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Read. Follow. Verify.Georgia House Bill 9 bans specific chemical flame retardants in consumer products starting in 2026
Last action · January 15, 2025: House Second ReadersSponsors: Kim Schofield and 4 others
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What This Bill Proposed
Beginning January 1, 2026, manufacturers and retailers are prohibited from selling, distributing, or importing bedding, carpeting, children's products, residential upholstered furniture, and window treatments in Georgia that contain specific chemical flame retardants exceeding 1,000 parts per million. The Office of Safety Fire Commissioner is tasked with reviewing and identifying additional harmful chemicals every three years for future restriction.
- Chemical flame retardants are commonly added to commercial and residential materials to meet flammability standards, but several compounds have raised regulatory and health concerns due to their persistence and toxicity. context
- The Office of Safety Fire Commissioner operates within the state of Georgia to oversee safety regulations, inspections, and fire prevention mandates. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Manufacturers and Distributors
Must cease using listed chemical flame retardants above 1,000 parts per million in covered products, provide notice to retailers by January 1, 2026, and face civil penalties for noncompliance.
Retailers
Prohibited from selling, offering for sale, or distributing covered products containing restricted flame retardants above the specified threshold after January 1, 2026.
Office of Safety Fire Commissioner
Required to review toxic chemicals every three years, promulgate implementing rules and restrictions, and evaluate penalty waivers for good-faith compliance.
Consumers and Children
Experience changes in chemical safety standards for household bedding, furniture, carpeting, and children's products purchased in the state.
Key Facts
- Beginning January 1, 2026, manufacturers and retailers are barred from selling, offering for sale, distributing, or importing covered products containing specific prohibited chemical flame retardants above a total weight of 1,000 parts per million.
- Covered products under the restriction include bedding, carpeting, children's products, residential upholstered furniture, and window treatments.
- Inventory manufactured prior to January 1, 2026, or products containing prohibited flame retardants due to recycled materials are exempt from the ban.
- Previously owned covered products, motor vehicles, watercraft, aircraft, all-terrain vehicles, and off-highway motorcycles are exempt from the legislation.
Show all 10 facts
- By January 1, 2026, manufacturers of covered products containing any amount of a prohibited flame retardant must notify retailers and sellers.
- The Office of Safety Fire Commissioner must review, identify, and recommend additional chemical flame retardants every three years based on toxicity criteria.
- If an engineered nanoobject flame retardant is restricted by future rule, it is banned in any amount rather than the 1,000 parts per million threshold.
- Civil penalties for violations range from a maximum of $100 per covered product (capped at $5,000) for a first offense up to $1,000 per product (capped at $50,000) for third or subsequent offenses.
- Knowingly violating the restrictions incurs a civil penalty equal to three times the standard fine amount.
- Civil penalties are waived if the office determines the manufacturer or retailer acted in good faith, used due diligence, and promptly corrected the noncompliance.
Frequently Asked Questions
What products are covered under the flame retardant ban?
Are children's electronics and batteries included in the ban?
What are the penalties for businesses that violate the law?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · introduced in the House.
Procedural history
3 actions- Jan 15, 2025HouseHouse Second Readers
- Jan 14, 2025HouseIntroducedHouse First Readers
- Jan 13, 2025HouseIntroducedHouse Hopper
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Establishment of State-Level Chemical Bans
The bill creates a comprehensive statutory framework under Title 25 to actively phase out specified chemical flame retardants and mandates a triennial review process by the Office of Safety Fire Commissioner for future bans.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legis.ga.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 75)
- Controversy45Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz30Current news / social attention level
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