Real estate: environmental hazards: thirdhand smoke.

Assembly Member Ortega's real estate disclosure legislation requires sellers to inform buyers about thirdhand smoke exposure in residential properties while expanding California's environmental hazards guidance. The bill defines thirdhand smoke as toxic chemical residue from tobacco products that accumulates in building materials and persists long after smoking ceases.

Under the proposed requirements, sellers of single-family homes must provide written disclosure if they have knowledge of tobacco or nicotine product residue on the property or a history of occupant smoking or vaping. The Department of Toxic Substances Control will update the state's Homeowners' Guide to Environmental Hazards to include a new section on thirdhand smoke, with content development delegated to San Diego State University's Center for Tobacco and the Environment. The guide's update will explain thirdhand smoke as an environmental hazard, outline mitigation approaches, and list resources for additional information.

The legislation also mandates expanding the environmental hazards guide to address wildfires, climate change, and sea level rise through collaboration between the Department of Toxic Substances Control and Natural Resources Agency departments. According to the bill's findings, thirdhand smoke-contaminated buildings expose occupants to more than 10 chemicals listed under Proposition 65.