Cosmetics: chemical hair relaxers.

Senator Weber Pierson anchors a tightly targeted regulatory agenda that would bar the sale and distribution in California of hair relaxer products containing a defined list of intentionally added ingredients, and would establish a dedicated enforcement framework for this category under the state’s health and safety regime. The measure adds a new regulatory chapter governing hair relaxers—cosmetic products that permanently straighten curly hair by breaking disulfide bonds—and specifies a prohibition on manufacturing, distributing, selling, or offering for sale any product that contains the listed ingredients.

Key provisions establish the core mechanics and scope: a prohibition directed at hair relaxer products that include the initial set of ingredients, with the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) empowered to adopt implementing regulations by a future deadline and to identify third‑party accreditations for laboratories testing for these substances by a stated date. DTSC would also be authorized to publish accepted testing methods and to update both the accreditation list and the testing methods as needed, including expanding the ingredient list to cover additional substances described in the broader cosmetics framework. Manufacturers could be required to provide technical documentation, including test results, upon request, and the department may test products to support enforcement. When testing or labeling indicates noncompliance, the department would issue a notice of violation and could impose administrative or civil penalties or require compliance through specified means, including cessation of sale or distribution. The penalties include a minimum amount for the first and any subsequent violation and may be applied per violation or per day, with enforcement actions includable in court proceedings and injunctive relief, and prevailing plaintiffs entitled to attorney’s fees.

A dedicated funding and financing structure underpins the regime: a Combating Unsafe ReLaxers (C.U.R.L.) Act Fund would receive penalties collected under the statute, with these funds available for the department’s implementing costs upon legislative appropriation. The bill conditions ongoing enforcement and program start on appropriations and on the sufficiency of funds in the Toxic Substances Control Account, and it provides a mechanism for the department to borrow from that account to cover development of regulations and startup costs, with repayment from the C.U.R.L. Act Fund once revenues are sufficient. The new framework thus links enforcement capability to budget actions and revenue, creating a contingent but potentially self-sustaining funding loop once penalties are collected.

Context and implementation considerations position the proposal within California’s broader cosmetics regulation while preserving a defined, narrow scope. The act integrates with existing definitions of cosmetics and the general framework for ingredient prohibitions, while allowing the ingredient list to be updated as needed under the broader statute governing cosmetics. The regulatory timeline contemplates accreditation readiness by 2028 and regulatory adoption by 2030, with ongoing updates to testing methods and ingredient scope. Stakeholders—including manufacturers, laboratories, the Department of Toxic Substances Control, the Attorney General, and consumers—would operate within a framework that emphasizes verification, traceability of compliance documentation, and potential remedies through penalties, notices of violation, or court action, all within a state-budget–dependent enforcement construct.