Kid-Safe Products Bill Passes Out of Committee 9-4 yesterday evening!

Hi folks,

We’re very excited about this strong vote out of committee.  But with 25 industry lobbyists working the Senate, the real work begins now. Please contact your Senator in the next couple of weeks and urge them to support this bill.

Thanks for all your help.

-Matt

Here is a press release from the Maine House Majority Office that we received today:

For Immediate Release
March 10, 2008
Contact: Travis Kennedy, Communications Director, 287-1433

Natural Resources Committee Endorses Bill to Track and Prohibit Toxins in Children's Products

Committee combines two similar bills into Pingree proposal - measure now heads to full House

AUGUSTA - A majority of the Legislature's Natural Resources Committee voted Monday in support of a bill to test, track and eliminate dangerous chemicals from products that are exposed to children in Maine.

The bill, proposed by House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, would require the State to create a regularly-updated list of chemicals that the Maine Department of Environmental Protection identifies as harmful, and require manufacturers to disclose if their products contain those chemicals. It would establish a process for replacing them with safer alternatives, and allow the Department to cooperate with other states, share information and promote safer chemical use.

Pingree, D-North Haven, said that the federal EPA has failed to keep up with identifying and regulating the use of chemicals in household products, and manufacturers are using toxic substances in products that children and adults are exposed to every day. Chemicals like phthalates and bisphenol-A, which have proven negative effects on fetal brain development and behavior, turn up in everything from shampoo to teething rings, and are among thousands of chemicals of concern that are currently unregulated by the federal government.

Her bill would start with a list of already identified chemicals of concern that an authoritative government agency has determined are hazardous to health or the environment based on credible scientific evidence. After a review of the evidence, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection would identify the priority chemicals that come in contact with children.

If the DEP determines that a safer alternative to a priority chemical in a children's product is available, effective and safer, then they will require the manufacturer to replace that chemical with a safer alternative.

Pingree's bill was similar to one proposed by Governor Baldacci and the Department of Environmental Protection, based on a report by the Governor's Task Force to Promote Safer Chemicals in Consumer Products that was released in December. Pingree worked with DEP and stakeholders to craft an amendment that harmonized the two proposals, and her bill will move forward as the vehicle for the amended bill.

The Committee vote was split largely down party lines, with the Democrats who were present voting to support the measure and all but one Republican opposing it.

The United States Senate recently passed a measure to boost funding for the Consumer Product Safety Commission, create stricter testing methods and establish a public Web site where consumers can complain about products that they believe are hazardous. But Pingree said that while the pending law will help to catch toxic materials coming into the country that have already been outlawed in the U.S., it does little to identify, test and eliminate the hundreds of currently legal chemicals that pose a risk to people and the environment.

"The bills working their way through Congress will help to prevent the kind of massive toy recalls we saw during the Christmas season," Pingree said. "But they ignore the real problem. Phthalates - which have serious negative developmental impacts on child development - are legal in the U.S. Bisphenol-A - which many studies have proven poses risks to fetal development and Canadian regulators have deemed 'inherently toxic' - is legal in the U.S. The bills they're considering in Congress won't change that."

Pingree said that one of the most important functions of the bill is that it would establish an interstate clearinghouse with other states that are considering similar legislation, in order to share research and information and push for bans on the most dangerous chemicals together.

"We need to take a proactive approach to chemical policy, like they've been doing in other developed countries for years," she said. "We hope that these small steps in Congress are the beginning of a trend, but states can't wait any longer to find out. Products we come in contact every day are tainted with poison. Fortunately, we can accomplish a lot across state lines if we work together."

At least 12 states are considering bills similar to hers, including Maryland, Nebraska, West Virginia and Hawaii, and that the Washington State House of Representatives has unanimously passed a similar bill already. The European Union passed comprehensive chemical policy in 2007, and is years ahead of the United States in research and efforts to ban dangerous chemicals. Pingree said that information provided from European states will be crucial to Maine's efforts.

A broad range of supporters, including the Maine Medical Association, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, The Environmental Health Strategy Center, the Maine AFL-CIO, the Maine Women's Lobby, Maine Audubon, the Natural Resources Council of Maine, the Maine League of Conservation Voters and concerned parents from across the State lined up in support of the bill at its public hearing on Feb. 28. Representatives from the chemical industry and lobbyists representing personal care products, pharmaceutical organizations and toys testified against it.

The bill will now go to the full House of Representatives for an initial vote.

Comments

[Matt Prindiville]

In response to your request, here are the names of the representatives who voted against LD 2048, “An Act to Protect Children’s Health and the Environment from Toxic Chemicals in Children’s Products.” In fact, Senator Douglas M. Smith of District 27 (includes Greenville, Dover-Foxcroft, Millinocket, and Patten) introduced an amendment that would have made this a do-nothing bill.

Douglas M. Smith (R-Piscataquis) District 27 - Parts of Piscataquis, Somerset and Penobscot counties including Millinocket, Greenville, Guilford, St. Albans, Patten, Brownville and Milo

James M. Hamper (R-Oxford) District 100 - Mechanic Falls, Otisfield, and Oxford

Bernard L. A. Ayotte (R-Caswell) District 3 - Caswell, Grand Isle, Hamlin, Limestone, New Sweden, Van Buren, Woodland, and Cyr Plantation, plus the unorganized territory of Connor Township

James D. Annis (R-Dover-Foxcroft) District 26 - Atkinson, Dover-Foxcroft, Medford, Milo, Sangerville, and Plantation of Lake View, plus the unorganized territory of Orneville Township

This bill will move to the Senate very soon. Please make sure your senator votes in favor of protections for our children and urge them to vote in favor of LD 2048! For more information, visit http://www.nrcm.org/kid_safe_products_2008.asp.

[Tracie]

Would you please list here the names, party, and names of towns of the elected officials who voted against protecting our children? Maybe you blog readers will see their legislator's name here and tell them they'll be voted out of office if they don't vote for our kids Thank you.

[ricki]

thanks for this great update. congrats