The proposal, which aims to clarify when short-form warnings should be used, would also create new requirements for information about harmful chemicals.
By Michael G. Romey, Lucas I. Quass, and Kevin Homrighausen
This article has been updated to reflect OEHHA’s decision to extend the public comment period on the Proposed Amendments from January 14, 2022 to January 21, 2022.
On December 13, 2021, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) published a notice of modified text to its proposed short-form warning regulations of California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Proposition 65 or Prop 65). As Latham previously reported, OEHHA had initially proposed amendments to its short-form warning regulations on January 8, 2021, which initiated a public comment period that ran through March 29, 2021. The December 13, 2021 proposed regulatory text (Proposed Amendments) respond to public comments received during the public comment period. A new public comment period for the Proposed Amendments will run from December 17, 2021 to January 21, 2022.
On April 1, 2020, new amendments to the implementation regulations of California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Prop 65 Regulations) will go into effect, addressing the responsibility to provide warnings within the chain of commerce for products containing chemicals listed by the state as potentially causing cancer and/or reproductive harm. Specifically, the amendments to the Prop 65 Regulations serve to clarify when retail sellers are responsible for providing Prop 65 warnings.