BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1365
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 15, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Pedro Nava, Chair
SB 1365 (Corbett) - As Amended: April 12, 2010
SENATE VOTE : 23-10
SUBJECT: Public safety: consumer products.
SUMMARY : Authorizes the Department of Toxic Substances Control
(DTSC) to enforce existing toy safety laws. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Authorizes DTSC to enforce toy safety laws if existing
resources are available.
2)Limits penalties for violations of toy safety laws by
specifying that if a penalty is imposed by the State
Department of Public Health (DPH), a local health officer, or
DTSC, then a penalty may not be imposed by either of the other
two enforcement entities for the same incidence of violation.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act :
a) Requires that certain hazardous household products bear
cautionary labeling to alert consumers to the potential
hazards of those products.
b) Authorizes the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
(CPSC) to ban, by regulation, a hazardous substance if it
determines that the product is so hazardous that cautionary
labeling is inadequate.
c) Bans any toy or other article that is intended for use
by children and that contains a hazardous substance if a
child can gain access to the substance.
d) Authorizes CPSC to ban, by regulation, any toy or other
article intended for use by children which presents a
mechanical, electrical or thermal hazard.
2)Under the Federal Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of
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2008 : Strengthens safety standards for consumer products,
including new specified limits for lead and phthalate content
in consumer products intended for use by children. Increases
enforcement and penalty provisions under the authority of the
CPSC.
3)Under state law:
a) Prohibits the manufacture, sale or exchange of any toy
that is contaminated with any toxic substance. Requires
the DPH and local health officers to enforce this
prohibition and stipulates that a violation is a
misdemeanor.
b) Prohibits the manufacture, shipping, sale, or offering
for sale of jewelry, children's jewelry, or jewelry used in
body piercing that is not made entirely from certain
specified materials. Authorizes DTSC to enforce these
provisions.
c) Requires DTSC to identify and prioritize chemicals of
concern and to adopt regulations to evaluate chemicals of
concern in consumer products in order to determine how best
to limit exposure or to reduce the level of hazard posed by
a chemical of concern. Authorizes DTSC to take regulatory
actions to limit exposure or to reduce the level of hazard
posed by a chemical of concern.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, increased enforcement activities will cost between
$75,000 and $150, 000 annually. These activities will be funded
by the Hazardous Waste Control Account.
COMMENTS :
Need for the bill . According to the author's office, "This
year, Valentine's Day bears with excessive levels of lead were
found in stores. The Public Interest Research Group's 2009
report, "Trouble in Toyland," continued to find toys with high
levels of lead and the endocrine disruptor phthalates. In
addition, there has been a growing presence of the toxic
chemical cadmium in children's products. Our toy safety laws
are not being enforced to the level where consumers feel safe.
Lead and other heavy metals can hinder brain development in the
young children and can damage the nervous system and other
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organs. Shoppers have no way of telling whether the products on
store shelves comply with the law. In these difficult economic
times we need to restore consumers' confidence that the toys
they are buying their children are safe. DTSC currently has
sworn peace officers who enforce our lead in jewelry laws and
work to protect us from hazardous waste. DTSC has worked to
pull jewelry with lead off stores' shelves all over the state
protecting consumers from lead's dangerous effects. In
addition, DTSC has events where consumers can test their toys to
make sure they are safe."
DPH's current toy safety program : The DPH's Food and Drug
Branch (FDB) is the primary enforcement agency of toy safety
laws. The FDB also enforces other consumer product sections of
the Health and Safety Code, such as California's Hazardous
Substances Act, the Infant Crib Act and the Bunk Bed Safety Act.
The DPH Food and Drug Laboratory Branch (FDLB) are utilized to
provide laboratory support for FDB's consumer product
investigations.
DPH has performed 15 undercover investigations, 6 epidemiology
investigations and additional investigations into consumer
product hazards, although seemingly only a few are
investigations into toy safety.
DTSC's current regulatory authority over consumer products : In
2003, the Legislature enacted the "Toxics in Packaging
Prevention Act" (AB 455, Chu, Chapter 679, Statutes of 2003),
which prohibits the sale of a package or packaging component
that includes a regulated metal. In 2006, the Legislature
enacted the "Lead-Containing Jewelry Law" (AB 1681, Pavley,
Chapter 415, Statutes of 2006), which sets restrictions for lead
in jewelry. To enhance DTSC's enforcement authority over both
jewelry and packaging products, the Legislature, in 2008,
enacted AB 2901 (Brownley, Chapter 575, Statutes of 2008).
As part of the Green Chemistry Initiative, the Governor signed
AB 1879 (Feuer and Huffman) Chapter 559, Statutes of 2008, into
law. AB 1879 requires DTSC to adopt regulations by January 1,
2011, to identify and prioritize chemicals of concern and to
specify regulatory responses where chemicals of concern are
found in consumer products. AB 1879 gives DTSC broad regulatory
author over toxics in consumer products; however, because the
law contains a provision that prohibits DTSC from superseding
the regulatory authority of any other department or agency and
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from duplicating or adopt conflicting regulations for product
categories already regulated, clarity could better enable DTSC
to regulate toys that contain chemicals of concern. This bill
provides some clarity.
Related legislation:
SB 929 (Pavley): Prohibits the manufacture, shipping, sale, or
offering for sale, or offering for promotional purposes of
children's jewelry containing cadmium. This bill is scheduled
to be heard in this Committee on June 29, 2010.
AB 1930 (De La Torre): Prohibits the manufacture, sale, offering
for sale or offering for promotional purposes of glass beads
containing arsenic or lead above a specified amount if those
beads will be used with blasting equipment. Authorizes DTSC to
enforce these prohibitions. This bill is in the Senate
Environmental Quality Committee awaiting hearing.
Suggested amendments : The Committee may wish to consider
technical amendments to 1) update current statute that requires
state entities to enforce an outdated federal toy safety
regulation to reflect current federal toy safety requirements
and to 2) ensure that DTSC has clear enforcement authority over
existing state and federal toy safety laws.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support:
Clean Water Action
Environment California
Environmental Working Group
Los Angeles District Attorney's Office
Planning and Conservation League
Sierra Club California
Opposition:
None received.
Analysis Prepared by : Shannon McKinney / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965
SB 1365
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