If you are reading this blog, at some point, you have probably encountered what many consider to be the most vexing of all of California’s laws: Proposition 65.
While Proposition 65 appears relatively simple and straightforward―“No person in the course of doing business shall knowingly and intentionally expose any individual to a chemical known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity without first giving clear and reasonable warning to such individual…”―a review of the current state of the law and its regulations reveals a complex and confusing web of real and “shadow” requirements that usually only become clear when a company first gets a Proposition 65 notice or a letter from a downstream customer demanding defense and indemnity.
Here at the Consumer Products Law Blog, over the next several months, we are going to do our best to pull the curtain back on Proposition 65 through a weekly blog series designed to give you a general understanding of Prop 65 and its requirements, as well as providing practical insight that we hope will help you approach compliance or more fully understand potential litigation.
The serial will cover a variety of topics including:
- The law and its requirements
- The chemical list
- Warnings
- Penalties and other potential exposure
- The mechanics of a Prop 65 claim
- Enforcement (public and private plaintiffs)
- Burdens at trial, including knowledge requirements, exposure, and warning exceptions
- Settlements
- Efforts at reform
Stay tuned for our upcoming posts. While we can help you face your fears, we cannot promise that they will be any less scary afterward . . . .
