News from the GCVCC Business Legislative Advocacy Committee
Opposition Letter:
The California Chamber of Commerce, the Consumer Brands Association and the below-listed organizations (hereinafter, “Coalition”) thank you for the opportunity to submit comments regarding the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment’s (“OEHHA”) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Amendments to Article 6, Clear and Reasonable Warnings Short-form Warnings, dated January 8, 2021 (“Proposed Rulemaking”). The Coalition consists of 116 California-based and national organizations and businesses of varying sizes that, collectively, represent nearly every major business sector that would be directly impacted by OEHHA’s Proposal.
The Coalition has substantial concerns with the Proposed Rulemaking because it seeks to upend the Article 6 warning requirements that just went into effect just over two years ago.1 Many members of this Coalition, including the California Chamber of Commerce and the Consumer Brands Association, engaged with OEHHA in an extensive multi-year regulatory process that culminated in the repeal and replacement of Article 6 and the creation of the “long-form” and “short-form” warnings.2 The repeal and replacement of the Article 6 warning requirements were the most substantial amendments to the Prop 65 warning regulations in decades, changing a stable safe harbor warning structure that had been in place for about thirty years. OEHHA correctly described these as “major changes” in the ISOR for this new proposal.3 Both the plain language of the amendments and direct statements from OEHHA promised the business community “more certainty and confidence” in the new warning requirements than the certainty and confidence inherent in a long-term program.4 Businesses in turn invested significant time and capital to overhaul their Prop 65 warning programs to bring them into compliance with the new regulations. A two-year phase-in period was included because of the significant changes and new burdens imposed on businesses.
Full Letter: