Opinion No. (2001)

BILL LOCKYER Attorney General GREGORY L. GONOT Deputy Attorney General THE CALIFORNIA AIR RESOURCES BOARD has requested an opinion on the following question: When the California Air Resources Board adopts regulations to reduce volatile organic compound emissions from consumer products, to what does the statutory prohibition against the elimination of a "product form" refer? CONCLUSION When the California Air Resources Board adopts regulations to reduce volatile organic compound emissions from consumer products, the statutory prohibition against the elimination of a "product form" refers to the shape and structure of the product, such as liquid, solid, powder, gel, crystal, aerosol, or pump spray, as distinguished from the material of which it is composed. ANALYSIS The Legislature has directed the California Air Resources Board ("Board") to adopt regulations to reduce volatile organic compound emissions from consumer products. Health and Safety Code section 41712 1 provides: "(a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meaning: "(1) `Consumer product' means a chemically formulated product used by household and institutional consumers, including, but not…