Dan Kallin of Bose pointed out to me an interesting anomaly in the new California law. The California law would ban the sale of electronic devices if they are banned by the EU Directive. But according to law, if you ignore some obvious errors in the language, the only products that would be banned are CRTs and CRT devices. But the EU Directive (RoHS) exempts the lead in CRT glass. Since CRTs do not contain the other prohibited substances CRTs are not banned from sale in the EU.
So, in a nutshell, what we have is a law in California that says CRTs can not be sold in California if CRTs cannot be sold in the EU because of the RoHS directive, but the RoHS Directive does not ban the sale of CRTs. So what is the purpose of this part of the law?
The only way the language in the bill makes sense is if it was intended to apply to the other electronic components in the TV or monitor (as opposed to just the CRT). The CRT can have lead but the tuning circuits, power supplies and everything else in the TV or monitor must be lead-free or it cannot be sold in California. Given the debate among the legislature, industry and the environmental NGOs, and other language throughout the bill, I do not think that such a narrow application was intended.
I suspect that they intended it to cover all electronics. But Dan could be right. We won't know until the Department of Toxic Substances Control drafts the regulations to implement this law. If they give it the broader interpretation (i.e. that it applies to all kinds of electronics) then we may see some legal challenges by industry.
Chuck Dolci
"Steele, Charlie" wrote:
>
> http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/chemicals/chempol/whitepaper/reach.htm
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Phil Bavaro [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Thursday, October 02, 2003 11:13 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [LF] Questions about US legislation regarding Lead free solder
>
> Is there any current, proposed, or pending legislation in the US regarding
> banning lead bearing solder?
>
> Also, could someone point me to the Reach website so that I can familiarize
> myself with that as well.
>
> I looked on the EPA website but could not find any legislation on the books
> with implementation dates for our industry, only a partnership project which
> will publish their research findings this month.
>
> Last question is whether or not there is any industry standards being
> drafted (perhaps by IPC/ANSI) for designating that an item is certified to
> be lead free or meeting the Japan or European legislation
> requirements? I am concerned that we have already entered the mixed
> product phase and it will be difficult to know when we are actually in the
> "free" phase without a way to know the classification of each and every
> component.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Phil
>
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--
Charles F. Dolci
Director - Business Continuity and EH&S Programs
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
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