(PAINT.ORG) California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) is expected to sign a chemical disclosure bill, the Cleaning Product Right to Know Act of 2017 (S.B. 258). If enacted, the measure that was passed by the California Senate and Assembly earlier this month, would require companies to identify on labels and online information the chemical ingredients found in cleaning products; that is, household and institutional products, and automotive care products, but not industrial products or cosmetics.
Brown has until Oct. 15 to sign or veto the bill.
If signed into law, manufacturers would have until Jan. 1, 2020, to post ingredients and other product information on their websites. New labels listing intentionally added chemicals would be required a year later.
The bill, which passed in the Senate on a final 28-12 vote Sept. 13, and in the Assembly the day before, provides for the protection of proprietary information — a key point that was negotiated by industry groups.
No federal regulations require the disclosure of most ingredients in cleaning products. New York, which has a cleaning products ingredient disclosure law on the books, is finalizing guidance for industry.
The measure would require ingredients identified as causing cancer or other health and environmental harm by California, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, European Union, or other regulatory bodies, to be identified on labels and online.
ACA had been engaged and monitoring the bill and its former iteration that died in the last legislative session — AB 708 (Jones-Sawyer) Ingredient Disclosure on Consumer Products, which was initially going to require ingredient disclosure for a) Air care products, b) Automotive products, c) General cleaning products, and d) Polish or floor maintenance cleaners. ACA and its California Paint Council worked to ensure that paints were specifically excluded from the definition of automotive products.