Oct. 2, 2008 - California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed into law a new green chemistry package regulating the use of toxic materials at the product design stage.

The law establishes authority for the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to develop regulations that create a process for identifying and prioritizing chemicals of concern and allows the DTSC to take certain actions following an assessment that range from "no action" to "restrictions or bans."

The new law will also create an online Toxics Information Clearinghouse, a web-based database, to increase consumer knowledge about the toxicity and hazards of thousands of chemicals used in California every day.

"This bi-partisan package of environmental legislation propels California to the forefront of the nation and the world with the most comprehensive green chemistry program ever established," Governor Schwarzenegger said in a statement. "It also puts an end to the less effective ‘chemical-by-chemical' bans of the past. With these two bills, we will stop looking at toxics as an inevitable bi-product of industrial production. Instead they will be something that can be removed from every product in the design stage-protecting people's health and our environment. "

California has consistently been at the forefront of new environmental regulations. Last year, California became the first state to require that heavy industry report their greenhouse gas emissions, and starting in 2009, the state will expand its Smog Index Label for new cars to include data on greenhouse gas emissions.