REGULATORY UPDATE
In the U.S., California’s legislature continues to be busy, with
initiatives including the expansion of its ingredient disclosure
requirements to the cosmetics sector. New York enacted a similar
piece of legislation for children’s products in early February
while the State’s Dept. of Environmental Conservation resumes
its efforts to put in place such a program for cleaning products
after a court struck down attempts to introduce a scheme last
year.
California’s SB 392, which strengthens the State’s Dept. of
Toxic Substances Control’s ability to regulate substances of
concerns in consumer products, was moved to the “inactive”
file last September, but could be revived this year. A similar
initiative is pending in Washington State (HB 1194).
Various States are either proposing, or have already passed,
legislation in 2020 aimed at restricting or
banning the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl
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substances (PFASs) in Class B firefighting
foam. These include California,
Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, New
York, Washington and Wisconsin. Several
others are in the process of implementing
legislation passed last year, including Kentucky,
New Hampshire and New York.
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are high
on the agenda of a number of States.
Three States—Maine, Massachusetts and
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Rhode Island—have announced plans to regulate the greenhouse
gases commonly used in aerosol products, refrigeration, air conditioning,
building insulation and foams. Vermont is obliged to file
its proposed rules for establishing a plan to reduce the use of HFCs
by 40% below the 2013
level by 2030.
Meanwhile, the California
Air Resources Board
(CARB) had scheduled
stakeholders meetings for
February, March and April to discuss issues such as updating the
hair care product and manual aerosol air freshener definition;
refinements of the State’s 2% fragrance exemption proposal; updating
the compressed gas propellant VOC content calculation and
phasing out HFC-152a.
In Canada, the government is working towards finalizing the
proposed Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Concentration
Limits for Certain Products Regulations, published in July 2019.
These would establish mandatory VOC concentration limits for
approximately 130 product categories and subcategories, including
automotive, personal care, household products, adhesives, adhesive
removers, sealants and caulks, and various aerosol products. The
regulations would apply to manufacturing and importing activities,
but not sale; thus, distributors and retailers would be exempted.
These would align with amendments CARB made to California’s
Nguyen Consumer Product Regulations, implemented in 2010. Spray