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On April 16, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) issued the final version of the first three-year work plan for the Safer Consumer Products (SCP) initiative. The final work plan includes relatively minor changes from the October 2014 draft. The product categories DTSC will consider for future priority products remain the following:
- Beauty, personal care, and hygiene products;
- Building products (e.g., adhesives, sealants, and flooring);
- Household and office furnishings treated with flame retardants and stain repellants;
- Cleaning products (e.g., air fresheners, surface cleaners, spot removers, oven cleaners);
- Clothing products;
- Fishing and angling equipment (e.g., fishing weights); and
- Consumable elements of office machinery (e.g., toners, inks, and thermal paper).
Key changes include specific mentions of carpet padding, insulation, and wall coverings as possible building products for consideration; clarification that protective wear used for occupational safety purposes is not under consideration; and limiting the controversial fishing and angling equipment category to fishing weights that may be ingested by waterfowl. Perhaps more significantly, DTSC refused requests to include food packaging and automotive products in the work plan. DTSC suggested it may consider pursuing regulation of these product categories in the future.
DTSC indicated that “as many as three” new priority products would be proposed from the product category list (see above) in 2015, with the number increasing to more than five per year starting in 2016. Thus, in the current year, DTSC will need to publish the identities of the selected new priority products, hold public meetings to receive stakeholder input, and then propose a final rule. To date, the agency has not yet started the formal rulemaking process for the three existing priority products: certain types of spray foam insulation, children’s bedding products containing the flame retardants TDCPP and TCEP, and paint strippers and related products containing methylene chloride. The agency has also not released its alternative assessment guidance.
A copy of the DTSC work plan can be obtained at the following website.
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