Proposition 65: Clear and Reasonable Warnings – Safe Harbor Methods and Content

December 6, 2024

The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has amended Title 27, California Code of Regulations sections 25601, 25602, 25603, and 25607.2, and added new sections 25607.50 through 25607.53.

This regulatory action will make the Proposition 65 short-form warning more informative to consumers by adding at least one chemical name and providing additional warning options for businesses to select from. The regulations provide businesses that currently rely on the existing short-form warnings three years to transition to the new short-form content, make explicit that short-form warnings may be used to provide safe harbor warnings for food products, provide a 60-day transition period, during the three-year implementation period for retailers to update online short-form warnings after notice from a manufacturer, and provide new tailored safe harbor warnings for passenger or off-highway motor vehicle parts and recreational marine vessel parts.

Final Approval/OAL Action

The Office of Administrative Law (OAL) approved the rulemaking on November 26, 2024. The effective date for the regulation is January 1, 2025. The final documents are posted.

Proposed Rulemaking

On October 27, 2023, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment proposed to amend sections 25601, 25602, 25603, 25607.1, and 25607.2, and add new sections 25607.50 through 25607.53. This regulatory action will make the Proposition 65 short-form warning more informative to consumers, clarify existing safe harbor warning requirements for products sold on the internet and in catalogs, add signal word options for food warnings, clarify that short-form warnings may be used to provide safe harbor warnings for food products, and provide new tailored safe harbor warnings for passenger or off-highway motor vehicle parts and recreational marine vessel parts.

The public comment period for this proposed rulemaking was open October 27, 2023 to January 3, 2024.

Public Proceedings/Modifications

A public hearing was held on December 13, 2023. On June 13, 2024, OEHHA published a Notice of Modification of Text of the Proposed Amendments and released a modification to the proposed amendments. The 15-day comment period closed on June 28, 2024.