Relates to regulation of toxic chemicals in children's products

Summary of specific provisions

This bill would:

* define children's apparel; * define chemical; * define chemical of high concern; * define children; * define children's product; * define distributor; * define manufacturer; * define novelty product; * define priority chemical; * define toy;

* requires the Department of Environmental Conservation to establish a website within one hundred and eighty days of the effective date of this title, that is accessible to the public which lists all chemicals of high concern;

* allows the Department of Environmental Conservation, in consultation with the Department of Health to periodically review the list of chemicals of high concern and identify additional chemicals of high concern or remove a chemical from the chemicals of high concern list based on credible scientific evidence;

* requires the Department of Environmental Conservation to establish a website within one hundred and eighty days of the effective date of this title, that is accessible to the public which lists all priority chemicals;

*allows the Department of Environmental Conservation, in consultation with the Department of Health to periodically review the list of priority chemicals and identify additional priority chemicals or remove a chemical from the priority chemicals list based on credible scientific evidence and if the chemical is found to be in children's products;

* permit designation of a priority chemical if:

o found to be present in humans;

o found to be present in household dust, indoor air, or drinking water;

o found to be present in fish, wildlife or the natural environment;

o found to be present in a consumer product or present in the home, school or children's day care center;

o identified as a high production volume chemical by the United States Environmental Protection Administration; or,

o banned for sale in another state

* requires every manufacturer who offers a children's product for sale in this state that contains an intentionally added priority chemical, to notify the department twelve months after the priority chemical list is published, in a form prescribed by the department, developed in collaboration with other states and an interstate chemical clearinghouse;

* require a person who is a manufacturer or distributor of a children's product for sale or distribution to notify DEC of the following:

o the identification of the product,

o the name of the priority chemical,

o the intended purpose of the chemicals

* consistent with notification required by other states, the department may also require reporting of the following information:

o the potential for harm to human health and the environment from specific uses of the priority chemical;

o the amount of such chemical in each unit of the children's product, expressed in a range;

o information on the likelihood that the chemical will be released from the children's product to the environment during the product's life cycle and the extent to which users of the product are likely to be exposed to the chemical;

o information on the extent to which the chemical is present in the environment or human body;

* the Department of Environmental Conservation may require that the manufacturer provide an assessment of the availability, cost, feasibility and performance, including potential for harm to human health and the environment, of alternatives to the priority chemical

and the reason the priority chemical is used in the manufacturer of the children's product in lieu of identified alternatives. The department shall hold confidential any information disclosed pursuant to this subdivision concerning the chemical or consumer product that if made public, would divulge confidential business information, methods or processes entitled to protection as trade secrets, except that such information may be disclosed to any officers, employees or authorized representatives of the state concerned with carrying out the provisions of this title;

* authorize DEC to waive all or part of the notification requirement for one or more specified uses of a priority chemical;

* a manufacturer or distributor of a children's product containing a priority chemical shall notify persons that offer the children's product for sale or distribution in the state, of the presence of such priority chemical, and provide such persons with information regarding the toxicity of such chemical;

* the manufacturer or distributor shall pay a fee upon submitting the report of chemical use or waiver request in the amount of six hundred dollars per chemical;

* two years after the effective date of this title, no person shall distribute, sell or offer for sale in this state an item of children's apparel or a children's novelty product containing a priority chemical;

* specify that the provisions of this act shall apply only to new products;

o exempt the following uses:

o in or for manufacturing;

o motor vehicles, watercrafts, combustion by-products, all terrain vehicles or their component parts, or off-highway motorcycles or their components;

o priority chemicals generated solely as combustion by-products or that are present in combustible fuels;

o retailers who do not knowingly sell a prohibited children's product;

* prohibit the sale or distribution of a children's product if the manufacturer or distributor has failed to provide the required information; and,

* authorizes the department to participate in an interstate chemical clearing house to assist in carrying out this title

Justification

Currently, New York identifies or prohibits the use of dangerous chemicals on a chemical by chemical basis. This approach is especially problematic for children's products since children are often more vulnerable to smaller amounts of chemicals. Several other states, including Washington, California, and Maine have adopted more comprehensive chemical policies. This legislation is modeled after those states and is intended to prevent the use of dangerous chemicals and ensure the use of safer chemical alternatives in children's products.

Prior legislative history

This is a new bill.

Fiscal implications for state and local governments

Minimal implications to the state since the state already funds the Interstate Chemical Clearinghouse.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the 120th day.