By: Brent E. Johnson 

California enacted the Safe Cosmetics Act (CSCA) (Cal. Health & Safety Code § 111791, et seq.), which took effect in 2007.  The Act requires the manufacturer, packer, and/or distributor named on a cosmetic label provide the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) a list of all ingredients known or suspected to cause cancer or developmental or other reproductive harm.  § 111792 (a).  There is no private attorney general provision (so it is not something the Plaintiff’s bar has been interested in) – and while the Attorney General’s office can impose a fine on manufacturers of $1,000 per day (see § 111855), the CDPH office that administers the program has been severely underfunded and with few exceptions has not pursued enforcement actions.

This has turned the CSCA into somewhat of a “voluntary” disclosure program.  While many companies have reported chemicals in their products, many have not.  And while there are 900 + reportable chemicals, the vast majority of listings are for just one chemical (titanium dioxide).

Advocacy groups pushed hard for a proposal that would have boosted CSCP funding dramatically during the 2018-2019 fiscal period.  Reports from the California’s Senate and Assembly budget committees indicated that the increases was initially approved – including a $1.5m appropriation, which would have gone toward (amongst other things) addressing noncompliance.  However, the funding provision ultimately was left out of the $200 billion budget approved by lawmakers and enacted on June 27, 2018.