On January 12, 2015, California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) proposed the first significant revisions to Proposition 65’s warning requirements since the 1980s. The updated regulations seek to change the requirements for warnings provided for exposures to chemicals identified by the State to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity. Notably, the proposal would require warnings to specify certain listed chemicals by name, and it creates an informational OEHHA website to host detailed information for the public about exposures to listed chemicals.

California’s Proposition 65 requires OEHHA to publish a list of chemicals known to the State to cause cancer or developmental or reproductive toxicity. The law requires businesses offering products or services in California that expose any person to a listed chemical above a threshold level to provide a “clear and reasonable” warning prior to such exposure. OEHHA’s current regulations provide “safe harbor” warnings that businesses can rely upon to comply with the statute.