Foil Balloons May Be Subject to Point-of-Sale Warnings in California
The One Sentence Summary: If legislation proposed by California Senator Jack Scott (D-Pasadena) is enacted, California retailers selling helium-filled foil balloons can no longer use toys or candy as balloon weights, and stores must post information (or use some other means) to warn customers about power outages that can be caused by errant mylar balloons coming in contact with electrical power lines.
Full Posting:
Before it was amended in mid-July, the latest California bill (SB 1499) to seek to regulate helium-filled metallic foil balloons would have completely banned the balloons, and would have subjected violators to increased criminal fines. Now the proposed legislation, if it is approved by both houses of the California Legislature and signed by Governor Schwarzenegger, no longer outlaws the balloons, but puts a greater burden on retailers to educate the public about the dangers runaway balloons can pose for electrical utility lines.
A copy of the legislation, in its current form, can be viewed here: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_1451-1500/sb_1499_bill_20080715_amended_asm_v96.pdf
Under the proposed law, with the new amendments, retailers would have to notify customers by posting signs at cash registers, or giving a notice directly to buyers, informing them about the California Balloon Law. In addition, when retailers supply weights for helium-filled foil balloon, which is already required by current law (California Penal Code section 653.1(a)(1)), the proposed legislation would prohibit using a child’s toy or candy as the weight.
If enacted, the new balloon law would also impose requirements on distributors to educate retailers about the law, and to supply retailers with information about the law in shipments of balloons to California buyers. Manufacturers would be called on to increase the size of the warning on their goods, and the industry would be called on to pay for a study by the University of California to find alternative balloon materials that are less electrically conductive.
Full Posting:
Before it was amended in mid-July, the latest California bill (SB 1499) to seek to regulate helium-filled metallic foil balloons would have completely banned the balloons, and would have subjected violators to increased criminal fines. Now the proposed legislation, if it is approved by both houses of the California Legislature and signed by Governor Schwarzenegger, no longer outlaws the balloons, but puts a greater burden on retailers to educate the public about the dangers runaway balloons can pose for electrical utility lines.
A copy of the legislation, in its current form, can be viewed here: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_1451-1500/sb_1499_bill_20080715_amended_asm_v96.pdf
Under the proposed law, with the new amendments, retailers would have to notify customers by posting signs at cash registers, or giving a notice directly to buyers, informing them about the California Balloon Law. In addition, when retailers supply weights for helium-filled foil balloon, which is already required by current law (California Penal Code section 653.1(a)(1)), the proposed legislation would prohibit using a child’s toy or candy as the weight.
If enacted, the new balloon law would also impose requirements on distributors to educate retailers about the law, and to supply retailers with information about the law in shipments of balloons to California buyers. Manufacturers would be called on to increase the size of the warning on their goods, and the industry would be called on to pay for a study by the University of California to find alternative balloon materials that are less electrically conductive.
Labels: Consumers
posted by at 7/22/2008
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