Legal Blog

On December 28, 2015, President Obama signed H.R. 1321 into law, amending the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act ("FFDCA")  to ban plastic microbeads. As amended, the FFDCA bans the manufacture or introduction into interstate commerce of rinse-off cosmetics containing intentionally-added plastic microbeads beginning in 2017. This action follows a number of individual states, including California, passing their own microbeads bans. The primary concern motivating these laws and the new federal law is the environmental impact of the microbeads as they are washed off, pass into sewer systems and into waterways.  As the House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce Report…

Washington's Department of Ecology is proposing to amend the criteria for persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals (PBTs) in its Chemical Action Plans to be more aligned with current scientific information and other jurisdictions' criteria. The agency expects to release preliminary draft rule language for public and stakeholder review by March 2016. The proposed rulemaking would amend Chapter 173-333 of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC), which sets forth criteria used to identify a chemical as a PBT, provides a list of chemicals appropriate for Chemical Action Plan (CAPs) development, identifies the CAP development process, and details the CAP contents.  According to the Department…

On December 17, 2015, the U.S. Senate passed S. 697, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, which would amend the Toxic Substances Control Act.  This long-awaited Senate action on TSCA reform had been delayed due to efforts by Senator Richard Burr (R-North Carolina) to attach an unrelated amendment.  The bill now must be reconciled with the House of Representative's TSCA reform bill, H.R. 2576, which the House approved in June.  The most significant challenge likely will be reconciliation of the bills' preemption provisions, with Senator Barbara Boxer having voiced significant concerns over state rights to…

On November 25, 2015, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment released a Safe Use Determination for Diisononyl Phthalate in Certain Single-Ply Polyvinyl Chloride Roofing Membrane Products.  This is the third Safe Use Determination that OEHHA has issued in the nearly thirty years since Proposition 65 was enacted. A Safe Use Determination (SUD) is a written statement issued by OEHHA, applying Proposition 65 to a specific listed chemical and exposure scenario and determining whether or not the exposure to the listed chemical is below the warning trigger for the chemical. Intended as a means to provide businesses with formal assurance about…

On October 8, 2015, California Jerry Brown signed AB 888 into law, which bans plastic microbeads in personal care products (including toothpaste) at or above 1 parts per million by weight.  The law goes into effect in 2020.  Enforcement is by civil lawsuits brought by the California Attorney General and other public authorities. Violators are subject to civil penalties of up to $2,500 per day; a court also may order injunctive relief. California's microbeads ban is not the first in the nation, but is the only one that would cover biodegradable plastics within its prohibition.  An industry coalition opposed the bill,…