New Chemicals Can be Named in Enforcement Actions
06/29/09

Several chemicals that were listed last year are now available for enforcement actions. Dibromoacetic acid, created as a by product of the water disinfection process, was listed June 17, 2008. Coming up on July 1 are: Benthiavalicarb-isopropyl, a fungicide used on tomatoes and grapes; Mepanipyrim, a fungicide used on selected fruits and vegetables; Primicarb, a dimethylcarbamate insecticide used on cereals, sugar beets, potatoes, fruit and vegetables; and Resmethrin, a pyrethroid pesticide used for insect control for household. greenhouse, industrial and food establishments, mosquito control for USDA meat and poultry inspection programs; and West-Nile virus control.

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The Meat Case Goes On, Leeman Appeals Summary Judgment

Dennis Pfaff, Special Correspondent

A four-year-old legal food fight over cautionary Proposition 65 statements related to meat products has made its way back to the appeal court level, where a would-be proponent of the warnings has asked the justices to overturn an industry victory.

Mercury in Foods Containing Corn Sweetener Targeted

Dennis Pfaff, Special Correspondent

A Los Angeles woman has opened a new front in the effort to enforce Proposition 65 in the food arena, targeting products that contain the common additive high fructose corn syrup, and which allegedly pose a mercury threat.

Hamilton's Recent 60-Day Notices Targets Reported in January Study

Lana Beckett, Publisher

It appears that Vicky Hamilton's recent 60-day notices list the same food products containing mercury that were the subject of a study by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy...

The Meat Case Goes On, Leeman Appeals Summary Judgment

Dennis Pfaff, Special Correspondent

A four-year-old legal food fight over cautionary Proposition 65 statements related to meat products has made its way back to the appeal court level, where a would-be proponent of the warnings has asked the justices to overturn an industry victory.

Judge Rejects Defense Challenge to DEHP Amendments

Dennis Pfaff, Special Correspondent

An Alameda Superior Court judge has rejected a defense challenge to a DEHP lawsuit, ruling there is nothing in Proposition 65 that precludes adding products after a case is filed.

Judge Upholds OEHHA's Use of Labor Code Listing Process

Roger Pearson, Special Correspondent

An Alameda Superior Court judge has issued the first substantive ruling on the the authority of the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to list substances under Proposition 65 using what it describes as the "Labor Code Mechanism." On April 23 Judge Robert Freedman upheld OEHHA's use of the mechanism concluding that Prop. 65 imposes a clear "ministerial" duty on the agency to list chemicals referenced by the Labor Code sections involved.

OEHHA Sticks With Ethylbenzene Safe Harbor Proposal Despite Criticism

Roger Pearson, Special Correspondent

The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment has finalized No Significant Risk Levels (NSRLs) for ethylbenzene. The NSRLs are the same as those originally proposed last year, despite objections from the American Chemistry Council, which argued that OEHHA was improperly translating the results of animal testing into human exposure risk levels [see Regulatory Report, March 15].

Recently Listed Prop. 65 Chemicals

Chemicals Under Consideration for Listing

Warning: Frivolous Signage Ahead

Lisa Halko, Partner, Greenberg Traurig

"WARNING: This area contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer, or birth defects or other reproductive harm." You have walked by that sign today: in a hotel lobby, in a parking garage, at the gas station, at the drug store, at the dentist.

Why Is Business Still Afraid of Proposition 65?

David Roe and Jim Wheaton, Principal, Law Offices of David Roe/President, Environmental Law Foundation

California?s Proposition 65 faced its greatest political threat 21 years ago, in the triumphal last year of the Reagan Administration. Its industry opponents then had a supremely influential friend to argue to: U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese III. Meese, himself a Californian, was perhaps President Reagan?s most trusted adviser and had been at his side for Reagan?s entire political career. He also had strong ties with California industry. Anti-Prop. 65 lobbyists went straight to him and convinced him to sponsor a study by the White House Domestic Policy Council, which, as Attorney General, he chaired.