OEHHA Announces New Rulemaking on Prop. 65 Safe Harbor Warnings

 
Samir Abdelnour
November 25, 2015

On November 24, 2015, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (“OEHHA”) issued notice of a new proposal to modify its Proposition 65 (“Prop. 65”) regulations and announced that it is withdrawing its earlier proposal to modify the Prop. 65 regulatory language. OEHHA stated that its decision to withdraw its January 16, 2015 proposal to modify Title 27, Article 6 of the California Code of Regulations was made “after reviewing oral and written comments from the public,” which resulted in “a number of substantive and clarifying changes to the proposed regulatory language and Initial Statement of Reasons.”

The new proposal, which also seeks to modify Article 6, is intended to provide the public with more informative warnings, while giving businesses greater guidance on the content and delivery of such warnings. The new regulations aim to make warnings more visible, more specific as to the chemical exposure(s) at issue, and more accessible to non-English speakers. The new regulations also propose a website to provide more information about listed chemicals, associated products and locations, and tips for reducing or avoiding chemical exposure. In addition, the new regulations are intended to provide clarity on the relative responsibilities for providing Prop. 65 warnings within a product’s chain of commerce.

OEHHA will hold a public hearing on its proposed rulemaking on January 13, 2016, at 10:00 a.m. in Sacramento. OEHHA will also accept written comments until January 22, 2016. More information about the proposed action and public meeting are available on OEHHA’s website.