[tinwhiskers] Re: [LF] Revisiting the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976: H.R. 2420
- From: "Bob Landman" <rlandman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <Leadfree@xxxxxxx>, "tin whiskers forum" <tinwhiskers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 6 Jun 2009 09:34:01 -0400
Thanks Marcus, much appreciate your kind comments.
I know of Michael Sampson as two of my friends (Dr. Henning Leidecker and Jay
Brusse are his colleagues). I've been to Goddard Space Flight Center and was
presented with my very own samples of tin whiskers (from Space Shuttle
Endeavor's Honeywell card guides) and zinc whiskers from the underside of a
raised computer flooring tile. I show and tell them to whomever doesn't
believe they exist.
I've added Michael's excellent PPT presentation to my website
(http://www.hlinstruments.com/RoHS_articles).
Don't forget NASA's website which Jay Brusse maintains
http://nepp.nasa.gov/WHISKER/
And this incredible bibliography maintained by John Barnes
http://www.dbicorporation.com/rohswant.htm
Also added to my wesbite are two more articles that Michael Kirschner just
shared with me.
1. Dr. Julie Schoenung of UC Davis did both an AHP (analytic hierarchical
process) and monte carlo comparison of the results of the EPA's lifecycle
assessment of SnPb vs. SAC and a couple other solder alloys and found no
discernable environmental performance improvement (see slides 28-31 or so of
http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/HazardousWaste/upload/Schoenung_LCA_green_electronics.pdf)
2. About 18 months ago we, along with Technology Forecasters, did a survey to
quantify the cost of EU RoHS to the electronics industry. We determined that it
cost about $32.7B, plus about 11% of that per year for maintenance, for the
industry to comply (that's not all capital or expense expenditure; much is
human resources). I have attached the respondent summary, which you're free to
post.
He said "Putting the two together, we have spent billions and billions of $ and
lots of R&D time for zero environmental improvement (I would wager that the
majority of the $32.7B spent was to deal with the lead solder change; the other
five substances and other uses of lead would probably amount to under 50% of
the total, but that's just a guess - we didn't collect any data on that),
while, as many of your papers point out, increasing reliability risks."
Michael introduced me to Mark A. Kohorst, Senior Manager - Environment, Health
& Safety at NEMA whom I called on Friday. Here is what I learned from Mark...
He concurred that NEMA drafted the bill for Representative Burgess. He told me
the intent of the bill was to REDUCE the effect of RoHS here in the USA. That
in no way had NEMA intended to slight the aerospace/mil/high rel medical device
industries by not mentioning them.
He told me they looked at the RoHS law and he says they expanded the exemptions
in that law.
[As you know, in the RoHS law are exemptions for high reliabilty aerospace,
telecom, military hardware, implantable medical devices and many more products
(like railroad signals) and here's a cute one, why there's even an exemption
for Swatch watches (as they fail when soldered with lead free solder - aww).]
It is clear to me that we and NEMA want the same things; thus collectively we
here have to find a way to fix the bill.
Mark was surprised that we read the bill as effecting a ban on the use of
tin-lead solder in our industries by not being specifically mentioned as having
exclusions. He told me that the lobbist for the IPC
(http://www.ipc.org/default.aspx - the Association Connecting Electronics
Industries), Fran Abrams, had been in communications with NEMA and that IPC had
no problem with a bill being put forth. However he did say that IPC had not
seen the bill yet and might be the next phone call he receives now that the
bill is public. Mark said my call was the first to bring this concern to his
attention.
Has anyone here hear of IPC's position on the bill? Is Fran Abrams on this
list? We would appreciate her comments.
Mark said NEMA would look at (and hopefully take) language that we wanted
inserted into the bill to protect our industries. There will be a companion
bill introduced in the Senate (I forgot to ask him who would introduce it). If
it will be as he says, protection for industries like ours who need to use
tin-lead solder then that is exactly the intent of the bill.
There will be a hearing so finally the public will, we hope, get to know about
the problems with tin whiskers. RoHS is a trade barrier masquerading under
another name, IMHO.
Regards,
Bob Landman
H&L Instruments, LLC
-----Original Message-----
From: Marcus L. Thompson [mailto:marcus@xxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Friday, June 05, 2009 2:12 PM
To: Bob Landman; Leadfree@xxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [LF] Revisiting the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976: H.R. 2420
Thanks, Bob, for getting the word out on this. I, for one, appreciate your
efforts to rally some sort of action from industry in this matter.
I remember directly learning something important from a biotech CEO who was
confronted with the prospect of some sort of "potential"
governmental action surrounding a public statement made by the company.
His counsel urged him to proactively kowtow to the government's circumscribed
region of enforcement, and withdraw the statement (which was, by the way,
entirely factual).
His response to the situation: He simply called his counsel "a bunch of
cowards," and went on with the day. No further action was ever necessary...
On that point, here's something for us all to consider in this entire lead-free
debacle: Greed breeds gutlessness; and gutlessness breeds tyranny. The silence
is truly deafening, isn't it folks?
Keep up the good work, Bob. Right is always worth the fight --
Marcus Thompson
P.S.: Thanks for hosting your collection of RoHS articles on the H&L
Instruments site (http://www.hlinstruments.com/RoHS_articles). You might think
of adding "Lead-free from One NASA Perspective," available from the American
Competitiveness Institute
(http://www.aciusa.org/leadfree/LFS_SUMMIT-PDF/07_SAMPSON_NASA_Lead_Free_Inputs.pdf),
to your collection.
Page 20 of this paper absolutely seals the deal for anyone with any sense at
all...
--- Previous Message in This Thread ---
Subject: [LF] Revisiting the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976: H.R.
2420
From: Bob Landman <rlandman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Leadfree@xxxxxxx
Date: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 4:08:50 PM
>>From Bob Landman/H&L Instruments
>
> (reposting to the IPC list with some additional info and also posting
> to the ROHSPUSHBACK forum)
>
> Are you aware of a new bill in Congress (H.R. 2420). It will ban lead in
> solder except for a few areas of industry. If your product is not listed
> here, it is NO LONGER EXEMPT if this bill becomes law.
>
> If you are aware of the bill, what is your company's position? Has the
> company withdrawn support of NEMA?
> Is your company willing to lobby against this bill unless it is changed?
>
> NEMA has sponsered the bill which means that ALL the companies listed
> here (some of them taking the RoHS exemption, just slit their own
> throats. http://www.nema.org/mfgs/
>
> This is their call to action
> http://www.nema.org/gov/env_conscious_design/
>
> Environmental Stewardship
> NEMA > Policy Issues > Environmental Stewardship
>
> NEMA Environmental Stewardship Initiative
>
> In 2006, the electroindustry through NEMA announced a voluntary,
> industry-wide commitment known as the NEMA ?Call to Action? to achieve the
> elimination or reduction of six substances (lead, mercury, cadmium,
> hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls, and polybrominated diphenyl
> ethers) in many NEMA member products by July 2010 on a global basis. This
> commitment reflects standards originally enacted in European markets under
> the European Union?s Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive,
> but NEMA members chose to extend their compliance with the standard to all
> markets in which electroindustry products are sold. The ?Call to Action?
> initiative also includes a second phase to identify further product
> stewardship measures, such as additional hazardous materials reductions and
> recycling programs. The goal is to have those additional initiatives in
> place by July 2014.
>
> H.R. 2420, Environmental Design of Electrical Equipment Act ("EEDE
> Act")
>
> With the input of the electroindustry and NEMA members, legislation was
> drafted to codify the industry?s 2010 commitment for the initial RoHS
> substances into U.S. federal law. After significant work and outreach to
> Capitol Hill, H.R. 2420, the Environmental Design of Electrical Equipment Act
> of 2009 (the ?EDEE Act?), was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives
> by Congressman Michael Burgess (R-TX) on May 14, 2009. To urge your
> Representative to cosponsor H.R. 2420, please click here. NEMA continues to
> work to secure the introduction of a companion bill in the U.S. Senate.
>
> * H.R. 2420, the Environmental Design of Electrical Equipment Act of 2009
> (?EDEE Act?)
> * Issue Brief on the Environmental Design of Electrical Equipment Act of
> 2009 (H.R. 2420)
> * White Paper on the Environmental Design of Electrical Equipment
> Act of 2009 (H.R. 2420)
>
> =================
> I found this:
> http://energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1505
> which explains what the driving force is for the bill.
>
> Revisiting the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 Hearings -
> Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection February 26,
> 2009
>
> The Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection held a hearing
> titled, ?Revisiting the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976? at 10:00 a.m.
> on Thursday, February 26, 2009, in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building. The
> hearing addressed critical gaps in the statute and explore how these gaps
> hinder effective chemical safety policy in the United States.
>
> The following witnesses were invited to testify:
>
> * John Stephenson, Director, Natural Resources and the Environment,
> Government Accountability Office
> * J. Clarence Davies, Senior Fellow, Resources for the Future (Former EPA
> Assistant Administrator for Policy in the George H.W. Bush Administration)
> * Maureen Swanson, Healthy Children Project Coordinator, Learning
> Disabilities Association of America
> * Cecil Corbin-Mark, Deputy Director/Director for Policy Initiatives, WE
> ACT For Environmental Justice (West Harlem Environmental Action)
> * Michael Wright, Director of Health and Safety, United Steelworkers
> * Richard Denison, Senior Scientist, Environmental Defense Fund
> * Kathy Gerwig, Vice President, Workplace Safety and Environmental
> Stewardship Officer, Kaiser Permanente
> * Cal Dooley, President and CEO, American Chemistry Council
> * V.M. DeLisi, President, Fanwood Chemical, Inc., Chairman, International
> Affairs Committee, Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association
> * Charles T. Drevna, President, National Petrochemical & Refiners
> Association
>
> This explains why there is this new bill in Congress: H.R. 2420 which makes
> the use of lead in solder illegal except in very few specific areas.
> I got the text of the bill from this link
> http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-2420
>
> NOTE: You can sign up to track the bill as it winds through Congress (no
> charge) at the above link.
>
> 111th CONGRESS
> 1st Session
> H. R. 2420
> To amend the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 to ensure a uniform Federal
> scheme of regulation of restrictions in the use of certain substances in
> electrical products and equipment in interstate and foreign commerce, and for
> other purposes.
>
> SEC. 4. UNIFORM FEDERAL SCHEME OF REGULATION.
>
> (a) Section 6 of the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (15 U.S.C. 2605) is
> amended by adding at the end the following:
>
> ?(f) Certain Applications-
>
> ?(1) ELECTROINDUSTRY PRODUCTS- As used in subsection (e), the term
> ?electroindustry product? means any product or equipment that is directly
> used to facilitate the transmission, distribution, or control of electricity,
> or that uses electrical power for arc welding, lighting, signaling protection
> and communication, or medical imaging, or electrical motors and generators.
>
> ?(2) NATIONAL STANDARDS- Except for those electroindustry products and
> product categories set forth in paragraph (3), no electroindustry product
> shall be manufactured after July 1, 2010, that contains a concentration value
> greater than 0.1 percent by weight of lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium,
> polybrominated biphenyls (PBB), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) as
> measured in any homogeneous material contained in the electroindustry
> product, or a concentration value greater than 0.01 percent of cadmium as
> measured in any homogeneous material contained in the electroindustry
> product. For purposes of this section, ?homogeneous material? means a
> material of uniform composition throughout that cannot be mechanically
> disjointed into different materials.
>
> ?(3) ELECTROINDUSTRY PRODUCTS AND PRODUCT CATEGORIES- The processing and/or
> use of the specified chemical substances in any of the following
> electroindustry products and equipment shall not be subject to any
> restriction or requirement that is designed to protect against a risk of
> injury to health or the environment, and shall in no manner be restricted, by
> the States or any political subdivision of a State in accordance with section
> 2617(c)(1)(B):
>
> ?(A) Lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated
> biphenyls, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers contained in--
>
> ?(i) products or equipment designed for use with a voltage rating of
> 300 volts or above;
>
> ?(ii) products or equipment used in fixed installations; [Struck
> out->][ For purposes of this subsection, ?fixed installation? means a
> combination of equipment, systems, finished products and/or
> components, not including lighting equipment that encompasses lighting
> fixtures and lamps, assembled and/or erected by an assembler/installer
> at a given place to operate together in an expected environment to
> perform a specific task, but not intended to be placed in commerce as
> a single functional or commercial unit ][<-Struck out] ;
>
> ?(iii) signaling protection and communication systems and products,
> including healthcare communications and emergency call systems;
>
> ?(iv) surface transportation information management and control
> systems, subsystems, equipment, components, and services, including
> equipment used to design, install, operate, and maintain such systems;
>
> ?(v) medical diagnostic imaging and therapy equipment and devices,
> communications and emergency call systems and products, modular walls,
> consoles, systems, products, panels, meters, and monitors used in
> healthcare facilities;
>
> ?(vi) shunt capacitors and series capacitors;
>
> ?(vii) electro-mechanical and solid-state equipment and systems for
> measurement, display recording, processing, and telemetry for
> electricity metering and associated information;
>
> ?(viii) distribution and power transformers and special purpose
> transformers;
>
> ?(ix) equipment used for mounting or testing watt-hour or demand
> meters such as sockets, boxes, enclosures, test blocks, test tables,
> and test kits;
>
> ?(x) high voltage fuses, high current connectors, power circuit
> breakers, switchgear assemblies, surge arrestors, and insulating
> equipment, products, and hardware;
>
> ?(xi) steam turbine generators and units;
>
> ?(xii) electrical wire and cable products and accessories, not
> including fixture wires, appliance wires, and flexible cords as so
> classified by the National Electrical Code, by Underwriters
> Laboratories, Inc., or by the Canadian Standards Association;
>
> ?(xiii) electrical conduit;
>
> ?(xiv) high intensity discharge lamps;
>
> ?(xv) arc welding and plasma cutting equipment designed for industrial
> or professional use; or
>
> ?(xvi) arc welding and cutting equipment driven by mechanical means, e.g., a
> gasoline or diesel engine.
>
> ?(B) Lead when used or contained in--
>
> ?(i) steel alloys containing up to 0.35 percent lead by weight,
> aluminum alloys containing up to 0.4 percent lead by weight and copper
> alloys containing up to 4 percent lead by weight;
>
> ?(ii) solders with high melting temperatures, including lead-based
> alloys containing 85 percent or more lead by weight, and solders for--
>
> ?(I) die mounting in Light Emitting Diode applications;
>
> ?(II) the electrical connection within integrated-circuit flip-chip
> packages;
>
> ?(III) machined through-hole discoidal and planar array ceramic
> multilayer capacitors; and
>
> ?(IV) printed circuit board assemblies and point-to-point soldered
> assemblies, up to 40 percent lead by weight, and when used in
> transmission, distribution, power supply, or control devices designed
> to be installed in electrical outlet boxes and/or switch boxes, in
> emergency lighting equipment, in trip units in circuit breakers, or in
> sensors used for lighting control;
>
> ?(iii) glass used in plasma display panels or surface conduction
> electron emitter displays or for flat fluorescent lamps in liquid
> crystal displays, or in incandescent lamps;
>
> ?(iv) finishes of fine-pitch components other than connectors with a
> pitch of 0.65 millimeters or less with nickel-iron lead frames or
> copper-lead frames;
>
> ?(v) coatings not exceeding 0.5 percent by weight for tin babbitt
> alloy coated sleeve bearings;
>
> ?(vi) gateway hardware between lighting controls protocols and
> building management protocols;
>
> ?(vii) red ink used in exit signs not exceeding 0.005 milligrams per
> lens;
>
> ?(viii) fluorescent lamps;
>
> ?(ix) electrical connector coatings; or
>
> ?(x) lead-bronze bearing shells and bushes.
>
> ?(C) Cadmium and its compounds when used or contained in--
>
> ?(i) electrical contacts, cadmium plating and switch contacts,
> including those used in thermal protectors in lighting ballasts, and
> luminaires containing such ballasts; or
>
> ?(ii) cadmium-copper alloys for wire conductors.
>
> ?(D) Hexavalent chromium when used or contained in electrical connectors,
> corrosion-prevention coatings for fasteners and metals in emergency lighting
> equipment or electromagnetic interference shielding, and noncurrent carrying
> electrical devices.
>
> ?(E) Mercury when used or contained in--
>
> ?(i) straight fluorescent lamps for general purposes, but not
> exceeding 10 milligrams in halophosphate lamps, 5 milligrams in
> triphosphate lamps with a normal lifetime, and 8 milligrams in
> triphosphate lamps with a long lifetime;
>
> ?(ii) straight fluorescent lamps for special purposes;
>
> ?(iii) compact fluorescent lamps equal to or greater than 9 inches;
>
> ?(iv) compact fluorescent lamps less than 25 watts, not exceeding 5
> milligrams per lamp;
>
> ?(v) compact fluorescent lamps equal to or greater than 25 watts, not
> exceeding 6 milligrams per lamp;
>
> ?(vi) high output/very high output linear fluorescent lamps greater
> than 32 millimeters in diameter;
>
> ?(vii) preheat linear fluorescent lamps; or
>
> ?(viii) luminaires when containing any mercury-added lamps identified under
> [Struck out->][ subsection (f)(3)(E)(i)-(vii) ][<-Struck out] .
>
> ?(F) Any processing and/or use of a specified chemical substance in an
> electroindustry product other than those identified in this subsection as the
> Administrator may establish by rule.?.
>
> (b) Section 18 of the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (15 U.S.C. 2617)
> is amended by adding at the end the following:
>
> ?(c) Preemption- (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this
> section, no State or political subdivision of a State may, after the
> effective date of this Act, adopt or continue in effect any
> requirement that is designed to protect against a risk of injury to
> health or the environment--
>
> ?(A) for any electroindustry product as defined in section 2605(f)(1)
> that is inconsistent with or more stringent than the national
> standards set forth in section 2605(f)(2); or
>
> ?(B) that is applicable to the processing and/or use of the specified
> chemical substances in any of the electroindustry products or electroindustry
> product categories set forth in section 2605(f)(3).
>
> ?(2) Upon application of a State or political subdivision of a State,
> the Administrator may, by rule, exempt from section 2605(f)(3), under
> such conditions as may be prescribed in such rule, a requirement of
> such State or political subdivision designed to protect against an
> unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment associated
> with any of the uses of any chemical substance, mixture, or article
> containing such chemical substance or mixture specified in section
> 2605(f)(3) if--
>
> ?(A) compliance with the requirement would not cause the processing,
> distribution in commerce, or use of the substance, mixture, or article
> to be in violation of the Act; and
>
> ?(B) the State or political subdivision requirement does not, through
> difficulties in manufacturing, marketing, distribution, or other factors,
> unduly burden interstate commerce, or does not lessen the reliability of an
> electrical grid or of any product or system which is the subject of any such
> requirement of a State or political subdivision of a State.
>
> ?(3) Compliance with the national standards set forth in section 2605(f)(2)
> may be demonstrated based on any appropriate method for a particular
> electroindustry product, including without limitation, certifications of
> compliance by product manufacturers or testing performed in accordance with
> the guidelines promulgated by the Administrator under this subsection. The
> Administrator shall, within one year from the effective date of this Act,
> promulgate guidelines establishing test procedures for determining the
> concentration of lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, cadmium, polybrominated
> biphenyls (PBB) and/or polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) contained in an
> electroindustry product.?.
>
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