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SB 5369

Reassessing standards for polychlorinated biphenyls in consumer products.

2023-2024 Regular Session Introduced by Andy Billig and 19 co-sponsors

Washington Ecology must petition EPA to reassess PCB exemptions and curb PCBs in paints/inks, with state prohibitions by 6/1/2025 and implementing rules by 12/1/2026.

Effective date 7/23/2023.
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Bill Summary · SB 5369

SB 5369 — Reassessing standards for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in consumer products

Status: Chapter 399, 2023 Laws (enacted). Effective date: July 23, 2023.

Purpose / intent

The law directs Washington State’s Department of Ecology (Ecology) to address inadvertent (by‑product) PCBs in consumer products — principally paints and printing inks — and to press the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reassess federal PCB rules that allow certain manufacturing processes to generate PCBs. The legislature’s stated goal is upstream source control of nonlegacy PCBs to better protect human health and the environment.

Key provisions

  • Ecology must petition the EPA to reassess 40 C.F.R. § 761.3 (the federal exclusions for certain manufacturing processes) with the aim of eliminating or reducing PCBs in consumer products. The petition must include the bill’s legislative findings and information on:
    • health effects of PCBs;
    • measured PCB concentrations in products, waters, soils, and fish tissue;
    • availability and feasibility of safer alternatives; and
    • other relevant data (Ecology may rely on existing data). Ecology should seek completion of EPA’s petition review by January 1, 2025, to the extent practicable.
  • Paints and printing inks are confirmed as "priority consumer products" for PCBs under Washington’s Safer Products for Washington framework. For those products, Ecology is directed to:
    • establish a restriction or prohibition addressing PCBs by June 1, 2025; and
    • adopt implementing rules by December 1, 2026.
  • Preemption contingency: Ecology may not administer or enforce any restriction/prohibition if a court finds federal preemption or if EPA adopts conflicting rules. If a state restriction is held preempted, Ecology must establish a reporting requirement for priority chemicals/processes within 180 days and adopt rules to implement that reporting requirement within 18 months.
  • Ecology may consult with the Department of Health and other state agencies; no new data generation is required. No dedicated appropriation is included.

Who is affected

  • Manufacturers, importers, wholesalers, distributors, and retailers of paints and printing inks (and potentially other products Ecology later identifies).
  • Municipal and industrial wastewater dischargers, recycling and paper‑processing facilities that may receive PCB‑containing materials.
  • Consumers and ecosystems due to potential reductions in PCB release and exposure.
  • Department of Ecology and Department of Health (implementation, petition development, rulemaking).

Potential impacts / considerations

  • Regulatory outcome: intends to reduce upstream PCB sources (especially from chlorine‑based pigment processes identified as generating PCBs).
  • Legal risk: federal TSCA preemption of state chemical regulation could limit enforceability; the bill builds in contingency steps (reporting rules) if preemption is found.
  • Timelines: petition review targeted by 1/1/2025; state restrictions required (for paints/inks) by 6/1/2025 with rules by 12/1/2026.
  • Budget: no appropriation included in the bill; rulemaking and implementation would be absorbable within agency budgets or require future funding.

For more detail, see the enacted text adding new sections to chapter 70A.350 RCW (Safer Products for Washington) and the Department of Ecology’s responsibilities.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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