Sen. Ben Allen, the chair of the California Senate's
Environmental Quality Committee, recently introduced Senate Bill
392, which proposes the most significant modifications to
California's Safer Consumer Products program since its
inception more than a decade ago. SB 392, should it advance through
the legislative process in its current form and become law, will
therefore impact all types of consumer product manufacturers
selling products in California.
Background
In 2008, California lawmakers passed two bipartisan measures
that sought to create a new, science-based framework for regulating
chemicals in consumer products. The Green Chemistry Initiative,
authorized by AB 1879 and SB 509, was the product of a
collaborative effort by legislators, the administration of Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and stakeholders to give the California
Department of Toxic Substances Control, or DTSC, the authority to
regulate potentially hazardous substances in consumer products.
