SB 623 Banning Copper Paint Shelved

When Senator Christine Kehoe initially submitted SB 623 — legislation that would eventually ban copper-based bottom paint — last year, Latitude cautiously supported it, even though we’re not overly fond of government intrusion in people’s lives. But a revised version of the bill added so many caveats and loopholes — or maybe they should be called sinkholes — that we considered it a lame-duck piece of legislation and "a complete waste of the legislature’s valuable time."

It seems Senator Kehoe agreed with us. Earlier this week, she shelved the legislation for the time being so that unfinished studies could offer quantifiable scientific data with which to refine the legislation. She also hopes to incorporate the federal EPA’s method to gauge copper levels and a pending state determination of the safe levels of low-leach copper paints. "It makes sense to defer the bill until some of these essential items are completed in 2013," Kehoe said.

Since Kehoe’s term is ending, the ultimate fate of the bill remains to be seen.