California Green Chemistry Initiative

Speakers
Kathleen Patterson, Partner, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP bio
Kathryn Edwards, Partner, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP bio

In furtherance of California's Green Chemistry Initiative, the legislature enacted two statutes late last year which authorized California state government to develop an alternatives analysis framework to stimulate the rapid acceleration of replacement of harmful chemicals and ingredients with safer alternatives in consumer products sold in California. The statutory definition of "consumer product" is very broad: "a product or part of the product that is used, brought, or leased for use by a person for any purposes." The only products explicitly excluded from the definition are drugs and medical devices, dental restorative materials, food, packaging for drugs, devices, dental restorative materials and food, pesticides, and mercury containing lights.

California's Department of Toxic Substances Control ("DTSC") is currently drafting the implementing regulations. The regulations will establish a process to identify and prioritize chemicals of concern (CoCs); establish a process to assess safer alternatives; and establish a range of regulatory responses that DTSC may take following the safer alternatives analysis.

DTSC intends to have the regulations ready for public comment by September 2009, with the goal of having the regulations in place by the end of the year. The regulations will undoubtedly have a significant impact on most industries. Apart from the burden on resources imposed by undertaking alternatives assessments, the regulations may necessitate changes in R&D strategies, supply-chain relationships, and the way in which companies manage their intellectual property.