03/19/2018 01:00 PM House RESOURCES

         HB  27-HIGH-RISK CHEMICALS FOR CHILD EXPOSURE                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
2:16:34 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR TARR announced  that the next order of  business would be                                                              
HOUSE  BILL NO.  27, "An  Act relating  to chemicals  that are  of                                                              
high  concern for  children and  to  the manufacture  and sale  of                                                              
products containing  certain flame  retardant chemicals;  relating                                                              
to an interstate  chemicals clearinghouse; adding  an unlawful act                                                              
to  the Alaska  Unfair  Trade  Practices and  Consumer  Protection                                                              
Act;  and  providing   for  an  effective  date."     [Before  the                                                              
committee   was  Version   D,  labeled   30-LS0264\D,   Bannister,                                                              
3/15/18,  the proposed committee  substitute  (CS) adopted  as the                                                              
working document on 3/9/18, and open for public testimony.]                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
2:17:01 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
ANAHMA SHANNON,  Director, Environmental  Program, Kawerak,  Inc.,                                                              
testified in  support of  HB 27.   She noted  Kawerak is  a Native                                                              
nonprofit  organization  in Nome  serving  the  20 tribes  in  the                                                              
Bering Sea  region.  She  said children  should not be  exposed to                                                              
toxics by having  them put directly into bedding,  clothing, toys,                                                              
and  household  goods.   The  chemicals  being directly  put  into                                                              
household products  affect neurological,  reproductive  and immune                                                              
system  health.   It  is known  that children  are  affected at  a                                                              
greater  rate  because  their bodies  are  smaller,  they  breathe                                                              
faster,  and they  have  a greater  rate of  exposure  due to  the                                                              
nature  of where  and how  they play.   Flame  retardants are  not                                                              
effective in  preventing fires, she  stated, but they  are harmful                                                              
to children through ingestion and inhalation.                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
MS.  SHANNON pointed  out that  in the  Bering Sea  region and  in                                                              
rural  communities   throughout  Alaska,  many  of   the  Class  3                                                              
landfills  burn whatever  is taken  to the  dump, including  items                                                              
containing  flame  retardants.     The  toxic  smoke  produced  by                                                              
burning  these products  makes  its way  into  the environment  by                                                              
smoke  fallout,  toxic  ash  that  leaches  into  groundwater,  or                                                              
tracked  out of the  landfills on  the bottom  of people's  boots.                                                              
The  polluted air  that is  produced affects  everyone exposed  to                                                              
the smoke.   Landfills are burned  on a daily basis and  often are                                                              
less than two  miles away from the  village, she noted,  and it is                                                              
known  that  cancer-causing   dioxins  are  produced   when  these                                                              
products are  burned.  She urged  that the environment  and people                                                              
stop  being  exposed  to  these  detrimental  chemicals  and  that                                                              
Alaska's children by kept healthier through passage of HB 27.                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
2:19:35 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
ART   DELAUNE,   Legislative   Chair,    Governor's   Council   on                                                              
Disabilities  and Special  Education, spoke  in support  of HB  27                                                              
from  the  perspective   of  brain  development.     He  said  the                                                              
council's   mission   is   to  advocate   for   individuals   with                                                              
developmental disabilities  and work to ensure that  they flourish                                                              
in safe  environments.   The council  also has the  responsibility                                                              
to advocate for  early intervention systems that  allow very young                                                              
children to develop  in natural and stimulating  environments.  He                                                              
stated the  council supports  HB 27 because  it believes  the bill                                                              
would help  protect the health  and brain development  of Alaska's                                                              
children.  It  would benefit families and firefighters,  he added,                                                              
by  preventing exposure  to  toxic  retardant chemicals  found  in                                                              
children's products and upholstered furniture.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
MR. DELAUNE  pointed out  that numerous  scientific papers  in the                                                              
peer-reviewed literature  have documented  the harms posed  by the                                                              
use  of  these  chemicals  in consumer  products.    Children  are                                                              
especially  at risk,  he noted,  because  they tend  to come  into                                                              
greater  contact with  toxic chemicals  found  in household  dust.                                                              
Studies show  that, up  to five  years old, children's  developing                                                              
brains  and reproductive  organs  are most  vulnerable.   Children                                                              
can  have  three  to  five times  higher  blood  levels  of  these                                                              
chemicals than  their parents.   In Alaska during the  long winter                                                              
months,  he continued,  infants and  toddlers tend  to spend  more                                                              
time  indoors   in  homes   with  greater   insulation  and   less                                                              
ventilation, which  makes them more vulnerable to  these levels of                                                              
toxic flame retardants  in these consumer products.   He urged the                                                              
passage of  HB 27  because it  will enrich  and protect  the brain                                                              
development of Alaska's children.                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
2:21:49 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
ANDREW  HACKMAN, Registered  Federal  Lobbyist, Juvenile  Products                                                              
Manufacturing  Association (JPMA), noted  JPMA represents  over 85                                                              
percent  of  the  makers of  juvenile  products,  everything  from                                                              
cribs to car seats  to strollers.  He said four  statutes regulate                                                              
JPMA with regard  to the materials and the chemicals  that go into                                                              
its products, including  the Consumer Products  Safety Improvement                                                              
Act,  the  federal   Hazardous  Substances  Act,   and  the  Toxic                                                              
Substance Control Act.   He said JPMA has worked  with a number of                                                              
states  in trying  to reduce  requirements  for flame  retardants.                                                              
For example,  JPMA worked  with California  in revising  its flame                                                              
retardant  requirements under  Technical Bulletin  117 (TB117)  so                                                              
that flame retardants  don't have to continue to be  used to reach                                                              
the mandates of  those standards.  However, he  pointed out, there                                                              
are  instances  where  flame  retardants   are  required  to  meet                                                              
certain Underwriters  Laboratories (UL) performance  standards for                                                              
electronic components.   Also,  flame-retardant standards  must be                                                              
met  under  the National  Highway  Traffic  Safety  Administration                                                              
(NHTSA) standards for car seats.                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
MR. HACKMAN  said JPMA is  concerned that  if HB 27  moves forward                                                              
and  doesn't acknowledge  those  instances  where  those types  of                                                              
requirements  are  placed upon  the  components and  the  products                                                              
themselves, there  is the potential  of car seats being  banned or                                                              
restricted in  the state.   Other states  that have  moved forward                                                              
in this area  have acknowledged things like  electronic components                                                              
and  car seats,  he continued.    Even San  Francisco, which  took                                                              
action  on flame  retardants this  past  year, acknowledged  those                                                              
types of  products in  those types  of situations.   He  said JPMA                                                              
hopes the committee  will look to move toward  some consistency on                                                              
this legislation.   He further noted  that JPMA has  some concerns                                                              
with  the breadth  and  the additional  listing  of an  open-ended                                                              
process  to continue  to restrict  chemicals.   Other states  have                                                              
used weighted  evidence standards  for similar types  of processes                                                              
and programs.   He  stated JPMA  looks forward  to being  involved                                                              
with the  committee  and opportunities  for making  sure HB  27 is                                                              
consistent with other states.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
2:25:17 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
THOMAS  ZOELLER, PhD,  Professor,  Biology Department,  University                                                              
of  Massachusetts Amherst,  testified  in support  of HB  27.   He                                                              
spoke as follows:                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
     My  research over  the  past 25  years  has really  been                                                                   
     focused  on understanding how  thyroid hormone  controls                                                                   
     brain  development, and whether,  and how  environmental                                                                   
     chemicals  like  halogenated  and other  chemical  flame                                                                   
     retardants  can  interfere  with  this action.    It  is                                                                   
     first  important to  recognize that  thyroid hormone  is                                                                   
     essential  for  brain  development   in  the  fetus,  in                                                                   
     newborns,  and in  children, and  this fact  is so  well                                                                   
     recognized  that  every baby  born  in this  country  is                                                                   
     tested for  normal functioning  of the thyroid  gland at                                                                   
     birth.  In  some regions of the country as many  as 1 in                                                                   
     1,200  newborns have  low thyroid hormone,  and this  is                                                                   
     really  considered a  medical emergency  to ensure  that                                                                   
     they  are  identified  and   treated  quickly  to  limit                                                                   
     cognitive  deficits   caused  by  low   thyroid  hormone                                                                   
     during  development.    It's   also  become  clear  that                                                                   
     thyroid   hormone   levels   in   pregnant   women   are                                                                   
     particularly  important because the  thyroid gland  in a                                                                   
     fetus doesn't  begin to function  until about  20 weeks.                                                                   
     Having  said that,  thyroid hormone  is still  important                                                                   
     for brain development during that period.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
     My   research  on   flame  retardants   such  as   poly-                                                                   
     brominated  diphenyl  ethers,  tetrabromo  bisphenol  A,                                                                   
     and  some  perfluorinated   chemicals  has  demonstrated                                                                   
     that   these  chemicals  can   interfere  with   thyroid                                                                   
     hormone  in the developing  brain, but  in ways that  we                                                                   
     don't  fully  understand.     And  in  particular  these                                                                   
     chemicals can  interfere with thyroid hormone  action in                                                                   
     the  brain  without  affecting  hormone  levels  in  the                                                                   
     blood.    Currently,  the  only tool  we  have  to  test                                                                   
     whether  flame  retardants   affect  the  human  thyroid                                                                   
     system is  to measure blood  levels of thyroid  hormone.                                                                   
     But since  chemicals can interfere with  thyroid hormone                                                                   
     action  without affecting  hormone levels  in the  blood                                                                   
     it  produces a  situation where  the so-called  weighted                                                                   
     evidence  winds  up  being obfuscated  because  of  this                                                                   
     disconnect between  the ability of chemicals  to work in                                                                   
     tissue without  affecting measures that we  normally use                                                                   
     as  an index  of  safety.   This observation  should  be                                                                   
     concerning  because   it  means  that  these   kinds  of                                                                   
     chemicals  can act  like a  stealth  bomber that  slides                                                                   
     below the  radar of the ways  we can test for  safety of                                                                   
     these chemicals and therefore protect human health.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
     So,  in closing,  it's clear  to me that  these kind  of                                                                   
     flame  retardants can  and do  affect human  development                                                                   
     in part by  interfering with thyroid hormone.   And this                                                                   
     conclusion is  based on years of really  high-resolution                                                                   
     research  that  can't  be  duplicated  for  every  flame                                                                   
     retardant  that comes  on the market.   These  chemicals                                                                   
     are robbing  our children and grandchildren  of critical                                                                   
     intellectual  potentials.  And  while these effects  may                                                                   
     not be  visible on  the faces  of our children,  they're                                                                   
     no  less important  for them  individually  and for  our                                                                   
     society.                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
2:29:16 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
ROBERT  SIMON,   Spokesperson,  North  American   Flame  Retardant                                                              
Alliance, American  Chemistry Council, testified in  opposition to                                                              
HB  27.  He  said  his industry  is committed  to strong  chemical                                                              
safety  regulation,  including   support  for  the  overwhelmingly                                                              
bipartisan  2016  Lautenberg  Chemical Safety  Act  (LCSA)  signed                                                              
into  law by  President  Obama, which  fundamentally  strengthened                                                              
and  changed the  federal  regulation of  chemical  safety.   That                                                              
law, he continued, is relevant to HB 27.                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
MR. SIMON  said the council opposes  HB 27 based on  three points.                                                              
First, the legislation  would duplicate federal  and international                                                              
chemical   regulatory   initiatives,  including   those   recently                                                              
adopted  in  the  U.S.  that  fundamentally   strengthen  chemical                                                              
regulation.     Numerous  federal  and  international   regulatory                                                              
agencies  already assess  the safety of  chemicals, including  the                                                              
explicit  consideration   of  children's   health.     Second,  he                                                              
continued,  HB 27 would  impose overly  broad bans  on the  use of                                                              
certain chemicals  in all  consumer products  and could  undermine                                                              
overall  consumer  product  safety.   Under  HB  27 if  the  state                                                              
identifies a  chemical of potential  concern to children's  health                                                              
it would automatically  be banned in all consumer  products.  From                                                              
the   council's  perspective   this  is   inappropriate  and   not                                                              
supported by  the science.   There may  be cases where  a chemical                                                              
in  a specific  application  is  not even  available  or does  not                                                              
result in any exposure  to consumers or to children  and yet HB 27                                                              
would  automatically ban  all of  its uses  in consumer  products.                                                              
Furthermore,  banning  certain  chemicals  could  have  unintended                                                              
consequences of  creating other consumer  safety risks.   A number                                                              
of chemicals  are used  in product  chemistry  to provide  a broad                                                              
range of  product benefits.  By  broadly banning all  the consumer                                                              
product  applications,   Alaska   could  be  undermining   overall                                                              
consumer  product  safety,  which  is  important  to  consider  as                                                              
legislators  reflect on  this legislation.   Third,  he said,  the                                                              
bill includes,  from the  council's perspective, an  inappropriate                                                              
ban  on  a  broad   range  of  flame  retardants   and  would  ban                                                              
specifically  substances  that government  regulators  around  the                                                              
globe have  determined do  not pose  a risk.   For example,  HB 27                                                              
specifically  calls out TCPP,  which has  a very different  safety                                                              
profile from  the criteria referenced  in the bill and  despite it                                                              
having been  reviewed and  having a  safety determination  for its                                                              
uses in Canada and the European Union (EU), HB 27 would ban it.                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
2:34:18 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
SUSAN  WALSH, RN,  President,  Ketchikan  Bargaining Unit,  Alaska                                                              
Nurses Association, testified  in support of HB 27.   She said the                                                              
bill would  protect Alaska  children and  firefighters from  high-                                                              
risk exposure  to halogen flame  retardants.   She noted she  is a                                                              
nurse with  a diverse  background that  includes family  practice,                                                              
pediatrics,  emergency room,  and  chemo infusion,  and  currently                                                              
she  is  employed as  a  labor  and delivery  nurse  and  in-house                                                              
lactation consultant.                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
MS. WALSH  drew attention to a  fact sheet provided to  members by                                                              
Alaska  Community Action  on Toxics  (ACAT) and  to the  testimony                                                              
provided  by   experts  regarding   this  toxic  chemical.     She                                                              
reinforced "the  shocking statistic" that birth defects  in Alaska                                                              
are  twice as  high  than the  U.S.  as a  whole  and that  Native                                                              
infants have twice  the birth defects as white  infants in Alaska.                                                              
There are currently  no federal laws that protect  people from the                                                              
unnecessary addition  of flame retardant  products even  though in                                                              
September [2017]  the federal  Consumer Product Safety  Commission                                                              
released a  long list of adverse  health effects of  these noxious                                                              
chemicals  that  have  a  disproportionately  negative  effect  on                                                              
vulnerable populations, which include children.                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
MS.  WALSH  noted that  the  Alaska  Nurses Association  has  long                                                              
supported   the  precautionary   principle  and  joined   national                                                              
affiliates in support  of passage of similar bills  at the federal                                                              
level.   However, she said,  that process  is moving at  a snail's                                                              
pace.   She urged the  committee to protect  Alaskans and  pass HB
 and  join the other  15 states that  are considering  policy to                                                              
ban  toxic flame  retardants.   That  this  bill is  in the  House                                                              
Resources  Standing Committee  might  be confusing  for some,  she                                                              
added,  but she  would contend  that [Alaska's]  children are  its                                                              
biggest resource and they need and deserve protection.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
2:36:35 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
SAMARYS SEGUINOT-MEDINA  testified in support of HB  27.  She said                                                              
she is a scientist  and public health professional,  but primarily                                                              
she  is a  mother  and  grandmother.   She  stated  there is  much                                                              
evidence showing  the harmful effects  that flame  retardants have                                                              
in children.   Continuing her testimony, she paraphrased  from the                                                              
following written statement [original punctuation provided]:                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
     I thought  it would be  relevant and important  for this                                                                   
     hearing  to remember  former Dr. David  M. Heimbach  who                                                                   
     failed  to disclose  his  ties  to the  flame  retardant                                                                   
     chemical industry.                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
      He testified at least three times in Juneau between                                                                       
       2010 and 2012 against bills to restrict chemicals                                                                        
     proven to be hazardous, especially to children.                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
     Washington   medical   board  reported   that   Heimbach                                                                   
     invented  tragic stories  of  children  burn victims  in                                                                   
     his  testimony to  Alaska and  other  states.   Heimbach                                                                   
     fabricated  testimony and falsely  presented himself  as                                                                   
     an unbiased  burn expert  when, in fact,  he was  on the                                                                   
     payroll   of  the   manufacturers   of  chemical   flame                                                                   
     retardants.   Washington  state officials  said that  he                                                                   
     had been paid $240,000 for his help.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
     Chemical  industry  is  paying   people  to  give  false                                                                   
     testimony.    This  is  an   example  of  the  deceptive                                                                   
     tactics that  the chemical  industry uses for  their own                                                                   
     benefit without  any consideration of the harm  they can                                                                   
     cause to  people, especially  children who are  the most                                                                   
     vulnerable.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
     Is our  duty and responsibility  as citizens  and public                                                                   
     servants   to  care  for   our  children  and   provide,                                                                   
     ethically  and respectfully,  the  protection they  need                                                                   
     so  they can  thrive  and grow  in  a safe  and  healthy                                                                   
     environment.  I  support HB 27 and I want  to thank Rep.                                                                   
     Tarr and  Rep. Josephson for  working for the  wellbeing                                                                   
     of our children.                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR TARR inquired about the name of the documentary that                                                                   
exposed Dr. Heimbach.                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
MS. SEGUINOT-MEDINA replied she would send this information.                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
2:40:03 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR TARR closed public testimony after ascertaining no one                                                                 
else wished to testify on HB 27.                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR TARR held over HB 27.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
2:40:35 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
The committee took a brief at-ease.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
2:40:42 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON asked whether this material could still                                                                  
be purchased online and whether the bill would make a difference                                                                
if that were the case.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR TARR responded  that all of the manufactured  goods could                                                              
not be quickly removed  from the shelves, but the  bill would draw                                                              
a line in  the sand so that  any new products being  sold would be                                                              
without these chemicals.   Any person owning the  [now prohibited]                                                              
products  would keep  them and dispose  of them  in a,  hopefully,                                                              
safe  manner.    After the  effective  date,  she  continued,  any                                                              
products sold in Alaska would not contain these chemicals.                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  JOHNSON  reiterated  her  question  about  whether                                                              
online orders would be included.                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  TARR  offered her  belief  that  online sales  would  be                                                              
included,  but said she  would get  back to  the committee  with a                                                              
firm answer.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER  drew attention to the  sectional analysis                                                              
for HB  27 and asked  how [under Section  2] the sixth  bullet can                                                              
exist given the fourth bullet.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  TARR answered  there would  be  two sets  of products                                                                 
products already  on shelves  [at the  bill's effective  date] and                                                              
products  coming   into  the  state  after  the   effective  date.                                                              
Products  already  in a  retailer's  possession  containing  these                                                              
chemicals would  be subject to  the informed consumer  option, and                                                              
the retailer  wouldn't  be required  to take  them off the  shelf.                                                              
After the  bill's effective date,  products coming into  the state                                                              
would comply with the law and wouldn't contain those chemicals.                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  RAUSCHER noted  the sectional  analysis speaks  to                                                              
manufacturers.   He therefore  requested clarification  that, once                                                              
on the shelf,  it would be the  storeowner who is required  to put                                                              
on the [informed consumer] label.                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR TARR  replied it would  be the retailer's  responsibility                                                              
to put  on that  public notice.   But,  she continued,  the reason                                                              
the  other  part  of  it  speaks  to  manufacturers  is  that  the                                                              
manufacturers  are being  told  those products  can  no longer  be                                                              
sold in Alaska.                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
[HB 27 was held over.]