Safer Consumer Products: Clarifying Compliance Options for Importers (DTSC Regulation Reference Number R-2025-01R)

Safer Consumer Products: Clarifying Compliance Options for Importers (DTSC Regulation Reference Number R-2025-01R)

The Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), pursuant to authority granted by Health and Safety Code Sections 25252, 25253, and 58012, approved a regulatory amendment to amend Sections 69501.1, 69501.2, and 69501.5 of Article 11, Chapter 55, Division 4.5 of Title 22, California Code of Regulations. The action will clarify compliance options for importers (Article 1 of the Safer Consumer Products Regulations). Background: DTSC’s Safer Consumer Products (SCP) Regulations, adopted in 2013, strive to reduce toxic chemicals in products and create safer substitutes for hazardous ingredients in consumer products sold in California. The regulations emphasize safer products and healthier lives by reducing or eliminating the use of toxic chemicals, while allowing manufacturers to determine how to best address human health or environmental concerns related to their products. The regulations require DTSC to evaluate and prioritize product/Candidate Chemical combinations and to add these product/Candidate Chemical combinations to the Priority Products List. A Candidate Chemical that is the basis for a product being listed as a Priority Product is designated as a Chemical of Concern for that product and for any alternative considered or selected to replace that product. DTSC selects Priority Products based on the potential risk of exposure to the Chemical(s) of Concern in the product and the potential for this exposure to contribute to or cause widespread or significant adverse impacts to people or the environment. Manufacturers, importers, assemblers, distributors, and retailers of Priority Products are the responsible entities liable for complying with the regulatory requirements set forth in the Safer Consumer Products Regulations. Project Activities: The proposed regulatory amendments largely serve to provide clarity to the SCP Regulations. Options for importer compliance are already present in the SCP Regulatory Framework, albeit not explicitly described. Thus, the proposed amendments explicitly describe the ways in which importers can comply with the SCP Regulations after manufacturers fail to comply, and the importers are notified of their responsibility pursuant to 69501.2(a)(1)(A). Rather than submit a Product Cease Ordering Notification, submitted by retailers and assemblers in cases where manufacturers fail to comply with the SCP Regulations, the proposed regulatory amendments will require importers to submit an Importer Product Removal Notification. The information required for Importer Product Removal Notifications varies in small ways from the Product Cease Ordering Notifications to target information more aptly relevant to an importer. If importers contact or otherwise incentivize upstream manufacturers of listed Priority Products to establish compliance, importers would no longer be required to comply with the SCP Regulations. Therefore, the proposed regulatory amendments provide clarity to stakeholders and support a clear and predictable implementation of the SCP Regulatory Framework.

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Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Los Angeles, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Placer, Plumas, Riverside, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, Ventura, Yolo, Yuba