Bill Text: HI SR107 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: PBDE; decaBDE; Environmental Protection Agency

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2010-04-06 - (S) Report and Resolution Adopted, as amended (SD 1). [SR107 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2010-SR107-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	107
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

supporting the phase out of production and importation of DECABROMODIPHENL ETHER (decaBDE) and all other POLYBROMINATED DIPHENYL ETHERS (PBDEs) in the United States.

 

 

     WHEREAS, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) have been used extensively as fire retardants in many common household products for the past thirty years; and

 

     WHEREAS, studies on animals show that PBDEs can affect behavior and learning after birth and into adulthood, making exposure to fetuses and children a particular concern; and

 

     WHEREAS, PBDEs have the potential to disrupt thyroid hormone balance and contribute to a variety of developmental learning disabilities, and may also have the potential to cause cancer; and

 

     WHEREAS, substantial efforts to eliminate PBDEs from consumer products have been made throughout the world in both the private and public sectors, and these efforts have produced numerous safe alternatives that meet stringent fire code standards; and

 

     WHEREAS, on December 17, 2009, as the result of negotiations with the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the two U.S. producers of the PBDE decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE), Albemarle Corporation and Chemtura Corporation, and the largest U.S. importer, ICL Industrial Products, Inc., announced commitments to phase out decaBDE in the United States; and

 

     WHEREAS, decaBDE is a flame retardant which has been used in electronics, wire and cable insulation, textiles, automobiles and airplanes, and other applications; and

 

     WHEREAS, these companies have committed to end production, importation, and sales of decaBDE for most uses in the United States by December 31, 2012, and to end all uses by the end of 2013; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Environmental Protection Agency has also announced its intent to encourage the other minor importers of decaBDE to join this initiative; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2010, that the Legislature supports this phase out of production and importation of decaBDE and all other PBDEs in the United States; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature encourages the Environmental Protection Agency to continue its efforts to encourage the remaining minor importers of decaBDE to end their importation of decaBDE into the United States; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and to Hawaii's congressional delegation.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

PBDE; decaBDE; Environmental Protection Agency