COVID-19 created a germ conscious population causing a run on antibacterial wipes, baby wipes, etc. Unfortunately, this germ eradicating behavior has also increased issues for waste water utilities.

HB 2344 aims to alleviate the clogging of municipality sewer systems though labeling of disposable cleaning wipes or similar products to standard specifications stating, “Do Not Flush”. Washington has already passed similar legislation and California is currently working on it.

Mark Jockers, Chief of Staff, with Clean Water Services was one of the members of the workgroup that helped put this legislation forward. They provide services to about 600,000 businesses and residents in urban Washington County and manage ~1,500 miles of sanitation and sewer lines. Waste water systems across Oregon have been increasingly challenged by disposable wipes since 2000. He stated that “Since the onset of COVID-19 we have seen an increase in the volume of these items in the collections system, and the cost to Oregon is estimated at $5M annually or about $30K per municipality to manage this issue”. Waste water utilities have spent millions on outreach and education to help solve the problem. Voluntary labeling initiatives and educational campaigns have not solved the issue. Due to lack of consistency, consumers are confused and HB2344 is a move towards solving that problem.

There is minimal opposition to the labeling legislation. The Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, expressed opposition around the implementation date. They asked that the bill be amended to giving the industry until January 1, 2023 to comply. This date change would also align with pending legislation in California and bring California, Washington and Oregon into the same requirements for packaging.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Shawn Miller with the Northwest Grocery Association also raised concerns about the retailer/manufacturer contractual obligation. In essence, store brands (Kirkland for Costco, Kroeger for Fred Meyer, etc.) do not control the packaging and labeling of the products. Therefore, they want to clarify in the legislation that the labeling responsibility would be placed on the manufacturer not the retailer. Washington successfully adopted similar language to address this concern.

The final concern came from the Oregon Department of Justice. As the bill is written, enforced would be through the Unlawful Trade Practices Act which is enforced by the Consumer Protection Department within the Oregon Department of Justice. They currently do not have adequate capacity or expertise to enforce the provisions of the bill. They suggest enforcement provisions be placed either with the State Department of Agriculture or Department of Environmental Quality. They already handle similar regulatory enforcement and would be the more appropriate agency to take this issue on as well.


--Terese Humboldt

Post Date: 2021-02-10 08:11:01

Last Update: 2021-02-10 08:45:16