NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6500
SPONSOR: Vanel TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
restrictions on lead-containing products
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Imposes restrictions on lead containing products
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS: Section 37-1101: Defines terms.
Section 37-1103: States the applicability of this bill.
Section 37-1105: Prohibits manufacturing, selling, or offering for sale
consumer products containing 90kg/mg of lead unless the item bears a
conspicuous warning statement that indicates that the product contains
lead.
Section 37-1107: Exempts certain types of product.
Section 37-11-09: Creates a private right of action against any person
or entity in the supply chain except the retailer in accordance with
subdivision five of section 37-1103.
Section 37-1111: Construction.
JUSTIFICATION:
The World Health Organization estimates that, globally, nearly one
million individuals have died as a result of the insidious danger of
lead poisoning. Tragically, New York is not an exception, with tens of
thousands of both children and adults experiencing severe illness or
even death from exposure each year. Alarming reports suggest that coun-
tries like China, which is the largest producer of goods in the U.S. and
New York, lack effective measures to prevent lead contamination. The
reality is that long-term exposure to numerous contaminated consumer
products can seriously endanger the health of New Yorkers.
Recognizing the insurmountable challenges of government regulation to
implement comprehensive rules on all products, this bill proposes an
alternative approach by granting individuals a private right of action.
Specifically, this empowers residents to file civil lawsuits against
manufacturers and sellers who fail to sufficiently regulate lead levels
in their products. By doing so, the burden of responsibility is shifted
onto manufacturers and sellers to ensure that their products are free of
lead or, in lieu of that, are appropriately labeled.
Manufacturers will thus be required to balance the costs of improving or
moving their manufacturing processes against the costs of labeling their
goods as containing lead. This bill will not pose a heavy burden on
current manufacturing, as manufacturers and sellers are already subject
to product liability laws that hold them civilly liable for defective
products, even absent intent of making them defective. Thus, this bill
merely requires manufacturers to take an extra, but critical, step in
examining their manufacturing processes to eliminate lead from their
products.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
03/23/2 referred to environmental conservation
01/03/24 referred to environmental conservation
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
TBD
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6500
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 5, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. VANEL -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Environmental Conservation
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
restrictions on lead-containing products
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Article 37 of the environmental conservation law is amended
2 by adding a new title 12 to read as follows:
3 TITLE 12
4 LEAD-CONTAINING PRODUCTS
5 Section 37-1201. Definitions.
6 37-1203. Applicability.
7 37-1205. Presence of lead in consumer products prohibited.
8 37-1207. Exempt products.
9 37-1209. Private right of action.
10 37-1211. Construction.
11 § 37-1201. Definitions.
12 As used in this title the following terms shall have the following
13 meanings:
14 1. "Consumer product" shall mean any tangible good sold or manufac-
15 tured in the state which is movable at the time it is conveyed by the
16 seller to another party. Consumer products shall include components of
17 products.
18 2. "Children's product" means a consumer product that is made for,
19 marketed for use by, or marketed to, children and includes consumer
20 products that meet any of the following conditions:
21 (a) Represented in its packaging, display, or advertising, as appro-
22 priate for use by children.
23 (b) Sized for children and not intended for use by adults.
24 (c) Sold in any of the following:
25 (i) A vending machine.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10143-01-5
A. 6500 2
1 (ii) Retail store, catalogue, or online web site, in which a person
2 exclusively offers for sale products that are packaged, displayed, or
3 advertised as appropriate for use by children.
4 (iii) A discrete portion of a retail store, catalogue, or online web
5 site, in which a person offers for sale products that are packaged,
6 displayed, or advertised as appropriate for use by children.
7 3. "Purchaser" shall mean a person who purchased a product sold as new
8 directly from a manufacturer, retailer, or a person selling on behalf of
9 a retailer or manufacturer.
10 4. "Retailer" shall mean a person or entity who, in the normal course
11 of business, offers for sale to consumers new consumer products.
12 § 37-1203. Applicability.
13 1. The provisions of this title shall apply to consumer products
14 produced after the effective date of this title.
15 2. The provisions of this title shall not apply to consumer products
16 sold or distributed for free at secondhand stores, yard sales, on the
17 internet or donated to charities.
18 3. The requirements of this title shall not apply to children's prod-
19 uct manufacturers that employ five persons or fewer and are independent-
20 ly owned and operated.
21 4. The requirements of this title shall not apply to lead generated
22 solely as combustion by-products or that are present in combustible
23 fuels.
24 5. A retailer is exempt from the requirements of this title unless
25 such retailer sells a product which they know contains lead in violation
26 of section 37-1205 of this title.
27 § 37-1205. Presence of lead in consumer products prohibited.
28 No person or entity shall manufacture, sell, or offer for sale, any
29 consumer product that contains a total lead content that is more than
30 ninety milligrams per kilogram unless such item bears a conspicuous
31 warning statement that indicates that the product contains lead.
32 § 37-1207. Exempt products.
33 A consumer product may contain more lead than is prohibited by section
34 37-1205 of this title where:
35 1. The lead is necessary to produce an essential characteristic of the
36 product; and
37 2. No alternative product containing less lead is available.
38 § 37-1209. Private right of action.
39 Any person who has purchased a product which is in violation of
40 section 37-1205 of this title shall have a private right of action
41 against any person or entity within the supply chain of said product,
42 other than the retailer in accordance with subdivision five of section
43 37-1203 of this title.
44 § 37-1211. Construction.
45 This title shall not be construed as having any effect on any state,
46 federal, or local law, rules, or local ordinance relating to the pres-
47 ence of lead in any specific product.
48 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
49 it shall have become a law.
