Washington state copper antifoulant paint ban delayed

A ban on the sale and use of copper antifoulant paint that contains more than 0.5 percent copper in the state of Washington will be delayed until Jan. 1 2021, under a bill recently signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee.

HB 2634 also directs the state's Department of Ecology to complete a study by Sept. 30, 2019 that assesses the environmental impacts of antifouling paints and their ingredients – whether there are safer alternatives to antifouling paints or ingredients found in antifouling paints – and provides recommendations on whether changes to the existing regulation of antifouling paints are needed.

For more information, contact David Dickerson at ddickerson@nmma.org.