STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4676--A
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 6, 2015
___________
Introduced by Sen. AVELLA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Environmental Conservation
-- recommitted to the Committee on Environmental Conservation in
accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to regu-
lation of toxic chemicals in pet products
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The title heading of title 9 of article 37 of the environ-
2 mental conservation law, as added by section 1 of a chapter of the laws
3 of 2016, amending the environmental conservation law relating to regu-
4 lation of toxic chemicals in children's products, as proposed in legis-
5 lative bills numbers A.5612-A and S.7507, is amended to read as follows:
6 TOXIC CHEMICALS IN CHILDREN'S PRODUCTS AND PET PRODUCTS
7 § 2. Subdivisions 7 and 9 of section 37-0901 of the environmental
8 conservation law, as added by section 1 of a chapter of the laws of
9 2016, amending the environmental conservation law relating to regulation
10 of toxic chemicals in children's products, as proposed in legislative
11 bills numbers A.5612-A and S.7507, are amended and four new subdivisions
12 14, 15, 16 and 17 are added to read as follows:
13 7. "Distributor" means a person who sells children's products or pet
14 products to retail establishments on a wholesale basis.
15 9. "Manufacturer" means any person who currently manufactures a chil-
16 dren's product or pet product or whose brand name is affixed to the
17 children's product or pet product. In the case of a children's product
18 or pet product that was imported into the United States, "manufacturer"
19 includes the importer or first domestic distributor of the children's
20 product or pet product if the person who currently manufactures or
21 assembles the children's product or pet product or whose brand name is
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04252-03-6
S. 4676--A 2
1 affixed to the children's product or pet product does not have a pres-
2 ence in the United States.
3 14. "Pet" means any domesticated animal normally maintained in or near
4 the household of the owner or person who cares for such domesticated
5 animal. "Pet" shall not include a "farm animal" as defined by subdivi-
6 sion four of section three hundred fifty of the agriculture and markets
7 law.
8 15. "Pet apparel" means any item of clothing that consists of fabric
9 or related material intended or promoted for use in pet clothing.
10 16. "Pet product" means a product primarily intended for, made for or
11 marketed for use by a pet, such as pet toys, car seats, bedding,
12 personal care products, a product designed or intended by the manufac-
13 turer to be chewed by the pet, and pet apparel. "Pet product" does not
14 include a food or beverage or an additive to a food or beverage regu-
15 lated by the United States Food and Drug Administration.
16 17. "Pet toy" means a product designed or intended by the manufacturer
17 to be used by a pet at play.
18 § 3. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 2 of section 37-0903 of the environ-
19 mental conservation law, as added by section 1 of a chapter of the laws
20 of 2016, amending the environmental conservation law relating to regu-
21 lation of toxic chemicals in children's products, as proposed in legis-
22 lative bills numbers A.5612-A and S.7507, is amended to read as follows:
23 (b) The department, in consultation with the department of health, may
24 identify a chemical as a priority chemical if, upon such review, it
25 determines that a chemical of high concern is present in a children's
26 product or pet product and meets any of the following criteria:
27 (i) The chemical or its metabolites have been found through biomoni-
28 toring to be present in humans;
29 (ii) The chemical has been found through sampling and analysis to be
30 present in household dust, indoor air, drinking water or elsewhere in
31 the home environment;
32 (iii) The chemical has been found through monitoring to be present in
33 fish, wildlife or the natural environment; or
34 (iv) The sale or use of the chemical or a children's product or pet
35 product containing the chemical has been banned in another state or
36 states within the United States because of the health effects of such
37 chemical.
38 § 4. Subdivisions 1 and 3 of section 37-0905 of the environmental
39 conservation law, as added by section 1 of a chapter of the laws of
40 2016, amending the environmental conservation law relating to regulation
41 of toxic chemicals in children's products, as proposed in legislative
42 bills numbers A.5612-A and S.7507, are amended to read as follows:
43 1. Reporting of chemical use. No later than twelve months after a
44 priority chemical appears on the list published pursuant to section
45 37-0903 of this title, every manufacturer who offers a children's prod-
46 uct or pet product for sale or distribution in this state that contains
47 a priority chemical shall report such chemical use to the department, at
48 practical quantification limits (PQLS). The department may collaborate
49 with other states and an interstate chemicals clearinghouse in develop-
50 ing such form.
51 (a) This report must at a minimum identify the children's product or
52 pet product category, the priority chemical or chemicals contained in
53 the children's product or pet product category, and the intended purpose
54 of the chemicals in the children's product or pet product category. The
55 department may also require reporting of the following information:
S. 4676--A 3
1 (i) the potential for harm to human or animal health and the environ-
2 ment from specific uses of the priority chemical;
3 (ii) the amount of such chemical in each unit of the children's prod-
4 uct or pet product category, expressed in a range. When the chemical is
5 used in more than one product within a product category, the highest
6 amount must be reported;
7 (iii) information on the likelihood that the chemical will be released
8 from the children's product or pet product category to the environment
9 during the product category's life cycle and the extent to which users
10 of the product category are likely to be exposed to the chemical; or
11 (iv) information on the extent to which the chemical is present in the
12 environment or human or animal body.
13 (b) The department is authorized to direct submission of such report
14 to the interstate chemicals clearinghouse.
15 3. Notice. (a) A manufacturer of a children's product or pet product
16 containing a priority chemical shall notify persons that offer the chil-
17 dren's product or pet product for sale or distribution in the state, in
18 a form prescribed by the department, of the presence of such priority
19 chemical, and provide such persons with information regarding the toxic-
20 ity of such chemical.
21 (b) All retailers in this state offering for sale children's products
22 or pet products containing priority chemicals shall conspicuously post
23 notice to consumers identifying such products and the priority chemicals
24 they contain.
25 (c) The department shall notify consumers about children's products or
26 pet products containing chemicals of high concern and priority chemi-
27 cals. The notification shall be published on the department's website.
28 § 5. Section 37-0907 of the environmental conservation law, as added
29 by section 1 of a chapter of the laws of 2016, amending the environ-
30 mental conservation law relating to regulation of toxic chemicals in
31 children's products, as proposed in legislative bills numbers A.5612-A
32 and S.7507, is amended to read as follows:
33 § 37-0907. Sales prohibition.
34 1. Effective January first, two thousand nineteen, no person shall
35 distribute, sell or offer for sale in this state a children's product or
36 pet product containing tris (1, 3 dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate, benzene,
37 lead and compounds (inorganic), mercury and mercury compounds including
38 methyl mercury, antimony and antimony compounds, formaldehyde, asbestos,
39 arsenic and arsenic compounds including arsenic trioxide and dimethyl
40 arsenic, cadmium, and cobalt and cobalt compounds. This provision shall
41 not apply to a children's product or pet product solely based on its
42 containing an enclosed battery or enclosed electronic components. The
43 commissioner may exempt a children's product or pet product from this
44 prohibition if, in the commissioner's judgment, the lack of availability
45 of the children's product or pet product could pose an unreasonable risk
46 to public health, safety or welfare.
47 2. Effective three years after being added to the priority chemicals
48 list, no person shall distribute, sell, or offer for sale in this state
49 a children's product or pet product that contains a chemical added to
50 the priority chemicals list pursuant to section 37-0903 of this title.
51 § 6. Subdivisions 1, 5 and 6 of section 37-0909 of the environmental
52 conservation law, as added by section 1 of a chapter of the laws of
53 2016, amending the environmental conservation law relating to regulation
54 of toxic chemicals in children's products, as proposed in legislative
55 bills numbers A.5612-A and S.7507, are amended to read as follows:
S. 4676--A 4
1 1. New children's products or pet products. The provisions of this
2 title shall apply to chemicals in children's products or pet products
3 sold or distributed as new and does not apply to used children's
4 products or pet products that are sold or distributed for free at
5 secondhand stores, yard sales, on the internet or donated to charities.
6 5. Exceptions. The requirements of this title shall not apply to chil-
7 dren's product or pet product makers that employ five persons or fewer,
8 and are independently owned and operated.
9 6. Retailers. A retailer is exempt from the requirements of this title
10 unless that retailer knowingly sells a children's product or pet product
11 containing a priority chemical after the effective date of its prohibi-
12 tion for which that retailer has received notification pursuant to
13 subdivision three of section 37-0905 of this title.
14 § 7. Section 37-0911 of the environmental conservation law, as added
15 by section 1 of a chapter of the laws of 2016, amending the environ-
16 mental conservation law relating to regulation of toxic chemicals in
17 children's products, as proposed in legislative bills numbers A.5612-A
18 and S.7507, is amended to read as follows:
19 § 37-0911. Enforcement and implementation.
20 1. Failure to provide notice. A children's product or pet product
21 containing a priority chemical may not be sold, offered for sale or
22 distributed for sale in this state unless the manufacturer has provided
23 the notification required under section 37-0905 of this title by the
24 date required in such section. The commissioner may exempt a children's
25 product or pet product from this prohibition if, in the commissioner's
26 judgment, the lack of availability of the children's product or pet
27 product could pose an unreasonable risk to public health, safety or
28 welfare.
29 2. Statement of compliance. If there are grounds to suspect that a
30 children's product or pet product is being offered for sale in violation
31 of this title, the department may request the manufacturer of the chil-
32 dren's product or pet product to provide a statement of compliance on a
33 form provided by the department, within ten days of receipt of a request
34 from the department. The statement of compliance shall:
35 (a) attest that the children's product or pet product does not contain
36 the priority chemical; or
37 (b) attest and provide the department with documentation that notifi-
38 cation of the presence of the priority chemical has been provided to the
39 department or provide notice as required by section 37-0905 of this
40 title; or
41 (c) attest that the manufacturer has notified persons who sell the
42 product in this state that the sale of the children's product or pet
43 product is prohibited.
44 § 8. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 and subdivision 2 of section
45 37-0913 of the environmental conservation law, as added by section 1 of
46 a chapter of the laws of 2016, amending the environmental conservation
47 law relating to regulation of toxic chemicals in children's products, as
48 proposed in legislative bills numbers A.5612-A and S.7507, are amended
49 to read as follows:
50 (b) collection and dissemination of information regarding the use of
51 chemicals in children's products and pet products;
52 2. Such clearinghouse is authorized to maintain information on behalf
53 of the state of New York, including, but not limited to, information
54 regarding chemicals contained in children's products or pet products
55 disclosed pursuant to section 37-0905 of this title.
S. 4676--A 5
1 § 9. This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same
2 manner as a chapter of the laws of 2016, amending the environmental
3 conservation law relating to regulation of toxic chemicals in children's
4 products, as proposed in legislative bills numbers A.5612-A and S.7507,
5 takes effect.
