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Opinions clash on keeping Kids Safe

By Rebekah Metzler rmetzler@mainetoday.com
MaineToday Media State House Writer

AUGUSTA -- More than 50 people turned out on Tuesday to testify about a pair of bills before the Legislature aimed at narrowing Maine's Kids Safe Product Act, which developed a process to identify and ban dangerous chemicals that with which children come in contact.

Representatives from the toy and chemical industries, as well as the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and the Maine Merchants Association, said current law provides too much uncertainty because the list of chemicals identified as 'high concern' tops 1,700 and includes things such as gasoline, contraceptives and alcohol.

"After three years of seeing the law in place, there are some issues that need to be addressed to make the law more workable and to accomplish its intent of protecting children from toxic chemicals," said Ben Gilman of the Maine State Chamber. "The current process as established under the law is written so broadly that it goes well beyond children's products into the realm of consumer products."

Members of the environmental community and other consumer groups said while they understand the industries' concerns, the fact that in three years the state has moved to regulate only two chemicals proves the system works. The legislative panel voted unanimously last Friday to ban the sale of sippy cups and similar children's products containing bisphenol A in Maine as the result of the legislation. The Kids Safe Product Act also exempts industries such as manufacturing or forest products, as well as prescriptions, from any chemical bans.

"If anything, it's not working fast enough. We recommended 40 priority chemicals being designated, and we only got two," said Mike Belliveau of the Environmental Health Strategy Center. "So the opposition to the law is having a hard time citing a specific unintended consequence to the law, because there have been none. They do have valid anxiety about what might happen in some distant, future date."

Nearly everyone who testified cited a willingness to work with lawmakers to refine the Kids Safe Product Act in some way to help provide more clarity for the business community, which was the aim of each proposal.

One measure, L.D. 1185, is sponsored by state Rep. Jim Hamper, R-Oxford, who was one of nine lawmakers out of 186 who voted against passage of the Kids Safe Product Act in 2008. Hamper's proposal, which he drafted in concert with chemical industry lobbyists, would narrow the current law's scope in terms of the number of chemicals listed as high priorities and the types of products affected by any ban. It also aims to define a "de minimis" threshold of acceptable amounts of banned chemicals in products.

"The list of potential chemicals, which is in excess of 1,700, needs to be narrowed and focused on those which are truly of high priority and the overall process needs to be more focused on the products which are marketed to be used by children," Hamper said to lawmakers on the Environmental and Natural Resources Committee. "These types of changes in the underlying framework, which is what we're dealing with today, are needed to provide for a far more balanced and predictable regulatory program." Hamper said the 2008 debate was dominated by emotion and encouraged lawmakers to set their emotion aside this time around.

"It was pure emotion; let's not do that again. Let's look at what's best to do here," he said. However, when asked by a lawmaker whether his proposal, which has been criticized by supporters of the current law who say it would essentially gut the current law, would still protect children, Hamper himself became overwhelmed with emotion.

"I just -- I want to take a more rational approach to this whole issue -- I don't consider anything here to put my grandson at risk," he said, choking up. "Quite honestly, I take offense to emails I receive."

An alternative proposal, sponsored by state Sen. Seth Goodall, D-Richmond, would reduce the list of chemicals of high concern, from 1,700 to between 10 and 50. The measure also would grant the commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection more flexibility in adding or removing chemicals from the list.

Goodall, who worked with environmental advocates to draft his measure, said it was a "reasonable compromise" that balanced business interests with safety concerns.

"I believe that we should always put the health of our children and our families first; but at the same time, we have to be realistic about how we implement policy so we don't tie the hands of business and industry," he said.

Representatives from Gov. Paul LePage's administration testified in support of both measures.

"We believe that both of these bills provide useful approaches that address an unworkable process; namely, we support greater flexibility regarding listing and de-listing priority chemicals," said Carlisle McLean, the natural resources policy adviser for LePage. "We believe we can protect as well as create regulatory certainty."

The committee plans to schedule a work session on the proposals in the coming weeks.

Rebekah Metzler -- 620-7016

rmetzler@mainetoday.com