BILL NUMBER: AB 597	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Dahle

                        FEBRUARY 20, 2013

   An act to amend Section 25252 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to hazardous materials.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 597, as introduced, Dahle. Hazardous materials: chemicals of
concern.
   Existing law requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control
to adopt regulations to establish a process to identify and
prioritize chemicals or chemical ingredients in consumer products, to
establish a process for evaluating chemicals of concern in consumer
products and their potential alternatives for the purposes of
limiting exposure or to reduce the level of hazard posed by chemicals
of concern, and a range of regulatory responses that the department
may take following the evaluation.
   This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to these
provisions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 25252 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
   25252.  (a)  On or before January 1, 2011, the 
 The  department shall adopt regulations to establish a
process to identify and prioritize those chemicals or chemical
ingredients in consumer products that may be considered as being a
chemical of concern, in accordance with the review process specified
in Section 25252.5. The department shall adopt these regulations in
consultation with the office and all appropriate state agencies and
after conducting one or more public workshops for which the
department provides public notice and provides an opportunity for all
interested parties to comment. The regulations adopted pursuant to
this section shall establish an identification and prioritization
process that includes, but is not limited to, all of the following
considerations:
   (1) The volume of the chemical in commerce in this state.
   (2) The potential for exposure to the chemical in a consumer
product.
   (3) Potential effects on sensitive subpopulations, including
infants and children.
   (b) (1) In adopting regulations pursuant to this section, the
department shall develop criteria by which chemicals and their
alternatives may be evaluated. These criteria shall include, but not
be limited to, the traits, characteristics, and endpoints that are
included in the clearinghouse data pursuant to Section 25256.1.
   (2) In adopting regulations pursuant to this section, the
department shall reference and use, to the maximum extent feasible,
available information from other nations, governments, and
authoritative bodies that have undertaken similar chemical
prioritization processes, so as to leverage the work and costs
already incurred by those entities and to minimize costs and maximize
benefits for the state's economy.
   (3) Paragraph (2) does not require the department, when adopting
regulations pursuant to this section, to reference and use only the
available information specified in paragraph (2).