Washington Administrative Code › Title 173 - Ecology, Department of (See also Titles 197, 317, 372, and 508) › Chapter 173-334 - Children's safe products-Reporting rule › Section 173-334-120 - How will this chapter be enforced?

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1) The department may collect children's
			 products subject to possible reporting, and analyze their components for the
			 presence of CHCCs. If the department finds that a children's product component
			 contains a chemical on the CHCC list that the manufacturer either has not
			 reported, or has reported at a lesser amount, the department will notify the
			 manufacturer in writing. The department will then afford the manufacturer
			 forty-five days from receipt of the department's notification to respond to the
			 findings before the department takes further enforcement action.
In determining whether a violation of the CSPA or these rules
				has occurred, the department will consider the manufacturer's timely
				explanation as to why it did not report the presence or accurate amount of the
				CHCC in the product component. If the manufacturer asserts that the CHCC is
				present in the component only as a contaminant, and that the manufacturer did
				not report the CHCC's presence based on WAC
				173-334-080(1)(b),
				then the manufacturer must present evidence that it conducted a reasonable
				manufacturing control program for the CHCC contaminant and exercised due
				diligence as described in subsections (2) and (3) of this section.
If the manufacturer contests the department's findings
				regarding the presence or amount of the CHCC in the product component, the
				manufacturer may further analyze the component in question for presence of CHCC
				and provide the department with a copy of its own laboratory findings for the
				component.
(2)
			 Manufacturing control program. A reasonable manufacturing control program must
			 include industry best manufacturing practices for the minimization of the CHCC
			 in the children's product. Those practices may include, but are not limited to,
			 methods and procedures for meeting relevant federal regulations, International
			 Standards Organization (ISO) requirements, American Society for Testing and
			 Materials (ASTM) standards, and other widely established certification or
			 standards programs.
(3) Due
			 diligence. Actions demonstrating due diligence in ensuring the effectiveness of
			 a manufacturing control program may include the use and enforcement of contract
			 specifications, procedures to ensure the quality/purity of feedstock (whether
			 raw or recycled), the use and enforcement of contract specifications for
			 manufacturing process parameters (e.g., drying and curing times when relevant
			 to the presence of high priority chemicals in the finished children's product
			 components), periodic testing for the presence and amount of CHCCs, auditing of
			 contractor or supplier manufacturing processes, and other practices reasonably
			 designed to ensure the manufacturer's knowledge of the presence, use, and
			 amount of CHCCs in its children's product components.
(4) If the department determines based on the
			 process described in subsection (1) of this section, or on other grounds, that
			 a manufacturer has violated a requirement of the CSPA or these rules, it may
			 require the manufacturer to pay a civil penalty. A manufacturer of children's
			 products in violation of this chapter is subject to a civil penalty not to
			 exceed five thousand dollars for each violation in the case of a first offense.
			 Manufacturers who are repeat violators are subject to a civil penalty not to
			 exceed ten thousand dollars for each repeat offense. Penalties collected under
			 this section must be deposited in the state toxics control account created in
			 RCW
			    70.105D.070.
(5) A single violation consists of a
			 manufacturer failing to provide the required report for the presence and
			 accurate amount of each CHCC, in each applicable product category, in each
			 applicable product component.
Statutory Authority: Chapter 70.240 RCW,
				  RCW
				     70.240.040. 11-16-008 (Order 09-04), §
				  173-334-120, filed 7/21/11, effective
				  8/21/11.