Enrolled  August 26, 2024
Passed  IN  Senate  August 22, 2024
Passed  IN  Assembly  July 01, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Joint Resolution
No. 16

Introduced by Assembly Member Low
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Addis, Aguiar-Curry, Alanis, Alvarez, Arambula, Bains, Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Boerner, Bonta, Bryan, Calderon, Juan Carrillo, Wendy Carrillo, Chen, Connolly, Megan Dahle, Davies, Dixon, Essayli, Flora, Mike Fong, Friedman, Gabriel, Gallagher, Garcia, Gipson, Grayson, Haney, Hart, Holden, Hoover, Irwin, Jackson, Kalra, Lackey, Lee, Lowenthal, Maienschein, McCarty, McKinnor, Stephanie Nguyen, Ortega, Pacheco, Papan, Jim Patterson, Joe Patterson, Pellerin, Petrie-Norris, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Sanchez, Santiago, Schiavo, Soria, Ta, Ting, Valencia, Villapudua, Wallis, Ward, Wicks, Wilson, and Wood)

April 18, 2024

Relative to sunscreen.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AJR 16, Low. Sunscreen: ingredients and filters.
This measure would urge the United States Congress to explore policy options to improve the timeliness of the United States Food and Drug Administration’s approval pathways for sunscreen ingredients and filters.
Fiscal Committee: NO  
WHEREAS, The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved a new ingredient or filter for use in sunscreen in over 20 years. Consequently, there has been little improvement or innovation in the United States sunscreen composition for decades, leaving Americans vulnerable to skin cancer, which remains, by far, the most common form of cancer in the United States; and
WHEREAS, In the United States, sunscreen manufacturers currently have access to 16 ultraviolet (UV) filters to create sunscreen products. Comparatively, European nations have up to 30 approved UV filters for consumer product companies to formulate a variety of sunscreen products; and
WHEREAS, The lack of approved UV filters in America severely hampers the ability to bring forward a broader selection of sunscreen products that help protect Americans from skin cancer and the harmful effects of overexposure to the sun. With more ingredients and filters to choose from, overseas sunscreen manufacturers are able to create more innovative and stronger forms of protection against harmful ultraviolet rays. Americans have fewer choices in their sunscreen options, and, therefore, notably poorer protection from ultraviolet rays; and
WHEREAS, In 2014, Congress passed the Sunscreen Innovation Act to address the regulatory backlog preventing Americans from accessing advanced, effective sunscreens that are widely available in the rest of the world, and have been for years. Still, the FDA is taking too long to approve nonprescription (OTC) ingredients and filters that are safe and widely available to the rest of the world; and
WHEREAS, Current requirements require a significant amount of time and resources, akin to a new drug application, to complete and do not allow for the use of 21st century nonanimal testing or alternatives for assessing the safety and effectiveness of products that are currently utilized by the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, and other countries throughout the world; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California urges the United States Congress to explore policy options to improve the timeliness of the FDA’s approval pathways for sunscreen ingredients and filters; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States.