Prohibits the manufacture, sale, and distribution of televisions, computers, furniture, mattresses, and mattress pads containing commercial decabromodiphenylether.

A BILL FOR AN ACT

SECTION 1. The legislature recognizes that many of the products in our homes and office, including television sets, computers, furniture upholstery, and mattresses, are manufactured with added chemical flame retardants known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers.

Over the years, public health researchers have sounded the alarm that polybrominated diphenyl ethers are accumulating in our environment and in our bodies, where they can cause serious health problems, especially for fetuses and young children. Exposure has been known to cause impaired learning and memory, delayed onset of puberty, male and female reproductive effects, cancer, and impaired immune system functions.

Recognizing these dangers, the legislature banned the manufacture, process, and distribution of two polybrominated diphenyl ethers – pentaBDE and octaBDE – in 2004.

Today, decabromodiphenylether is the only polybrominated diphenyl ether remaining on the market. This chemical poses the same public health dangers as its banned counterparts. It continues to leach out into our homes and environment, accumulating in dust, food, and our bodies, as shown in samples of blood and breast milk. Decabromodiphenylether also breaks down, either by natural environmental processes or when metabolized, into polybrominated diphenyl ether cogeners that are predominately found in the now prohibited pentaBDE and octaBDE.

The purpose of this Act is to protect the public health by banning the manufacture, sale, and distribution of commercial decabromodiphenylether.

SECTION 2. Chapter 332D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§332D-   Commercial decabromodiphenylether; restriction on manufacture and distribution. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), after July 1, 2007, no person may manufacture, knowingly sell, offer for sale, distribute for sale, or distribute for use in this State any of the following products:

(b) The following are exempt from subsection (a):

(c) If the department of health finds that a safer technically feasible alternative to the use of commercial decabromodiphenylether is not available at reasonable cost, the department, by rule, may grant an exemption to allow for the manufacture, sale, and distribution of products prohibited by subsection (a) between July 1, 2007, and July 1, 2009. The exemption may be renewed for a period of two years if the department finds that a safer, technically feasible alternative to the use of commercial decabromodiphenylether is not available at reasonable cost.

(d) For purposes of this section:

"Commercial decabromodiphenylether" means the chemical mixture of decabromodiphenylether, including associated polybrominated diphenyl ether impurities not intentionally added. No single polybrominated diphenyl ether impurity shall exceed one per cent by mass of the mixture and the combination of all polybrominated diphenyl ether impurities shall not exceed four per cent by mass of the mixture.

"Electronic enclosure" means the plastic housing that encloses the components of electronic products, including but not limited to televisions and computers.

"Manufacturer" includes any person, firm, association, partnership, corporation, governmental entity, organization, or joint venture that produces a product containing decabromodiphenylether.

"Polybrominated diphenyl ethers":

"Technically feasible alternative that is available at a reasonable cost" means an alternative that is available at a cost and in sufficient quantity to permit the manufacturer or user to maintain an economically viable product.

"Transportation vehicle" means any mechanized vehicle that is used to transport goods or people including, but not limited to, airplanes, automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, buses, trains, boats, ships, streetcars, and monorail cars."

SECTION 3. The department of health shall report on the availability of safer, technically feasible alternatives for those products prohibited from the manufacture, sale, or distribution under section 2 of this Act and any additional evidence of the potential harm posed by commercial decabromodiphenylether. The department also shall review additional uses of commercial decabromodiphenylether and make recommendations to the legislature on any recommended additional bans, restrictions, or both, to reduce and phase out the manufacture, sale, or distribution of nonedible products containing commercial decabromodiphenylether. The department shall submit its findings and recommendations, including proposed legislation, if any, to the legislature twenty days prior to the convening of 2007 regular session.

SECTION 4. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.