Pressure Points
State Government Relations
& Public Policy Wrap-Up
Over the course of 2019, the Household & Commercial
Products Association (HCPA) has monitored more than
400 bills at the State level, including chemical bans,
ingredient communications, pesticide restrictions, packaging
reductions, environmentally preferable procurement and more.
The end of summer signals the close of State legislatures across
the country, and what follows is a brief overview of the major
State legislative activity related to household and commercial
products—much of which we can expect to see again in 2020.
Ingredient communication in New York continues to be a
priority issue for the industry, and this year, there was a proposal
in the State’s budget that was vague and, ultimately, unworkable.
HCPA passionately advocated against the inclusion of these
unfavorable disclosure requirements and successfully removed
the language from the New York Governor’s budget. During this
process, HCPA and our allied trades prepared suggested bill text
for use in the next session. This text closely resembles California’s
Cleaning Product Right to Know Act of 2017, which was a
carefully crafted compromise led by HCPA between industry, nongovernment
organizations (NGOs) and other groups.
On the regulatory side, the New York State Supreme Court
invalidated the Household Cleansing Product Information Disclosure
Program issued by the New York State Dept. of Environmental
Conservation (NYSDEC) on the grounds that it did not
comply with the State Administrative Procedure Act (SAPA). This
decision came after the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) and
HCPA filed a lawsuit in 2018 against NYSDEC for exceeding its
statutory authority under the State’s Environmental Conservation
Law and for not following SAPA. As a result of this decision,
the Disclosure Program is null and void, and the judge has remitted
the Program back to NYSDEC, who can choose to proceed
through the SAPA rulemaking process or take the issue up in the
legislature.
The New York legislature proposed an unreasonable threshold
for 1,4-dioxane levels in cleaning products, which unfortunately
passed in both the Assembly and the Senate. HCPA has worked
vigorously with other allied trade associations to educate Governor
Cuomo’s office about the misinformation surrounding
1,4-dioxane. As part of this effort, HCPA generated notable
media coverage of the issue, including publishing an open letter
to Governor Cuomo in the Albany-Times Union. In collaboration
with allied trades, HCPA submitted a chapter amendment to
the bill for Governor Cuomo’s consideration that proposed a 10
parts per million (ppm) limit for 1,4-dioxane, which is in line with
other regulations around the world.
HCPA also commented on the California Dept. of Toxic Substances
Control (DTSC) proposed Alternatives Analysis Threshold
(AAT) for 1,4-dioxane and continues to monitor this issue
across the States.
Approximately one-fourth of the bills HCPA tracked this
session were related to restrictions on pesticides, herbicides
and rodenticides. States continue to focus significant efforts on
reclassifying neonicotinoids as restricted use pesticides to protect
pollinator populations. A bill in New York that would have
prohibited the sale of certain products containing neonicotinoids
and fipronil was not passed; however, it attempted to set a precedent
by grouping fipronil with neonicotinoids. Since neonicotinoids
continue to be unjustly targeted by State legislatures, it is
important to keep fipronil—and other pesticides—separate from
neonicotinoids.
HCPA was successful in defeating bills that would have restricted
the use of pesticides, specifically neonicotinoids, in Oregon,
Minnesota, New York, Illinois and Texas.
Legislators in Oregon once again raised a bill that would
require manufacturers to pay into a new program for products
that finish their lifecycle as household hazardous waste. This
legislation has been pursued for several years by Metro (a local
government consortium near the Portland area) to help fund
hazardous waste disposal. HCPA help hold this bill in the House
Ways & Means Committee until adjournment, but expects it to
be reintroduced next year.
Washington State passed and enacted Green chemistry legislation
to protect marine life in the Puget Sound. This bill authorizes
the Dept. of Ecology (DEC) to restrict priority chemicals and
consumer products that are significant sources of these chemicals.
This legislation is meant to protect the region’s orca whales because
a taskforce identified toxic contaminants as one of the key threats
against their population. HCPA was part of a large and broad-based
industry coalition opposed to this measure, which was successful in
amending parts of the bill to limit the DEC’s oversight.
In California, multiple legislative efforts focused on Green
chemistry, packaging reduction and rodenticides. HCPA successfully
postponed or defeated nearly all legislation of concern. The
California legislature adjourned before acting on the Circular
Economy & Pollution Reduction Act, which would have required
all single-use packaging sold in California on or after Jan. 1, 2030
to be recyclable or compostable. Plastics, and especially singleuse
plastics, are a global environmental challenge. While HCPA
supports the intent of the bill, the Circular Economy & Pollution
Reduction Act set extreme standards for recycling and packaging
reduction and lacked specific details about how the new regulations
would be implemented.
Regulatory activity continues to increase at the State level on
volatile organic compounds (VOCs), especially in California. In
April, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) initiated a
rulemaking to develop new or revised VOC limits for consumer
products. In terms of the number of product categories that
may be impacted and the total emission reductions that must be
achieved, this is one of the most ambitious rulemaking procedures
that CARB has ever conducted during the 30 years the agency has
regulated consumer products.
10 Spray November 2019
Continued on page 37
Allyson AzAr, Manager, HCPA state Government relations & Public Policy (Western region)
J.D. DArr, Manager, HCPA state Government relations & Public Policy (Eastern region)