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AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY ALERT
Lead Wheel Weights Banned in California Effective January 1, 2010
ALERT -- As of next Friday, January 1, 2010 lead wheel weights are banned in California. If anybody installs a lead wheel weight on or after this date they could be held liable for administrative and civil penalties not to exceed $2,500 per day for each violation (each weight).
SB 757 (Pavley) was passed by the legislature and signed into law in 2009. This measure prohibits the manufacture, sale, or installation in California of wheel weights that contain more than 0.1% lead. The Department of Toxics and Substance Control has been given the responsibility of enforcing the provisions of SB 757.
In addition to enforcement action taken by DTSC, it is important to note that this new law could lead to predatory trial lawyers seeking Business and Profession 17200 actions against California small businesses who they allege have violated the law. Remember the Trevor law firm?
Protect yourself and your business now. Make sure you have eliminated the lead wheel weights from your inventory (return them to your wholesaler) and have replaced them with alternative wheel weights made of zinc or steel – BEFORE NEXT FRIDAY JANUARY 1, 2010.
This bill:
- Prohibits a person from manufacturing, installing, or selling in California any wheel weight that contains more than 0.1 percent lead by weight on or after January 1, 2010;
- Authorizes injunctive relief against any person who violates or threatens to violate its provisions;
- Limits enforcement to administrative or civil penalties, not criminal, up to $2,500 per day for each violation;
- Provides a set of instructions to guide the assessment of penalty amounts;
- Requires that collected penalties be placed into the Hazardous Waste Control Account; and
- Allows DTSC, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to expend the penalty funds for purposes of implementation and enforcement of SB 757.
Why Did California Adopt this Law? The following is an excerpt from written materials of the bills supporters:
While lead is an element that occurs naturally in U.S. soils, human activities – including the use of lead in wheel balancing weights – have caused our exposure to lead to dramatically increase. Levels in our environment are about a thousand times greater than they were a few hundred years ago.
Wheel weights are used on about 80 percent of U.S. cars and trucks to keep wheels balanced. A wheel that is out of balance vibrates, causing the tire to wear out quickly and make the vehicle difficult to handle. Wheel weights have been made out of lead since the 1930s. According to the U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Federal Highway Administration, about 65,000 tons of lead wheel weights were in use on the more than 200 million cars and trucks driven in the United States in 2003. Approximately 2,000 tons of these weights fall from vehicles every year. Most weights are lost on city streets when vehicles hit curbs, bounce over potholes, stop or accelerate suddenly, or turn sharply. Once lost from vehicles, they are worn down by traffic, and the lead is spread by wind or water.
The accumulation of lead wheel weights on urban roads likely contributes to the lead found in urban runoff. Storm water can sweep this lead into nearby creeks and sewers, ultimately washing it into nearby waterways where it can adversely affect water quality, especially groundwater and aquatic ecosystems. In addition, small lead particles can be tracked into homes where they add to the lead exposure of individuals who live near busy streets, potentially impacting low-income communities more than others.
A long list of problems has been linked to lead exposure by the U.S. Public Health Service: lowered intelligence, behavior problems, cancer, strokes, high blood pressure, kidney problems, anemia, cavities, and delayed puberty. Children are particularly susceptible to lead’s toxic effects.
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