Retailers need to begin thinking right now about how they will handle their compliance obligations under the new Safer Chemicals Regulations in California, which go into effect on October 1, 2013. Under the regulations, identified Chemicals of Concern will be paired with Priority Products and then Responsible Parties will be required to submit an alternatives assessment to California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control. Retailers are already requiring product suppliers to provide assurances of compliance with state and federal regulatory requirements for their products. While waiting to see what chemical and product pairs emerge under the new California regulatory regime, retailers are planning right now. Will they continue to sell those products in California, require that they be reformulated, or actively participate in the alternative assessment process and, if so, how? Product manufacturers need to get ahead of these issues and work with retailers to plan a coordinated approach to compliance. Read our alert to learn the details regarding this new chemical regulatory regime: California Finalizes Green Chemistry Regulations – Client Alert.
Content for this post provided by Crowell & Moring partners Warren Lehrenbaum, Cheryl A. Falvey, and Kevin C. Mayer, and associate Joshua Kaplowitz.