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 Safer Products for Washington email list to receive updates and invitations for public comment. Contact us at SaferProductsWA@ecy.wa.gov.

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We started a new cycle of Safer Products for Washington implementation, during which we identified priority chemicals and chemical classes. On May 30, 2024, we published the Identification of Priority Chemicals Report to the Legislature. In this report, we identified seven chemical classes as priority chemicals for cycle 2.

• Cadmium and cadmium compounds
• Lead and lead compounds
• Organobromine and/or organochlorine substances
• Benzene, ethyl benzene, toluene, and xylene substances (BTEX)
• Formaldehyde and formaldehyde releasers
• Cyclic volatile methylsiloxanes (cVMS)
• 6PPD

We also published two additional cycle 2 resources in May 2024:

• Technical Supporting Documentation for Priority Chemicals: Safer Products for Washington Cycle 2 Implementation Phase 1
• Identification of Priority Chemicals Report to the Legislature: Safer Products for Washington Cycle 2 Phase 1 Comment Summary

Comment period

To gather input during phase 1, we hosted a public comment period in summer 2023. You can read submitted comments on our online comment form webpage.

We are working on Safer Products for Washington cycle 2 phase 2.

 Cycle 2 webinars

In July 2024, we hosted a webinar to share a high-level summary of the final Priority Chemicals Report to the Legislature, an update on our priority products research and answered questions. If you're interested in learning more, please see the resources below. 

• July 2024 presentation slides. 
• Cycle 2 Priority Products Webinar Questions and Answers

In November 2024, the Safer Products for Washington team hosted a webinar that focused on the Cycle 2 Draft Identification of Priority Products Report to the Legislature. We presented information on the potential priority consumer products we identified and answered your questions. 

• November 2024 presentation slides.

As an additional resource to share the work we've done, we published our Draft Technical Supporting Documentation for Priority Products: Safer Products for Washington Cycle 2 Implementation Phase 2.

Public Comment Period

We invite you to share your feedback on the draft report. The public comment period is open from November 1 at 12:00 a.m. to Dec. 31, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. You can comment by: 

• Using our online public comment form. 
• Email us at SaferProductsWA@ecy.wa.gov.

Safer Products for Washington survey

Thank you to everyone who responded to our Safer Products for Washington survey this spring (from March 6 to April 12, 2024). Your feedback helped us identify the consumer products that matter most to Washington communities and select products for evaluation in cycle 2. View the Spring 2024 SPWA Survey Results.  

In 2022, the Washington State Legislature amended the Safer Products for Washington law to add an additional cycle of work focusing on PFAS in consumer products. This new cycle falls between cycle 1 and cycle 2, so we're calling it cycle 1.5. In cycle 1.5, we focus on making regulatory determinations on products identified in our 2021 PFAS Chemical Action Plan (CAP).

On May 30, 2024 we published the Regulatory Determinations Report to the Legislature: Cycle 1.5 Implementation Phase 3. In this report, we make regulatory determinations for these product categories:

• Apparel and gear, including athleticwear, rainwear, and undergarments
• Firefighting personal protective equipment (PPE)
• Cleaning products, including products to wash automobiles and boats
• Waxes, including floor waxes and polishes, automobile waxes, and ski waxes
• Hard surface sealants, including sealants applied to hard porous surfaces like stone and wood

We also published two additional cycle 1.5 resources in May 2024:

• Technical Supporting Documentation for Regulatory Determinations Report to the Legislature: Safer Products for Washington Cycle 1.5 Phase 3.
• Regulatory Determinations Report to the Legislature: Safer Products for Washington Cycle 1.5 Phase 3 Comment Summary

Comment period and webinar resources

Public comment period, December 6, 2023, to January 22, 2024

To gather input during cycle 1.5 phase 3, we hosted a public comment period from December 6, 2023, to January 22, 2024. You can view comments made during the comment period.

In 2023, we also hosted two webinars to share our cycle 1.5 progress and answer questions. If you’re interested in learning more, please see the resources below.

• August 2023 presentation slides
• December 2023 presentation slides

We started a rulemaking to revise the Safer Products Restrictions and Reporting rule—Chapter 173-337 WAC, aiming to reduce PFAS in consumer products. We plan to conduct this rulemaking to:

• Reduce the use of priority chemicals in priority consumer products.
• Revise Chapter 173-337 WAC in accordance with the regulatory actions outlined in the Regulatory Determinations Report to the Legislature that we submitted in May, 2024.

In this rulemaking, we could create reporting requirements or restrictions that apply to the use of PFAS in the product categories listed in the cycle 1.5 regulatory determinations report.

Cycle 1.5 informal comment period and webinar resources

We held two cycle 1.5 webinars in the summer of 2024:

On August 14, 2024, we shared highlights from the Regulatory Determinations Report to the Legislature, transitioned to rulemaking, and answered your questions. 

• August 2024 presentation slides.  

On September 25, 2024, at our virtual webinar we provided an update on the Safer Products for Washington Cycle 1.5 preliminary draft rule development and answered your questions.  

• September 2024 presentation slides.
• The webinar was livestreamed and recorded by TVW. If you're interested in viewing the archived event, please see the TVW webpage.

Our informal comment period opened on September 18th and closed on Oct. 16, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. Thank you to everyone who submitted a comment. We'll use your feedback to inform the formal draft rule we intend to propose in the Summer of 2025. You can review the comments we received here. 

For additional information about this rulemaking, please see the rulemaking webpage. 

On May 31, 2023, we adopted a new rule, Chapter 173-337 WAC—Safer Products Restrictions and Reporting. This new chapter establishes a regulatory program to reduce toxic chemicals in consumer products and increase product ingredient transparency, as directed by Washington law. Consumers use hundreds of items every day. Many of these products contain chemicals that are hazardous to human health and the environment. Ecology adopted a new rule to regulate hazardous chemicals in consumer products.

The adopted rule:

• Implements the regulatory actions reported to the Washington State Legislature in June 2022.
• Creates reporting requirements and restrictions that apply to priority consumer products that contain priority chemicals. These include:
  • PFAS in aftermarket stain- and water-resistance treatments, carpets and rugs, and leather and textile furnishings.
  • Ortho-phthalates in vinyl flooring and in personal care product fragrances.
  • Organohalogen flame retardants in electric and electronic products.
  • Flame retardants (as defined in RCW 70A.350.010) in recreational polyurethane foam.
  • Phenolic compounds in laundry detergent, food and drink can linings, and thermal paper.
• Addresses existing stock, repair and replacement parts, refurbished products, and previously owned products.

The adopted rule became effective on July 1, 2023. Some manufacturers, distributors, and retailers must comply with restrictions on some consumer products starting on January 1, 2025. Reporting parties must submit the first notification by January 31, 2025. The Safer Products for Washington Cycle 1: Adopted Rule Highlights document provides an overview of the restrictions and reporting requirements for fourteen chemical-product combinations. 

With our partners at the Department of Health, we published the final Report to the Legislature on Regulatory Determinations, for the first Safer Products for Washington cycle.

We made a number of changes to integrate feedback from our stakeholders and communities. Read how we incorporated feedback in our comment overview. If interested, you can view comments from other stakeholders on the draft report. To hear a summary of the results from our public comment survey, watch our video covering the highlights (also available in Spanish). For more details, check out our infographic (also available in Spanish) and blog post covering the results. You can also review the complete, unedited responses to the survey.

Resources

• We published a resource to help businesses that manufacture electric and electronic products comply with the Safer Products Restrictions and Reporting rule.
• Our Exemption Request Process Resource: Safer Products Restrictions and Reporting, Chapter 173-337 WAC can help answer questions about requesting an exemption. 

Compliance support webinars

On September 12, 2024, we gave an overview and answered frequently asked questions about the regulations in Chapter 173-337 WAC, including the exemption application process.

• September 2024 presentation slides. 

Orders for information from manufacturers

Part of our work to determine regulatory actions involves gathering information from manufacturers about their products. We collect this information using administrative orders. While we use an “order," we want to emphasize that these orders are not associated with any manufacturer being out of compliance.

The information manufacturers must provide through these orders will help us assess the current presence of priority chemicals or chemical classes in priority products. If you manufacture a priority product included in our 2022 PFAS Chemical Action Plan, we might contact you to provide information about your use of priority chemicals. Manufacturers have six months to collect and submit the information to us and can apply for confidential treatment of the information they submit. Please reach out to us at SaferProductsWA@ecy.wa.gov if you have questions about the process for these orders.

The law requires us to develop a stakeholder advisory process by June 1, 2020. We 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 (updated November 2021).

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 (PFAS) 
• Phthalates
• Organohalogen flame retardants and flame retardants identified in RCW 70A.430 
• Phenolic compounds
• Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)

The first set of priority products we identified in our 2020 priority products report are below. You can also view the comments we received on the priority products report. 

• Flame retardants
  • Electric and electronic equipment
  • Recreational polyurethane foam
• PCBs
  • Paints and printing inks
• PFAS
  • Carpet and rugs
  • Aftermarket stain and water resistance treatments
  • Leather and textile furnishings
• Phenolic compounds 
  • Laundry detergent (alkylphenol ethoxylates)
  • Thermal paper (bisphenols)
  • Food and drink cans (bisphenols)
• Phthalates
  • Vinyl flooring
  • Personal care products

The first five deadlines in the law are:

• Learn how to reduce your exposure to PFAS in your home.
  • En español: Reduzca su exposición a las PFAS
• Learn how to reduce your exposure to flame retardants in your home.
  • En español: Reduzca su exposición a materiales resistentes al fuego
• Find more information about Ecology's Phthalates Action Plan. 
• Find more information about Ecology's PFAS Chemical Action Plan. 
• See updates on Ecology's PFAS in Food Packaging Alternatives Assessment. 

ADA Accessibility: The Department of Ecology is committed to providing people with disabilities access to information and services by meeting or exceeding the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, and Washington State Policy #188. To request an ADA accommodation, contact Ecology by phone at 360-407-6700 or email at hwtrpubs@ecy.wa.gov. For Washington Relay Service or TTY call 711 or 877-833-6341. Visit Ecology’s website for more information.