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The Household and Commercial Products Association Recorded Several Wins for its Members in 2024.
January 2, 2025
By: TOM BRANNA
Chief Content Officer
A new year and a new administration present new challenges for the Household & Commercial Products Association (HCPA). Chief among them are air quality, chemicals under discussion, end of life materials management, packaging, pesticide registrations and restrictions, and sustainability. At the same time, HCPA is working to maintain a strong Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the EPA’s Safer Choice program and working with the PRIA Coalition to pass PRIA 6 under the new Trump Administration.
“Due to a divided and polarized Congress, managing state-level legislative and regulatory agendas has dominated HCPA’s advocacy work,” explained HCPA President and CEO Steve Caldeira. Caldeira’s comments came during his State of the Association address at the HCPA annual meeting, December 8-11 in Fort Lauderdale, FL. The event attracted more than 400 attendees, a post-covid record.
“While it seems like we just wrapped up the reauthorization process for PRIA in December of 2022, conversations are already underway about how to successfully pass PRIA 6 under a new Trump Administration,” said Caldeira.
“First, Mike Gruber and Dr. Steve Bennett have been very involved in working with the PRIA Coalition to implement PRIA-6.”
Gruber is leveraging HCPA relationships with key members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to ensure that the EPA Office of Pesticide programs and Safer Choice are spared from deep budget reductions experienced in other corners of the Agency, according to Caldeira.
“Mike is already recruiting Congressional champions for business-critical regulatory functions at the EPA and to encourage the implementation of process improvements that are intended to help the Agency complete regulatory reviews within statutory deadlines and resolve backlogs,” he added.
Also at the Federal level, Caldeira noted the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recently initiated a rulemaking to ban aerosol duster products to help prevent inhalant abuse. HCPA staff is setting the record straight on the issue.
“Nicholas Georges and Mike Gruber have been engaging with the commissioners and lawmakers on Capitol Hill to educate them about inhalant abuse, the impacts of this proposal should it pass, and provide an alternative proposal to a product ban,” explained Caldeira.
The alternate proposal is based on legislation that HCPA helped negotiate in Minnesota and involves certain labeling requirements.
The 2024 election results will bring changes to Capitol Hill and HCPA will tailor its advocacy strategy accordingly, said Caldeira. He noted that shifts in state legislatures will impact the industry and require HCPA to educate policymakers about its priority public policy issues.
“It is in these times that HCPA’s unique, bipartisan and collaborative relationships are so beneficial to our members,” said Caldeira.
One of those long-standing relationships is with the California Air Resources Board (CARB), which is preparing to launch the Consumer Products Survey, which will inform the next rulemaking. Georges has been very engaged in this process from the start—talking directly with CARB staff and submitting comments—to ensure that member companies’ products are not unfairly targeted. On the subject of California, the legislature passed a bill in July that finalized long-sought pesticide registration reforms, concluding a multi-year effort led by HCPA.
“The bill establishes formal timelines for pesticide registration applications, ensuring a more predictable and transparent process for registrants” said Caldeira. “It also includes a compromise on the mill assessment, capping the increase at 30 mills, which is lower than the 33.9 mills originally proposed by the Governor.”
He observed that California’s influence on public policy shapes the legislative landscape across the country and has far-reaching implications for the specialty chemicals industry. As a result, HCPA hosted a special Government Relations & Public Policy working session last month that focused on California-specific issues, including chemicals management and household hazardous waste disposal practices. The working session gave attendees a unique opportunity to gain additional insights, share perspectives and collaborate on strategies to navigate these issues.
The Vermont state legislature passed a law that requires the industry to fund an Extended Producer Responsibility (or EPR) program to manage this issue. Caldeira noted that HCPA had a seat at the negotiating table during the legislative process for this bill and was successful in eliminating several unnecessary mandates. HCPA also stepped up to establish a Stewardship Organization, the Household Product Stewardship Alliance, to provide a compliance pathway for covered producers.
“We are proud to take the lead role on behalf of the industry and will continue to do so as other states; namely California, Illinois and Washington, which are considering similar programs,” explained Caldeira.
Underscoring the issue’s importance, Caldeira and Gruber were in Vermont last month to meet with HCPA’s in-state lobbyists and the Associated Industries of Vermont to pursue a commonsense pathway for this first-in-the nation law that other states are clearly watching.
“Among other issues, we discussed our intent to amend the law, the compressed timing within the current law and regulatory enforcement,” said Caldeira.
In addition to HHW, Extended Producer Responsibility programs for packaging have gained momentum during the past year. Caldeira said HCPA’s Molly Blessing is making sure that member companies are prepared to meet requirements in states that have already passed these laws and that proposals are workable for industry, including special consideration for federally regulated products, such as pesticides, and keeping the frameworks simple.
Another state issue of importance is the restriction of insecticides, herbicides, rodenticides and neonicotinoids.
HCPA’s Christopher Finarelli and Michelle Kopa successfully defeated, or mitigated in some cases, several proposals that would have prevented consumers from responsibly using pesticide products, specifically in California, Colorado, Hawaii and Washington State.
In recent years, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) captured the attention of regulators at the state level. HCPA continues to advocate for an accurate and consistent definition of PFAS, rather than an overly broad class approach that can lead to unjustified product restrictions. According to Caldeira, properly regulating this class of chemicals requires validated testing methods, which do not currently exist for certain products. Still, HCPA has been successful in securing considerations for products that we represent.
“As with any state-level issue, HCPA will continue to advocate for consistent requirements across the country to avoid redundant layers of rules,” he added.
HCPA is monitoring action on 1,4-dioxane, too. At the state-level, California and New York are developing standards and guidance values for maximum allowable concentrations of 1,4-dioxane in household cleaning, personal care and cosmetic products.
Meanwhile, the EPA recently released its final supplement to the risk evaluation for 1,4-dioxane under TSCA, which concluded that it poses an unreasonable risk of injury to human health, including to the general population through drinking water. According to Caldeira, the Agency will now begin risk management to address these concerns, and HCPA will engage as appropriate in this process.
In concluding his State of the Association address, Caldeira noted he had only covered a small piece of what HCPA tackles on a day-to-day basis on a whole host of issues to support and protect member interest.
“As we look ahead to 2025, we do so with a sense of purpose and a commitment to driving innovation and advancing the best interests of the industry,” said Caldeira. “As we all know, there will be a new Administration in town, and Republicans have control of Congress.”
Caldeira noted President-elect Trump has installed Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to co-chair the Department of Government Efficiency, so it is anyone’s guess at this point which federal programs will be suggested to cut across all government agencies, including the EPA.
“However, we are prepared to engage with the President’s budget watch dogs to educate them about the industry’s commitment to government efficiency and spotlight our advocacy updating federal laws that you all rely on to get your products approved for sale,” he insisted. “Rest assured, we will use every arrow in our quiver to protect our member companies and products and clear the way for the innovation that drives your business.”
In closing, Caldeira thanked HCPA members, noting it would be impossible to accomplish so much without their engagement and knowledge.
The sixth annual Innovation Awards recognize members of the household and commercial products industry for accomplishments in product innovation and sustainability. Member companies are recognized in five categories: Carbon Footprint, Circular Economy, End-User Communication, Ingredients and Technology.
The Innovation Awards are held in conjunction with HCPA’s Annual Meeting in Fort Lauderdale, FL. To engage conference attendees in the recognition, there is a vote for an innovation to also win the Association Award.
“HCPA’s Innovation Awards demonstrate the groundbreaking work being done across the industry to develop products and solutions that elevate the safety, efficacy, and sustainability of household and commercial products,” said HCPA President and CEO Steve Caldeira. “This year’s winners represent the forefront of innovation—advancing environmental stewardship, pioneering new technologies, and responding to the evolving needs of consumers. HCPA is proud to honor the companies whose passion and ingenuity are shaping the future of the industry, driving positive change, and setting new standards for what is possible.”
Winning companies are:
Nominations for the Innovation Awards are open to formulators, manufacturers, and distributors of household and commercial products and related ingredients, packaging, and technologies. A panel of expert judges from HCPA’s Sustainability & Product Stewardship Council (SPSC) ranked the nominated products in each category to determine the winner. The Association Award winner was determined by votes from HCPA Annual Meeting attendees.
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