OPB’s capitol correspondent is on to something. In his Capitol Currents blog, Chris Lehman notes a ban on bisphenol A (BPA) may have found a new life in the House Rules Committee.
The Rules Committee has scheduled a hearing Wednesday afternoon on HB 3703, which among other things, contains language banning BPA.
The BPA issue appeared dead for the season Tuesday morning when the Senate voted down SB 1032.
Three Democrats and all the Republican members of the Oregon Senate combined forces today to block a bill designed to protect young children from exposure to bisphenol A (BPA).
The vote on SB 1032 was 15-15.
The bill was one of the top goals of the special session for the environmental movement in Oregon. We are waiting for a statement from the Oregon Environmental Council, which worked hard in favor of the bill.
The Senate is expected to vote today on SB 1032, the BPA ban. The bill prohibits the manufacture and sale of baby plastic bottles and cups that contain bisphenol A.
But just before the Senate opens for business, OPB’s Think Out Loud program features a discussion about BPA, the new concerns about its health impacts on young children, and if regulating the chemical should be up to the states, or to the federal government. The program begins at 9am and features speakers from the Oregon Environment Council, Northwest Grocery Association, the Safer Chemicals Healthy Families Coalition, and Eden Foods.
Proving the green agenda is far from dead in Salem, the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee voted 3-2 this afternoon to protect young children from bisphenol A (BPA).
SB 1032 will ban the sale and manufacture of baby bottles and cups that contain BPA. It’s been dubbed the “baby bottle and sippy cups” bill.
The bill moves to the Senate floor. Jeremy Graybill of the Oregon Environmental Council says a vote could come early next week.
While still a victory, the bill has been weakened some since it was introduced.
Work on the environment community’s agenda for the special session resumes Tuesday.
The Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee becomes the unofficial epicenter in the afternoon when it takes up two of the most important green bills of the session.
Starting with….
TUESDAY:
Ban The Bag
The Portland Chapter of Oregon Surfrider gets serious about a bill before the legislature to ban single use plastic bags in Oregon. Tonight’s meeting is about giving members the tools for activism, presenting, and engaging in the Ban the Bag Campaign. The chapter has previously supported a 20-cent per bag fee in Portland. But that campaign appears to be taking a back seat now that legislators are showing some interest in a statewide ban.
Details: 7:30pm, at the offices of WEND magazine, 2001 NW 19th, Suite 103 B, Portland.
Thursday’s green agenda in Salem includes the first hearing on a proposed bisphenol A (BPA) ban, and a possible vote on a bill to ban offshore oil and gas drilling near the Oregon coast.
The Oregon League of Conservation Voters says its focusing on three environmental bills on the upcoming special session of the Legislature.
They include a ban on BPA, a ban on offshore oil and gas exploration, and a plan to help Oregon’s largest metro communities reduce greenhouse gases.
Oregon’s lawmakers will consider a bill to protect young children from being exposed to bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical found in many hard plastic bottles and metal food and beverage cans.
Senate Bill 1032 aims to do this in two ways. First, it bans the sale and manufacture of BPA lined containers, if they’re designed primarily for use by children under three years old. It also bans the sale of food and liquid to children under the age of three, if it’s been stored in a BPA lined container.
