California Introduces the RoHS Bill
Again
The California Assembly has recently
submitted a bill aligning the EU RoHS Directive again. The first bill
was proposed in year 2006, which was said to be overly broad in its scope
and unworkable, and was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger on October 13,
2007. However, the latest amendment has now been re-introduced again.
The bill covers electronic equipment
that falls within the scope of Article 2 of European Directive 2002/96/EC
and Article 2.1 of the RoHS Directive excluding certain video display
devices, medical devices, electronic equipment or replacements/spare parts
for equipment manufactured before January 1, 2010, and electronic or electrical
lighting devices as well. However the implementation of this bill for
domestic or commercial devices such as, washing machines, clothes dryers,
hot water heaters, dehumidifiers, conventional ovens, microwave ovens,
stoves, refrigerators, freezers, air-conditioners, trash compactors, and
residential furnaces will be delayed until January 1, 2011.
If an electronic device that was exempted
before January 1, 2009, by the RoHS Directive is subsequently subjected
to the RoHS Directive after that date, the department would be required
to adopt regulations requiring a producer to comply with those prohibitions
at a date that is at least 24 months after the effective date of the sale
prohibition in the European Union. Further, implementation of this bill
shall be consistent with any uniform implementation guidelines for Directive
2002/95/EC that are adopted by the European Union. However, if Directive
2002/95/EC is not consistently implemented by the member states of the
European Union, Statutory Instrument 2005 No. 2748 of the United Kingdom,
as in effect on July 1, 2006, shall be followed.
Notes:
For the purpose of the bill:
"RoHS Directive" means
the directive on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances
in electrical and electronic equipment, cited as Directive 2002/95/EC,
as amended on or before January 1, 2009.
For more information about product
safety, you may ask Intertek expert by filling in this enquiry
form.
|