Department of Ecology
Committees, Boards, and Workgroups

The Departments of Ecology and Health will use this site to share information and draft documents as we implement Chapter 70A.350 Revised Code of Washington (formerly Chapter 70.365 RCW). Our implementation program for the law is called Safer Products for Washington.

Subscribe to the SaferProductsWA email list to receive updates and invitations for public comment. Contact us at SaferProductsWA@ecy.wa.gov.

Comuníquese con nosotros a hwtrpubs@ecy.wa.gov o al 360-407-6700 si usted necesita ayuda para traducción.

Where we are in the implementation process

We incorporated feedback from our stakeholders, conducted additional research, and submitted our final report on priority consumer products to the Legislature for their consideration. To review a summary of the updated list of priority products we included in our report, read our May 2020 stakeholder update.

We are now researching whether safer alternatives are available and feasible for the priority products we listed. If you would like to get involved with our process for identifying safer alternatives in Phase 3, please reach out to us at SaferProductsWA@ecy.wa.gov. 

Join us for a webinar October 8

Join our team on Thursday, October 8, 2020 for a discussion focused on our criteria for identifying safer alternatives to priority chemical classes that are feasible and available. We will offer two webinar times with the same presentation content and opportunity for discussion.

Register for your preferred time:

• 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. PST
• 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. PST

We are starting the Phase 3 process, so our team may not have answers to every question our stakeholders have at this stage. Our criteria is not final and we value your input on our scientific process and strategy. The criteria will serve as the technical foundation for our work throughout Phase 3, so we want to involve our stakeholders early in the process.

Learn about the Phase 3 process in our August 25 webinar materials

We hosted a webinar on August 25 to outline our statute requirements and our process for determining regulatory actions in Phase 3. During the presentation, we discussed how we’re approaching our work in Phase 3 and invited stakeholders to get involved with our process for identifying safer alternatives that are feasible and available—starting with an upcoming webinar (more to come on that soon!).

To learn more, review the presentation slides from the webinar or see the list of attendees. We will post a question and answer document for those who were not able to join us soon.

Stakeholder advisory process

The law requires us to develop a stakeholder advisory process by June 1, 2020. We have been working to engage interested parties at every major stage in our implementation process. We aim for transparency and to involve our stakeholders in decisions affecting their lives and businesses. To learn more about our progress to date, read our stakeholder engagement process.

Safer Products for Washington background

Chapter 70A.350 RCW (formerly Chapter 70.365 RCW) creates a process for Ecology, in consultation with Health, to regulate classes of chemicals in consumer products. The law requires us to designate priority chemicals, identify products that contain these chemicals, determine regulatory actions, and adopt rules to implement regulatory actions. Chemical restrictions require that safer alternatives are feasible and available. The law outlines steps that involve stakeholder consultation, legislative reporting, and rulemaking.

The first set of priority chemical classes were identified in the law. They are:

• Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances 
• Phthalates
• Organohalogen flame retardants and flame retardants identified in RCW 70.240.010 
• Phenolic compounds
• Polychlorinated biphenyls

The first five deadlines in the law are: