Recent proposed changes to California’s Proposition 65, “The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986,” have businesses and trade associations in a state of agitation—if not alarm—as some of the nation’s most stringent toxic substances regulations could become even stricter. Thirty years after the initiative was first adopted, the administrative body charged with overseeing the Proposition 65 program has proposed new changes that have a number of businesses concerned.

Proposition 65 requires businesses to issue a “clear and reasonable” warning to California residents regarding the amounts of toxic chemicals in products they purchase. The law was enacted in 1986, as a response to heightening concerns related to exposure to toxic chemicals. The law also sets minimum—or “safe harbor”—concentration limits for a long list of chemicals deemed toxic by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA).

Now, 30 years after the initiative was first adopted, OEHHA has proposed new changes to the regulations that implement the law. Among other adjustments, the proposed changes would require businesses serving the California market to specifically identify certain chemicals in the text of their warnings, would require businesses to include an ominous pictogram in the warning for a small list of chemicals and would make Proposition 65’s prescribed “safe harbor” warning language mandatory, rather than providing companies the option to draft their own warning language.

While the law primarily affects businesses that manufacture, distribute or sell “consumer products” in California, the law applies with equal weight to many other businesses, including construction companies. In addition to new (more stringent) warning requirements, the law prohibits the discharge of Proposition 65 listed chemicals into the California water supply at concentrations higher than the applicable “safe harbor” level. Further burdening construction companies, many materials regularly used in construction contain Proposition 65 listed chemicals. For contractors and owners alike, the proposed changes could represent increased costs of doing business in California.

OEHHA’s deadline for public comment to the proposed changes is in early April. View a detailed summary of the proposed rules.