BILL NUMBER: AB 282	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 1, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 1, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 22, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 26, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Eggman

                        FEBRUARY 11, 2015

   An act to add Chapter 35 (commencing with Section 22948.8) to
Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, and to add Sections
1503.3 and 1596.848 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to window
coverings.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 282, as amended, Eggman. Corded window coverings.
   Existing law generally regulates various business activities and
practices, including the sale  of cordless telephones
 within the state  of cribs and bunk beds intended for
use by children  .
   This bill would, beginning January 1, 2018, make it unlawful to
sell to a purchaser located in the state a corded window covering.
The bill would define "corded window covering" as a window covering,
including, but not limited to, blinds, curtains, draperies, and
shades, that has an accessible cord, and would define "accessible
cord" as any cord determined to be accessible pursuant to the 2012
American National Standard for Safety of Corded Window Covering
Products adopted by the United States Consumer Product Safety
Commission and any successor standards.
   Existing law provides for the licensing and regulation of
community care facilities, including, among others, residential
facilities, foster family homes, certified family homes, and group
homes by the State Department of Social Services. Existing law also
provides for the licensing and regulation of child day care
facilities by the department. A person who violates a law relating to
community care facilities, or who willfully or repeatedly violates a
law relating to child day care facilities, is guilty of a
misdemeanor.
   This bill would prohibit a community care facility or child day
care facility that serves children under 6 years of age from
installing a corded window covering in the facility. The bill would
also require those facilities to remove all corded window coverings
or retrofit the corded window coverings as soon as is reasonably
possible with repair kits, as specified, by January 1, 2019. The bill
would also authorize the department to require those facilities to
replace existing corded window coverings, as specified, if a person
or facility fails to comply with the above provisions. By expanding
the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local
program.  The bill would also make related findings and
declarations. 
   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.    (a)     The 
 Legislature finds and declares all of the following:  
   (1) Accessible window covering cords present a significant risk of
injury, particularly strangulation, to young children.  
   (2) The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission
identified window coverings as one of the top five hidden home
hazards in the country.  
   (3) The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission's
National Electronic Injury Surveillance System demonstrates that
nationwide from 1996 through 2012, an estimated 1,590 children were
treated for injuries resulting from entanglements on window covering
cords.  
   (4) The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission has
recorded 184 reported fatal strangulations nationwide from 1996
through 2012 involving window covering cords among children eight
years and younger.  
   (5) Of the 249 window covering cord incidents the United States
Consumer Product Safety Commission investigated from 1996 through
2012, they determined that 57 percent of the incidents would not have
been effectively prevented by the voluntary standards published by
the American National Standards Institute and Window Covering
Manufacturers Association.  
   (6) For more than a decade, manufacturers have been producing safe
window coverings designed to eliminate accessible, hazardous cords
that currently represent 20 to 25 percent of the market.  
   (b) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to
protect children from the preventable strangulation hazard posed by
cords on window coverings by adopting standards that provide for
safer window coverings in California. 
   SECTION 1.   SEC. 2.   Chapter 35
(commencing with Section 22948.8) is added to Division 8 of the
Business and Professions Code, to read:
      CHAPTER 35.  CORDED WINDOW COVERINGS


   22948.8.  For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall
have the following meanings:
   (a) "Accessible cord" means any cord determined to be accessible
pursuant to the 2012 American National Standard for Safety of Corded
Window Covering Products adopted by the United States Consumer
Product Safety Commission consistent with the procedures under the
federal Consumer Product Safety Act (Public Law 92-573) and any
successor standards.
   (b) "Corded window covering" means a window covering, including,
but not limited to, blinds, curtains, draperies, and shades, that has
an accessible cord.
   22948.9.  It is unlawful to sell to a purchaser located in this
state a window covering that does not meet the requirements of the
2012 American National Standard for Safety of Corded Window Covering
Products adopted by the United States Consumer Product Safety
Commission consistent with the procedures under the federal Consumer
Product Safety Act (Public Law 92-573) and any successor standards.
   22949.  This chapter shall become operative on January 1, 2018.
   SEC. 2.   SEC. 3.   Section 1503.3 is
added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
   1503.3.  (a) For the purposes of this section, the terms
"accessible cord" and "corded window covering" have the same meaning
as in Section 22948.8 of the Business and Professions Code.
   (b) A facility licensed or certified pursuant to this chapter that
serves children under six years of age shall not install any corded
window covering in the facility.
   (c) By January 1, 2019, every facility licensed or certified
pursuant to this chapter that serves children under six years of age
shall remove all corded window coverings or retrofit the corded
window coverings as soon as is reasonably possible with repair kits
that are approved by either the United States Consumer Product Safety
Commission or the Window Covering Safety Council.
   (d) If a person or facility fails to comply with this section, the
department may require replacement of existing corded window
coverings with cordless window coverings that meet the requirements
of the 2012 American National Standard for Safety of Corded Window
Covering Products adopted by the United States Consumer Product
Safety Commission consistent with the procedures under the federal
Consumer Product Safety Act (Public Law 92-573) and any successor
standards.
   SEC. 3.   SEC. 4.   Section 1596.848 is
added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
   1596.848.  (a) For the purposes of this section, the terms
"accessible cord" and "corded window covering" have the same meaning
as in Section 22948.8 of the Business and Professions Code.
   (b) A child day care facility that serves children under six years
of age shall not install any corded window covering in the facility.

   (c) By January 1, 2019, a child day care facility that serves
children under six years of age shall remove all corded window
coverings or retrofit the corded window coverings as soon as is
reasonably possible with repair kits that are approved by either the
United States Consumer Product Safety Commission or the Window
Covering Safety Council.
   (d) If a person or facility fails to comply with this section, the
department may require replacement of existing corded window
coverings with cordless window coverings that meet the requirements
of the 2012 American National Standard for Safety of Corded Window
Covering Products adopted by the United States Consumer Product
Safety Commission consistent with the procedures under the federal
Consumer Product Safety Act (Public Law 92-573) and any successor
standards.
   SEC. 4.   SEC. 5.   No reimbursement is
required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B 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.