South Carolina General Assembly
117th Session, 2007-2008

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H. 5044

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. Edge and Harrison
Document Path: l:\council\bills\gjk\20662sd08.doc
Companion/Similar bill(s): 4886

Introduced in the House on April 17, 2008
Currently residing in the House Committee on Judiciary

Summary: Child Safe Product Act

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
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   4/17/2008  House   Introduced and read first time HJ-26
   4/17/2008  House   Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-26

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

4/17/2008

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A BILL

TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING CHAPTER 27 TO TITLE 37 SO AS TO ENACT THE "SOUTH CAROLINA CHILD SAFE PRODUCT ACT" TO PROHIBIT THE SALE OF CHILDREN'S PRODUCTS OR COMPONENTS THAT CONTAIN SPECIFIED AMOUNTS OF CADMIUM, PHTHALATES, OR LEAD, TO PROVIDE THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SHALL IDENTIFY CHEMICALS THAT ARE OF HIGH CONCERN TO THE HEALTH OF CHILDREN AND DEVELOPING FETUSES, TO PROVIDE THAT MANUFACTURERS OF CHILDREN'S PRODUCTS THAT CONTAIN SUCH CHEMICALS MUST PROVIDE NOTICE TO THE DEPARTMENT AND TO RETAILERS WHO SELL THESE PRODUCTS, TO PROVIDE THAT THE DEPARTMENT SHALL ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN A PRODUCT SAFETY EDUCATION CAMPAIGN, TO PROVIDE FOR PENALTIES FOR VIOLATION OF THIS CHAPTER, AND TO DEFINE CERTAIN TERMS.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Title 37 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"CHAPTER 27

South Carolina Child Safe Product Act

Section 37-27-10.    This chapter may be cited as the 'South Carolina Child Safe Product Act'.

Section 37-27-20.    The General Assembly finds:

(1)    Research shows that many toys and other children's products contain toxic chemicals, such as lead, cadmium, and phthalates that have been shown to cause harm to children's health and the environment.

(2)    These chemicals have been linked to long-term health impacts, such as birth defects, reproductive harm, impaired learning, liver toxicity, and cancer.

(3)    Because children's bodies are growing and developing, children are especially vulnerable to the effects of toxic chemicals.

(4)    In the interest of protecting children's health, it is important to phase out the use of lead, cadmium, and phthalates in children's toys and other products.

Section 37-27-30.    As used in this chapter:

(1)    'Children's cosmetics' means cosmetics that are made for, marketed for use by, or marketed to children under the age of twelve. The term includes cosmetics that are:

(a)    represented in their packaging, display, or advertising as appropriate for use by children;

(b)    sold in conjunction with, attached to, or packaged together with other products that are packaged, displayed, or advertised as appropriate for use by children; or

(c)    sold in a retail store, catalogue, or online web site or a discrete portion of a retail store, catalogue, or online web site, in which a person exclusively offers for sale products that are packaged, displayed, or advertised as appropriate for use by children.

(2)    'Children's jewelry' means jewelry that is made for, marketed for use by, or marketed to children under the age of twelve. The term includes jewelry that is:

(a)    represented in its packaging, display, or advertising as appropriate for use by children under the age of twelve;

(b)    sold in conjunction with, attached to, or packaged together with other products that are packaged, displayed, or advertised as appropriate for use by children;

(c)    sized for children and not intended for use by adults;

(d)    sold in a vending machine;

(e)    sold in a retail store, catalogue, or online web site, or a discrete portion of a retail store, catalogue, or online web site, in which a person exclusively offers for sale products that are packaged, displayed, or advertised as appropriate for use by children.

(3)    'Children's product' includes toys, children's cosmetics, children's jewelry, car seats, and products designed or intended by the manufacturer to help a child with sucking or teething, to facilitate sleep, relaxation, or the feeding of the child, or to be worn as clothing by children. The term does not include:

(a)    batteries;

(b)    slings and catapults;

(c)    sets of darts with metallic points;

(d)    toy steam engines;

(e)    bicycles and tricycles;

(f)    video toys that can be connected to a video screen and are operated at a nominal voltage exceeding twenty-four volts;

(g)    chemistry sets;

(h)    consumer electronic products, including, but not limited to, personal computers, audio and video equipment, calculators, wireless phones, game consoles, and handheld devices incorporating a video screen, used to access interactive software, and their associated peripherals;

(i)        interactive software, intended for leisure and entertainment, such as computer games, and their storage media, such as compact disks;

(j)        BB guns, pellet guns, and air rifles;

(k)    snow sporting equipment, including skis, poles, boots, snowboards, sleds, and bindings;

(l)        sporting equipment, including, but not limited to, bats, balls, gloves, sticks, pucks, pads, roller skates, scooters, model rockets, and athletic shoes with cleats or spikes; and

(m)    pocket knives and multitools.

(4)    'Cosmetics' includes articles intended to be rubbed, poured, sprinkled, or sprayed on, introduced into, or otherwise applied to the human body or any part of the human body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the appearance, and articles intending for use as a component of such an article. The term does not include soap, dietary supplements, or food and drugs approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration.

(5)    'Department' means the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

(6)    'High priority chemical' means a chemical identified by a state agency, federal agency, accredited research university, or other scientific evidence deemed authoritative by the department on the basis of credible scientific evidence that is known to:

(a)    harm the normal development of a fetus or child or cause other developmental toxicity;

(b)    cause cancer, genetic damage, or reproductive harm;

(c)    disrupt the endocrine system;

(d)    damage the nervous system, immune system, or organs, or cause other systemic toxicity;

(e)    be persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic; or

(f)    be very persistent and very bioaccumulative.

(7)    'Manufacturer' includes any person, firm, association, partnership, corporation, governmental entity, organization, or joint venture that produces a children's product or an importer or domestic distributor of a children's product. For the purposes of this subsection, 'importer' means the owner of the children's product.

(8)    'Phthalates' means di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), diisonoyl phthalate (DINP), diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP), or di-n-octyl phthalate (DnOP).

(9)    'Toy' means a product designed or intended by the manufacturer to be used by a child at play.

(10)    'Trade association' means a membership organization of persons engaging in a similar or related line of commerce, organized to promote and improve business conditions in that line of commerce and not to engage in a regular business of a kind ordinarily carried on for profit.

(11)    'Very bioaccumulative' means having a bioconcentration factor or bioaccumulation factor greater than or equal to five thousand, or if neither are available, having a log Kow greater than 5.0.

(12)    'Very persistent' means having a half-life greater than or equal to one of the following:

(a)    a half-life in soil or sediment of greater than one hundred eighty days; or

(b)    a half-life greater than or equal to sixty days in water or evidence of long-range transport.

Section 37-27-40.    (A)    Beginning July 1, 2009, a manufacturer, wholesaler, or retailer may not manufacture, knowingly sell, offer for sale, distribute for sale, or distribute for use in this State a children's product or product component containing the following:

(1)    except as provided in section (B), lead at more than .009 percent by weight (ninety parts per million);

(2)    cadmium at more than .004 percent by weight (forty parts per thirty-six million); or

(3)    phthalates, individually or in combination, at more than 0.10 percent by weight (one thousand parts per million).

(B)    If it is determined to be feasible for manufacturers to achieve and is necessary to protect children's health, the department may require that no manufacturer, wholesaler, or retailer may manufacture, knowingly sell, offer for sale, distribute for sale, or distribute for use in this State a children's product or product component containing lead at more than .004 percent by weight (forty parts per million).

Section 37-27-50.    (A)    By January 1, 2009, the department shall identify high priority chemicals that are of high concern for children after considering a child's or developing fetus's potential for exposure to each chemical. In identifying the chemicals, the department shall include chemicals that meet one or more of the following criteria:

(1)    the chemical has been found through biomonitoring studies that demonstrate the presence of the chemical in human umbilical cord blood, human breast milk, human urine, or other bodily tissues or fluids;

(2)    the chemical has been found through sampling and analysis to be present in household dust, indoor air, drinking water, or elsewhere in the home environment; or

(3)    the chemical has been added to or is present in a consumer product used or present in the home.

(B)    By January 1, 2009, the department shall identify children's products or product categories that may contain chemicals identified under section (A).

(C)    By January 1, 2009, the department shall submit a report on the chemicals of high concern to children and the children's products or product categories they identify to the General Assembly. The report shall include policy options for addressing children's products that contain chemicals of high concern for children, including recommendations for additional ways to inform consumers about toxic chemicals in products, such as labeling.

Section 37-27-60.    Beginning six months after the department has promulgated regulations under this act, a manufacturer of a children's product, or a trade organization on behalf of its member manufacturers, shall provide notice to the department that the manufacturer's product contains a high priority chemical. The notice must be filed annually with the department and must include the following information:

(A)    the name of the chemical used or produced and its chemical abstracts service registry number;

(B)    a brief description of the product or product component containing the substance;

(C)    a description of the function of the chemical in the product;

(D)    the amount of the chemical used in each unit of the product or product component. The amount may be reported in ranges, rather than the exact amount;

(E)    the name and address of the manufacturer and the name, address, and phone number of a contact person for the manufacturer; and

(F)    any other information the manufacturer deems relevant to the appropriate use of the product.

Section 37-27-70.    (A)    The department shall establish and maintain a product safety education campaign to promote greater awareness of products designed to be used by infants and children that are recalled by the United States Consumer Products Safety Commission, do not meet federal safety regulations and voluntary safety standards, are unsafe or illegal to place into the stream of commerce, or contain chemicals of high concern for children.

(B)    The department shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that this infant and child product safety education campaign reaches the target population. The target population for this campaign includes, but is not limited to, parents, foster parents and other caregivers, child care providers, consignment and resale stores selling infant and child products, and charitable and governmental entities serving infants, children, and families.

(C)    The department may utilize a combination of methods to achieve this outreach and education goal, including, but not limited to, print and electronic media. The department may operate the campaign or may contract with a vendor.

(D)    The department shall coordinate this infant and child product safety education campaign with child-serving entities including, but not limited to, hospitals, birthing centers, midwives, pediatricians, obstetricians, family practice physicians, governmental and private entities serving infants, children, and families, and relevant manufacturers.

(E)    The department shall coordinate with other agencies and entities to eliminate duplication of effort in disseminating infant and child consumer product safety information.

(F)    The department may receive funding for this infant and child product safety education effort from federal, state, and local governmental entities, child-serving foundations, or other private sources.

Section 37-27-80.    (A)    A manufacturer of products that are restricted under this chapter must notify persons that sell the manufacturer's products in this State about the provisions of this chapter no less than ninety days prior to the effective date of the restrictions.

(B)    A manufacturer that produces, sells, or distributes a product prohibited from manufacture, sale, or distribution in this State under this chapter shall recall the product and reimburse the retailer or any other purchaser for the product.

(C)    A manufacturer of children's products in violation of this chapter is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed five thousand dollars for each violation in the case of a first offense. Manufacturers who are repeat violators are subject to a civil penalty not to exceed ten thousand dollars for each repeat offense.

(D)    Retailers who unknowingly sell products that are restricted from sale under this chapter are not liable under this chapter.

Section 37-27-90.    (A)    Before the prohibitions of this act take effect, the department shall prepare and distribute information to in-state and out-of-state manufacturers, to the maximum extent practicable, to assist them in identifying products prohibited for manufacture, sale, or distribution under this chapter.

(B)    The department must assist in-state retailers in identifying products restricted under this chapter.

(C)    The department may require manufacturers to electronically file the notice required by this act to the department that the manufacturer's product contains a high priority chemical.

(D)    The department shall develop and publish a web site that provides consumers with information on the chemicals used in children's products, the reason the chemical has been identified as a high priority chemical, and any safer alternatives to the chemical.

(E)    The department shall adopt standards to finalize the list of high priority chemicals that are of high concern for children identified in this act by January 1, 2010.

Section 37-27-100.    The department may promulgate regulations as necessary for the purpose of implementing, administering, and enforcing this chapter."

SECTION    2.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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