Lead Free Design - RoHS

 

This Monday, October 15, 2007 - California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed Assembly Bill AB 48 that promised to greatly expand the RoHS statutes mandated by the California Waste Recycling Act.

In killing the bill for this year, the Governator said, "Unfortunately, the approach taken in this bill is largely unworkable and instead of the benefits it seeks to accomplish, could ultimately result in unintended and potentially more harmful consequences."

The vetoed bill, said Schwarzenegger, "purports to impose restrictions similar to those already in place in the European Union, but the deviations it takes from the European Union approach are fatally flawed."

California politicians had sought to greatly expand the scope of the current law, which now covers a relative handful of product types, including monitors, TVs and notebook computers. 

Schwarzenegger claims exemption language for spare parts and refurbished products, as currently written in AB 48, would make many electronic products prematurely obsolete and force their retirement years earlier than necessary.

The EU RoHS Directive exempts spare and refurbished products.

This was the second attempt to pass an extensive "EU RoHS" directive in California, and will probably not be the last.