Legislative Alert:
Contact Your Massachusetts State Representative to Support the Wipes Labeling language in S. 2833, An Act to Reduce Plastics
Update as of June 24, 2024: ACEC/MA-backed language, based on the original Wipes Labeling bill filed this session, was added to S. 2833, An Act to Reduce Plastics, which the Massachusetts Senate passed earlier last week. Now the bill is in the House Committee on Ways & Means.
We need your help to contact your State Representatives with your personalized email to move the wipes language forward, even if the House doesn't take up the rest of the bill. :
- First, go to: https://malegislature.gov/Search/FindMyLegislator
- Find the exact names of your State Representative based on where you live/vote. You will then be able to open your Representative's legislative page, where you'll find all necessary information, including contact info and committee membership.
Here's a draft for you to modify:
Subject: Request for Support of S 2833
Dear Representative _______________,
I am writing to ask you to contact the House Committee on Ways and Means and urge them to support S. 2833, An Act to Reduce Plastics https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/S2833
We are asking the House Committee on Ways and Means to give this bill a favorable report and bring to House floor for a vote as soon as possible. [If your Rep is a member of House Committee on Ways and Means, then note that you are asking them to talk to their committee leaders and colleagues on the committee about the importance of this bill.]
This bill would—among other things–classify certain wipes as “non-flushable.” Similar laws have already become law in California, Washington, Illinois and several other states.
You may wonder why this bill is important to our _____________________ system. Here’s an example of the problem that these wipes have caused in our system: (Example if you have one).
Massachusetts sewers face avoidable costs for clogs, fouled pumps and resulting sanitary sewer overflows. As the popularity of various wipes increases and users flush them, these costs will increase.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of wipes increased greatly, causing dangerous clogs and public health issues for sewer systems. Since the early 2000s, wipes have been aggressively marketed as a replacement for toilet paper, mops, cleaning brushes and rags. This multi-billion-dollar industry[1] has had disastrous impacts on local sewer systems.
The wipes language in S 2833 targets only wipes that are not flushable according to industry. Unlike toilet paper, wipes are not “dispersible” in normal sewer conditions. Many such products are labeled “flushable.” Clogs and fouling from flushed wipes costs sewer operators in Massachusetts nearly $10 million annually. Many baby wipes and other non-flushable wipe products are made of plastic, not wood pulp. Wipes should be properly and clearly labeled so that consumers know they should not be flushed.
Additional information is on this fact sheet: https://files.engineers.org/file/Wipes-Fact-Sheet-2024-4770.pdf, including a list of associations representing thousands of water and sewer system workers, engineers, and contractors.
While Massachusetts is receiving additional federal funding to help our aging systems, passage of S. 2833 will help us to direct the funding to major projects that municipal systems have needed to build for years. We need to target the federal funding to bigger issues like PFAS remediation and CSOs (Combined Sewer Overflows).
If you have any questions, my contact info is below.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Name, Firm, Work email or home email, plus a good daytime phone to verify
Older information:
Update as of June 6: Both bills were issued favorably from the Joint Committee on Environment and National Resources and now are in the Senate committee on Ways and Means. We will update you here on the next steps and how you can help.
We need your help to reach Massachusetts State Representatives and State Senators before June 20, 2024 to urge them to ask the Senate Committee on Ways and Means to act favorably and quickly on these bills:
- Ask your State Senator to urge the committee to report this bill out favorably: S. 480, An Act protecting wastewater and sewerage systems through the labeling of non-flushable wipes: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/S480
and
- Ask your State Representative to urge the Senators to report this bill out favorably: H. 805, An Act protecting wastewater and sewerage systems through the labeling of non-flushable wipes: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/H805
Here's a Fact Sheet with additional information: https://files.engineers.org/file/Wipes-Fact-Sheet-2024.pdf, including a list of associations representing thousands of water and sewer system workers, engineers, and contractors.
With your help, we can get this bill moving forward. There is no known opposition to this labeling bill, but if legislators hear from you now, you will help this bill to get attention so we can get it moving forward.
- First, go to: https://malegislature.gov/Search/FindMyLegislator
- Find the exact names of your State Representative and State Senator , based on where you live/vote. You will then be able to open their legislative pages, where you'll find all necessary information, including contact info and committee membership.
- Then see if your State Senator is on Senate Ways and Means or if State Representative is on House Ways and Means
- If your State Representative or State Senator is on this key committee, you will need to tailor your message a bit by asking them to contact Committee Chairs: State Senator Michael J. Rodrigues and State Representative Aaron M. Michlewitz to let them know they support this bill.
- Then, please send an individual email to your State Representative and then also call your State Rep’s office as follow up. Below is a Sample alert email to send your State Representative. Please be sure to personalize this and include a very specific example of the impact of non-flushable wipes if you have it.). You need to edit this, please!
- Then, please send an individual email to your State Senator and then also call your State Senator’s office as follow up. Below the sample letter for State Representatives is a Sample alert email to send your State Senator. Please be sure to personalize this and include a very specific example of the impact of non-flushable wipes if you have it.). You need to edit this, please!
- Please send a copy of both of your email message to Abbie Goodman and let her know if you receive an email response that needs to be answered.
Remember to edit this message for your State Representative:
Subject: Request for Support of H.805, An Act protecting wastewater and sewerage systems through the labeling of non-flushable wipes
Dear Representative _______________,
I am writing to ask you to contact the House Committee on Ways and Means and urge them to support H. 805, An Act protecting wastewater and sewerage systems through the labeling of non-flushable wipes: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/H805. We are asking the Joint Committee on House Committee on Ways and Means to give this bill a favorable report and bring to House floor for a vote as soon as possible. [If your Rep is a member of House Committee on Ways and Means, then note that you are asking them to talk to their committee leaders and colleagues on the committee about the importance of this bill.]
This bill would classify certain wipes, using wipes-industry standards as “non-flushable.” H. 805 would mandate that those wipes that do not meet industry standards for dispersibility have prominent, mandatory “Do Not Flush” labelling, following NACWA labeling guidelines. These bills include strong, specific language that has already become law in California and Washington states.
You may wonder why this bill is important to our _____________________ system. Here’s an example of the problem that these wipes have caused in our system: (Example if you have one).
Massachusetts sewers face avoidable costs for clogs, fouled pumps and resulting sanitary sewer overflows. As the popularity of various wipes increases and users flush them, these costs will increase.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of wipes increased greatly, causing dangerous clogs and public health issues for sewer systems. Since the early 2000s, wipes have been aggressively marketed as a replacement for toilet paper, mops, cleaning brushes and rags. This multi-billion-dollar industry[1] has had disastrous impacts on local sewer systems.
H. 805 targets only wipes and other products that are not flushable according to industry. Unlike toilet paper, wipes are not “dispersible” in normal sewer conditions. Many such products are labeled “flushable.” Clogs and fouling from flushed wipes costs sewer operators in Massachusetts nearly $10 million annually. Many baby wipes and other non-flushable wipe products are made of plastic, not wood pulp. Wipes should be properly and clearly labeled so that consumers know they should not be flushed.
Additional information is on this fact sheet: https://files.engineers.org/file/Wipes-Fact-Sheet-2024-4770.pdf, including a list of associations representing thousands of water and sewer system workers, engineers, and contractors.
While Massachusetts is receiving additional federal funding to help our aging systems, passage of H. 805 will help us to direct the funding to major projects that municipal systems have needed to build for years. We need to target the federal funding to bigger issues like PFAS remediation and CSOs (Combined Sewer Overflows). Passage of H. 805 would help to keep federal funding focused on these projects, rather than on clearing clogs and replacing pumps and pipes damaged by wipes.
If you have any questions, my contact info is below.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Name, Firm, Work email or home email, A good daytime phone to verify
Remember to edit this message for your State Senator:
Subject: Request for Support of S. 480, An Act protecting wastewater and sewerage systems through the labeling of non-flushable wipes
Dear Senator _______________,
I am writing to ask you to contact the Senate Committee on Ways and Means and urge them to support S. 480, An Act protecting wastewater and sewerage systems through the labeling of non-flushable wipes: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/S480. We are asking the Senate Committee on Ways and Means to give this bill a favorable report and bring to House floor for a vote as soon as possible. [If your State Senator is a member of Senate Committee on Ways and Means, then note that you are asking them to talk to their committee leaders and colleagues on the committee about the importance of this bill.]
This bill would classify certain wipes, using wipes-industry standards as “non-flushable.” H. 805 would mandate that those wipes that do not meet industry standards for dispersibility have prominent, mandatory “Do Not Flush” labelling, following NACWA labeling guidelines. These bills include strong, specific language that has already become law in California and Washington states.
You may wonder why this bill is important to our _____________________ system. Here’s an example of the problem that these wipes have caused in our system: (Example if you have one).
Massachusetts sewers face avoidable costs for clogs, fouled pumps and resulting sanitary sewer overflows. As the popularity of various wipes increases and users flush them, these costs will increase.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of wipes increased greatly, causing dangerous clogs and public health issues for sewer systems. Since the early 2000s, wipes have been aggressively marketed as a replacement for toilet paper, mops, cleaning brushes and rags. This multi-billion-dollar industry[1] has had disastrous impacts on local sewer systems.
S. 480 targets only wipes and other products that are not flushable according to industry. Unlike toilet paper, wipes are not “dispersible” in normal sewer conditions. Many such products are labeled “flushable.” Clogs and fouling from flushed wipes costs sewer operators in Massachusetts nearly $10 million annually. Many baby wipes and other non-flushable wipe products are made of plastic, not wood pulp. Wipes should be properly and clearly labeled so that consumers know they should not be flushed.
Additional information is on this fact sheet: https://files.engineers.org/file/Wipes-Fact-Sheet-2024-4770.pdf, including a list of associations representing thousands of water and sewer system workers, engineers, and contractors.
While Massachusetts is receiving additional federal funding to help our aging systems, passage of S. 480 will help us to direct the funding to major projects that municipal systems have needed to build for years. We need to target the federal funding to bigger issues like PFAS remediation and CSOs (Combined Sewer Overflows). Passage of S. 480 would help to keep federal funding focused on these projects, rather than on clearing clogs and replacing pumps and pipes damaged by wipes.
If you have any questions, my contact info is below.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Name, Firm, Work email or home email, A good daytime phone to verify