Jan. 5, 2018 — On Dec. 22, a federal judge blocked the District of Columbia's flushable wipes law until the city issues a labeling rule. The nation's first-ever flushable wipes law was set to take effect in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 1, 2018.
Under the law, wipes labeled flushable must readily break up and degrade in sewers.
This preliminary injunction was requested by Kimberly-Clark, a global manufacturer of flushable wipes. The judge agreed that the Nonwoven Disposable Products Act of 2016 would penalize the company as soon as it took effect. Prior to the oral arguments before the federal court, the city declared it wouldn't enforce the law until a regulation defining how flushable wipes should be labeled was adopted and an ensuing 12 to 18 month compliance period expired. (Bloomberg BNA, 12/26/17)
In November 2017, WEF and the National Association of Clean Water Agencies filed and amicus brief in support of the District of Columbia's postion.
