CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT

ENGROSSED SECOND SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2647

Chapter 288, Laws of 2008

(partial veto)

60th Legislature
2008 Regular Session



CHILDREN'S SAFE PRODUCTS ACT



EFFECTIVE DATE: 06/12/08

Passed by the House March 10, 2008
  Yeas 92   Nays 2

FRANK CHOPP
________________________________________    
Speaker of the House of Representatives


Passed by the Senate March 7, 2008
  Yeas 40   Nays 9


BRAD OWEN
________________________________________    
President of the Senate
 
CERTIFICATE

I, Barbara Baker, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is ENGROSSED SECOND SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2647 as passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on the dates hereon set forth.


BARBARA BAKER
________________________________________    
Chief Clerk
Approved April 1, 2008, 2:24 p.m., with the exception of sections 1 and 8 which are vetoed.






CHRISTINE GREGOIRE
________________________________________    
Governor of the State of Washington
 
FILED
April 2, 2008







Secretary of State
State of Washington


_____________________________________________ 

ENGROSSED SECOND SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2647
_____________________________________________

AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE

Passed Legislature - 2008 Regular Session
State of Washington60th Legislature2008 Regular Session

By House Appropriations (originally sponsored by Representatives Dickerson, Hudgins, Hunt, Morrell, Pedersen, Williams, Cody, Green, Campbell, VanDeWege, Hasegawa, Roberts, Loomis, Upthegrove, Liias, Hunter, Chase, Smith, McIntire, Barlow, Conway, Priest, Schual-Berke, Simpson, Kenney, Goodman, Sells, Rolfes, Darneille, and Lantz)

READ FIRST TIME 02/12/08.   



     AN ACT Relating to the children's safe products act; amending RCW 43.70.660; adding a new chapter to Title 70 RCW; creating a new section; and prescribing penalties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

     *NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   Research shows that many toys and other children's products contain toxic chemicals, such as lead, cadmium, and phthalates that have been shown to cause harm to children's health and the environment. These chemicals have been linked to long-term health impacts, such as birth defects, reproductive harm, impaired learning, liver toxicity, and cancer. Because children's bodies are growing and developing, they are especially vulnerable to the effects of toxic chemicals. Regulation of toxic chemicals in children's toys and other products is woefully inadequate. To protect children's health, it is important to phase out the use of lead, cadmium, and phthalates in children's toys and other products and to begin collecting information on other chemicals that are present in toys and other products to determine whether further action is required.
     *Sec. 1 was vetoed. See message at end of chapter.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Children's cosmetics" means cosmetics that are made for, marketed for use by, or marketed to children under the age of twelve. "Children's cosmetics" includes cosmetics that meet any of the following conditions:
     (a) Represented in its packaging, display, or advertising as appropriate for use by children;
     (b) Sold in conjunction with, attached to, or packaged together with other products that are packaged, displayed, or advertised as appropriate for use by children; or
     (c) Sold in any of the following:
     (i) Retail store, catalogue, or online web site, in which a person exclusively offers for sale products that are packaged, displayed, or advertised as appropriate for use by children; or
     (ii) A discrete portion of a retail store, catalogue, or online web site, in which a person offers for sale products that are packaged, displayed, or advertised as appropriate for use by children.
     (2) "Children's jewelry" means jewelry that is made for, marketed for use by, or marketed to children under the age of twelve. "Children's jewelry" includes jewelry that meets any of the following conditions:
     (a) Represented in its packaging, display, or advertising as appropriate for use by children under the age of twelve;
     (b) Sold in conjunction with, attached to, or packaged together with other products that are packaged, displayed, or advertised as appropriate for use by children;
     (c) Sized for children and not intended for use by adults; or
     (d) Sold in any of the following:
     (i) A vending machine;
     (ii) Retail store, catalogue, or online web site, in which a person exclusively offers for sale products that are packaged, displayed, or advertised as appropriate for use by children; or
     (iii) A discrete portion of a retail store, catalogue, or online web site, in which a person offers for sale products that are packaged, displayed, or advertised as appropriate for use by children.
     (3)(a) "Children's product" includes any of the following:
     (i) Toys;
     (ii) Children's cosmetics;
     (iii) Children's jewelry;
     (iv) A product designed or intended by the manufacturer to help a child with sucking or teething, to facilitate sleep, relaxation, or the feeding of a child, or to be worn as clothing by children; or
     (v) Child car seats.
     (b) "Children's product" does not include the following:
     (i) Batteries;
     (ii) Slings and catapults;
     (iii) Sets of darts with metallic points;
     (iv) Toy steam engines;
     (v) Bicycles and tricycles;
     (vi) Video toys that can be connected to a video screen and are operated at a nominal voltage exceeding twenty-four volts;
     (vii) Chemistry sets;
     (viii) Consumer electronic products, including but not limited to personal computers, audio and video equipment, calculators, wireless phones, game consoles, and handheld devices incorporating a video screen, used to access interactive software and their associated peripherals;
     (ix) Interactive software, intended for leisure and entertainment, such as computer games, and their storage media, such as compact disks;
     (x) BB guns, pellet guns, and air rifles;
     (xi) Snow sporting equipment, including skis, poles, boots, snow boards, sleds, and bindings;
     (xii) Sporting equipment, including, but not limited to bats, balls, gloves, sticks, pucks, and pads;
     (xiii) Roller skates;
     (xiv) Scooters;
     (xv) Model rockets;
     (xvi) Athletic shoes with cleats or spikes; and
     (xvii) Pocket knives and multitools.
     (4) "Cosmetics" includes articles intended to be rubbed, poured, sprinkled, or sprayed on, introduced into, or otherwise applied to the human body or any part thereof for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the appearance, and articles intended for use as a component of such an article. "Cosmetics" does not include soap, dietary supplements, or food and drugs approved by the United States food and drug administration.
     (5) "Department" means the department of ecology.
     (6) "High priority chemical" means a chemical identified by a state agency, federal agency, or accredited research university, or other scientific evidence deemed authoritative by the department on the basis of credible scientific evidence as known to do one or more of the following:
     (a) Harm the normal development of a fetus or child or cause other developmental toxicity;
     (b) Cause cancer, genetic damage, or reproductive harm;
     (c) Disrupt the endocrine system;
     (d) Damage the nervous system, immune system, or organs or cause other systemic toxicity;
     (e) Be persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic; or
     (f) Be very persistent and very bioaccumulative.
     (7) "Manufacturer" includes any person, firm, association, partnership, corporation, governmental entity, organization, or joint venture that produces a children's product or an importer or domestic distributor of a children's product. For the purposes of this subsection, "importer" means the owner of the children's product.
     (8) "Phthalates" means di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), diisonoyl phthalate (DINP), diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP), or di-n-octyl phthalate (DnOP).
     (9) "Toy" means a product designed or intended by the manufacturer to be used by a child at play.
     (10) "Trade association" means a membership organization of persons engaging in a similar or related line of commerce, organized to promote and improve business conditions in that line of commerce and not to engage in a regular business of a kind ordinarily carried on for profit.
     (11) "Very bioaccumulative" means having a bioconcentration factor or bioaccumulation factor greater than or equal to five thousand, or if neither are available, having a log Kow greater than 5.0.
     (12) "Very persistent" means having a half-life greater than or equal to one of the following:
     (a) A half-life in soil or sediment of greater than one hundred eighty days;
     (b) A half-life greater than or equal to sixty days in water or evidence of long-range transport.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   (1) Beginning July 1, 2009, no manufacturer, wholesaler, or retailer may manufacture, knowingly sell, offer for sale, distribute for sale, or distribute for use in this state a children's product or product component containing the following:
     (a) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, lead at more than .009 percent by weight (ninety parts per million);
     (b) Cadmium at more than .004 percent by weight (forty parts per million); or
     (c) Phthalates, individually or in combination, at more than 0.10 percent by weight (one thousand parts per million).
     (2) If determined feasible for manufacturers to achieve and necessary to protect children's health, the department, in consultation with the department of health, may by rule require that no manufacturer, wholesaler, or retailer may manufacture, knowingly sell, offer for sale, distribute for sale, or distribute for use in this state a children's product or product component containing lead at more than .004 percent by weight (forty parts per million).

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   (1) By January 1, 2009, the department, in consultation with the department of health, shall identify high priority chemicals that are of high concern for children after considering a child's or developing fetus's potential for exposure to each chemical. In identifying the chemicals, the department shall include chemicals that meet one or more of the following criteria:
     (a) The chemical has been found through biomonitoring studies that demonstrate the presence of the chemical in human umbilical cord blood, human breast milk, human urine, or other bodily tissues or fluids;
     (b) The chemical has been found through sampling and analysis to be present in household dust, indoor air, drinking water, or elsewhere in the home environment; or
     (c) The chemical has been added to or is present in a consumer product used or present in the home.
     (2) By January 1, 2009, the department shall identify children's products or product categories that may contain chemicals identified under subsection (1) of this section.
     (3) By January 1, 2009, the department shall submit a report on the chemicals of high concern to children and the children's products or product categories they identify to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature. The report shall include policy options for addressing children's products that contain chemicals of high concern for children, including recommendations for additional ways to inform consumers about toxic chemicals in products, such as labeling.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   Beginning six months after the department has adopted rules under section 8(5) of this act, a manufacturer of a children's product, or a trade organization on behalf of its member manufacturers, shall provide notice to the department that the manufacturer's product contains a high priority chemical. The notice must be filed annually with the department and must include the following information:
     (1) The name of the chemical used or produced and its chemical abstracts service registry number;
     (2) A brief description of the product or product component containing the substance;
     (3) A description of the function of the chemical in the product;
     (4) The amount of the chemical used in each unit of the product or product component. The amount may be reported in ranges, rather than the exact amount;
     (5) The name and address of the manufacturer and the name, address, and phone number of a contact person for the manufacturer; and
     (6) Any other information the manufacturer deems relevant to the appropriate use of the product.

Sec. 6   RCW 43.70.660 and 2001 c 257 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The legislature authorizes the secretary to establish and maintain a product safety education campaign to promote greater awareness of products designed to be used by infants and children((, excluding toys,)) that:
     (a) Are recalled by the United States consumer products safety commission;
     (b) Do not meet federal safety regulations and voluntary safety standards; ((or))
     (c) Are unsafe or illegal to place into the stream of commerce under the infant crib safety act, chapter 70.111 RCW; or
     (d) Contain chemicals of high concern for children as identified under section 4 of this act
.
     (2) The department shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that this infant and children product safety education campaign reaches the target population. The target population for this campaign includes, but is not limited to, parents, foster parents and other caregivers, child care providers, consignment and resale stores selling infant and child products, and charitable and governmental entities serving infants, children, and families.
     (3) The secretary may utilize a combination of methods to achieve this outreach and education goal, including but not limited to print and electronic media. The secretary may operate the campaign or may contract with a vendor.
     (4) The department shall coordinate this infant and children product safety education campaign with child-serving entities including, but not limited to, hospitals, birthing centers, midwives, pediatricians, obstetricians, family practice physicians, governmental and private entities serving infants, children, and families, and relevant manufacturers.
     (5) The department shall coordinate with other agencies and entities to eliminate duplication of effort in disseminating infant and children consumer product safety information.
     (6) The department may receive funding for this infant and children product safety education effort from federal, state, and local governmental entities, child-serving foundations, or other private sources.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   (1) A manufacturer of products that are restricted under this chapter must notify persons that sell the manufacturer's products in this state about the provisions of this chapter no less than ninety days prior to the effective date of the restrictions.
     (2) A manufacturer that produces, sells, or distributes a product prohibited from manufacture, sale, or distribution in this state under this chapter shall recall the product and reimburse the retailer or any other purchaser for the product.
     (3) A manufacturer of children's products in violation of this chapter is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed five thousand dollars for each violation in the case of a first offense. Manufacturers who are repeat violators are subject to a civil penalty not to exceed ten thousand dollars for each repeat offense. Penalties collected under this section must be deposited in the state toxics control account created in RCW 70.l05D.070.
     (4) Retailers who unknowingly sell products that are restricted from sale under this chapter are not liable under this chapter.

     *NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   (1) Before the prohibitions under section 3 of this act take effect, the department shall prepare and distribute information to in-state and out-of-state manufacturers, to the maximum extent practicable, to assist them in identifying products prohibited for manufacture, sale, or distribution under this chapter.
     (2) The department must assist in-state retailers in identifying products restricted under this chapter.
     (3) The department may require manufacturers to electronically file the notice required under section 5 of this act to the department that the manufacturer's product contains a high priority chemical.
     (4) The department shall develop and publish a web site that provides consumers with information on the chemicals used in children's products, the reason the chemical has been identified as a high priority chemical, and any safer alternatives to the chemical.
     (5) The department shall adopt rules to finalize the list of high priority chemicals that are of high concern for children identified in section 4(1) of this act by January 1, 2010.
     *Sec. 8 was vetoed. See message at end of chapter.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9   The department may adopt rules as necessary for the purpose of implementing, administering, and enforcing this chapter.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 10   Sections 1 through 5 and 7 through 9 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 70 RCW.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 11   If specific funding for the purposes of this act, referencing this act by bill or chapter number, is not provided by June 30, 2008, in the omnibus appropriations act, this act is null and void.


         Passed by the House March 10, 2008.
         Passed by the Senate March 7, 2008.
         Approved by the Governor April 1, 2008, with the exception of certain items that were vetoed.
         Filed in Office of Secretary of State April 2, 2008.

     Note: Governor's explanation of partial veto is as follows:

"I am returning, without my approval as to Section 1 and Section 8, Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 2647 entitled:

"AN ACT Relating to the children's safe products act."

Section 1 is an intent section that affirms the importance of regulating toxic chemicals in children's products. However, this section could be read to create obligations that are beyond what state government can deliver.

Section 8 requires the Department of Ecology to adopt a rule that identifies chemicals of high concern for children by January 1, 2010. This section is premature and preempts the process identified in Section 4. Section 4 directs the Department of Ecology to identify these chemicals and report to the Legislature on policy options for addressing the chemicals by January 1, 2009. The Legislature should have the benefit of this report before the state proceeds to rulemaking to impose additional reporting and testing requirements.

For these reasons, I have vetoed Section 1 and Section 8 of Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 2647.

Without careful implementation, this bill could adversely affect the availability of safe toys in our state, including important educational toys. To address this concern, I will establish an advisory group to work with the Departments of Ecology and Health to make sure we implement the bill with common sense, and to work on needed legislative fixes for next session. I will ask both large and small toymakers and children's products retailers, children's health experts, and public interest representatives to work together on these tasks, and I will invite state legislators to participate.

Section 2 applies the new standards in this bill to all components found in children's car seats, beginning in July 2009. Limited testing to date shows that children's car seats will meet the standards in the bill, and most seats are made with few metal components. Nonetheless, we must be absolutely certain this bill will not reduce the safety of car seats. I will ask the advisory group to take a close look at this issue and recommend rules and changes in law as needed.

I will ask the group to look at standards for both the outer surface of toys and the inside of toys, and to consider the timelines needed for the industry to implement these new standards. I will ask them to develop recommendations for legislation to ensure safe products in a manner that is practical and achievable for the industry.

Section 3 of the bill could be misinterpreted to prohibit toys with internal electronic components. I believe the bill does not prohibit these internal components, and was not intended to do so. Therefore, I direct the Department of Ecology, working with the advisory group, to conduct expedited rulemaking this year to clarify the effect of the bill accordingly.

Section 4 directs Ecology to develop a list of chemicals with potential adverse effects on children. The language in this section could result in a long list of chemicals, and future reporting requirements beyond those needed to ensure the safety of children's products. The department's fiscal analysis of the bill assumed no more than fifty chemicals would be identified, and the Legislature has funded their work accordingly. I ask the Department to focus on the highest priority chemicals, considering good science on the effects of chemicals on the health of children, and those chemicals likely to be found in children's products. The Department should rely on safety testing conducted in the European Union and California, to the extent they provide a reasonable assurance of safety, in order to help establish a degree of consistency for the industry.

Section 5 requires manufacturers to report on the chemicals found in their children's products. I have retained this portion of the bill, as a future tool for ensuring the safety of our children, as needed. By my veto of Section 8, as described above, I have removed the bill's 2010 deadline to begin mandatory reporting. This will give us time to review the extent of reporting, consider duplication with other testing currently done by the industry, and determine how to most efficiently implement these new requirements. It will also allow us to determine whether or not proprietary information should be reported and, if so, how we can ensure that protected trade secrets are not disclosed.

With the exception of Section 1 and Section 8, Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 2647 is approved."