July 7, 2015
Details
On July 1, the Oregon Senate passed SB 478, the Toxic-Free Kids Act. On July 3, the Oregon House passed the same bill which has now been sent to Governor Kate Brown for her signature, which she expected to sign.
The Oregon bill establishes a Chemicals of High Concern List which will start as identical to the Washington State Department of Ecology’s Reporting List of Chemicals of High Concern to Children. Thereafter, the Oregon Health Authority shall review and revise the list every three years. The Oregon bill explicitly states that any of the chemicals on the Washington State list that are also regulated by the Federal Government will be subject to the federal requirements, not the state.
The Oregon bill contains some notable differences from the Washington State Law. Unlike Washington State:
- This bill extends the reporting requirement to any component part of a product, which would include inaccessible component parts;
- Contaminants exceeding 100 ppm must be reported, or the manufacturer must apply for a reporting exemption, even if a manufacturing control program is in place;
- Before the third notice (six years) of reporting a chemical of high concern, the manufacturer of mouthable products, children’s cosmetics, or products made for or marketed to children under the age of three years must remove or make a substitution for the chemical or request a waiver. If substituting another chemical, the manufacturer must conduct a hazard assessment “that explains how the children’s product, and any substitute chemical the children’s product contains, is inherently less hazardous than before the substitution was made.”
- In essence, this will force manufacturers to eliminate the potential for “regrettable substitutions”.
Why It Matters
Timeline:
Effective Date: January 1, 2016
First Reporting Date: January 1, 2018 and every two years thereafter
How UL Can Help
For more details on how UL can help you bring regulatory compliant, safe, and quality products to market contact QAInfo@ul.com. A UL representative will follow up with you soon.