As You Sow v. Valspar Corporation, Sunbelt Coatings, Inc., et al.

Proposition 65 private enforcer and whistleblower, As You Sow, and paint and coatings distributor, Valspar Corporation, entered an agreement resolving AYS's allegations that Valspar and Sunbelt sold hundreds of paints and coatings containing toluene, benzene, crystalline silica, lead and other chemicals listed pursuant to Proposition 65 as known to cause cancer, reproductive harm or birth defects.

Under the settlement, Valspar and Sunbelt agreed to comply with very specific warning requirements requested by AYS, beginning June 1, 1996. Valspar and Sunbelt were also required to implement a remedial warning program to distribute health hazard warnings to all California customers with any inventory of products distributed prior to June 1, and request that they provide consumers in California with the required warnings. In addition, the settlement required Valspar to make settlement payments totaling as much as $465,000. The settlement payments include Valspar's payment of $40,250 to AYS, who distributed those funds to the Environmental Law and Justice Clinic, Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, Earth Day Network, and Pacific Environment and Resources Center. The amount of $44,750 was paid directly to AYS in lieu of civil penalties. The settlement payments also included Valspar's payment of up to $190,000 in civil penalties, which AYS agreed to reduce by $1 for every $2 the paint company certified it had invested into researching ways to reduce or eliminate the use of Proposition 65-listed solvent chemicals used in the manufacture of its paints. All or any of the civil penalties paid by Valspar were divided between AYS (25%) and the California Office of Health Hazard Assessment (75%). AYS's reasonable attorney's fees and costs were paid out of a portion of the $44,750 payment in lieu of further civil penalties.

On July 1, 1996, the Alameda County Superior Court approved the settlement and entered a Stipulation for Entry of Judgment according to the parties' agreement in As You Sow v. Sunbelt Coatings, Inc., et al., Case No. 752261-1. The judgment resolved the private enforcement action commenced by AYS at the conclusion of the 60-day periods after no public enforcer elected to enforce the violations alleged by AYS in its notices of violation.