You carry keys (probably). Are you a criminal?

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For almost two years now, Rob Justen, the owner of Doyle Security Products in Minneapolis, has anxiously checked his mail, wondering if he’s going to receive a cease-and-desist letter from the state that risks sinking his business.

With 28 employees, Doyle Security sells lock cylinders and doors as well as metal blades to mom-and-pop shops and hardware stores that cut keys for customers.

A Minnesota law that took effect July 1, 2023, after passing the Legislature that year has rendered nearly all keys manufactured in Minnesota illegal. Yes, the keys to houses, apartments, cars, boats and ATVs — because of the composition of the metal.

Justen doesn’t want to break the law, but he and others say there’s no viable alternative to current alloys used to make keys, key blanks and the lock cores into which they are inserted.

“At first, we thought, ‘This is so ridiculous — they can’t enforce it because it would abolish key blades,’ ” Justen said.

No states other than Minnesota and California limit lead and cadmium content in keys. In 2001, California voters approved new standards that limited keys to 1.5% lead. Minnesota’s standard is much more restrictive, allowing no more than 0.009% lead in keys.

Justen, the recent past president of the Security Hardware Distributors Association, said there is no good alternative to lead at the moment despite efforts to find one. Without a certain level of lead, the keys and the cores they go into are too soft.

That means Justen is out of compliance and on edge, wondering if his business, which relies heavily on selling keys, faces a crackdown and an existential threat without a change in the law.

“You feel wrong in violation of the law, but everyone is still selling them,” he said of the keys, describing the entire supply chain as “in a pickle.”

Enforcement of the new standard has been inconsistent. Justen said he knows some in the business have received cease-and-desist letters. He has not.

The Legislature is on a deadline this week for policy bills and facing an opportunity Thursday when the Senate Environment, Climate and Legacy Committee decides whether to grant respite to key manufacturers, distributors and retailers by extending the deadline for compliance with the 2023 law or adopting a less restrictive lead standard.

The Legislature could also leave the law untouched and potentially make scofflaws of any Minnesotan who purchases a car, boat or home that requires a key.

“We’re trying to figure out how to make this work,” said state Sen. Grant Hauschild, DFL-Hermantown. “Minnesota does not want to be in a position where we outlaw keys.”

Lobbyist Dave Johnson said the key provision was “jammed into an environmental bill” and “now that it’s become law people are struggling how to respond.”

Other unfortunate outcomes from the 2023 environmental bill also are under consideration for adjustment, including a ban on cadmium in artistic paint.

The cadmium ban has proven to be a problem for artists and art supply stores who are pushing for its repeal.

State Rep. Bjorn Olson, R-Fairmont, is carrying that bill and recently told House colleagues that “Western art culture” depends on the repeal as no alternative can compare to the illumination created by cadmium in artistic paints. He said Minnesota is the “only government in the universe” that outlaws cadmium paint.

No one wants children to suffer lifelong consequences from exposure to lead or cadmium, but keys aren’t children’s toys and neither is artistic paint.

The new restrictions would seem to be an oversight that could be easily fixed, but nothing is easy at the Capitol. The MPCA has been mostly noncommittal on the topic of keys, insisting there’s a viable alternative out there somewhere.

Justen sent the state agency a letter in January that both detailed the problem and served as call for help. He said this week that he had not received a response.

At a committee hearing recently, Tom Johnson, director of government relations for the MPCA, said the agency has tested keys and found examples of lead-free alternatives, but he was unable to provide test results. He said the agency is “engaging with the industry” that claims there aren’t great alternatives.

As an alternative to lead remains elusive, Justen worries about his business that has operated in Minneapolis since 1921. He’s aware that by speaking out, he may become a target.

If the ban stands and manufacturers retreat, Justen said he could lose at least 70% of his operation because there is no alternative to the current keys.