Update on LD 1790

Read MOFGA's Testimony on LD 1790

26 February 2004

Hello,

The brominated flame retardant legislation, LD 1790, has been making progress in the last week so I decided to send along this message to bring you up to date. As I've described at the end of this message the best way you could give a boost to this bill would be to contact members of the committee about it by early next week.

The Public Hearing-
Last Tuesday, the 17th, the public hearing was held before the Natural Resources Committee, many thanks to all of you who came to that and supported the bill. The hearing lasted most of the day as there was a lot of interest in the bill (on both sides). My assessment of the hearing is that the level of interest demonstrated in this bill certainly made the committee sit up and take notice that this is a serious and important issue in need of their attention.

It felt a bit like a roller coaster as the testimony swung back and forth with most of the debate focused on one particular flame retardant of the five proposed for a ban by this bill. The consensus was that 2 of the 5 are of obvious concern and should be banned (penta and octa, named for the number of bromine molecules in each type of retardant). These 2 were banned by California last year and are known to be persistent and bioaccumulative toxins. Two of the others don't have as strong a case against them at this point, largely because they haven't been studied very much. These retardants (referred to as TBBPA and HBCD) are of concern and should be banned rather than just presumed to be safe but the committee would be stepping out ahead of the rest of the world if they did that so it seemed less likely.

The other chemical, referred to as deca because it has 10 bromine molecules in it, was the focus of the debate throughout the hearing. The body of evidence has been growing against deca in the last couple of months as scientists are finding that it breaks down into the more toxic flame retardants (penta and octa) and is taken up in those forms in the bodies of humans and wildlife. Europe has banned deca use in electronics effective in 2006, and is planning to ban all uses unless the risk assessment they are doing now fails to demonstrate that there is a health risk. In the hearing the industry reps hammered on the notion that there is not enough evidence of harm yet to justify a ban. Those of us supporting the bill made the counter point that we should heed early warnings from science on this chemical that is building in our bodies and not wait until we can measure the effect of our inaction on our health. I would say that the committee left the hearing without a clear sense of what to do about banning deca.

The Worksession-
Yesterday afternoon the committee took the bill back up in its first work session. In the worksession the committee voted nearly unanimously in "concept" on a new version of this bill that they are having the clerk draft. This amended version of the bill will be written up and presented to the committee (possibly next Monday, the 1st) at another work session where they will again debate the issue and possibly take a vote.

The new version-

• Would ban the penta and octa brominated flame retardants
• Would presumptively ban deca in 2008 but would require a report back with a recommendation from the DEP in 2006 on whether the ban should go forward based upon the actions of the European Union, the EPA and other states in the meantime.
• Would take TBBPA and HBCD out of the bill and not deal with those at this time
• And incorporate the changes proposed at the beginning of the hearing by Rep Hannah Pingree the sponsor that respond to some concerns from the DEP. These include deleting the fees, lessening the labeling requirements and streamlining the notification process included in the original bill language.

We think this is the best we could have hoped for from the committee at this time and there is no question that if the bill is passed in this new form it will be a significant and meaningful step for Maine toward stronger pubic health protection. On deca it would shift the burden of proof and means that the industry would need to prove that deca is safe or else the ban would go into effect. The evidence against deca is continuously mounting so we feel confident in this kind of ban for deca. It would also provide significant political momentum to efforts in other states to implement their own bans on deca.

Next Steps-
While this work session was an important advance toward passage of this bill, it's by no means over. Between now and Monday when the committee may take this up again for a vote we can expect significant lobbying from industry against the amended version of the bill, as well as a fight once this bill gets to the floor and is taken up by the whole legislature.

One other hurdle that needs to be cleared is that as written the bill still includes a report due back from the DEP detailing BFR use and alternatives. It is estimated that this would cost the DEP $50,000 which is a problem since a fiscal note like that attached to this bill could kill it due to the lack of financial resources the state has right now. We are working to get rid of that fiscal note so it doesn't hold the bill up.

What can you do to help out?-
You could each get in touch with any of the committee members you have a relationship with, or else just get in touch with the committee chairs by sending a fax to the committee room at 287-1580 or via email ( Sen Martin at SenJohn.Martin@legislature.maine.gov , and Rep Koffman at koffman@acadia.net ).

It would be very helpful between now and Monday if committee members were hearing from people- the message… thank you for seriously addressing this issue and voting in support of banning these chemicals - especially deca. Tell them they are on the right track and encourage them to vote this new version of the bill out of committee with an ought to pass vote.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you for your support,

Amanda

Amanda K. Sears, Campaign Director
Environmental Health Strategy Center
One Pleasant St. 4th Floor, Portland, ME 04101
phone (207) 772-2181, fax (207) 828-8620
cell phone (207) 939-7333
asears@preventharm.org