Disposable wipes include wipes made for baby care, hand washing, personal cleansing, makeup removal, and household cleaning. Many types of disposable wipes are federally regulated for quality and content, including wipes intended to control germs on inanimate surfaces and wipes containing insecticides, which are regulated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) administers FIFRA as well as the state Pesticide Control Act and the state Pesticide Application Act. Its activities include adopting rules requiring the registration and restricted use of pesticides, and labeling requirements applicable to pesticides.
Under legislation enacted in 2020, packaging for nonflushable disposable wipes must be labeled clearly and conspicuously with a Do Not Flush label that:
The Do Not Flush labeling requirements took effect for most nonflushable disposable wipes on July 1, 2022. For nonflushable disposable wipes required to be registered by EPA under FIFRA, Do Not Flush labeling requirements take effect July 1, 2023. Manufacturers are responsible for compliance with labeling requirements unless a wholesaler, supplier, or retailer has contractually undertaken responsibility to the manufacturer for Do Not Flush labeling requirements.
Beginning January 1, 2023, no package or box containing nonflushable disposable wipes subject to Do Not Flush labeling requirements that were manufactured on or before January 1, 2022, may be offered for distribution or sale.
Cities and counties have concurrent and exclusive authority to enforce the Do Not Flush labeling requirements and collect civil penalties for violation of the requirements. The Do Not Flush labeling requirements for nonflushable disposable wipes preempt all existing or future labeling laws enacted by a county, city, town, or other political subdivision of Washington.
The 2023 effective date for Do Not Flush labeling requirements applicable to nonflushable disposable wipes required to be registered under FIFRA is eliminated. Instead, manufacturers responsible for FIFRA-regulated wipes or wipes subject to WSDA pesticide registration requirements must:
Nonflushable disposable wipes newly introduced into commerce in Washington after July 1, 2023, must begin complying with Do Not Flush labeling requirements by July 1, 2025.
If either EPA or WSDA do not approve a product label that complies with all of the Do Not Flush labeling requirements, the manufacturer must use a label that meets as many of the Do Not Flush labeling requirements as EPA and WSDA have approved. A manufacturer may include words or phrases in addition to those specified in Do Not Flush labeling requirements if necessary to obtain WSDA or EPA approval for the label.
A manufacturer of nonflushable disposable wipes in commerce in Washington as of July 1, 2023 that has not received WSDA approval 24 months after EPA has approved a label remains in compliance with Do Not Flush requirements if the manufacturer provides evidence, upon request, of the timely submission of the label to WSDA.
Packages of nonflushable disposable wipes manufactured on or before July 1, 2022, may be sold after January 1, 2023, if the product has been labeled consistent with state labeling requirements.