BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 708
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Date of Hearing: May 20, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
708 (Jones-Sawyer) - As Amended April 30, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
No
SUMMARY:
This bill would require the manufacturer of a designated
consumer product manufactured after January 1, 2017, for retail
sale in California, to disclose the ingredients contained in the
AB 708
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product on the product label, and post the product ingredient
information and information about any potential health impacts
on the manufacturer's website, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Annual costs to the Department of Toxics and Substance Control
(DTSC) of approximately $500,000 to $800,000 to enforce the
provisions of this bill. Although the bill does not require DTSC
to enforce its provisions, DTSC assumes it is required to
enforce the bill because of the Health and Safety Code in which
the bill is placed, which includes enforcement authority for
DTSC.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, "Cleaning product
manufacturers through advertisements encourage consumers and
business owners to keep their homes and workplaces clean and
fresh using their products. But what isn't well known is that
our culture for cleaning leads to frequent and repeated
exposure to toxic chemicals that may harm Californians.
However, unlike food, cosmetics, and drugs, most cleaning
product manufacturers are not required to disclose
ingredients. Absent any state mandate for ingredient
disclosure, consumers are left in the dark when it comes to
purchasing cleaning products they feel are safe for them,
their families, or their workers."
This bill specifically targets "cleaning products," including
commercial and consumer-household products, which are not
required to disclose product ingredients under current
disclosure laws, unlike personal care products and food.
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2)Background. A 2011 study, Dirty Secrets: What's Hiding in Your
Cleaning Products?, commissioned by Women's Voices for the
Earth, conducted an independent laboratory review of many
household cleaning products and reported that some of the
ingredients in common household products contain reproductive
toxins and allergens, yet none of those chemicals were listed
on the product's ingredient label. Further, the Environmental
Working Group created a "Guide to Healthy Cleaning," which
reviewed the chemical ingredients of many cleaning products,
and noted, "its researchers discovered that it took hard work
to find out what potentially toxic chemicals were in them.
Unlike manufacturers of cosmetics and personal care products,
companies that make cleaning products are not required to list
the ingredients they put in their formulations on the package,
bottle or box?just seven percent of cleaning products
adequately disclosed their contents."
AB 1879 (Feuer and Huffman), Chapter 559, Statutes of 2008,
established the "Green Chemistry" Law. In an effort to
provide better awareness about the ingredients in household
products, the law authorizes and requires the Department of
Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to adopt regulations to
establish a process to identify and prioritize chemicals in
consumer products, and to establish a process for evaluating
chemicals of concern in consumer products and their potential
alternatives. The objective of Green Chemistry is to evaluate
certain chemicals within consumer products that are known to
be of concern, and for DTSC to provide input and make
recommendations for safer alternatives. The Green Chemistry
program does not mandate or specify labeling requirements for
consumer products. This bill does not require or recommend
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that manufacturers use alternative products, but instead
disclose the ingredients of the products on the product label
and on the manufacturer's website.
3)Prior Related Legislation. SB 928 (Simitian) of 2010, would
have required manufacturers to disclosure the chemical content
of specified types of cleaning products sold in California.
This bill was held on the Assembly Appropriations Committee's
Suspense File.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081