This column features a collection of regulatory updates from Sandra Spence, a legislative liason for the Society of Glass and Ceramic Decorated Products (SGCDpro).

The Society of Glass and Ceramic Decorated Products (SGCDpro) is tracking new legislation and regulatory interpretations of several existing laws, most of which will have far-reaching effects on our industry.

This column examines a number of important legislative issues that have recently surfaced in the ceramic industry.

Walter Lumley, president of the Society of Glass and Ceramic Decorators, brings us up to speed on ceramic decorating news.

Walter Lumley, president of the Society of Glass and Ceramic Decorators, reports on the latest decorating news.

SGCD Announces Formation of Regulatory and Technical PanelThe Society of Glass and Ceramic Decorators (SGCD) has formed a new Regulatory and Technical Panel headed by former SGCD president Paul Duffer,

California Attorney General (AG) Jerry Brown and Deputy Attorney General Ed Weil contacted Proposition 65 plaintiff's attorney Cliff Chanler in May to question the "manner in which (Chanler and his clients had) pursued Proposition 65 matters concerning lead in the surface coatings of glassware and ceramicware." The Society of Glass and Ceramic Decorators (SGCD) contacted AG Brown to express support for his efforts and to ask him to carefully review how Proposition 65 warning threshold standards are effectively established for an industry as part of private opt-in settlement negotiations.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final burden reduction rule in December 2006 that enables Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) filers to use the simplified Form A (instead of the more complicated Form R) to report annual usage of lead and lead compounds in certain instances. This modest paperwork reduction effort has been targeted by some environmental groups, and legislation has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate that would reverse the EPA rule.

The Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse (TPCH) sent letters in mid-2006 to six beverage distributors asking them to confirm compliance with the group's model packaging law that bans the intentional addition of four metals, including lead and cadmium, to packaging.

Although there is no official state warning threshold for non-food contact surfaces of glass and ceramicware, Proposition 65 warnings are an option for companies that want to establish a defense against allegations that ware exposes consumers in California to lead or cadmium.