102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
SB0294

 

Introduced 2/19/2021, by Sen. Cristina Castro

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act

    Creates the Wipes Labeling Act. Presents the findings of the General Assembly. Provides that a covered entity must clearly and conspicuously label a covered product as "do not flush" in accordance with specified requirements. Provides that, upon a request by a municipality or county, a covered entity must submit to the requesting entity, within 90 days after the request, nonconfidential business information and documentation demonstrating compliance with the Act in a format that is easy to understand. Provides that municipalities and counties have concurrent and exclusive authority to enforce the Act and to collect civil penalties for violations of the Act and may impose a civil penalty in the amount of up to $2,000 for the first violation of the Act, up to $5,000 for the second violation, and up to $10,000 for the third and any subsequent violation. Provides that a municipality or county must send a written notice of an alleged violation and a copy of the requirements of the Act to a noncompliant covered entity, which will have 90 days to become compliant. Provides that covered products required to be registered by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under the federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act must only comply with the Act on and after July 1, 2023. Limits home rule powers to regulate the labeling of covered products. Contains a severability provision. Effective July 1, 2022.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
HOME RULE NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB0294LRB102 05152 CPF 15173 b

1    AN ACT concerning safety.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Wipes
5Labeling Act.
 
6    Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds that
7creating labeling standards for disposable wipes products will
8protect public health, the environment, water quality, and
9public infrastructure used for the collection, transport, and
10treatment of wastewater. It is not the intent of the General
11Assembly to address standards for flushability with this Act.
 
12    Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:
13    "Covered entity" means a manufacturer of a covered product
14and a wholesaler, supplier, or retailer that has contractually
15undertaken responsibility to the manufacturer for the "do not
16flush" labeling of a covered product.
17    "Covered product" means a nonflushable nonwoven disposable
18wipe that is a premoistened wipe constructed from nonwoven
19sheets and designed and marketed for diapering, personal
20hygiene, or household hard surface cleaning purposes. "Covered
21product" does not include a wipe product designed or marketed
22for cleaning or medicating the anorectal or vaginal areas on

 

 

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1the human body and labeled "flushable", "sewer safe", "septic
2safe", or otherwise indicating that the product is appropriate
3for disposal in a toilet, including, but not limited to,
4premoistened toilet tissue.
5    "Label" means to represent by statement, word, picture,
6design, or emblem on a covered product package.
7    "Principal display panel" means the side of a product
8package that is most likely to be displayed, presented, or
9shown under customary conditions of display for retail sale.
 
10    Section 15. Labeling requirements.
11    (a) A covered entity must clearly and conspicuously label
12a covered product as "do not flush" as follows:
13        (1) Use the "do not flush" symbol, or a gender
14    equivalent thereof, described in the INDA/EDANA Code of
15    Practice 2 (COP2, as published in "Guidelines for
16    Assessing the Flushability of Disposable Nonwoven
17    Products," Edition 4, May 2018, by INDA/EDANA).
18        (2) Place the symbol on the principal display panel in
19    a prominent and reasonably visible location on the package
20    that, in the case of packaging intended to dispense
21    individual wipes, is permanently affixed in a location
22    that is visible to a person each time a wipe is dispensed
23    from the package.
24        (3) Size the symbol to cover at least 2% of the surface
25    area of the principal display panel on which the symbol is

 

 

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1    presented.
2        (4) Ensure the symbol is not obscured by packaging
3    seams, folds, or other package design elements.
4        (5) Ensure the symbol has sufficiently high contrast
5    with the immediate background of the packaging to render
6    it likely to be read by the ordinary individual under
7    customary conditions of purchase and use. In the case of a
8    printed symbol, "high contrast" is defined as follows:
9            (A) provided with either a light symbol on a dark
10        background or a dark symbol on a light background; and
11            (B) a minimum level or percentage of contrast
12        between the symbol artwork and the background of at
13        least 70%. Contrast in percent is determined by:
14                (i) contrast = (B1 - B2) x 100 / B1; and
15                (ii) where B1 = light reflectance value of the
16            lighter area and B2 = light reflectance value of
17            the darker area.
18    (b) In the case of a cylindrical or nearly cylindrical
19package, the surface area of the principal display panel
20constitutes 40% of the product package, as measured by
21multiplying the height of the container times the
22circumference.
23    In the case of a flexible film package, in which a
24rectangular prism or nearly rectangular prism stack of wipes
25is housed within the film, the surface area of the principal
26display panel constitutes the length times the width of the

 

 

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1side of the package when the flexible packaging film is
2pressed flat against the stack of wipes on all sides of the
3stack.
4    (c) Beginning January 1, 2023, no package or box
5containing a covered product manufactured on or before the
6effective date of this Act may be offered for distribution or
7sale in the State.
 
8    Section 20. Nonconfidential business information. Upon a
9request by a municipality or county, a covered entity must
10submit to the requesting entity, within 90 days after the
11request, nonconfidential business information and
12documentation demonstrating compliance with this Act in a
13format that is easy to understand.
 
14    Section 25. Units of local government; authority to
15enforce; civil penalties.
16    (a) Municipalities and counties have authority to enforce
17this Act and to collect civil penalties for violations of this
18Act, subject to the conditions in this Section. A municipality
19or county may impose a civil penalty in the amount of up to
20$2,000 for the first violation of this Act, up to $5,000 for
21the second violation, and up to $10,000 for the third and any
22subsequent violation. If a covered entity has paid a prior
23penalty for the same violation to a different municipality or
24county with enforcement authority under this Section, the

 

 

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1penalty imposed by a municipality or county shall be reduced
2by the amount of the payment.
3    (b) Any civil penalties collected pursuant to this Section
4must be paid to the enforcing municipality or county that
5brought the action.
6    (c) The remedies provided by this Section are not
7exclusive and are in addition to the remedies that may be
8available under relevant consumer protection laws, if
9applicable.
10    (d) In addition to penalties recovered under this Section,
11the enforcing municipality or county may recover reasonable
12enforcement costs and attorneys' fees from the liable covered
13entity.
 
14    Section 30. Noncompliant covered entities. Covered
15entities that violate the requirements of this Act are subject
16to the civil penalties described in Section 25. A specific
17violation is deemed to have occurred upon the sale of a
18noncompliant product package. The repeated sale of the same
19noncompliant product package is considered part of the same,
20single violation. A municipality or county must send a written
21notice of an alleged violation and a copy of the requirements
22of this Act to a noncompliant covered entity, which will have
2390 days to become compliant. A municipality or county may
24assess a first penalty if the covered entity has not met the
25requirements of this Act 90 days after the date the

 

 

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1notification was sent. A municipality or county may impose a
2second, third, and subsequent penalty on a covered entity that
3remains noncompliant with the requirements of this Act for
4every month of noncompliance.
 
5    Section 35. Covered products registered with the United
6States Environmental Protection Agency. A covered product
7required to be registered by the United States Environmental
8Protection Agency under the federal Insecticide, Fungicide,
9and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 24 Sec. 136 et seq. (1996)) must
10only comply with this Act on and after July 1, 2023.
 
11    Section 40. Home rule. A home rule unit may not regulate
12the labeling of covered products in a manner inconsistent with
13the regulation by the State of the labeling of covered
14products under this Act. This Section is a limitation under
15subsection (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois
16Constitution on the concurrent exercise by home rule units of
17powers and functions exercised by the State.
 
18    Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
19severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
 
20    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
212022.