Electronics Manufacturers and Retailers Take Heed: New York State Releases Proposal for Reporting of Flame Retardants in Electronic Displays

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) recently released a proposed process for manufacturers of electronic displays to submit reports on flame retardant content, a requirement that becomes effective on December 31 of this year.

In 2021, the New York State Legislature passed S4630B/A5418B, The Family and Fire Fighter Protection Act. This legislation prohibited the sale of any new upholstered furniture or mattress containing any flame-retardant chemical as of December 1, 2024. Additionally, the bill prohibited the sale of any electronic display containing any organohalogen flame retardant chemical (OFR) in its enclosure or stand as of December 1, 2024. Starting December 31, 2022, manufacturers of electronic displays who sell their products in New York State must annually report the presence of OFRs in the enclosures or stands of their electronic displays.

For purposes of this reporting requirement, a manufacturer is an entity that: assembles or substantially assembles electronic displays for sale in the state; manufactures electronic displays, under its own brand name or under any other brand name, for sale in the state; sells, under its own brand name, electronic displays in the state; owns a brand name that it licenses to another person for use on electronic displays sold in the state; imports electronic displays for sale in the state; or manufactures electronic displays for sale in the state without affixing a brand name. This definition, and consequently the reporting obligation, is broad and encompasses many different actors in the supply chain.

The proposed annual report form has two sections: one for contact Information and the second for product Information. Each annual report must cover all products sold or offered for sale or products which will be offered for sale by a manufacturer during the current calendar year in New York State. DEC will accept reports between November 1 and December 31 annually.

In the “contact information section, ” the submitter needs to provide the name, address, phone number, and manufacturer or brand website of the submitting entity in the appropriate fields. In addition, the submitter would need to provide the name, address, phone number, and email address for the person DEC can contact if there are questions about the report.

In the “product information” section, DEC is requiring provision of a number of data points to identify both the subject electronics product and OFR. The submitter needs to: provide the Global Product Classification (GPC) brick code for the product that contains the OFR; identify each product sold, offered for sale, or that will be offered for sale in the State in the current calendar year that contains an OFR in its enclosure or stand by either providing the brand, make, and unique model identifier, or the brand name and Universal Product Code (UPC); and identify each OFR in the enclosure or stand by providing the Chemical Abstracts Service registry number(s) and the chemical name(s) for each chemical present in the enclosure or stand.

Although optional, DEC is requesting that the annual report include information on the concentration ranges of all OFRs used in the products being reported. For an OFR that consists of a mixture, each individual OFR that makes up the mixture is deemed to be used in the product and needs to be reported individually if it was added by the manufacturer or supplier and is present in the enclosure or stand.

Lastly, the “responsible official” who completes the form must certify the accuracy and completeness of the information in the form.

Any manufacturer or retailer of electronic displays needs to carefully consider the impact of this proposal on their operations. DEC is accepting public comments on the proposal until October 7, 2022.

© Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP 2022 All Rights Reserved. This blog post is intended to be a general summary of the law and does not constitute legal advice. You should consult with counsel to determine applicable legal requirements in a specific fact situation.