The bill amends RCW 70A.565.010 and 70A.565.020 and adds new sections to chapters 70A.565 and 70A.350 RCW to restrict lead in aluminum and brass cookware, cookware components, and utensils sold or distributed in Washington. It phases in maximum total lead limits for items manufactured on or after specified dates: 90 ppm beginning January 1, 2026; a prohibition on intentionally added lead beginning January 1, 2027; 50 ppm for pots and pans and their components beginning January 1, 2030; and 20 ppm for pots and pans and their components beginning January 1, 2034. Retailers and wholesalers are prohibited from knowingly selling items that exceed the applicable limits, with an explicit no-liability provision for unknowingly selling restricted products, and exemptions for casual or isolated sales and sales by nonprofit organizations of previously owned items. The act defines covered products and terms (including cookware, cookware components, utensils, "intentionally added," "manufacturer," and "vulnerable populations") and assigns duties to the Washington State Department of Ecology. The department must publish guidance on covered items, test methods, compliance approach, and its enforcement testing procedure; it may grant exemptions from the 20 ppm restriction consistent with rules adopted under the act; it must designate cookware containing lead as a priority consumer product and follow a review and rulemaking schedule that begins with evaluation by June 1, 2029, a determination of regulatory actions by June 1, 2032, and adoption of implementing rules by June 1, 2033. The department may order manufacturers to provide lead-level data and make that data publicly available to the extent practicable; failure to comply with such an order is subject to penalties under RCW 70A.350.070. Legally, the bill creates new product-safety requirements and procedural duties, establishes a phased prohibition on intentionally added lead, creates maximum contaminant limits, designates cookware as a priority consumer product, and ties noncompliance to existing penalties in chapter 70A.350 RCW. The extracted material references other statutes and enforcement details not included here (for example the full contents of RCW 70A.350.040, RCW 70A.02.010, and RCW 82.04.040), and specific enforcement mechanisms and penalty amounts within this chapter beyond the cross-reference to RCW 70A.350.070 are not provided in the extracted facts.

If enacted, manufacturers that make or import aluminum or brass cookware, pots and pans, components, and utensils sold in Washington will need to eliminate intentionally added lead by 2027 and meet steadily tighter total-lead limits: 90 ppm for items made on or after 1/1/2026, 50 ppm for pots/pans and their components by 1/1/2030, and 20 ppm for pots/pans and their components by 1/1/2034 (with a possible exemption process for the 20 ppm level). Retailers and wholesalers will have to avoid knowingly selling items that exceed those limits, while casual resales and nonprofit sales of used items are exempt; manufacturers will likely face new costs for testing, reformulating, supply‑chain changes, and data reporting, and they risk penalties if they fail to provide ordered lead-level information. The Washington Department of Ecology must produce testing and compliance guidance, collect and (as practicable) publish manufacturers’ lead data, and begin treating cookware as a priority product with a scheduled review (starting by 6/1/2029), regulatory determinations by 6/1/2032, and rules by 6/1/2033. What’s not clear from the text provided is the detailed enforcement mechanics and specific penalties beyond cross-reference to other statutes, so businesses and regulators will need those referenced provisions to understand full compliance costs and legal exposure.