Establishes a program to provide information to consumers concerning household hazardous products; provides such information be available at the point of retail sale by labels and pamphlets; provides such information should disclose hazards and inform people of environmentally safer alternatives; provides for the establishment of a hazardous product list by the department of environmental conservation.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A3622
SPONSOR: Cook (MS) TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
retail shelf labeling of household hazardous products and related
consumer information
PURPOSE:
To inform consumers about which household products are hazardous; and to
'provide information about safe disposal of such products and environ-
mentally safer alternatives. Such information shall be provided at the
point of retail selection.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
The household hazardous waste shelf labeling law would require all
retailers to place hazardous waste stickers or labels on the shelf
displaying any products that contain hazardous chemicals. The labels
would alert consumers that such products contain hazardous substances.
The law would also require the Department of Environmental Conservation
to prepare pamphlets that describe how to safely dispose of such house-
hold products and information about environmentally safer alternatives.
Retailers would then be required to display such pamphlets in the vicin-
ity of the household hazardous products.
The bill requires the Department to promulgate a list of hazardous chem-
icals which if contained in a household product at a concentration at or
above one percent shall cause the product to be subject to the shelf
labeling law. The bill also provides for the Department to establish an
exemption procedure for a product that falls within a product category
but that does not contain hazardous ingredients. The product manufactur-
er shall be responsible for obtaining the exemption.
JUSTIFICATION:
Many products that are used routinely by consumers in their households
contain the same toxic, explosive, and corrosive chemicals also found in
high volume, commercial and industrial by-products and wastes.Federal
and state laws require industrial and commercial generators of hazardous
substances and wastes to track the hazardous chemicals they use and to
dispose of them at specially equipped landfills and incinerators. But
similar regulations and safeguards are not applied to hazardous wastes
generated by households.
Products commonly used in households that contain hazardous substances
include pesticides, fertilizers, paint thinners, cleaning fluids, drain
openers, and various automotive chemicals. One study found that the
average U.S. household may have from three to ten gallons of unwanted,
leftover hazardous chemicals stored unsafely at their residence. Addi-
tionally, there are few sound disposal methods currently available for
even the most aware consumer. Consequently, most, if not all, of those
hazardous wastes end up buried in a landfill or flowing through munici-
pal sewage treatment plants that are not equipped to remove or detoxify
them. Current disposal practices pose dangers as home fire hazards and
as occupational hazards to sanitation workers. Moreover, household
hazardous wastes are suspected of contaminating groundwater through
leaking landfills, and surface waters through discharges from poorly
equipped sewage treatment plants. The remediation of such contamination
is often very costly to the community and the State. Around the nation,
local and state governments have responded by spending heavily on
collective drives to keep household users from simply pouring leftover
products down the drain or tossing them into the trash can. Such drives
are costly and not necessarily effective because they are typically held
irregularly and infrequently. Furthermore, questions surrounding munic-
ipal liability for such programs have caused many communities to cancel
or forego household hazardous waste collection days.
The reduction of the use of household hazardous products is a more
economical and efficient approach than collection drives. Voluntary
choices by informed consumers will substantially reduce the generation
of household hazardous wastes and prevent improper disposal. Information
indicating that a household product is hazardous shall be readily
displayed by retailers on product shelves through the use of shelf
labels. Information about disposal and environmentally safer alterna-
tives shall be contained in brochures to be displayed nearby.By provid-
ing adequate consumer information at the point of retail selection, the
amount of household hazardous wastes entering the waste stream and
contaminating the environment will be significantly reduced. This is
because most citizens will voluntarily choose to protect the environment
and not pollute it. A similar law has existed in the State of Vermont
since 1990.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
There will be a cost to the State for program administration and for
informational pamphlets.
PRIOR LEGISLATION:
Previously introduced; 2019/20 - A. 6879; 2020/21 - A.3095
EFFECTIVE DATE:
One year from date of enactment.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3622
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 3, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. COOK -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. OTIS --
read once and referred to the Committee on Environmental Conservation
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
retail shelf labeling of household hazardous products and related
consumer information
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Article 37 of the environmental conservation law is amended
2 by adding a new title 4 to read as follows:
3 TITLE IV
4 HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS PRODUCTS; CONSUMER INFORMATION
5 Section 37-0401. Household hazardous products; consumer information.
6 § 37-0401. Household hazardous products; consumer information.
7 1. To the extent funds are available, the department shall, in consul-
8 tation with New York retailers and product manufacturers, establish a
9 program to:
10 a. provide information to retailers with respect to the hazardous
11 products specified in subdivision two of this section and environ-
12 mentally safer alternatives to those products;
13 b. provide labels for retail use with respect to the hazardous
14 products;
15 c. provide pamphlets for consumers, to be made available by retailers
16 at the point of sale, describing the toxicity of these hazardous
17 products, safer disposal methods, and alternative products which are
18 environmentally safer; and
19 d. require that retail establishments display these labels and
20 pamphlets on shelves, or in the immediate vicinity of hazardous
21 products, within one year of the effective date of this section.
22 2. "Hazardous products" for the purposes of this section are defined
23 as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07077-01-3
A. 3622 2
1 a. Automotive products including motor oil, transmission fluid, engine
2 lubricants and cleaners, oil, and transmission fluid additives, gasoline
3 additives, gas line freeze-up products, antifreeze, and windshield wiper
4 solutions;
5 b. Shoe polishes, floor waxes, car waxes, furniture polishes, spray
6 dust cleaners, furniture stains and wood preservatives;
7 c. Mineral spirits, turpentine, alcohols not for human consumption,
8 cresol, and naphtha;
9 d. Paints, whether for brush or spray application, aerosol paints,
10 lacquers, and thinners (except water);
11 e. Drain cleaners, sink and toilet bowl cleaners, and oven cleaners;
12 f. Spot and stain removers with petroleum base;
13 g. Petroleum based fertilizers sold for residential application;
14 h. Pesticides sold for residential application; and
15 i. Lead-acid batteries, swimming pool chemicals, photographic chemi-
16 cals, most glues and adhesives, self-lighting charcoal, charcoal light-
17 er, butane lighters, and all aerosols (except personal care products).
18 3. The department may, by regulation, add to or delete from the list
19 established in subdivision two of this section, as deemed appropriate.
20 Similarly, the department may delete from the list specific products
21 that do not contain a hazardous chemical in concentration at or above
22 one percent. A hazardous chemical, for purposes of this section, shall
23 be consistent with hazardous chemicals listed in regulations promulgated
24 in accordance with title nine of article twenty-seven of this chapter. A
25 product manufacturer of any product listed in subdivision two of this
26 section may petition the department for an exemption if the product does
27 not contain a hazardous chemical in concentration at or above one
28 percent.
29 § 2. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a
30 law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any
31 rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its
32 effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such
33 effective date.
