Short answer: Since the flammability requirements in the state of California are changing, you probably can shop for a new couch which does not have flame-retardant chemicals next summer. The label TB-117-2013 on the product means that it meets the new requirements, though it does not guarantee that the product is free of flame-retardant chemicals.
Long answer: Current flammability regulations in the state of California (4 CA ADC § 1374, CALIFORNIA CODE OF REGULATIONS / TITLE 4. BUSINESS REGULATIONS / DIVISION 3. BUREAU OF HOME FURNISHINGS / ARTICLE 13. FLAMMABILITY REGULATIONS) which originally date back to 1975 require that:
(a) All filling materials contained in any article of upholstered
furniture, and all filling materials added to reupholstered furniture,
shall meet the test requirements as set forth in the State of
California, Bureau of Home Furnishings Technical Bulletin Number 117,
entitled “Requirements, Test Procedures and Apparatus for Testing the
Flame Retardance of Filling Materials Used in Upholstered Furniture,”
dated March 2000.
The tests require the material to be exposed for 12 seconds to a small, open flame. “[…] as a result, manufacturers throughout the nation have been adding brominated or chlorinated chemicals to the foam to slow the spread of flames.”* to meet the flammability regulations requirements. Although this was not a national regulation or law, it affected the national production.+
A draft for new flammability regulations was released in February 2013 which only requires the material to be exposed to smoldering objects during the tests and not to an open flame.
The regulations do not forbid the use of flame-retardant chemicals (which are claimed to be safe by the chemicals industry), but the relaxed test requirements make it possible for the manufacturer to start making new furniture without adding the flame-retardant chemicals. These new products would be labelled as TB-117-2013.
