The House Energy and Commerce Committee on November 18 approved legislation that would prohibit the manufacture and sale of personal care products containing plastic microbeads by mid-2019. The legislation could move on to a vote before the full House as early as next month.
Sponsored by Reps. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and Fred Upton (R-Mich.), the “Microbead-Free Waters Act” (H.R. 1321) responds to concerns from the environmental community about the spread of plastic microbeads in products like toothpaste, soap, and body wash. Because tiny plastic microbeads washed into sewer systems are not always captured by traditional wastewater treatment technologies, the plastics have increasingly found their way into rivers, lakes, and streams across the country – including sources of drinking water.
A revised version of the bill unanimously approved by the committee would ban the manufacture and sale of cosmetics and personal care products containing plastic microbeads less than five millimeters in size. The ban would be imposed in stages, with the phase-out complete by July 1, 2019.
Under the bill, the manufacture of most products containing microbeads would have to cease by July 1, 2017, and their distribution through interstate commerce would be banned one year later. The bill gives a slightly longer timeframe for the phase-out of non-prescription cosmetic drugs that contain the plastic particles; their manufacture would end by July 1, 2018, and their sale would end by the middle of 2019.
H.R. 1321 would also preempt any state law that had previously sought to restrict the manufacture or sale of microbeads. In recent years, states including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey and Wisconsin have all debated or enacted anti-microbead measures.
In a statement, Rep. Upton said “microbeads are causing mega-problems,” and that the measure “will protect Lake Michigan and all of our waters from these pesky pieces of plastic.”
Similarly, Rep. Pallone said the bill “is a bipartisan and commonsense step forward to protect the environment.”