[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6125112,"mediaKeyId","2678655-3bf23d2de0c7332b8f75e892527edb6b","parentId",2678655,"title","Committee hears competing health and industry views on lead-in-cookware bill","audioSeconds",2529,"startMs",38090,"endMs",2567970,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2678655-3bf23d2de0c7332b8f75e892527edb6b&start=38&end=2567","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2678655-3bf23d2de0c7332b8f75e892527edb6b/thumbnail_38090.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6125112/Washington/Committee-hears-competing-health-and-industry-views-on-lead-in-cookware-bill","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6125112-6b97caf81d80f6a9f087d5ba8e914a2c/orig.mp4?Expires=1773754629&Signature=FH2TXNYnEP8LQSL4LSkK1nx~5rULakGjaRviEzmC51tArVVRQcx-yXgqjSpx6ZOr8touPSPlXlbtUraVNlbt0OHS3sj~4iP7YNuMZOfbs2ogSIa9QvvEeFMY9vKZg73pbLk1MIxDRlACS39vFELu39b7kIAUKPDtEO8emGNBVRqv3f61hJ2zf2C93lqro1iVerhd31yRFeQDPbBp7jrUmayE~2FhdKJz3ptrx20oZVIulmFCzIUdbClas-1S~mVKZEYWuCmWoF0hN4kqa2hN6uU5GJXdJSxFuSJFt8CAB22yXTP~yFLW9qlszpIORe1b6en7ijoK7P9Pba6d-FMyWg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","House Environment & Energy","date","2025-03-18T00:00:00Z","article","The Environment & Energy Committee heard a staff briefing and more than two hours of testimony on Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5628, a proposal to change Washington’s recent law limiting lead in cookware. Committee staff outlined the bill’s key changes, proponents urged strong limits to protect children, and manufacturers and retailers warned the current drafting could force some producers out of the state.

The bill would amend last year’s cookware restriction (House Bill 1551) by raising the maximum allowable total lead limit from 5 parts per million to 10 parts per million, explicitly include utensils and griddles, and exclude certain large appliances and inaccessible components. It also directs the Department of Ecology to issue guidance to manufacturers and others subject to the law.

Supporters told the committee that contaminated cookware is a preventable source of harmful lead exposure, especially to children, and that a total-content standard is clear and enforceable. Industry representatives and some retailers said the bill’s scope and testing approach need more work to avoid unintended economic consequences for Washington manufacturers and sellers.

Jacob Lipson, committee staff, summarized the bill and the 2024 law’s background, saying the earlier law “established a maximum allowable limit of lead of 5 parts per million” and that Ecology “has the authority to lower that 5 part per million threshold” through future rulemaking. He told members the engrossed substitute to be discussed would raise the allowable limit to 10 parts per million and adjust the statute’s scope.

Senator Sharon Harris, the bill’s prime sponsor, told the committee: “This bill is certainly not ready” and said she had “some concerns still with the bill,” noting the issue affects many manufacturers. Harris said she would prefer clearer testing and, if necessary, a short delay to “figure out how we can do this in a systematic way that everyone can be happy,” and added, “The test I would look at is how much is actually leaching in, what is being transmitted into our food, not the content of lead that’s actually in the apparatus.”

Public-health witnesses including Dr. Katie Fellows of the King County hazardous-waste program urged the committee to keep a total-lead limit and to rely on available testing. Fellows said independent certified testing showed “lead in cookware under 10 parts per million is easily achievable” and warned that a leachate-only approach would fail to reveal lead hidden beneath coatings that can wear away.

Nick Federici of Toxic Free Future told the committee the policy aims to protect children’s developing brains and said testing “can and has been done that demonstrates that it is not that difficult to reach [the] lead limit.” Heather Trim of Zero Waste Washington and other proponents emphasized that coatings can mask lead in base metal and then wear away, increasing exposure risk.

Industry witnesses said the statute’s scope and testing methods require clarification. Dean Tryon of Woodstone, a Bellingham-based manufacturer, said the company’s products are tested to NSF standards and that as drafted “we would not be able to manufacture products” in Washington. Representatives of appliance and cookware trade groups — including Charlie Brown (Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers), Jacob Cassidy (Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers), and Kevin Messner (Groupe SEB/Cookware Sustainability Alliance) — said some common stainless-steel and clad cookware could be affected and urged a certification process or recognition of existing third-party standards.

Department of Ecology staff member Kimberly Getz told the committee Ecology has received implementation questions after the 2024 law and that “certain key elements of the original legislation did lack clarity,” including the statute’s definition of cookware (which as written could be read to include refrigerators). Getz explained that ecology’s historic consumer-product testing methods measure total lead content by grinding and analyzing material; in contrast, some cookware-testing approaches use a leachate method. She said ecology is currently unable to perform leachate testing and that establishing and validating a new lab protocol would likely take months.

Several witnesses discussed testing methods and limits. Getz described two commonly discussed approaches: an XRF screening device (which ecology said has a ±30% uncertainty) to estimate content, and a laboratory mass-spectrometry method that requires destructive sampling and formal validation. Industry witnesses and Ecology staff suggested a certification pathway and mutual recognition of accredited third-party standards could help identify compliant products without excluding manufacturers that meet accepted benchmarks.

Refugee Peer Northwest executive director Reza Pedram described community outreach in King County after local testing identified cookware with “hundreds to thousands of parts per million of lead,” and described a cookware-exchange program that removed lead-containing pots and pans from more than 100 families. Pedram signed in “in support of the bill” to protect children and families.

No committee action or vote on ESSB 5628 was taken at the hearing; the measure was subject to further stakeholder work. The committee was told Ecology will continue to engage on testing protocols and that sponsors expect additional drafting to address manufacturers’ concerns before any committee vote.

Supporters urged the committee to preserve a strict, total-lead standard and to adopt clear, affordable testing; industry and utilities asked for a practicable path for existing, third-party-certified products to remain on sale while removing highly contaminated imports. Committee members and witnesses repeatedly noted the need to reconcile protectiveness for children with clarity and feasibility for manufacturers and retailers.

The committee will receive additional materials and testing data submitted by proponents and industry, and members signaled they expect further drafting or a possible postponement to allow more stakeholder negotiation.

","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","House Environment & Energy - 3/18/2025 4:00 PM","oneSentenceSummary","The Environment & Energy Committee heard a staff briefing and more than two hours of testimony on Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5628, a proposal to change Washington’s recent law limiting lead in cookware.","taxTitle","Environment & Energy, House of Representatives, Legislative Sessions, Washington","taxId",20260,"location","Washington","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6125107,"Committee reviews modernization of ‘call before you dig’ law, including online portal and positive-response system",1413,2587620,4001350,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2678655-3bf23d2de0c7332b8f75e892527edb6b&start=2587&end=4001","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2678655-3bf23d2de0c7332b8f75e892527edb6b/thumbnail_2587620.jpg","/articles/6125107/Washington/Committee-reviews-modernization-of-call-before-you-dig-law-including-online-portal-and-positive-response-system","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6125107-071604f774a8001153600084d8e5cf05/orig.mp4?Expires=1773754629&Signature=Mw4ZKd4KmA1fj27P5jS2pJTJKxqcPZQlh31TJnLscjtFE79MoShN7z90ARx6kJXCozarcxSRIUv7tzkktaCViR8SymDqbGbB0ciPxOJ5T7YPrmpCOIIHPHl5CPDEcJQvb1NC4zqDDwqgJsG5hXsYEAfxKtI9kZ-SdTR8rf4AmCQsnk-S9mDZbWhLtvWvgxwoJRjqozW7gjUyIjeKYoB-ET14SdHTDgBuW62rDP9l39AWQGxMSyn~VNhPXBdUhJlWVppXS4wn8HnhEs38Bf0NzcwfavjWtNlIVUxnQaeLT9qwz1~YUFfwX15-g5rWGBU9oHcWWTSbvS170gEyG9ZRrQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Environment & Energy Committee received a staff briefing and stakeholder testimony on Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5627, a package of updates to the state Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act (the “call before you dig” law) intended to improve worker and public safety and to modernize locate services.

Staff described multiple changes the bill would make, including a requirement that the statewide locator service maintain a free, web-based platform equivalent to the toll-free 811 phone number; a positive-response system that confirms which facility operators have responded to a locate request; provisions for marking excavation areas with white lining or flags; requirements for design locating within 700 feet of transmission pipelines; and civil penalties of up to $25,000 for certain violations that cause damage to hazardous-liquid or gas facilities.

Matt Sterling, committee staff, outlined the bill and said it would require facility operators to supply reasonably accurate location information for locatable underground facilities and allow recovery of locating costs by some regulated utilities. The bill would also add a representative from a labor organization to the Dig Law Safety Committee and encourage adoption of best practices to reduce damage and improve safety.

Construction and utility witnesses supported modernizing the statute. Jason Hudson of IBEW Local 77 said the updates bring “modern best practices” to an older law and will help protect utility workers. Kemp Garcia, a utility-contractor advocate, argued positive response and a multi-excavator notice process would reduce late or repeated locates and improve safety: he cited a nationwide study indicating that roughly half of locates were late in 2022–23 and said consolidating locates can reduce delays and unnecessary site visits.

Panel members including Nick Massey (Dig Law Safety Committee) and John Cornelius explained that the proposed multi-excavator ticket is not a single ticket for everyone but a single request filed by a general contractor that generates separate tickets/confirmation codes for each subcontractor; the approach is intended to let locators make one site visit and address multiple tickets at once rather than many separate visits. Nick Massey said the positive-response display will show which utilities have responded to a locate request so an excavator knows whether any response is outstanding.

Some utilities and operators asked for more precise definitions and sideboards. Josie Cummings (Avista) said her company had shifted from opposed to neutral after stakeholder negotiations but remained concerned and asked for additional clarifying language. Logan Barr (Tacoma Public Utilities) said the general-contractor-on-behalf provision could create efficiencies but needs clearer duties and responsibilities to protect crews and public assets. Several witnesses suggested additional edits to ensure the new multi-excavator flow accurately documents responsibilities.

Supporters argued the bill should reduce project delays and carbon costs associated with repeated unsuccessful site mobilizations. Testimony from contractors said consolidating multiple tickets into coordinated locate visits would generally shorten project timelines and reduce late-locate risk; opponents urged careful drafting to avoid shifting responsibility without clear assignment.

No committee vote on ESSB 5627 occurred at the hearing; sponsors and stakeholders signaled ongoing drafting to refine the multi-excavator provisions and to add guardrails requested by utilities.

","The Environment & Energy Committee received a staff briefing and stakeholder testimony on Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5627, which would modernize the state’s underground utility damage prevention law.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6125104,"Committee reports out lead-abatement contractor program bill 13-6 with two excused",0,4281320,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2678655-3bf23d2de0c7332b8f75e892527edb6b&start=4281&end=4281","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2678655-3bf23d2de0c7332b8f75e892527edb6b/thumbnail_4281320.jpg","/articles/6125104/Washington/Committee-reports-out-lead-abatement-contractor-program-bill-13-6-with-two-excused","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6125104-16f36c120f025efa47e1d340b807f209/orig.mp4?Expires=1773754629&Signature=JcUuXRIEjd8Ql51J4DX-SJpn0W9Tkmx-Y5yhKa2wgJZD2GtvslOi-Zl~Xwb6Czpir9Uan0DaWw6R036wDZL77dA0xA8aAxFtMNmrbLXFKXO7SDt15lvowCQtK2WEEIusVrC1A1H83etirqdKINiF2D8SXag2dtkSIqAc0XWAwttCEO5gR6iMcsXEv8JFfaB4vZnQ6YA-gVoiCCPUctUxjq9WGBb38G9tbWVbnjGLwmR75gwTGVlZIvyPI9mK5H84YHdFyRNLbUI2VxdCrCtX--fOVhgtNU1bL55VtrHdKIh9W4fNqu1XP1BM-o89V5kZ6RZ4P7y63Pk7Q4Ncr4OciA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Environment & Energy Committee voted to report Substitute Senate Bill 5,494 out of committee with a due-pass recommendation on a roll-call of 13 ayes, 6 nays and 2 members excused.

Vice Chair Hunt moved the bill out of committee; the motion was seconded and put to roll-call. Committee discussion emphasized the bill’s intent to align a Commerce-run contractor assistance program with federal programs and to support contractors in safe lead-paint removal.

Chair D'Alessio and multiple members praised the Commerce program’s cooperative approach. Representative Dye said committee testimony showed the program had worked effectively and cooperatively with contractors and that there had been no enforcement fines in five years because of the program’s collaborative approach, but she said some members remained unmoved because they wanted more outreach and clarity from the agency. Dye characterized her members as “mixed” on the final recommendation because of those outstanding questions.

On the roll call, staff announced the final tally as 13 ayes, 6 nays and 2 excused. The clerk recorded individual votes during the roll call, for example: “Representative Barnard votes aye,” “Representative Berry votes aye,” “Representative Duer votes aye,” “Representative Fitzgibbon votes aye,” “Representative Klobba votes aye,” “Representative Lee votes aye,” “Representative Mena votes aye,” “Representative Rammell votes aye,” “Representative Stearns votes aye,” “Representative Street votes aye,” “Representative Wiley votes aye.” Several members recorded “nay without recommendation” and two members were excused. After the roll call staff announced the result and reported the bill “is reported out of committee with a due pass recommendation.”

The committee did not attach amendments during the session and closed the matter after the vote.","The Environment & Energy Committee voted to report Substitute Senate Bill 5,494 out of committee with a due-pass recommendation (13 ayes, 6 nays, 2 excused). Members praised Commerce’s contractor program for collaborative lead-abatement work; some members expressed a mixed vote because they wanted more outreach and clarity from the agency.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Committee hears competing health and industry views on lead-in-cookware bill

Committee reviews modernization of ‘call before you dig’ law, including online portal and positive-response system

Committee reports out lead-abatement contractor program bill 13-6 with two excused