What's happening
This bill bans the manufacture, use, or storage of certain chemicals, including triclosan and 1,4-dioxane, in New York State.
Why it matters
Targets chemicals linked to health and environmental risks. Triclosan and 1,4-dioxane, among others, have been connected to cancer, hormone disruption, water contamination, and antibiotic resistance, so their ban could reduce exposure to these hazards for New Yorkers.
Empowers regulatory enforcement. The bill gives the state environmental commissioner broad authority to enforce the ban, including recall and confiscation of non-compliant products, and mandates record-keeping and labeling—potentially increasing oversight and accountability for manufacturers and sellers.
Includes exceptions and practical carve-outs. The prohibition does not apply to products that cannot reasonably be used by minors or to items shipped through New York for sale elsewhere, helping to focus restrictions on products posing the greatest risk to the public while limiting impact on interstate commerce.
Creates legal liabilities and incentives for compliance. Each banned product sold is a separate misdemeanor offense, which could deter violations and push companies to reformulate products or enhance supply chain oversight to avoid criminal penalties.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Ban Harmful Industrial Chemicals
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to environmental conservation
- Referred to environmental conservation
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Ban Harmful Industrial Chemicals
In Assembly Committee · Environmental Conservation · Sponsor Mike LiPetri
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1184
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 11, 2019
Introduced by Sen. RITCHIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Environmental Conservation
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to banning certain chemicals from being manufactured, used, or stored within the state
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The environmental conservation law is amended by adding a new section 37-0115 to read as follows: § 37-0115. Prohibition against triclosan, 1,4-dioxane, isophorone, or
cyclohexanone.
1. Manufacturing, processing, or distribution. No person shall manufacture, process or distribute in commerce a product, or a part of a product, containing triclosan, 1,4-dioxane, isophorone, cyclohexanone, or any synonym of such products. This restriction shall not apply to the use of isophorone or cyclohexanone, or any synonym of such products, used in the manufacture, process, or distribution of an item that cannot reasonably be expected to come into use by an individual under the age of eighteen.
2. Administration. (a) The commissioner is hereby authorized and directed to prescribe such rules and regulations, including provisions for maintenance of records relating to products or related materials, and for the labeling of a product or related material, as may be necessary and proper for purposes of administration and enforcement of this section.
(b) The commissioner is hereby empowered to order the recall of or confiscation of consumer products offered for sale that do not meet the standards set forth in or pursuant to this section.
(c) The commissioner may obtain from any person by regulation or subpoena issued pursuant thereto, such information in the form of testimony, books, records, or other writings as is pertinent to the findings
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04804-01-9
S. 1184 2
or determinations which he or she is required or authorized to make pursuant to this section. All information reported to or otherwise obtained by the commissioner or his or her representative pursuant to this section that contains or relates to a trade secret, shall be considered confidential, except that such information may be disclosed to other officers or employees concerned with carrying out this section, or when relevant in any proceeding under this section.
3. Guaranty. (a) (i) No person shall be subject to prosecution under this section if such person: (A) establishes a guaranty received in good faith signed by and containing the name and address of the person residing in the United States who shall be responsible for the product or related material; and (B) establishes that such product or related material will be used for research purposes only and shall not be introduced, sold or transported in commerce.
(ii) Such guaranty shall be either: (A) a separate guaranty specifically designating the product, or related material guaranteed, in which case it may be on the invoice or other paper relating to such product, or related material; (B) a continuing guaranty filed with the department or with the federal trade commission applicable to any product, or related material handled by a guarantor, in such form as the department or the federal trade commission by rules or regulations may prescribe; or (C) a continuing guaranty given by seller to buyer applicable to any product, or related material sold or to be sold to buyer by seller in a form as the department or the federal trade commission by rules or regulations may prescribe.
(b) The furnishing with respect to any product, or related material, of a false guaranty, except by a person relying upon a guaranty to the same effect received in good faith and signed by and containing the name and address of the person residing in the United States by whom the product, or related material guaranteed was manufactured or from whom it was received, with reason to believe the product, or related material falsely guaranteed may be introduced, sold or transported in commerce, is unlawful.
4. Exclusions. (a) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any common carrier, contract carrier or freight forwarder with respect to a product, or related material shipped or delivered for shipment through the state for commerce in another state or country.
(b) As used in this section, "distribute in commerce" shall not include the resale of products manufactured prior to January first, two thousand nineteen.
5. Violations. Each product, or related material made, sold or exposed for sale, shall constitute a separate violation. A violation of any provision of this section or any rule or regulation promulgated hereunder is a class A misdemeanor.
6. Severability. The provisions of this section shall be severable and if any portion thereof or the applicability thereof to any person or circumstances shall be held to be invalid, the remainder of this section and the application thereof shall not be affected thereby.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to banning certain chemicals from being manufactured, used, or stored with- in the state
Purpose
To ban the manufacture, process, or distribution of triclosan, 1,4-dioxane, isophorone, or cyclohexanone, or any synonym of the afore- mentioned products, subject to certain restrictions.
Summary of provisions
Section 1: Amends title 1, article 37 of the environmental conservation law by adding a new section, 37-0114. The new section will ban the manu- facture, process, or distribution of triclosan, 1,4-dioxane, isophorone, or cyclohexanone, or any synonym of the aforementioned products. The ban will be limited by certain exceptions for research or transport. The ban will not apply to products that include isophorone or cyclohexanone when used in the manufacture, process, or transport of an item that cannot reasonably be expected to come in to use by an individual under the age of eighteen.
Read the full memo (690 words)
Section 2: States that the act shall take effect one-hundred twenty days after this bill shall have become law.
Justification
Individually and collectively, the chemicals that this bill would ban have had a significant negative impact on New York State's children and families. Their toxicity has been recognized at the federal level and by many other states. The prospect of banning even one of the chemicals included in this ban, 1,4-dioxane, would warrant state effort.
Efforts have begun in Congress to ban 1,4-dioxane from use in consumer personal hygiene products, and another bill in the New York State Senate seeks to regulate its presence in the State's environment. The EPA and US Department of Health and Human Services have established that 1,4-dioxane is reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen, mostly affecting the liver and kidneys. 1,4 -dioxane is created as the by-pro- duct of a processing method of many commonly used industrial ingredients causing it to be found in certain consumer products such as deodorants, detergents, shampoos, and cosmetics. The EPA recently singled out Long island in a 2016 survey as disproportionately afflicted by 1,4-dioxane contamination, discovering concentrations of the chemical in seventy-one percent of area water supply systems, in comparison to an average of about seven percent nationally.
Isophorone is a category two carcinogen, and cyclohexanone is a toxic compound that can cause long-term skin irritation and is a possible carcinogen. These chemicals are often found in rubber products, such as children's toys, and are responsible for the pungent plastic smell that some items have. Beach balls, water wings, and pool floats often contain these chemicals. A child need not use the product or touch it to be
harmed. Simply smelling the chemical odor is enough for damage to be done.
The FDA recognized triclosan as harmful in 2013 and has ordered industry to phase it out of consumer hygiene products. However, non-consumer products or non-hygiene products may still contain the chemical or many of its synonymS. Triclosan is billed as an anti-bacterial agent, but there is little to no evidence that it provides any health benefits that standard soap does not. Triclosan is used in many products besides hygiene products including children's toys, furniture, and clothing. It also bioaccumulates in water supplies and edible fish, meaning most users receive not just a dose from the products they buy, but that they also receive extra exposure from their food and water. There is a grow- ing body of evidence that once triclosan enters a water supply and is exposed to ultra-violet energy, it becomes exponentially more harmful, it degrades into other compounds, and its carcinogenic effects are magnified.
The chemicals that this bill would seek to ban hide in a variety of products making it difficult for individuals to minimize their exposure and that of their family. They accumulate in our water and food, adding to the harm they inflict. By banning them we will take a step, in line with our sister states and congressional colleagues, that will help to protect the health of New York State's citizens, water, and food supply.
Legislative history
2017-2018: S.5794A
Fiscal implications
To be determined
Effective date
This act shall take effect within 120 days.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.