BILL NUMBER:S3130

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
environmentally 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 household products and information about environmentally safer
alternatives. Retailers would then be required to display such pamphlets
in the vicinity of the household hazardous products.

The bill requires the Department to promulgate a list of hazardous
              

chemicals 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 manufacturer 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. Additionally, 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 municipal 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 municipal 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 alternatives shall be contained in brochures to be displayed
nearby.  By providing 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:
1999/00 A.6862 S.2799; 2001/02
A.850 - S.4080; 2003/04 A.1952/S.643;
2005/06 A.6526 - S.1059
2009/10 A.6431 - Referred to Environmental Conservation; S.2066 -
Referred to Environmental Conservation

EFFECTIVE DATE:
One year from date of enactment.