fires that originate in
dryers are identified as "electrical fires" rather than being
reported as fires that began in dryers. It is more likely that 10
percent of all national home fires begin in washers and dryers.
(b) The National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA) reported that
in 2006-2010, there were 16,950 home structure fires per year
reported to fire departments throughout the country where clothes
dryers or washing machines were the equipment involved in ignition,
with associated annual losses of 34 civilian deaths, 430 civilian
injuries, and $209 million in direct property damage. Dryers alone
accounted for 92 percent of these fires and 87 percent of the
reported deaths. The leading factor contributing to ignition was
failure to clean out the lint buildup.
(c) Across the United States, nearly 70 percent of households own
or have access to a clothes dryer. These appliances are relied upon
and are used largely without incident. Clothes dryer manufacturers
have continually worked to improve safety standards based on new
innovations, including work on a recent fire containment standard,
and will continue to do so to reduce potential risks and further
improve consumer safety.
(d) The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) has
developed a clothes dryer safety brochure titled "Helpful hints for
using your clothes dryer safely and effectively," which has been
distributed to more than one million appliance owners in the United
States. AHAM makes this important resource available to fire
educators and consumers for free.
(e) Lint is a fire hazard. The UL standard, UL2158, specifies in
Section 7.1.2. relating to appliance marking, that an appliance shall
be permanently marked as follows:
(1) At or near the exhaust opening of the appliance with the word
"CAUTION" and the following statement or the equivalent:
"Risk of Fire. A clothes dryer produces combustible lint. The
dryer must be connected to an exhaust to the outdoors. See
Installation Instructions."
(2) On a surface readily visible to the user after installation of
the appliance with the word "CAUTION" and the following statement or
the equivalent:
"Risk of Fire. A clothes dryer produces combustible lint."
(f) Technology may exist today that could indirectly monitor the
buildup of highly combustible lint in some locations inside the
dryer, and alert consumers when the technology predicts the
accumulation reaches dangerous levels and the dryer interior requires
servicing. Unfortunately, no regulations or standards currently
exist regarding clothes dryers and the notification of the user when
dangerous and excessive lint has built up in a clothes dryer.
(g) If standards for excessive lint notification systems in
clothes dryers are established, it is the intent of the Legislature
to encourage the adoption of the standards and encourage that all
dryers sold in California conform to those standards.
SEC. 2. Section 13113.95 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
13113.95. (a) On or before December 31, 2016, the State Fire
Marshal shall work with fire service entities, the appliance
industry, disability advocates, and related stakeholders to
accomplish all of the following:
(1) Gather information regarding type 1 clothes dryer-related
fires and the dangers of excessive lint.
(2) Provide findings and recommendations to the Legislature,
pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code, regarding the
information gathered pursuant to paragraph (1).
(3) Encourage the appropriate clothes dryer fire prevention
standard setting entity to amend an appropriate voluntary national
safety standard to improve fire safety, and to include provisions
based on any recommendations pursuant to paragraph (2) that will
reduce the likelihood of lint-related clothes dryer fires.
(b) For purposes of this section, "type 1 clothes dryer" means an
appliance used in a residential living environment, including one
that is coin-operated for public use in a residential living
environment. "Type 1 clothes dryer" does not include dryers used for
commercial purposes.
(c) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2017, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2017, deletes or extends
that date.
