Navigating California"s Proposition 65: A Primer for In-house Counsel

Carol Monahan-Cummings, Chief Counsel, Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, USA

In 1986, California voters passed a ballot initiative known as "Proposition 65." The Act was the result of voter distrust of state agencies responsible for regulating the use and discharge of toxic chemicals. The law requires that businesses provide warnings prior to exposing individuals to chemicals identified by California as known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity. It also prohibits discharging these same chemicals into sources of drinking water. There are exemptions to the warning and discharge requirements, such as when exposures are sufficiently low.

Carol Monahan-Cummings was appointed Chief Counsel at the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) in October 2003. In this capacity, Ms. Monahan-Cummings advises the Director, other Executive Office members, as well as staff on all legal matters affecting OEHHA. Principal areas of responsibility include: Proposition 65, developing and amending regulations, and serving as liaison to the Attorney General's Office for all lawsuits in which OEHHA is a party. Prior to coming to OEHHA Ms. Monahan-Cummings served as an Assistant General Counsel for the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) between September 2001 and October 2003. She was primarily responsible for providing legal support for the Environmental Justice program, legal advice concerning ethics and personnel issues for the Agency as well as for coordinating cross-media enforcement task forces, investigations, and related litigation. Before coming to Cal/EPA, Ms. Monahan-Cummings was a prosecutor with Sacramento County where she prosecuted criminal and civil environmental enforcement actions including illegal hazardous waste transportation, storage and disposal cases; and water and air pollution cases. Ms. Monahan-Cummings received her law degree from Empire College School of Law in Santa Rosa, California where she graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1995. carol.monahan-cummings@oehha.ca.gov.

The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment is the scientific arm of the California Environmental Protection Agency. Our mission is to protect public health and the environment by scientific evaluation of the risks posed by hazardous substances. Specific descriptions of each of the Office's program areas can be found at http://www.oehha.ca.gov/about/program.html