Washington, D.C. - Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today called for a federal flammability standard for upholstered furniture to finally be set.  In 1993, the National Association of State Fire Marshals petitioned the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to issue a mandatory federal standard covering upholstered furniture flammability.  Upholstered furniture is one of the most flammable items in U.S. homes and is the leading cause of residential fires and resulting deaths.  It only takes minutes for a sofa fire to set an entire living room ablaze. 

“Here we are, over 12 years later, with no flammability standard that will help mitigate these tragic events,” said CAGW President Tom Schatz.  “What we do have is the federal government’s usual inability to exert leadership and move forward.  It is always easier to do more studies than to make a decision.”

Earlier this month, CAGW, on behalf of its 1.2 million members and supporters, wrote Acting Chairman Nancy Nord of the CPSC and asked why there was a 12-year delay in promulgating a federal flammability standard for upholstered furniture. 

“We asked four simple questions and CPSC couldn’t answer any of them, except to say it was hard work to develop a standard to make upholstered furniture fire-resistant.  What we did get was a 3-inch high briefing book and the usual government response of blaming someone else for its inability to make a decision,” remarked Schatz.

In its reply to CAGW, the agency stated that the upholstered furniture industry has been unable to reach a consensus.  But, according to 2004 testimony by the American Furniture Manufacturers Association before the Senate Commerce, Science, & Transportation Committee, the industry had agreed to a framework for flammability requirements for furniture.  However, over two years after this consensus was reached, there is still no federal standard that upholstery manufacturers can follow to make their furniture resistant to fire.

“Unfortunately, millions of dollars continue to be wasted and countless lives lost because the CPSC can’t do its job,” Schatz concluded.  “A federal flammability standard must be enacted to finally counter these losses.”

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.