BILL NUMBER: S3041
SPONSOR: HOYLMAN-SIGAL
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to regu-
lation of bisphenol A in business transaction paper
 
PURPOSE:
To expand the provisions of current NYS law to prohibit the distribution
and use of paper containing bisphenol A for the recording of any busi-
ness transaction and to regulate chemical compounds that are used to
replace BPA.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
The bill prohibits any person, firm, partnership, association, limited
liability company or corporation from distributing or using any paper
containing BPA for the recording of any business or banking transaction.
Furthermore, receipt paper manufacturers shall not produce any paper
containing bisphenol A nor replace bisphenol A with other chemical
compound that has been scientifically established to be a known human
carcinogen as classified by the United States Environmental Protection
Agency, a developmental toxin, an endocrine disruptor or a reproductive
toxin. Paper manufacturers are required to use the least toxic alterna-
tive chemical compound to replace bisphenol A.
The DEC is required to certify that any chemical compound used to
replace BPA in receipt paper is the least toxic alternative available,
and is not a known human carcinogen as classified by the United States
Environmental Protection Agency, a developmental toxin, an endocrine
disruptor or a reproductive toxin.
DEC is also required to investigate and determine acceptable methods of
disposal and recycling for paper receipts in order to eliminate or mini-
mize exposure to BPA, The Department shall also advise the public
regarding safe practices in handling and disposing of such paper
receipts.
The bill also creates a DEC Advisory Committee on Least-Toxic Alterna-
tives to BPA, composed of competent, independent scientists with
substantial experience in evaluating toxicological and epidemiological
data on toxic chemicals, including their potential carcinogenic, endoc-
rine disruptive, reproductive, developmental or neurological effects.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Recently the NYS Governor signed legislation that would prohibit the use
of BPA in child care products, including sippy cups, baby bottles and
straws intended for use by a child under the age of three. BPA is an
estrogen-mimicking endocrine disrupting chemical that has been found to
be toxic at low doses and is linked to breast cancer, early onset of
puberty, obesity and prostate cancer. Very small amounts of hormones can
produce immense biological behavioral changes.
BPA has been used in carbonless copy paper (e.g. credit card receipts)
and thermal imaging papers for many years. A powdery layer of BPA is
coated onto a piece of paper along with invisible ink which merge and
provide "color" when subject to heat or pressure. The Warner Babcock
Institute for Green Chemistry, co-founded by organic chemist John C.
Warner, has been testing cash register receipts and has found an alarm-
ing amount to SPA on these receipts. The average receipt using the BPA
technology was found to contain 60 - 100 milligrams of free BPA, which
is a thousand times above levels leaching from polycarbonate bottles.
Free BPA is not bound into a polymer, but just individual molecules
loose and available for uptake. The paper has been published on July
26th in the peer-reviewed journal "Green Chemistry Letters and Reviews".
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) in Washington DC had a testing
program conducted by the Missouri Division of Biological Sciences labo-
ratory on receipts from major retailers, including Wal-Mart, Safeway,
McDonalds, the U.S. Postal Service, and Bank of America ATMs. The labo-
ratory found that the total mass of BPA on a receipt is from 250 to
1,000 times the amount of BPA typically found in a can of food or a can
of baby formula. Forty percent of 36 printed receipts collected from
fast food restaurants, big retailers, grocery stores, gas stations and
post offices in seven states and the District of Columbia contained BPA.
Bio-monitoring surveys by the federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention has found BPA in the bodies of 93% of Americans over the age
of 6. The ENG analysis of the CDC data found that people who reported
working in retail industries had 30 percent more BPA in their bodies
than the average U.S. adult and 34% had more BPA than other workers. As
of May 2009, 1 in 17 working Americans - 7 million people were employed
as retail salespersons and cashiers, according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics.
The nation's largest manufacturer of thermal paper, Appleton Papers in
Wisconsin, stopped using BPA in 2006 because of a growing concern about
the safety of the chemical.
This potentially damaging source of BPA cannot be allowed to remain in
the marketplace, where everyone is being exposed unknowingly. In order
to reduce public exposure to this chemical, the bill would ban the use
of paper containing or made with BPA within 6 months of becoming law.
Further, the bill would require replacement chemicals to be the least
toxic available and not to be classified as known human carcinogens,
endocrine disruptors, developmental or reproductive toxins.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
S.1786 of 2023-2024 (Hoylman-Sigal): Died in Environmental Conservation
A.8856 of 2023-2024 (Clark): Died in Environmental Conservation
S.0417 of 2021-2022 (Hoylman): Died in Environmental Conservation
S.1096 of 2019-2020 (Hoylman): Died in Environmental Conservation
S.0087 of 2017-2018 (Hoylman): Died in Environmental Conservation
S.2763 of 2015-2016 (Hoylman): Died in Environmental Conservation
S.3513 of 2013-2014 (O'Brien): Died in Environmental Conservation
S.4532-A of 2011-2012 (Alesi): Died in Environmental Conservation
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act would take effect 180 days after it becomes law.