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On March 28, 2024, Washington signed into law a bill designating 6PPD-containing tires as a priority product under cycle 2 of its safer products scheme.
The Safer Products for Washington program (RCW 70A.350), signed into law in May 2019, was designed to reduce toxic chemicals in consumer products to protect people, the environment and sensitive populations and species. It is structured in cycles, with each cycle consisting of four phases in which the Washington State Department of Ecology (DoE) is tasked with (1) prioritizing chemical classes, (2) prioritizing consumer products, (3) determining potential regulatory actions and (4) rulemaking.
In May, 2023 Washington’s Department of Ecology (DoE) finished the first cycle by adopting Chapter 173-133 WAC – Safer Products Restrictions and Reporting. This new chapter regulates PFAS, ortho-phthalates, flame retardants, alkyl-phenol ethoxylates and bisphenols in various consumer products (SafeGuardS 69/23). Since then, the DoE has started rulemaking under cycle 1.5 as well as cycle 2. Cycle 1.5 is looking at a rulemaking that could create reporting requirements or restrictions for PFAS in various consumer products.
Under cycle 2 phase 1, the Washington DoE published a priority chemicals report (draft) in June 2023. The draft report identified the following chemicals for review:
- Cadmium and cadmium compounds
- Lead and lead compounds
- Brominated and/or chlorinated substances
- Benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, and xylene substances (BTEX)
- Formaldehyde and formaldehyde releasers
- Cyclic volatile methylsiloxanes (cVMS)
- N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N'-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine (6PPD)
On March 28, 2024, Washington signed into law SB 5931, This identifies 6PPD as a priority chemical and certain motorized vehicle tires containing 6PPD as priority consumer products under the Safer Products for Washington program, enabling the substance’s use in tires to be regulated. 6PPD is a stabilizer and anti-degradant that boosts tire durability but it has been linked to salmon die-offs and therefore has come to the attention of the Washington DoE, among a number of jurisdictions.
The agency is planning on publishing the final cycle 2 phase 1 priority chemicals report by June 2024. Further steps are the phase 2 priority consumer products report and the phase 3 regulatory determinations to be finalized by June 2025 and June 2027 respectively. The final rule for cycle 2 must be adopted by June 2028.
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