STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8978
IN ASSEMBLY
January 7, 2020
___________
Introduced by M. of A. RYAN -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Environmental Conservation
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
labeling requirements of certain jewelry containing lead
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 37-0115 of the environmental conservation law, as
2 added by a chapter of the laws of 2019 amending the environmental
3 conservation law relating to jewelry containing lead, as proposed in
4 legislative bills numbers S.4046 and A.6041, is amended to read as
5 follows:
6 § 37-0115. Lead-containing jewelry.
7 For purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the
8 following definitions:
9 1. "Body piercing jewelry" means any part of jewelry that is manufac-
10 tured or sold for placement in a new piercing or a mucous membrane, but
11 does not include any part of that jewelry that is not placed within a
12 new piercing or a mucous membrane.
13 2. "Children" means children under the age of twelve.
14 3. "Children's jewelry" means jewelry that is made for, marketed for
15 use by, or marketed to, children and includes jewelry that meets any of
16 the following conditions:
17 (a) Represented in its packaging, display, or advertising, as appro-
18 priate for use by children.
19 (b) Sold in conjunction with, attached to, or packaged together with
20 other products that are packaged, displayed, or advertised as appropri-
21 ate for use by children.
22 (c) Sized for children and not intended for use by adults.
23 (d) Sold in any of the following:
24 (1) A vending machine.
25 (2) Retail store, catalogue, or online web site, in which a person
26 exclusively offers for sale products that are packaged, displayed, or
27 advertised as appropriate for use by children.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08023-02-9
A. 8978 2
1 (3) A discrete portion of a retail store, catalogue, or online web
2 site, in which a person offers for sale products that are packaged,
3 displayed, or advertised as appropriate for use by children.
4 4. "Jewelry" means any of the following ornaments worn by a person:
5 (a) ankle bracelet;
6 (b) arm cuff;
7 (c) bracelet;
8 (d) brooch;
9 (e) chain;
10 (f) crown;
11 (g) cuff link;
12 (h) hair accessory;
13 (i) earring;
14 (j) necklace;
15 (k) decorative pin;
16 (l) ring;
17 (m) body piercing jewelry;
18 (n) jewelry placed in the mouth for display or ornament;
19 (o) any charm, bead, chain, link, pendant, or other component of the
20 items listed in this definition;
21 (p) a charm, bead, chain, link, pendant, or other attachment to shoes
22 or clothing that can be removed and may be used as a component of an
23 item listed in this definition;
24 (q) a watch in which a timepiece is a component of an item listed in
25 this definition, excluding the timepiece itself if the timepiece can be
26 removed from the ornament.
27 5. Effective January first, two thousand twenty-one, no manufacturer
28 shall sell, or offer for sale, children's jewelry that [contain]
29 contains a total lead content in any component part of the item that is
30 more than 0.004% (40 parts per million) but less than [0.06% (600] 0.01%
31 (100 parts per million) by total weight or a lower standard for lead
32 content as may be established by federal or state law or rule unless
33 that item bears a warning statement that indicates that at least one
34 component part of the item contains lead.
35 The warning statement for children's jewelry shall contain at least
36 the following: "WARNING: CONTAINS LEAD. MAY BE HARMFUL IF EATEN OR
37 CHEWED. [COMPLIES WITH FEDERAL STANDARDS.]"
38 A manufacturer is in compliance if the warning statement is provided
39 on the children's jewelry or on the label on the immediate container of
40 the children's jewelry.
41 The warning statement requirement does not apply to any children's
42 jewelry:
43 (a) for which federal law governs warning in a manner that preempts
44 state authority;
45 (b) if the component parts of the children's jewelry containing lead
46 are inaccessible to a child through normal and reasonably foreseeable
47 use and abuse as defined by the United States Consumer Product Safety
48 Commission;
49 (c) if the component parts in question are exempt from third-party
50 testing as determined by the United States Consumer Product Safety
51 Commission; or
52 (d) to children's jewelry resold or offered for resale, or distributed
53 by consumers for consumer use.
54 § 2. Section 71-3705 of the environmental conservation law, as added
55 by a chapter of the laws of 2019 amending the environmental conservation
A. 8978 3
1 law relating to jewelry containing lead, as proposed in legislative
2 bills numbers S.4046 and A.6041, is amended to read as follows:
3 § 71-3705. Enforcement of section 37-0115.
4 1. Any person who violates any provision of or fails to perform any
5 duty imposed by section 37-0115 of this chapter shall upon the first
6 finding of such a violation be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed
7 five hundred dollars for each violation. Any person convicted of a
8 second or subsequent violation shall be liable for a civil penalty not
9 to exceed twenty-five hundred dollars for each violation.
10 [2. Penalties under this section shall be assessed by the commissioner
11 after a hearing pursuant to the provisions of section 71-1709 of this
12 article. In assessing the penalty under this section, the commissioner
13 shall consider: the nature and extent of the violation; the number and
14 severity of the violations; the economic effect of the penalty on the
15 violator; whether the violator took good faith measures to comply with
16 this chapter; the willfulness of the violator's misconduct; the deter-
17 rent effect that the imposition of the penalty would have on both the
18 violator and the regulated community as a whole; and other factors that
19 the commissioner deems appropriate and relevant. Any person found to
20 have violated section 37-0115 of this chapter may be enjoined from
21 continuing such violation.
22 3.] 2. All civil penalties and fines collected for any violation of
23 section 37-0115 of this chapter shall be paid over to the commissioner
24 for deposit in the environmental protection fund established by section
25 ninety-two-s of the state finance law.
26 § 3. This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same
27 manner as a chapter of the laws of 2019 amending the environmental
28 conservation law relating to jewelry containing lead, as proposed in
29 legislative bills numbers S.4046 and A.6041, takes effect.
