1. The general assembly finds and declares all of the following:
a. The management of solid waste can pose a wide range of hazards to public health and safety and to the environment.
b. Packaging comprises a significant percentage of the overall solid waste stream.
c. The presence of heavy metals in packaging is a concern in light of the likely presence of heavy metals in emissions or ash when packaging is incinerated or in leachate when packaging is landfilled.
d. Lead, mercury, cadmium, and hexavalent chromium, on the basis of available scientific and medical evidence, are of particular concern.
e. It is desirable as a first step in reducing the toxicity of packaging waste to eliminate the addition of heavy metals to packaging.
f. The intent of the general assembly is to achieve reduction in toxicity without impeding or discouraging the expanded use of postconsumer materials in the production of packaging and its components.
2. As used in this section unless the context otherwise requires:
a. "Distributor" means a person who takes title to products or packaging purchased for resale.
b. "Incidental presence" means the presence of a regulated metal as an unintended or undesired ingredient of a package or packaging component.
c. "Intentional introduction" means an act of deliberately utilizing a regulated metal in the formulation of a package or packaging component where its combined presence is desired in the final package or packaging component to provide a specific characteristic, appearance, or quality. Intentional introduction does not include the use of a regulated metal as a processing agent or intermediate to impart certain chemical or physical changes during manufacturing, if the incidental presence of a residue of the metal in the final package or packaging component is neither desired nor deliberate, and if the final package or packaging component is in compliance with subsection 5, paragraph "c". Intentional introduction also does not include the use of postconsumer recycled materials as feedstock for the manufacture of new packaging materials, if the recycled materials contain amounts of a regulated metal and if the new package or packaging component is in compliance with subsection 5, paragraph "c".
"Regulated metal" means any metal regulated under this section.
d. "Manufacturer" means a person who offers for sale or sells products or packaging to a distributor.
e. "Package" means a container which provides a means of marketing, protecting, or handling a product including a unit package, intermediate package, or a shipping container. "Package" also includes but is not limited to unsealed receptacles such as carrying cases, crates, cups, pails, rigid foil and other trays, wrappers and wrapping films, bags, and tubs.
f. "Packaging component" means any individual assembled part of a package including but not limited to interior and exterior blocking, bracing, cushioning, weatherproofing, exterior strapping, coatings, closures, inks, or labels.
3. No later than July 1, 1992, a manufacturer or distributor shall not offer for sale or sell, or offer for promotional purposes a package or packaging component, in this state, which includes, in the package itself, or in any packaging component, inks, dyes, pigments, adhesives, stabilizers, or any other additives, any lead, cadmium, mercury, or hexavalent chromium which has been intentionally introduced as an element during manufacturing or distribution as opposed to the incidental presence of any of these elements and which exceed the concentration level established by the department.
4. No later than July 1, 1992, a manufacturer or distributor shall not offer for sale or sell, or offer for promotional purposes, in this state, a product in a package which includes in the package itself or in any of the packaging components, inks, dyes, pigments, adhesives, stabilizers, or any other additives, any lead, cadmium, mercury, or hexavalent chromium which has been intentionally introduced as an element during manufacturing or distribution as opposed to the incidental presence of any of these elements and which exceed the concentration level established by the department.
5. The concentration levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, and hexavalent chromium present in a package or packaging component shall not exceed the following:
a. Six hundred parts per million by weight by July 1, 1992.
b. Two hundred fifty parts per million by weight by July 1, 1993.
c. One hundred parts per million by weight by July 1, 1994.
Concentration levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, and hexavalent chromium shall be determined using American standard of testing materials test methods, as revised, or United States environmental protection agency test methods for evaluating solid waste, S-W 846, as revised.
6. The following packaging and packaging components are exempt from the requirements of this section:
a. Packaging or packaging components with a code indicating a date of manufacture prior to July 1, 1990, and packaging or packaging components used by the alcoholic beverage industry or the wine industry prior to July 1, 1992.
b. Packages or packaging components to which lead, cadmium, mercury, or hexavalent chromium have been added in the manufacturing, forming, printing, or distribution process in order to comply with health or safety requirements of federal law or for which there is no feasible alternative if the manufacturer of a package or packaging component petitions the department for an exemption from the provisions of this paragraph for a particular package or packaging component. The department may grant a two year exemption, if warranted, by the circumstances, and an exemption may, upon meeting either criterion of this paragraph be renewed for two years. For purposes of this paragraph, a use for which there is no feasible alternative is one in which the regulated substance is essential to the protection, safe handling, or function of the package's contents.
Packages and packaging components that would not exceed the maximum contaminant levels established but for the addition of postconsumer materials.
7. By July 1, 1992, a manufacturer or distributor of packaging or packaging components shall make available to purchasers, to the department, and to the general public upon request, certificates of compliance which state that the manufacturer's or distributor's packaging or packaging components comply with, or are exempt from, the requirements of this section.
If the manufacturer or distributor of the package or packaging component reformulates or creates a new package or packaging component, the manufacturer or distributor shall provide an amended or new certificate of compliance for the reformulated or new package or packaging component.
8. The commission shall adopt rules to implement this section and report to the general assembly on the effectiveness of this section no later than forty-two months following July 1, 1990, and recommend any other toxic substances contained in packaging to be added to the list in order to further reduce the toxicity of packaging waste.
9. A manufacturer or distributor who does not comply with the requirements of this section is guilty of a simple misdemeanor.
90 Acts, ch 1255, § 29; 91 Acts, ch 203, § 5; 91 Acts, ch 255, §15; 94 Acts, ch 1085, §1
Iowa General Assembly
Search: Iowa Code 1995
© 1996 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa
Comments? webmaster@legis.iowa.gov.
Last update: Thu Feb 8 18:14:51 CST 1996
URL: /IACODE/1995/455D/19.html
jhf