HB1614

I support the reduction of contaminates in our air that we breathe and our water that we drink. Thank you.

I urge you to vote in favor of this bill, which provides a clear and common sense approach to decreasing a toxic pollution source and protecting our waterways in New Hampshire. Thank you!

Please support this bill to help reduce carcinogens in our environment. Most consumers would not be aware of the risks from driveway sealant containing tar. I have this image of my 2 year-old granddaughter playing in puddles besides the recently sealed driveway. We had no idea she was being exposed to cancer causing agents that are unneccesary. Thank you for voting OTP. Representative Hope Damon, Sullivan District 8

Coal tar is a known toxic substance that gets tracked from the driveway into homes and also waterways. See govt research below: https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/fs20163017

Remove these products that harm our waterways, harm the lifeforms that live in our waterways, and harm the plants that keep the waterways healthy.

I strongly support HB1614 because coal tar–based sealants contain harmful PAHs that pose risks to public health and the environment. Restricting these products is a practical, evidence-based step to reduce toxic exposure in our communities.

seems a no brainer to protect our water supply from these dangerous chemicals

The Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Coal tar sealants are well known as toxins and carcinogens. There are several very effective alternatives, such as asphalt based and acrylic based driveway sealants. While coal tar based sealants are claimed to be slightly cheaper products, when durability is considered, the alternatives can be lower cost over time. In any case, it has become clear that the runoff from coal tar based sealants eventually find their way to streams, rivers and our aquifers. Dust from coal tar sealants expose households to the toxins. 4 states have taken action to ban these toxic sealants. 15 states have implemented bans at the town and county level. NH should take the lead and protect our children and keep this unnecessary toxin out of our beautiful state. Please pass this bill for and keep NH citizens safe and healthy

It's great to see HB1614 getting started. I'm an environmental scientist and expert in this field and have assisted other States and Canada with bans and regulations concerning this topic. The proposed 10,000 ppm PAH limit is too high and definition needs improvement as other sealcoating products exist which are just as toxic. Since it's so new, it's important that New Hampshire gets it right.    I would strongly recommend you amend and change the bill title and definition to: "Restricting the sale and use of coal tar and other high-PAH pavement sealcoating products used on driveways, parking lots or playgrounds." "A high PAH pavement product means any material that contains more than 0.1% (1,000 ppm) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) by weight and may contain coal tar, coal tar pitch, refined tar, steam-cracked petroleum residues, heavy pyrolysis oil, steam-cracked asphalt, pyrolysis fuel oil, heavy fuel oil, ethylene tar, ethylene cracked residue, or a variation of those substances assigned the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) numbers 65996-92-1, 65996-93-2, 65996-89-6, 8007-45-2, 64742-90-1, or 69013-21-4, used on asphalt or concrete surfaces." "PAHs include U.S EPA's list of 16 priority pollutant compounds, plus 2-Methylnaphthalene, which all have specific toxicity limits and are commonly referred to as the sum or total of 17 compounds added together. PAHs are analyzed by certified laboratories using U.S. EPA Method 8270 by GC/MS instrumentation." There will be no economic impacts to businesses serving this market. There are no coal tar plants in New Hampshire (or New England), so no loss of jobs. Coal tar sealcoating products come from Ohio - mostly - or from the Southern US, where it's used in the steel industry. NH does have sealcoating contractors, and they buy their products from Sealmaster, Neyra, Gemseal, STAR and a few other vendors, which comes here by truck or train. Over the last few years, all these manufacturers have developed high performance asphalt-based sealcoat products - which have no PAHs - to meet the demand and regulations in New York, Maine and elsewhere where their coal tar products have been banned. NH sealcoating contractors can easily switch to using cleaner asphalt-based sealcoats, which cost the same as coal tar products, so there is no impact to their profits. In addition, all the 'bucket' brands sold at Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart or local hardware stores only sell asphalt-based sealcoats, so again there is no economic impact. Lastly, sealcoating is not applied to roads or highways, so asphalt and paving companies in New Hampshire will not be affected by this ban. Coal tar-based sealcoats contain high concentrations of PAHs ranging from 50,000 ppm to over 100,000 ppm, which are highly toxic to human health and the environment. If a parking lot smells like creosote on a warm summer day, it's coal tar. My bio is below. Steve Greason is an environment scientist and business owner at Sitelab Corporation (site-lab.com) located in West Newbury, MA, with over 25 years' experience testing petroleum hydrocarbons. Steve grew up in Bow, NH, has a BS degree from UNH in Durham, owns a summer home up in Dalton, NH and has family in Holderness on Little Squam Lake. He is a strong advocate for protecting and restoring the Merrimack River in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, which can only benefit from this ban. In 2022, Sitelab completed an $85,000 grant with U.S. EPA and Chesapeake Bay Trust to create a national certification program testing the PAH content in pavement sealcoating products. Since then, Sitelab has performed work or provided assistance with regulatory agencies in Austin, TX, Charlotte, NC, Washington DC, New York State, USGS, the Canadian government and over a dozen sealcoat manufacturers. See this link for more info: https://www.site-lab.com/pahs-coal-tar-sealcoats-certification.htm

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in coal tar and other sealants cause DNA damage that can lead to cancer. NH has a reputation for being a "cancer Alley" with higher levels of cancer than surrounding areas. Let's pass this bill and make the environment safer for everyone.

Please restrict the use of coal tar products that sicken people and our water, and the environment.

Feb 10, 2026 To: NH House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee From: Cynthia Walter, Ph.D. cawalter22@gmail.com Re: HB 1614 I have taught toxicology for 35 years and know the harm from exposure to PAHs from Coal Tar sealant. Polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAHs) are well known as very harmful, with established links to cancer, impaired immune system and respiratory distress, especially for the many people with asthma, and other respiratory illnesses. When my husband and I worked on our asphalt driveway, we had no trouble finding driveway materials without Coal Tar at good prices in big box stores. We could literally and mentally breathe easy, and our grandkids could visit that day. We need this law because we could not enjoy our yard if our neighbors accidently used Coal Tar sealant, due to fumes. Also, they would unknowingly harm themselves, especially their young children. Most people do not have the chemical training to recognize if a product will release too much of the many PAH compounds. The general public cannot easily distinguish between different kinds of warning statements among the hundreds of products in home repair stores. Finally, workers bear the most harm from Coal Tax sealants with PAHs. They cannot practically protect themselves. Studies show that many masks and gloves can actually increase inhalation uptake and dermal absorption of toxics during manual labor. Most workers do not wear masks or gloves and NIOSH researchers reported concentrations of toxics from PAHs in Coal Tar far above safety limits. 1 Also, the PAHs enter surface and groundwaters that are our major sources of drinking water for public and private wells. If we pass this bill, we would see PAHs decline in sediments, as other areas have seen after their ban. 2 Please move this bill forward. The fiscal note is very small (<$10,000) and worth it for safer air and water quality. Footnotes: 1. Mcormick et al, 2020 Exposure Assessment of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Refined Coal Tar Sealant Applications https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1438463922000542 “Last day post-shift 54 urinary concentrations of 1-hydroxypyrene greatly exceeded the ACGIH BEI benchmark of 2.5 µg/L in 25 of 26 samples, which suggests occupational exposure and risk of genotoxicity.” 2. Metre and Mahler 2014. PAH Concentrations in Lake Sediment Decline Following Ban on Coal-Tar-Based Pavement Sealants in Austin, Texas Environmental Science & Technology Vol 48 (13)

I support this bill. Restricting the use of coal tar-based sealant products for driveways and roads will protect our environment and people from toxic chemical runoff.

keep toxic chemicals out of the environment.

This bill is important for the health of our water resources for future generations .

This is a common sense step to reduce a preventable source of toxic pollution in our NH lakes.

The pollutants from coal tar-based sealant products degrade water and sediment quality, harm aquatic insects, fish, and amphibians, and disrupt the aquatic food web. I support HB 1614 as it takes a proactive step to reduce a preventable source of toxic pollution.

It shows a hearing on HB1742 but it is not in the draw down menu so I am voting against 1742 here.

As president of the Mascoma Lake Association, I strongly support this bill to restrict the use of coal tar-based sealant products. We need to do all we can to protect New Hampshire's thousand lakes as they face increasing harm from runoff phosphates, road salt, and other pollutants. For some of these, reduction efforts can be difficult and complicated. In contrast, restricting a substance as toxic as carcinogenic coal tar sealants should be a straightforward, common-sense action to protect our watersheds and lakes. Please vote this bill OTP.

We need to oppose the toxic materials that can leach into our grounds and lakes as all the toxins are not conducive to the health benefits of our community.

This is a proactive approach to reduce/prevent the runoff of this carcinogenic compound , PAH, that will in time contaminate out our water supply, the fish and surrounding wildlife.

February 9, 2026 Dear Honorable Representative, Thank you for serving as a New Hampshire representative and working with the House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee. I am writing to support HB 1614 which would restrict the sale and use of coal tar-based sealant products that contain high levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) which are carcinogenic compounds toxic to aquatic life and contain persistent products that alter the chemistry of water. On Mirror Lake, we worked for twelve years to remedy the action points recommended in a Watershed Management Plan written in 2012 by Geosyntec regarding Mirror Lake. Several of the measures taken were directed at “impervious surfaces” including streets, roofs, driveways, and parking areas and other such surfaces. We learned through this work the negative impact of impervious surfaces as they relate to water flow. What we did not consider was the impact of the chemical products used on the surfaces themselves. As we begin our new 2026 Watershed Management Plan with Comprehensive Environmental Inc. we are far more familiar with and alarmed by the impact of chemicals in fertilizer, insecticide and now materials used in impervious surfaces. Your support of HB 1614 has far reaching implications for the future of lakes. Rather than continuing to allow surface materials to enter lakes and other waterways filling them with toxic, persistent, and carcinogenic materials the passage of HB 1614 would take the development of impervious surfaces into the direction of healthier alternatives, which already exist. Most sincerely, Dr. Kathleen Sciarappa President, Mirror Lake Protective Association

We need to avoid the next PFAS disaster by prohibiting the use of paving products that contain high concentrations of PAHs, which are known to cause cancer in humans and are toxic to aquatic organisms. Several other states and municipalities, as well as Canada, have restricted the use of coal-tar based sealants. There are suitable, widely available and less toxic alternatives. See more info at https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2016/3017/fs20163017.pdf