HOUSE BILL No. 4795

 

May 30, 2013, Introduced by Reps. Talabi, Durhal, Slavens, Brunner, Smiley, Lane, Cavanagh, Schor, Kivela, Dianda, Driskell, Banks, Brinks, Knezek, Hovey-Wright, Geiss, Stanley, Brown, Cochran, Haugh, Irwin, Lipton, Barnett, Yanez, Faris and Nathan and referred to the Committee on Regulatory Reform.

 

     A bill to amend 1978 PA 368, entitled

 

"Public health code,"

 

by amending section 5491 (MCL 333.5491), as added by 2007 PA 159,

 

and by adding section 5494.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 5491. As used in this part:

 

     (a) "Child care article" means a product designed or intended

 

by the manufacturer to facilitate the sleep, relaxation, or feeding

 

of children or to help children with sucking or teething.

 

     (b) "Children" means individuals who are 7 years old or

 

younger.

 

     (a) "Chemical" means a substance with a distinct molecular

 

composition or a group of structurally related substances and

 

includes the breakdown products of the substance or substances that

 


form through decomposition, degradation, or metabolism.

 

     (b) "Chemical of concern" means a chemical listed pursuant to

 

section 5494(1).

 

     (c) "Chemical of greatest concern" means a chemical of concern

 

that is listed pursuant to section 5494(2).

 

     (d) "Child" means an individual who is 12 years old or

 

younger.

 

     (e) "Child care article" means a product designed or intended

 

by the manufacturer to facilitate the sleep, relaxation, or feeding

 

of children or to help children with sucking or teething.

 

     (f) "Children's product" means a consumer product that meets

 

any of the following requirements:

 

     (i) Is intended primarily for use by or for the care of

 

children, such as a child care article, baby product, child car

 

seat, toy, or article of clothing, or personal care product for

 

children.

 

     (ii) Contains a chemical of greatest concern and when used or

 

disposed of will likely result in a child or human fetus being

 

exposed to that chemical of greatest concern.

 

     (g) (c) "Consumer" means that term as used in the consumer

 

product safety act, 15 USC 2051 to 2085.2089.

 

     (h) "Consumer product" means an item sold for residential or

 

commercial use, including any component parts and packaging.

 

Consumer product does not include a drug or biologic regulated by

 

the United States food and drug administration, a food or beverage

 

or an additive to a food or beverage, a tobacco product, or a

 

pesticide regulated by the United States environmental protection

 


agency, except that consumer product may include a container or

 

packaging in which such an item is sold.

 

     (i) "Distributor" means a person who sells children's products

 

to retail establishments on a wholesale basis.

 

     (j) "Manufacturer" means a person who manufactures a consumer

 

product in its final form or whose brand name is affixed to the

 

consumer product. In the case of a consumer product that is

 

imported into the United States, manufacturer includes the importer

 

or domestic distributor of the consumer product if the person who

 

manufactured or assembled the consumer product or whose brand name

 

is affixed to the consumer product does not have a presence in the

 

United States.

 

     (k) (d) "Person" means an individual, partnership,

 

corporation, association, governmental entity, or other legal

 

entity.

 

     (l) (e) "Toxic substance" means a substance that contains lead,

 

or a coating on an item that contains lead, so that the lead

 

content is more than 0.06% of the total weight. Toxic substance

 

does not include glass or crystal decorative components.

 

     (m) (f) "Toy" means an article designed and made for the

 

amusement of a minor child or for the minor's a child's use in

 

play.

 

     Sec. 5494. (1) By July 1, 2014, the department, in

 

consultation with the department of environmental quality, shall

 

compile a list of chemicals that are identified, on the basis of

 

credible scientific evidence, to be 1 or more of the following:

 

     (a) Carcinogens, reproductive or developmental toxicants, or

 


chemicals that cause reproductive or developmental harm or other

 

systemic toxicity.

 

     (b) Endocrine or hormone disruptors.

 

     (c) Persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic.

 

     (d) Very persistent and very bioaccumulative.

 

     (2) By July 1, 2014, the department, in consultation with the

 

department of environmental quality, shall compile a list of not

 

less than 10 chemicals of concern that meet 1 or more of the

 

following criteria:

 

     (a) Have been found through biomonitoring to be present in

 

breast milk, urine, human blood including umbilical cord blood, or

 

other bodily tissues or fluids.

 

     (b) Have been found through sampling and analysis to be

 

present in consumer products or in household dust, indoor air,

 

drinking water, or elsewhere in the home environment.

 

     (c) Have been found through monitoring to be present in fish,

 

wildlife, or the natural environment.

 

     (d) Are included in the United States environmental protection

 

agency's sponsored chemicals list or unsponsored chemicals list,

 

developed under its high production volumes challenge program and

 

together comprising chemicals produced or imported in the United

 

States in quantities of 1,000,000 pounds or more per year.

 

     (e) Are determined by the department to be specifically

 

relevant to the health of children in this state.

 

     (3) The department, in consultation with the department of

 

environmental quality, may update the list of chemicals of concern

 

as often as the department considers necessary. The department, in

 


consultation with the department of environmental quality, shall

 

update and add not less than 10 chemicals to the list of chemicals

 

of greatest concern at least every 2 years based on the criteria

 

set forth in subsection (2).

 

     (4) Not more than 30 days after creation or alteration of a

 

list of chemicals of concern or chemicals of greatest concern, the

 

department shall publicly post the information on its website in an

 

easily understandable form.

 

     (5) By January 1, 2015, and every 2 years thereafter, the

 

department, in consultation with the department of environmental

 

quality, shall submit a report to the legislature about progress in

 

identifying chemicals of concern and chemicals of greatest concern.

 

The department shall include in the report a detailed plan to

 

inform consumers of chemicals of greatest concern as well as a plan

 

to protect children in this state from chemicals of concern.

 

     (6) The department, in consultation with the department of

 

environmental quality, may participate in an interstate chemicals

 

information clearinghouse to assist in carrying out the

 

requirements of this part. The department may work in collaboration

 

with other states and an interstate chemicals information

 

clearinghouse for purposes including, but not limited to, all of

 

the following:

 

     (a) Collection and dissemination of information regarding

 

chemical hazards.

 

     (b) Collection and dissemination of information regarding the

 

use of chemicals in children's products.

 

     (c) Assessment of alternatives to hazardous chemicals and

 


their use in products.

 

     (d) Public education about matters described in subdivisions

 

(a), (b), and (c).

 

     (7) The department may negotiate with an interstate chemicals

 

information clearinghouse to maintain information regarding

 

chemicals on behalf of this state, including, but not limited to,

 

information regarding chemicals listed pursuant to this section.

 

     (8) It is the intention of the legislature to appropriate

 

revenue for 1.5 additional full-time equivalent positions in the

 

toxicology and response section of the division of environmental

 

health of the department of community health for monitoring and

 

enforcing compliance with this part.

 

     Enacting section 1. This amendatory act may be referred to as

 

the "chemicals of greatest concern identification act".