OEHHA Amends Proposition 65 Clear and Reasonable Warning Regulations

The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) received numerous inquiries related to the interpretation and application of several provisions of the August 2016 amendments to the Article 6 Clear and Reasonable Warnings regulations. OEHHA determined that clarification of certain provisions of the new regulations “would be beneficial to the regulated community.” As such, on December 6, 2017, OEHHA issued a notice alerting stakeholders that amendments were approved. The proposed amendments are intended to further clarify the guidance OEHHA provides to businesses to better understand how to comply with the warning requirements.

There are some changes worth mentioning. First, OEHHA eliminated the term “on-product” warning and replaced the term as “short form” warning. It must be noted that there are no substantive changes to the content of the short form warning. Second, OEHHA revised the definition of “label” to indicate that a label can be “printed on or” affixed to a product or its immediate container or wrapper. This change is intended to clarify that there is no requirement to place a separate label with the warning on the product if the warning is printed on the product or the immediate container or wrapper. Third, OEHHA also has revised the definition of “labeling” to delete the reference to “tags at the point of sale or display of a product” because tags are a form of signage, not labeling.

For more information, visit OEHHA’s website here.