Comment Submissions - Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Amendments to Article 6, Clear and Reasonable Warnings Short-form Warnings

While the original intent of California Proposition 65 may have been a positive one, its requirements are not only overwhelming, but have opened the flood gates to a very lucrative bounty hunter’s dream, due to the allowance of “any individual acting in the public interest” to “enforce Proposition 65 by filing a lawsuit against a business alleged to be in violation of this law”. The proposition is likely not achieving the primary goal of encouraging manufacturers to replace toxic chemicals, but is rather causing manufacturers and retailers the expense of extensive resources to follow the ever-increasing regulations, monitor and label practically every product that may be sold to a California consumer. Likely not so much the protective proposition the original architects envisioned. For example, according to the State of California Department of Justice website, “Proposition 65 Enforcement Reporting - Private Enforcement Filing - Health and Safety Code Sections 25249.7(e) and (f) - Judgments by Plaintiff Report”, in 2020 alone, plaintiff, Anthony Ferreiro, has benefited from 29 judgements totaling $690,000. $623,000 of total judgements being “Attorney’s Fees/Costs”, and only $67,500 “Non-Contingent Civil Penalty”. The 2020 judgement total according to the same report shows 191 grand total judgement awards of $10,649,018, of which $2,292,275 was “Non-Contingent Civil Penalty” and $7,155,220 “Attorney’s Fees/Costs” and $1,201,523 “Additional Settlement Payment”. California Proposition 65 “Bounty Hunting” is big business fully tolerated and encouraged due to ever-increasing regulations and hardships placed upon manufacturers and retailers. Without strict laws prohibiting the existing practices of Prop 65 “bounty hunters” and attorneys, these newly proposed regulations will only increase the already rampant collusion between the attorneys and bounty hunters. Open season on manufacturers and retailers without measurable benefit to the California consumer is a huge problem which must be addressed, not further incentivized and assisted with the support of even stricter Proposition 65 regulations.