Davis

This is an appeal from an adverse judgment in an action seeking a writ of mandate to prohibit the Governor from publishing a list of chemicals as known to the state to cause reproductive toxicity, as provided in Proposition 65, an initiative adopted at the November 1986 General Election.

The initiative, designed to protect the people and their water supplies from harmful chemicals, added sections 25249.5 through 25249.13 to the Health and Safety Code. Section 25249.8 requires the Governor to publish, at least annually, a list of chemicals known to the state to cause reproductive toxicity (the Proposition 65 list).

The plaintiffs (collectively Western Crop Protection), organizations representing businesses related to agriculture, contend the challenged list, adopted from a list of chemicals established by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not comply with Health and Safety Code section 25249.8.

We will conclude the trial court did not err in denying a writ of mandate. Western Crop Protection has failed to show that the state defendants violated a plain legal duty in placing the chemicals on the Proposition 65 list. Although the federal definition,…