Navigating California's Proposition 65: A Primer for In-house Counsel

Abstract

In 1986, California voters passed a ballot initiative known as "Proposition 65." The Act was the result of voter distrust of state agencies responsible for regulating the use and discharge of toxic chemicals. The law requires that businesses provide warnings prior to exposing individuals to chemicals identified by California as known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity. It also prohibits discharging these same chemicals into sources of drinking water. There are exemptions to the warning and discharge requirements, such as when exposures are sufficiently low.