On July 27, 2012, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) formally re-proposed its Safer Consumer Products regulations, aka the Green Chemistry Regulations. A public hearing will be held on September 10, 2012 and written comments must be submitted by September 11, 2012, on the 78 page proposed regulation.

As DTSC explains, the rulemaking is a preemptive strategy that reduces the use of toxic substances in the design of products and industrial processes with the aim of creating safer and sustainable products that do not threaten human health or persist in the environment. The green chemistry regulations provide for a four-step process for the identification of safer consumer product alternatives...