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

Director Zeise, My company relied on OEHHA’s 2018 regulation which provided the option of a short-form warning label. OEHHA is now forcing my company to retool and reprint product labels for thousands of part numbers, revise the website, update catalogs, and instruct distributors and retailers. The proposed change has not been sufficiently justified and OEHHA has not acknowledged the costs being imposed. OEHHA is creating more exposure to claims by private enforcers about Prop 65 labeling errors. OEHHA does not sufficiently appreciate that companies frequently feel forced to settle with the bounty hunters rather than challenge illegitimate claims. Prop 65 offers an exemption for companies less than 10 employees. That is meaningless for most companies including my own. OEHHA’s Prop 65 regulations are unique in the United States. The agency has created a de facto national standard. OEHHA should be more judicious in creating labeling obligations and legal exposures. It is hard to understand how OEHHA could be threatening to impose unwarranted economic burdens during a pandemic. My company respectfully urges OEHHA to withdraw the proposed rule. John Mondo