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OLR Bill Analysis
sSB 926
AN ACT CONCERNING THE PRESENCE OF PFAS IN CERTAIN
CONSUMER PACKAGING.
SUMMARY
This bill prohibits, beginning October 1, 2023, manufacturers,
suppliers, and distributors from offering for sale or promotional
purposes packages or packaging components with (1) any detectable
amount of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) or (2)
PFAS that was introduced to the package or component during
manufacturing or distribution (see BACKGROUND). The bill exempts
from the PFAS ban packages and packaging components for medical
devices or equipment.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Energy and
Environmental Protection (DEEP) commissioner to report to the
governor and the legislature on the effectiveness of the state’s
packaging restrictions, including recommending that the law be
expanded to include other toxic substances. The bill authorizes the
commissioner to (1) create a list of packaging chemicals of high
concern, which must be considered toxic chemicals and (2) recommend
to the Environment Committee that chemicals on the list be statutorily
banned from packaging within two years after making the
recommendation.
The bill expands upon the current procedure for showing that a
package or packaging components comply with the law’s restrictions
(i.e., certificates of compliance), which apply to the existing restrictions
on lead, mercury, cadmium, and hexavalent chromium and the bill’s
ban on PFAS chemicals. It also prohibits material used to replace a
chemical that is banned from packaging or packaging components
from being used in an amount or way that creates a hazard at least
equal to the hazard of the banned chemical. 2021SB-00926-R000452-BA.DOCX
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The bill applies existing civil and criminal penalties for violations of
the packing and packing component law to its ban on PFAS in
packaging and components, including those for making false
statements in certificates of compliance (see BACKGROUND).
It also makes minor, technical, and conforming changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2021
PFAS IN PACKAGING AN D COMPONENTS
The law’s existing restrictions on lead, mercury, cadmium, and
hexavalent chromium in packaging and packaging components
applies to intentional introductions. The bill expands the law’s
meaning of intentional introductions to packaging and components by
applying it to PFAS and other regulated chemicals. But the bill’s ban
on PFAS in components applies regardless of whether there was intent
to introduce it.
The bill also considers using a regulated chemical as a processing
agent, mold release agent, or intermediate as an intentional
introduction when the chemical is detected in the final package or
component.
CERTIFICATE OF COMPL IANCE
Current law allows package and packaging component
manufacturers and distributers to show that they comply with the
law’s restrictions by providing a certificate of compliance saying that
they relied on the written assurance from the manufacturer about the
package’s or component’s content.
The bill instead makes manufacturers and suppliers responsible for
providing the certificates. It also (1) requires certificates to be provided
to the public, not just the DEEP commissioner, upon request; (2) allows
certificates to be made available through a website; (3) requires an
amended or new certificate when a package or component is changed
or new; and (4) if the commissioner suspects a violation of the law,
requires her to receive certain purchaser information. 2021SB-00926-R000452-BA.DOCX
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Content
Under the bill, if requested by a purchaser, a manufacturer or
supplier of a package or component must provide a certificate of
compliance, signed by an authorized official, saying that it meets the
law’s content requirements. If the package or component meets one of
the existing exemptions that generally apply to the restricted metals,
the certificate must state the specific reason the exemption applies.
Manufacturers and suppliers must keep copies of their certificates on
file.
Providing Certificates Upon Request
The bill requires certificates, or copies of them, to be provided to the
commissioner or the public if either requests them. It allows a
manufacturer or supplier to make a certificate available (1) on the
manufacturer’s website or (2) through an authorized representative of
the manufacturer, such as a packaging clearinghouse. (It is unclear
how a supplier could make a certificate available on a manufacturer’s
or representative’s website.)
Under the bill, a request from the public must be made in writing
and have a copy provided to the commissioner. It must be specific as
to the requested package or component information. The manufacturer
or supplier, as applicable, must respond to the request within 60 days
after receiving it.
The bill also requires a purchaser who receives a certificate of
compliance to keep it for the entire time he or she uses the associated
package or component.
The bill specifies that the certificate of compliance requirement does
not apply to packaging or packaging components for medical devices
or medical equipment.
Amended Certificates
If a package or package component manufacturer or supplier
reformulates or creates a new package or component, the bill requires
it to provide an amended or new certificate of compliance to all current 2021SB-00926-R000452-BA.DOCX
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purchasers.
Suspected Violation
Under the bill, if the commissioner has grounds to suspect that a
package (but not a packaging component) is offered for sale in
violation of existing law and the bill, she may ask the package’s
manufacturer or distributor (but not the supplier) to provide a
certificate of compliance within the next 30 days.
The bill requires the manufacturer or distributor to (1) give the
commissioner the certificate attesting that the package is free of a
regulated chemical (but not a metal); (2) notify anyone who sells the
package in Connecticut that selling it is prohibited; and (3) give the
commissioner a copy of the notice to sellers and a list of who received
it, with their addresses.
TOXIC CHEMICALS LIST
The bill allows the DEEP commissioner to periodically review,
revise, and publish a list of packaging chemicals of high concern.
Chemicals on the list must be considered toxic chemicals.
The bill requires the commissioner to remove a chemical from the
list if it no longer meets the criteria for which it was included. The bill
caps at 10 the number of chemicals that may be on the list at any time.
Eligibility for Listing
The bill establishes three standards for the commissioner to place a
chemical on the list.
First, a chemical can be listed if the commissioner included it on
DEEP’s list of chemicals of concern due to credible scientific evidence
that it is:
1. a carcinogen, reproductive or developmental toxicant, or
endocrine disruptor or
2. (a) persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic; (b) very persistent
and very bioaccumulative; (c) persistent, mobile and toxic; or 2021SB-00926-R000452-BA.DOCX
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(d) very persistent and very mobile.
The commissioner may also include a chemical on the list if she
determines that there is strong credible scientific evidence (rather than
just credible scientific evidence) that it is a human carcinogen,
reproductive or developmental toxicant, or endocrine disruptor.
Lastly, the list may include a chemical if the commissioner
determines that there is strong credible scientific evidence that it was:
1. found in human blood, breast milk, urine, or other bodily
tissues or fluids, through bioengineering studies;
2. found in packaging through sampling and analysis; and
3. added to or in a package.
Under the bill, “credible scientific evidence” is study results that are
the product of an independent scientific peer-reviewed experimental
design and conduct. The results also must be published in a peer-
reviewed journal or a publication from an authoritative federal or
international governmental agency (e.g., U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services’ National Toxicology Program, World Health
Organization, and the European Chemicals Agency).
The criteria for determining if a substance is “persistent,
bioaccumulative, and toxic” or “very persistent and very
bioaccumulative” are set in Annex XIII of the Registration, Evaluation,
Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation of
the European Union (EC) No. 1907/2006 of the European Parliament
and the Council, or its amendments. Similarly, the criteria for
determining if a substance is “persistent, mobile, and toxic” or “very
persistent and very mobile” is set in the following 2019 REACH report:
“REACH: Improvement of guidance and methods for the identification
and assessment of PMT/vPvM substances: Final Report.”
BACKGROUND
Packaging and Components 2021SB-00926-R000452-BA.DOCX
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Under existing law, “packaging” is a container used to market,
protect, or handle a product and includes a unit package, intermediate
package, and shipping container. It also includes an unsealed
receptacle, such as a crate, cup, tray, wrapper, or bag, among other
things. “Packaging components” are package parts such as interior or
exterior blocking, bracing, cushioning, weatherproofing, exterior
strapping, coating, closure, ink, label, dye, pigment, adhesive,
stabilizer, or another additive.
Penalties
By law, anyone who violates the packaging and packing component
law is subject to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per offense, which the
court sets. A violation includes making a false statement in a certificate
of compliance. The law makes each violation, and each day a violation
continues, a separate and distinct offense.
Knowingly violating this law, including false statements in
certificates of compliance, is punishable by a fine of up to $50,000, up
to two years in prison, or both. Each false statement is subject to the
possible fine.
The law also allows the DEEP commissioner to ask the attorney
general to seek an injunction to stop someone from continuing a
violation. It requires the attorney general, if asked by the
commissioner, to take court action to recover a civil penalty a court
imposes for a violation of these laws (CGS § 22a-255l).
COMMITTEE ACTION
Environment Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 21 Nay 11 (03/29/2021)