The Honorable Chris Holden
State Assembly
State Capitol, Room
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Assembly Member Holden:
This is to confirm that Plumbing Manufacturers International (PMI), whose members produce 90% of the plumbing products in the United States, supports the objectives of AB 100 to lower the maximum allowable amount of lead to be released during product testing for faucets and other endpoint devices used for providing drinking water from 5 micrograms (μg) to 1 μg in accordance with NSF 61 2020.
However, as we have discussed with your office and the co-sponsors, we cannot support the January 1, 2022 effective date of the bill as it is not possible for all those involved in the supply chain (i.e., manufacturers, certifiers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers) to meet such an unrealistic timeframe, especially in light of the current pandemic. PMI opposes the January 1, 2022 effective date.
In order for the objectives of AB 100 to be realized without causing major disruptions to California’s marketplace and leading to consumer confusion and dissatisfaction, the effective date of the bill needs to be changed to January 1, 2024. This is consistent with PMI’s support position on last year’s version of this measure, your AB 2060. PMI therefore opposes AB 100 unless the January 1, 2022 effective date is changed to January 1, 2024.
The proposed deadline of January 1, 2022 would present significant difficulties and false promises to both the intended beneficiaries and many stakeholders:
• Recent statements that 73 percent of faucets currently on the California marketplace meet the 1 μg standard are not accurate. This percentage does not represent the number of faucets that can be certified to 1 μg today, nor does it correctly represent the number of faucets that are currently available in the marketplace that meet 1 μg. In fact, a limited number of products have been redesigned, manufactured, tested, certified, labeled, delivered and placed on the market to meet the recently published NSF 61 2020 standard.
• California families and consumers – including day care centers and schools that AB 100 is designed to assist – would have an extremely limited number of 1 μg certified products to select from, resulting in consumer dissatisfaction.
• Retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers and other stakeholders will be required to withdraw products meeting the requirements of previous NSF 61 editions from the California marketplace – causing significant business losses and market disruption during an already difficult economic time.
The new 1 μg maximum allowable level of lead requirements outlined in the bill are based on the standard NSF 61 2020. As promised during our prior collaborative discussions with your office and the sponsors regarding AB 2060, PMI advocated successfully for an expedited publication of NSF 61 2020 that occurred in August 2020. PMI’s actions clearly demonstrate that industry wants to achieve the objectives of AB 100. However, just like with NSF 61 2020 that allows for manufacturers to have until January 1, 2024 to certify all endpoint devices that provide drinking water to the new lead requirements in the standard, AB 100 needs to be revised accordingly to provide sufficient time for all those involved in the supply chain to get certified product to the marketplace.
PMI’s “The Road to Q 1μg” brochure – produced in March 2020 to assist stakeholders in understanding the transition to an updated NSF 61 standard and possible adoption of AB 2060 – provides details confirming the processes and timeframes involved in meeting the requirements posed by AB 2060 and now by AB 100.
The timetable in the brochure shows that the recertification process, which can take years, requires a handful of certifiers to test more than 50,000 faucet models (which today is over 55,000), as well as other endpoint devices including drinking fountains and water dispensers. This was the experience with the last update to this section of law with the enactment of AB 1953 (Chapter 853, Statutes of 2006). In many cases, certification to an updated standard requires designing and manufacturing new products, in addition to testing and certifying.
As we have discussed, PMI would support a provision being added to AB 100 that would require the consumer-facing product packaging or labeling of products that comply with the definition of “lead free” to indicate that compliance by including the lettering “NSF/ANSI/CAN 61: Q ≤ 1” in an easily identifiable manner.
Products with an NSF 61 2020 label from third-party certifiers are available for sale today in California and throughout the U.S., and more will become available by January 1, 2024.
It is important that the only labels indicating compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act low lead requirements, and now the maximum allowable amount of lead to be released during product testing, be the third-party certifying body labels already used by plumbing manufacturers. This prevents fraudulent markings/labels (with no record of compliance with state and federal requirements) from being used, delays in getting products to the shelves, and confusion in the marketplace.
PMI stands by our commitment with last year’s AB 2060 for a January 1, 2024 effective date for NSF 61 2020 compliant faucets and endpoint devices used for providing drinking water. PMI is also willing to work together with you, the co-sponsors of AB 100, and others to educate childcare centers, schools and the general public on how to identify the NSF 61 2020 label to ensure compliant product is purchased.
I can be reached at 847.481.5500, and please also feel free to contact PMI’s California advocate, Jerry Desmond, at 916.441.4166.
Sincerely,
Kerry Stackpole FASAE CAE
CEO/Executive Director
Plumbing Manufacturers International