(PAINT.ORG) Legislation seeking to significantly broaden chemicals management has been introduced in the Vermont House of Representatives. H.268, An Act Relating to the Regulation of Toxic Substances and Hazardous Materials, was introduced on Feb. 14, and would revise Vermont's chemical reporting law, including requiring reporting of all consumer products. The bill would create an electronic registry for Vermont, requiring industries to list chemical substance used in their products.
The chemicals management measure follows recommendations made by a chemical task force issued in a January 2017 report the legislature. The task force was established after a 2016 law mandated its formation. The law was enacted following the detection of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOA) in Bennington, Vt. drinking water.
In addition to the much broader chemical reporting, the bill provides for the elimination of the chemical ban veto power by the chemical task force, and an automatic 6-year ban of any reported chemical in children's product.
A companion chemicals management bill in the Senate, S.103 was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources and Energy.
The January-released recommendations of the 20-person chemical task force also included
Strengthening the community's "right-to-know" laws, as well as establishing legal recourse. As such, the legislation would also allow residents to sue ...read on at: http://www.paint.org/vermont-chemicals-management/