Toxics

Most lawyers tracking a health hazard assessment process to modify a controversial Proposition 65 regulation that lays out acceptable chemical detection methods say they support a new proposal by the office to delete the section entirely. While some industry attorneys had argued that amending the section could clarify and improve the process, most concluded that relying on existing evidence law is preferable and deleting the section will lessen confusion over the regulation.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week officially appointed B.B. Blevins as director of the toxics department, where he has been serving as acting director since Ed Lowry stepped down from the post after learning that the governor was looking to replace him. Blevins' appointment was expected by stakeholders, one of whom described him as "reasonable, thoughtful and experienced."

After raising initial concerns over the appointment of a longtime agribusiness official to head the pesticides department, environmentalists now say they will evaluate Mary-Ann Warmerdam's performance in her first months in the post before deciding whether to oppose or support her confirmation by the Senate. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's appointment of Warmerdam, who worked for the California Farm Bureau Federation (CFBF) for two decades, is supported by agriculture officials, who believe she will be a "fair" and "judicious" director.