American Apparel & Footwear Association, Inc. v. Dave Baden

107 F.4th 934
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedJuly 15, 2024
Docket23-35114
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 107 F.4th 934 (American Apparel & Footwear Association, Inc. v. Dave Baden) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
American Apparel & Footwear Association, Inc. v. Dave Baden, 107 F.4th 934 (9th Cir. 2024).

Opinion

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

AMERICAN APPAREL & No. 23-35114 FOOTWEAR ASSOCIATION, INC.; HALLOWEEN INDUSTRY D.C. No. 3:21-cv- ASSOCIATION, INC.; JUVENILE 01757-SI PRODUCTS MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION, INC.; TOY ASSOCIATION, INC., DBA Safe to OPINION Play Coalition,

Plaintiffs-Appellants,

v.

DAVE BADEN, in his official capacity as Interim Director of the Oregon Health Authority; ELLEN ROSENBLUM, in her official capacity as Attorney General for the State of Oregon's Department of Justice,

Defendants-Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Oregon Michael H. Simon, District Judge, Presiding 2 AM. APPAREL & FOOTWEAR ASS’N, INC. V. BADEN

Argued and Submitted March 14, 2024 San Francisco, California

Filed July 15, 2024

Before: M. Margaret McKeown and Morgan Christen, Circuit Judges, and David A. Ezra,* District Judge.

Opinion by Judge Ezra

SUMMARY**

Preemption

The panel affirmed the district court’s partial dismissal and partial summary judgment in favor of the defendants in an action brought by trade associations alleging that part of Oregon’s Toxic-Free Kids Act and two of that statute’s implementing regulations were preempted by the Federal Hazardous Substances Act and the Consumer Product Safety Act. The Toxic-Free Kids Act directs the Oregon Health Authority, a state agency, to establish and maintain a list of high priority chemicals of concern for children’s health. The trade associations argued that the law should be enjoined

* The Honorable David A. Ezra, United States District Judge for the District of Hawaii, sitting by designation. ** This summary constitutes no part of the opinion of the court. It has been prepared by court staff for the convenience of the reader. AM. APPAREL & FOOTWEAR ASS’N, INC. V. BADEN 3

because it subjects the designated chemicals to requirements that are not identical to the federal framework. The panel upheld the district court’s conclusion that the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission had not, through the promulgation of a regulation, exercised independent judgment or expertise to trigger the express preemption provisions of the FHSA or CPSA with respect to all of the 73 chemicals at issue. Thus, the trade associations’ facial challenges failed because they could not show that the Oregon statute and its implementing regulations were invalid in all their applications. The panel held that the CPSA also did not impliedly preempt the Toxic-Free Kids Act and its regulations through principles of conflict preemption.

COUNSEL

Dwain M. Clifford (argued) and James T. McDermott, McDermott Weaver Connelly Clifford LLP, Portland, Oregon, for Plaintiffs-Appellants. Carson L. Whitehead (argued), Assistant Attorney General; Benjamin Gutman, Solicitor General; Ellen F. Rosenblum, Attorney General; Oregon Department of Justice, Salem, Oregon; for Defendants-Appellees 4 AM. APPAREL & FOOTWEAR ASS’N, INC. V. BADEN

OPINION

EZRA, District Judge:

Appellants American Apparel & Footwear Association, Inc. and other trade associations represent manufacturers of children’s products. Appellants allege that part of Oregon’s Toxic-Free Kids Act (“TFKA”), and two of the statute’s implementing rules are preempted by the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (“FHSA”) and the Consumer Product Safety Act (“CPSA”). Appellants appeal the district court’s dismissal of their preemption claims. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm the district court’s judgment. In so doing, we uphold the district court’s conclusion that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (“the Commission”) has not exercised independent judgment or expertise to trigger the express preemption provisions of the FHSA or CPSA with respect to all the chemicals at issue. Thus, Appellants’ facial challenges fail because they cannot show that the TFKA and its implementing regulations are invalid in all their applications. BACKGROUND In 2015, the Oregon Legislature enacted the Toxic-Free Kids Act. Or. Rev. Stat. §§ 431A.250–431A.280. The TFKA directs the Oregon Health Authority (“OHA”), a state agency, to establish and maintain a list of high priority chemicals of concern for children’s health (“HPCCCH”) and to issue regulations implementing the law. As of January 1, 2022, OHA’s list contained 73 chemicals designated as HPCCCH. Or. Admin. R. 333-016-2020. AM. APPAREL & FOOTWEAR ASS’N, INC. V. BADEN 5

Appellants argue that Oregon’s law should be enjoined because it subjects these 73 chemicals to requirements preempted by federal law. Specifically, they challenge Oregon Revised Statutes § 431A.258 (the “Notice Statute”), Oregon Administrative Rule 333-016-2060 (the “Notice Regulation”), and Oregon Administrative Rule 333-016- 3015 (the “Exemption Regulation”), as unlawful because they impose requirements that are not identical to the federal framework. The Notice Statute requires manufacturers of children’s products, or the manufacturers’ trade associations, to provide biennial notices when a children’s product that is sold or offered for sale in Oregon contains a chemical listed as a HPCCCH, at or above a de minimis level. Or. Rev. Stat. § 431A.258(1)(a), (6). The Notice Regulation, promulgated by OHA under the TFKA, specifies that a manufacturer’s (or trade association’s) notice must include the amount of the chemical used in each “unit” (defined as each “component part”) within each product category, reported as a range. Or. Admin. R. 333-016-2060(5)(d), (1); see also Or. Admin. R. 333-016-2010(9) (defining “component part”).1 The Notice Regulation also sets the calendar for when notices are due according to a biennial notice schedule. See Or. Admin. R. 333-016-2060(3), (4). A product may be banned in Oregon for failing to timely remove or substitute a chemical designated as a HPCCCH. “On or before the date on which a manufacturer of a children’s product submits the third biennial notice required

1 Citations to the Oregon Administrative Rules are to the versions in effect prior to January 1, 2024. 6 AM. APPAREL & FOOTWEAR ASS’N, INC. V. BADEN

under [the Notice Statute] for a chemical that is present in a children’s product, the manufacturer must remove or make a substitution for the chemical . . . or seek a waiver . . . , if the chemical is present in a children’s product that is: (a) Mouthable; (b) A children’s cosmetic; or (c) Made for, marketed for use by or marketed to children under three years of age.” Or. Rev. Stat. § 431A.260(1). However, the TFKA and its regulations create carve-outs that allow manufacturers to be exempt from meeting the requirement of removal or substitution of HPCCCH. Id. § 431A.260(4). Under the Exemption Regulation, a manufacturer may apply for an exemption in any of the following four circumstances:

(a) The children’s product contains a HPCCCH used in children’s products at levels that are at or below allowable levels for children’s products as established by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, P.L. 110-314, 122 Stat. 3016, as in effect on July 27, 2015. (b) A manufacturer is in compliance with a federal consumer product safety standard adopted under federal law that establishes allowable levels for children’s products of a high priority chemical of concern for children’s health used in children’s products.

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