The California Air Resources Board’s ambitious, three-year long data collection effort is rounding third and heading for home. The mandatory reporting period for the third and final year of the Consumer and Commercial Products Survey (now called “Data Reporting for the Consumer Products Program”) will begin July 1, 2016 and end November 1, 2016.
Businesses will once again be required to report detailed product ingredient information and annual sales for products sold in California during 2015, as they were required to do for chemically formulated consumer and commercial products sold or supplied for use in California during the 2013 and 2014 calendar years. ARB requires the ingredient and sales information to be reported through its online Consumer Products Reporting Tool. Veterans of the two prior Surveys may notice that ARB no longer refers to the mandatory reports as “Surveys,” apparently because that name suggested to some that the reports were somehow optional. They are not optional. Non-compliance will draw letters from ARB and persistent non-compliance will result in referral to ARB’s Enforcement Division.
Reports must be filed by each “responsible party” listed on the label of a consumer or commercial product that was sold or supplied for use in California during the calendar year, if the product falls into one of the many categories listed for 2015. The general categories of consumer products that are subject to reporting are personal care products, adhesives, sealants and related products, household and institutional products, pesticide products, solvent and thinning-related products, vehicle and marine vessel aftermarket products, and aerosol coating products. But for the 2015 Report, ARB has exempted 232 categories of consumer products due to its assessment that the products contain low or no volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions – less than 0.05 tons per day of emissions. A number of beauty products, including facial cleansers and soaps, nail glues and gel nail polishes, are now exempt from reporting for 2015, even though they were required to be reported for 2013 and 2014 Surveys. ARB’s full list of exempt consumer products is available here.
Conkle, Kremer & Engel attorneys assist clients with achieving compliance with California’s many regulatory requirements, including the Consumer and Commercial Products Survey, so that clients can focus on expanding their businesses in valuable markets.
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