OEHHA Agrees to Accelerate Chemical Review and Prop. 65 Listings

To settle litigation filed in 2007 by environmental and union interests,
California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA)
has agreed to a number of actions that would remove certain steps from
the Proposition 65 (Prop. 65) chemical-listing process that would accelerate
the listings. Sierra Club v. Brown, No. RG07356881 (Cal. Super. Ct., settlement
endorsed July 3, 2013). The agreement will affect OEHHA’s authoritative
bodies listings as to specific chemicals and its Carcinogen Identification
Committee listings. Not affected by the agreement, and yet to be determined
by the court, is the plaintiffs’ motion for judgment on the pleadings requiring
OEHHA to list all International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Group
3 chemicals for which IARC finds sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in
animals. According to a news source, the court will hold a hearing to consider
whether to approve the agreement on August 15, 2013. See InsideEPA.com,
July 25, 2013.