California delays Safer Consumer Product Alternatives Regulation

New regime will not enter into force on 1 January 2011, as expected, because of major stakeholder concerns

At the last moment, California's Secretary for environmental Protection, Linda Adams, has postponed the entry into force of the state's proposed Safer Consumer Product Alternatives Regulation because of what she says are the "substantive and valid concerns" of a "wide range of stakeholders" about the most recent draft.

The Regulation was due to come into force on 1 January 2011 but major changes proposed in November were severely criticised by health and environmental groups, while industry groups said they still left too many of its concerns unaddressed (CW Briefing December 2010/Jan 2011).

In a letter to the main sponsor of California's Green Chemistry legislation, Assembly Member Mike Feuer, Ms Adams says she has asked the Department for Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to take "additional time to be responsive to the concerns raised and revisit the proposed regulations", allowing it to address "critical policy issues, such as third party verification and prioritisation". She has also asked the Green Ribbon Science Panel, which advises California's government on chemicals policy, to reconvene early next year "to further vet the programmatic issues that have been brought to our attention via the public comment process."

• Ms Adams' letter

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