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Category Archives: Prop 65

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Industry Critical of Proposed Prop 65 Regulations

Posted in Agricultural Law, Green Chemistry, Prop 65

The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment’s  (OEHHA)  2014  proposed regulations to revise  Proposition 65 warnings has been widely panned by industry critics.  The overhaul was requested by Governor Brown last year when a related effort to gain a consensus on proposed rules was unsuccessful.  The proposed rules contain requirements for identification of specific chemicals in… Continue Reading

Regulation Creep In The Nanny State:The Proposed Not-So-Safe-Harbor Enactment In Proposition 65 Advertising Regulations

Posted in Prop 65, Water Quality

David Gabor is a shareholder at Weintraub Tobin. He is a trial lawyer and represents production companies, infomercial companies, direct response companies and multi-level marketing organizations asto both operational and compliance matters. In particular, David is focused on advertising and compliance issues, including FTC counseling and litigation, class actions, and multi-agency governmental compliance involving the marketing… Continue Reading

DTSC Announces Three Priority Products under the Green Chemistry Regulations

Posted in Agricultural Law, Agriculture Law, Food Safety, Green Chemistry, Prop 65

DTSC on Thursday March 13, 2014 announced the first three Priority Products under the Green Chemistry Regulations.  The manufacturers of these products that sell into California are now on a regulatory time schedule to try to find alternatives to the use of the identified chemicals in the specified products.  We have set out this timetables… Continue Reading

New Proposed Prop 65 Warning Label Regulations

Posted in Agricultural Law, Agriculture Law, Food Safety, Green Chemistry, Prop 65

The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) under the auspices of Governor Brown’s declaration in May 2013 (after a failed legislative effort)  that he would further reform Prop 65, last week OEHHA released the proposed regulations with respect to Prop 65 warnings. Regulations can be found here.  A workshop is scheduled for April 14, 2014…. Continue Reading

Proposition 65 – Twenty-Seven Years Later And Still No Observable Effect

Posted in Agriculture Law, Food Safety, Prop 65, Water Law, Water Quality

Professor Michael L. Marlow of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo recently published a preview of his paper on cancer rates and Proposition 65 entitled, “Too Much (Questionable) Information?” See Wall Street Journal, page A13, January 21, 2014. Proposition 65 is the popular name for the California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986,… Continue Reading

Governor’s Prop 65 Strategy-Change the Regulations

Posted in Agricultural Law, Prop 65, Real Estate Acquisitions and Dispositions, Real Estate Development

According to the California Environmental Insider, Governor Brown’s 2014-15 draft budget contains a proposal to allocate almost $800,000 to OEHHA (Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment) to revise the Prop 65 regulations and to finance the development of a website to provide detailed information about listed chemicals. Also according to CEI there does not appear… Continue Reading

What You Need to Know About the California Green Chemistry Regulations Which Are Now In Effect

Posted in Environmental and Land Use, Green Chemistry, Prop 65, Uncategorized

As of October 1, 2013,  the California Green Chemistry Law and its regulations are officially part of the landscape . The California legislature passed the Green Chemistry Law in 2008, which authorizes and requires the  California Department of Toxic Substances Control (the “DTSC”)  to adopt regulations to establish a process to identify and prioritize chemicals… Continue Reading

Amendment to Prop 65 That Affects Restaurants Passed by Legislature- Larger Efforts On Hold

Posted in Agricultural Law, Prop 65

The attempt by the Brown Administration to revise Proposition 65 for the most part was unsuccessful, at least for this year. Attorneys for Weintraub Tobin assisted the California League of Food Processors with respect to the legislation. What started out as an attempt to provide relief from the overuse of the statute by plaintiffs’ attorneys,… Continue Reading

Arsenic In Rice At Safe Levels Per FDA Above Average Consumption May Exceed Prop 65 Levels

Posted in Agricultural Law, Agriculture Law, Food Safety, Prop 65

As part of its ongoing effort to monitor food safety, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”)  posted the results of testing for the presence of arsenic in rice and rice products. The FDA found that although levels varied depending on the product, overall the levels of detectable  arsenic is too low in the rice… Continue Reading

FDA Proposes Arsenic Action Level for Apple Juice

Posted in Agricultural Law, Agriculture Law, Food Safety, Food Safety Modernization Act, Prop 65, Uncategorized

July 12, 2013  the FDA announced a proposed action level of 10 ppb (parts per billion) for arsenic in apple juice.  The 10 ppb is the same as EPA  arsenic in drinking water standards. “The FDA is committed to ensuring the safety of the American food supply and to doing what is necessary to protect public… Continue Reading

Brown Supports Changes to Prop 65

Posted in Agricultural Law, Prop 65

Governor Brown announced yesterday  proposed reforms to  Proposition 65, a three decade old proposition approved  by voters to protect Californians from harmful chemicals.    It has,  according to Brown , been abused by some unscrupulous lawyers driven by profit rather than public health. The law which prohibits the exposure to the public  of certain chemicals  “known to the State”… Continue Reading

Court Enjoins BPA Prop 65 Reproductive Listing, More to Come.

Posted in Agricultural Law, Food Safety, Prop 65

On April 19, 2013 Superior Court Judge Cadei on  Motion for Preliminary Injunction enjoined OEHHA from listing or taking further action with respect to Bisphenol A (“BPA”) with respect to its listing as a Prop 65 Reproductive hazard.  The fact that the Court issued the injunction indicates that the Court believes that the Petitioners are likely… Continue Reading

Xylene Not Added to the Prop 65 List

Posted in Food Safety, Prop 65

The OEHHA DART committee which identifies reproductive hazards for the Prop 65 list declined to list xylene as a reproductive or developmental toxicant.  Xylene is used as a solvent in an number of products including paint, ink and leather products.  The reason the committee did not list the chemical appears to be that the studies… Continue Reading

Supplements are considered “Food” and Subject to the Naturally Occurring Defense Under Prop 65

Posted in Food Safety, Prop 65

San Francisco Superior Court Judge John Munter ruled that dietary supplements  are included in the definition of “foods”under Proposition 65, following a pre-trial motion the sole issue was whether dietary supplements are foods under California law. The consequence of this definition is that the supplement makers can avail themselves of the defense (under the proper circumstances) that the… Continue Reading