Bill Text: IL HB5040 | 2009-2010 | 96th General Assembly | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Creates the Child-Safe Chemicals Act. Regulates the sale and distribution of children's products or product components containing cadmium and priority chemicals of high concern. Designates cadmium as a priority chemical. Requires manufacturers and trade associations to report to the Environmental Protection Agency. Sets forth the responsibilities of the Agency. Provides for exemptions. Requires the Agency to create an interstate clearinghouse. Contains provisions for implementation and enforcement. Contains other provisions. Effective immediately.

Sponsorship: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)

Status: (Passed) 2010-07-29 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 96-1379 [HB5040 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2009-HB5040-Enrolled.html

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AN ACT concerning safety.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Cadmium-Safe Kids Act.
Section 5. Legislative findings. The General Assembly
finds:
(1) Children's jewelry that could expose children to high
levels of accessible cadmium could cause potential harm to
children's health and the environment.
(2) Because children's bodies are growing and developing,
they are especially vulnerable to the effects of toxic
chemicals.
(3) To protect children's health, it is important to limit
children's exposure to accessible cadmium in children's
jewelry and to determine whether further action is required.
Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:
"Agency" means the Illinois Environmental Protection
Agency.
"Body piercing jewelry" means any part of jewelry that is
manufactured or sold for placement in a new piercing or a
mucous membrane, but does not include any part of that jewelry

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that is not placed within a new piercing or a mucous membrane.
"Children's jewelry" means jewelry that is made, marketed,
or designed for or intended primarily for use by children under
the age of 12 and includes jewelry that meets any of the
following conditions:
(1) represented in its packaging, display, or
advertising as appropriate for use by children under the
age of 12;
(2) sold in conjunction with, attached to, or packaged
together with other products that are packaged, displayed,
or advertised as appropriate for use by children;
(3) sized for children and not intended for use by
adults; or
(4) sold in any of the following:
(i) a vending machine;
(ii) a retail store, catalogue, or online web site,
in which a person exclusively offers for sale products
that are packaged, displayed, or advertised as
appropriate for use by children; or
(iii) a discrete portion of a retail store,
catalogue, or online web site, in which a person offers
for sale products that are packaged, displayed, or
advertised as appropriate for use by children.
"Children's jewelry" does not include any product category
for which an existing federal standard regulates cadmium
exposure in surface coatings and accessible substrate

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materials as required under ASTM International Consumer Safety
Specification for Toy Safety, ASTM Standard F-963, or
subsequent versions of this standard.
"Distributor" means a person who sells products to retail
establishments on a wholesale basis.
"Jewelry" means any of the following ornaments worn by a
person:
(A) Ankle bracelet.
(B) Arm cuff.
(C) Bracelet.
(D) Brooch.
(E) Chain.
(F) Crown.
(G) Cuff link.
(H) Hair accessory.
(I) Earring.
(J) Necklace.
(K) Decorative pin.
(L) Ring.
(M) Body piercing jewelry.
(N) Jewelry placed in the mouth for display ornament.
(O) Charm, bead, chain, link, pendant, or any other
component of the items listed in this definition.
(P) Charm, bead, chain, link, pendant, or any other
attachment to shoes or clothing that can be removed and may
be used as a component of an item listed in this

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definition.
(Q) Watch, if the timepiece is a component of an item
list in this definition, excluding the timepiece itself if
the timepiece can be removed from the ornament.
"Manufacturer" means the person who manufactured a final
product. In the case of a product that was imported into the
United States, "manufacturer" includes the importer or
domestic distributor of the product if the person who
manufactured the product does not have a presence in the United
States.
Section 15. Regulation of cadmium in children's jewelry. No
person may manufacture, knowingly sell, offer for sale,
distribute for sale, or distribute for use in this State
children's jewelry containing cadmium in any paint or surface
coating or accessible substrate that exceeds 75 parts per
million, as determined through solubility testing for heavy
metals defined in the ASTM International Safety Specification
on Toy Safety, ASTM Standard F-963, and subsequent versions of
this standard, unless superseded by a federal standard
applicable to children's jewelry. This Section only applies to
products that are manufactured after July 1, 2011.
Section 20. Interstate clearinghouse. The Agency is
authorized to participate, along with other states and
governmental entities, in an interstate clearinghouse to

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promote safer chemicals in consumer products. The Agency may
cooperate with the interstate clearinghouse to (i) organize and
manage available data on chemicals, including information on
uses, hazards, environmental concerns, safer alternatives, and
model policies and programs, (ii) provide technical assistance
regarding chemical safety to businesses, consumers, and policy
makers, and (iii) undertake other activities in support of
State programs to promote chemical safety.
Section 25. Implementation and exemption.
(a) A manufacturer of children's jewelry restricted under
this Act must notify persons that sell the manufacturer's
products in this State about the provisions of this Act no less
than 90 days before the effective date of the restrictions. A
manufacturer that sells or distributes children's jewelry
prohibited from sale or distribution under this Act shall
recall the product and reimburse the retailer or any other
purchaser for the product.
(b) A retailer who unknowingly sells a product that is
restricted from sale under this Act is not liable under this
Act.
Section 30. Enforcement and penalties.
(a) The Attorney General is responsible for administering
and ensuring compliance with this Act, including the
development and adoption of any rules, if necessary, for the

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implementation and enforcement of this Act.
(b) The Attorney General shall develop and implement a
process for receiving and handling complaints from individuals
regarding possible violations of this Act.
(c) The Attorney General may conduct any investigation
deemed necessary regarding possible violations of this Act
including, without limitation, the issuance of subpoenas to:
(i) require the filing of a statement or report or answer
interrogatories in writing as to all information relevant to
the alleged violations; (ii) examine under oath any person who
possesses knowledge or information directly related to the
alleged violations; and (iii) examine any record, book,
document, account, or paper necessary to investigate the
alleged violation.
(d) Service by the Attorney General of any notice requiring
a person to file a statement or report, or of a subpoena upon
any person, shall be made:
(1) personally by delivery of a duly executed copy
thereof to the person to be served or, if a person is not a
natural person, in the manner provided in the Code of Civil
Procedure when a complaint is filed; or
(2) by mailing by certified mail a duly executed copy
thereof to the person to be served at his or her last known
abode or principal place of business within this State.
(e) If the Attorney General determines that there is a
reason to believe that a violation of the Act has occurred,

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then the Attorney General may bring an action in the name of
the People of the State to obtain temporary, preliminary, or
permanent injunctive relief for any act, policy, or practice
that violates this Act.
(f) If any person fails or refuses to file any statement or
report, or obey any subpoena, issued pursuant to subsection (c)
of this Section, then the Attorney General may proceed to
initiate a civil action pursuant to subsection (e) of this
Section, or file a complaint in the circuit court for the
granting of injunctive relief, including restraining the
conduct that is alleged to violate this Act until the person
files the statement or report, or obeys the subpoena.
(g) Relief that may be granted.
(1) In any civil action brought pursuant to subsection
(e) of this Section, the Attorney General may obtain as a
remedy, equitable relief (including any permanent or
preliminary injunction, temporary restraining order, or
other order, including an order enjoining the defendant
from engaging in a violation or ordering any action as may
be appropriate). In addition, the Attorney General may
request and the Court may impose a civil penalty in an
amount not to exceed $50,000 for each violation. For
purposes of this subsection, each item and each standard
constitutes a separate violation.
(2) A civil penalty imposed or a settlement or other
payment made pursuant to this Act shall be made payable to

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the Attorney General's State Projects and Court Ordered
Distribution Fund, which is created as a special fund in
the State Treasury. Money in the Fund shall be used,
subject to appropriation, for the performance of any
function pertaining to the exercise of the duties of the
Attorney General including but not limited to enforcement
of any law of this State, product testing, and conducting
public education programs.
(3) Any funds collected under this Section in an action
in which the State's Attorney has prevailed shall be
retained by the county in which he or she serves.
(h) The penalties and injunctions provided in this Act are
in addition to any penalties, injunctions, or other relief
provided under any other law. Nothing in this Act shall bar a
cause of action by the State for any other penalty, injunction,
or relief provided by any other law.
Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
Section 5.756 as follows:
(30 ILCS 105/5.756 new)
Sec. 5.756. The Attorney General's State Projects and Court
Ordered Distribution Fund.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon