Bill > A5452

Introduced Session

This bill would prohibit the sale of certain products containing intentionally added microplastic substances, require greater transparency in the labeling and disclosure of certain products containing microplastics, establish a source reduction program concerning the proper management of microplastics, and appropriate money for microplastic research. As defined in the bill, a microplastic is any material, five millimeters or less in diameter, composed of synthetic polymers and chemical additives, that have been added to a product over the course of the manufacturing or industrial process. Synthetic polymer microparticle would be defined to mean an artificial chain of monomer plastics, added to a product or intentionally used during the development of a product or one of its product components, to confer a specific characteristic, appearance, or quality or to perform a specific function. This would not include a technically unavoidable trace quantity of a synthetic polymer microparticle stemming from impurities of natural or synthetic ingredients or the manufacturing process, storage, or migration from packaging of the product or product component. Specifically, the bill would prohibit, beginning three years after the bill's effective date, the sale, offer for sale, or distribution of cleaning products, cosmetic products, or potentially ingestible products (i.e. chewing gum, tea grounds, talcum powder, or pet food) that contain intentionally added microplastics, microplastics, products that could generate synthetic polymer microparticles, or other secondary microplastics. In the second year following the effective date of the act, any manufacturer of cleaning, cosmetic, foodware, or potentially ingestible product sold in the State, which product contains intentionally added microplastics, or which could generate synthetic polymer microparticles or other secondary microplastics, would be required to list, in a product label, in the handle of the product or on any product surface that comes into contact with food, foodstuffs, or beverages, the presence of the intentionally added synthetic polymer microparticles, or potential for generation of other secondary microplastics. A manufacturer of a product sold in the State would be required to ensure that the statement on the product label pursuant to subsection is visible and legible to the consumer, visible in both English and Spanish, and post the disclosure on the product listing for online sales. This provision would ensure adequate consumer awareness in the years between the gradual phase-out of products containing intentionally added microplastics, or products that could generate synthetic polymer microparticles or other secondary microplastics, and the ban on all products containing microplastics or their byproducts. Products would be exempt from the labeling requirements of this section if the surface area of the product cannot fit a product label of at least two square inches; and the product does not have either an exterior container or wrapper on which a product label can appear or be affixed; or a tag or other attachment with information about the product attached to the product. The provisions of the bill would not apply to a product containing intentionally added microparticles only in electronic or internal component of the product. Any product with a product label listing the presence of microplastics, or potential to generate synthetic polymer microparticles or secondary microplastics, pursuant to another state or federal law, would be deemed in compliance with the bill. The bill would also require the DEP to recommend to the Legislature products, in addition to those prohibited from being sold, offered for sale, or distributed pursuant to the bill, by category use, that should not be sold, offered for sale, or distributed for sale in this State, if those products contain intentionally added microplastics. Under the bill, the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety (division) would have the authority to audit or investigate a manufacturer to assess the manufacturer's compliance with bill's provisions. The bill would provide that any trade secrets included in any written notification, certification, or any other record submitted to the division pursuant to the bill would be required to be kept confidential from the general public pursuant to P.L.1963, c.73 (C.47:1A-1 et seq.), commonly known as the open public records act. However, the disclosure that a product contains microplastics would not constitute as a trade secret. The bill would require the DEP to establish, no later than one year after the bill's effective date, a source reduction program to reduce the presence of microplastics in the State's air, water, and soil by encouraging the proper management of materials that contain microplastics and the use of safer alternatives. The program would be required to include certain items enumerated in subsection a. of section 9 of the bill. The bill would also require the DEP to conduct microplastics-related research and comprehensive monitoring and testing of the presence and impact of microplastics on the environmental media within the State, including air, water, biota, and soil. The DEP's research would be required to include certain items enumerated in subsection a. of section 10 of the bill. No later than two years after the bill's effective date, and annually thereafter, the DEP would be required to submit a comprehensive report to the Governor and the Legislature summarizing their research findings and activities and providing recommendations for programs, policies, and legislation to address the presence of microplastics in the State. Finally, the bill would appropriate $2.5 million to the DEP for the purposes of implementing the source reduction program, conducting microplastics-related research, and monitoring and testing environmental media, such as air, water, and soil, for microplastics pursuant to the bill. The bill would additionally appropriate $500,000 to the Department of Law and Public Safety to enforce product disclosures and bans.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Margie Donlon (D)*,  Shama Haider (D)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee (on 09/14/2026)

Bill Topics

Official Document