CALIFORNIA REGULATORY NOTICE REGISTER 2023, VOLUME NUMBER 34-Z
1104CONTACT PERSON
Any inquiries or comments concerning the pro -
posed rulemaking action may be addressed to:
Randi Calkins, Regulations Specialist  
Department of Motor Vehicles  
Legal Affairs Division  
P.O. Box 932382, MS C–244  
Sacramento, CA 94232–3820
Any inquiries or comments concerning the pro -
posed rulemaking action requiring more immediate 
response may use:
Telephone: (916) 282–7294  
Facsimile: (916) 657–6243  
Email: LADRegulations@dmv.ca.gov
In the event the contact person is unavailable, in -
quiries should be directed to the following back–up 
person:
Shelly Johnson Marker, Chief of Staff  
Department of Motor Vehicles  
Telephone: (916) 657–6469
AVAILABILITY OF STATEMENT OF 
REASONS AND TEXT OF  
PROPOSED REGULATIONS
The department has prepared an Initial Statement 
of Reasons for the proposed regulatory action and has 
available all the information upon which the proposal 
is based. The contact person identified in this notice 
shall make available to the public upon request the Ex -
press Terms of the proposed regulatory action using 
underline or italics to indicate additions to, and strike -
out to indicate deletions from the California Code of 
Regulations.
The contact person identified in this notice shall 
also make available to the public, upon request, the 
Final Statement of Reasons and the location of pub -
lic records, including reports, documentation and 
other materials related to the proposed action. In 
addition, the above–cited materials (the Notice 
of Proposed Regulatory Action, the Initial State -
ment of Reasons, and Express Terms) may be ac -
cessed at https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/about–
the–california–department–of–motor–vehicles/
california–dmv–rulemaking–actions/ .
AVAILABILITY OF MODIFIED TEXT
Following the written comment period, and the 
hearing if one is held, the department may adopt the 
proposed regulations substantially as described in this 
notice. If modifications are made which are sufficient -ly related to the originally proposed text, the fully 
modified text, with changes clearly indicated, shall be 
made available to the public for at least 15 days prior to 
the date on which the department adopts the resulting 
regulations. Requests for copies of any modified regu -
lations should be addressed to the department contact 
person identified in this notice. The department will 
accept written comments on the modified regulations 
for 15 days after the date on which they are first made 
available to the public.
TITLE 17.  DEPARTMENT OF  
PUBLIC HEALTH
PET FOOD LABELING AND  
LICENSING REVISIONS  
(DPH–18–016)
Notice is hereby given that the California Depart -
ment of Public Health (Department) is proposing the 
regulation described below. This notice of proposed 
rulemaking commences a rulemaking to make the 
regulations permanent after considering all com -
ments, objections, and recommendations regarding 
the regulation.
PUBLIC PROCEEDINGS
The Department is conducting a 45–day written 
public proceeding during which time any interested 
person or such person’s duly authorized representative 
may present statements, arguments or contentions (all 
of which are hereinafter referred to as comments) rele -
vant to the action described in the Informative Digest/
Policy Statement Overview section of this notice.
To request copies of the regulatory proposal in an 
alternate format, please write or call: David Mar -
tin, Office of Regulations, 1415 L Street Suite 500, 
Sacramento, CA 95814, at (916) 440–7673, email to  
David.martin@CDPH.ca.gov  or use the California 
Relay Service by dialing 711.
PUBLIC HEARING
A public hearing has not been scheduled for this 
rulemaking. However, the Department will conduct a 
public hearing if a written request for a public hearing 
is received from any interested person, or his or her 
authorized representative, no later than 15 days prior 
to the close of the written comment period, pursuant 
to Government Code Section 11346.8.
Assistive Services:
For individuals with disabilities, the Department 
will provide assistive services such as conversion of 
written materials into Braille, large print, audiocas -CALIFORNIA REGULATORY NOTICE REGISTER 2023, VOLUME NUMBER 34-Z
1105
sette, and computer disk. For public hearings, assistive 
services can include sign–language interpretation, 
real–time captioning, note takers, reading, or writing 
assistance. –To request these assistive services, please 
call (916) 558–1710 or (California Relay at 711 or 
1–800–735–2929), email Regulations@cdph.ca.gov  or 
write to the Office of Regulations at the address noted 
above. Note: The range of assistive services available 
may be limited if requests are received less than 10 
business days prior to public hearing.
WRITTEN COMMENT PERIOD
Written comments pertaining to this proposal, re -
gardless of the method of transmittal, must be received 
by Office of Regulations on October 10, 2023, which is 
hereby designated as the close of the written comment 
period. Comments received after this date will not be 
considered timely.
Written Comments must be submitted as follows:
1. By email to: regulations@cdph.ca.gov . It is re -
quested that email transmission of comments, 
particularly those with attachments, contain the 
regulation package identifier “DPH–18–016” in 
the subject line ; to facilitate timely identification 
and review of the comment;
2. By fax transmission to: (916) 636–6220;
3. By postal service or hand delivered to: California 
Department of Public Health, Office of 
Regulations, 1415 L Street, Suite 500, Sacramento, 
CA 95814.
All comments, including email or fax transmis -
sions, should include the regulation package identi -
fier, DPH–18–016 “Pet Food Labeling and Licensing 
Revisions”, along with your name and your mailing 
address or email address in order for the Department 
to provide copies of any notices for proposed changes 
to the regulation text on which additional comments 
may be solicited.
AUTHORITY AND REFERENCE
The Department proposes this amendment under the 
authority provided in Sections 113115, 131000, 131050, 
131051, 131052, and 131200 of the Health and Safety 
Code. The proposed regulations implement, interpret, 
and make specific Sections 113060, 113065, 113095, 
113100, 113105, 113110, and 113115 of the Health and 
Safety Code.
INFORMATIVE DIGEST/POLICY 
STATEMENT OVERVIEW
Summary of Proposal
This proposal would amend the Labeling and Li -
censing Requirements of Sections 19025 and 19041 (respectively) of the regulations set forth in Title 17, of 
the California Code of Regulations (CCR) which re -
late to the Pure Pet Food Act of 1969 (Act). Regarding 
labeling, the amendment would permit pet food pro -
ducers who meet the requirements set forth in Section 
19025 to use the terms “human grade” and “natural” 
in describing their processed pet food products, de -
lete unclear and non–specific language related to the 
term human grade, and incorporate labeling guide -
lines from the Association of American Feed Control 
Officials (AAFCO) Pet Food and Specialty Pet Food 
Labeling Guide (Labeling Guide). Regarding licens -
ing, the amendment to Section 19041 would align the 
fees and licensing period noted in the regulations with 
the fees and licensing period set forth in the Health 
and Safety Code. Finally, non–substantive changes are 
also proposed.
Background
A processed pet food manufacturer is required to 
have a valid license (if manufacturing in–state) or a 
valid registration certificate (if manufacturing out–of–
state for import into California), issued by the Califor -
nia Department of Public Health (Department), Food 
and Drug Branch. An individual or company seeking 
a license or registration certificate submits an applica -
tion along with a representative label from the prod -
uct, and a license or registration certificate fee. The 
Department reviews the submitted documents and, if 
necessary, conducts a pre–licensing inspection of the 
applicant’s facilities. The Department will then issue 
a license or registration certificate or deny the applica -
tion. The reasons for a denial include, but are not lim -
ited to, a label that does not comply with regulations 
set forth in Article 16, Title 17 of the CCR, which were 
promulgated pursuant to the Act.
The Department received a formal petition from a 
processed pet food producer regarding the labeling 
guidelines set forth in Section 19025 (hereinafter pro -
cessed pet food producers will be generically referred 
to as “producers” or a “producer”). The petition stated 
the petitioner is in compliance with the Association of 
American Feed Control Officials, Inc. Official Publi -
cation (AAFCO OP) on the use of the term “natural” 
on the label and asked for clarification of Department 
regulations. The petitioner was sued for deceptive and 
misleading labeling as it had labeled its pet food as 
“natural.” Existing regulations set forth in Section 
19025 do not address the use of “natural” on a pro -
cessed pet food label.
Also, during the comment period on the petition, 
the Department received a request from a different 
producer regarding Section 19025, subsection (g), 
which prohibits producers from using the “terms ‘fit 
for human food,’ ‘fit for human consumption,’ or any 
similar terms” on their labels. The commenter pre -
viously applied for a license to the Department. The CALIFORNIA REGULATORY NOTICE REGISTER 2023, VOLUME NUMBER 34-Z
1106application included a representative label from the 
products it wished to sell in California, which includ -
ed the term human grade. The Department denied 
the application under subsection (g)’s prohibition of 
the terms “fit for human food,” “fit for human con -
sumption,” or “ any similar terms ” (emphasis added) 
because “human grade” was a similar enough term to 
deny the application. The producer noted the AAFCO 
OP permits use of the term human grade on pet food 
labels, which appears to be inconsistent with this sub -
section of the regulations. In addition to this comment 
from the producer, the Department received several 
correspondences from consumers asking that produc -
ers be permitted to offer “human grade” pet food in 
California.
Considering the changing pet food market, the De -
partment agrees amendments are necessary to provide 
clarity and consistency for the nationwide industry 
and California consumers while continuing to ensure 
the quality and safety of processed pet food. Addi -
tionally, an amendment to the licensing section would 
align with language in the CCRs and the Act.
Existing Laws and Regulations : The Department 
evaluated this proposal and determined, if adopted, it 
will not be incompatible or duplicative with existing 
state or federal regulations. No statute or regulation 
conflicts with this proposed regulatory update. No 
other State regulation addresses the same subject mat -
ter, and this proposal is not inconsistent or incompati -
ble with other state regulations.
Problem Statement
The Department recognizes the pet food market has 
changed from when these regulations were originally 
adopted. Today, both producers and customers desire 
to sell and have access to a wider variety of options. 
Therefore, the Department proposes adding guide -
lines to the regulations permitting producers to use the 
terms human grade and natural. This Amendment is 
necessary to keep current with the changing pet food 
market, to provide clarity and consistency for the in -
dustry and consumers, and to ensure the quality and 
safety of processed pet food. The Department proposes 
incorporation by reference of a chapter in the AAFCO  
Labeling Guide which provides producers and con -
sumers further guidance on labeling. In addition to 
the labeling sections noted above, existing regulations 
include unclear language related to a prohibition on 
labeling processed pet food; specifically, the existing 
regulations include the ambiguous phrase “or any sim -
ilar terms” as related to the prohibited terms “fit for 
human food” or “fit for human consumption.” The De -
partment does not intend to permit a producer to state 
or imply processed pet food is “human edible;” how -
ever, it proposes deleting this section’s prohibitions on 
use of “fit for human food,” “fit for human consump -
tion,” and “any similar terms” to harmonize it with the addition of the human grade labeling language. Of 
note, the proposed amendment permitting using of the 
term human grade includes limitations and prohibi -
tions, which would prohibit a producer from stating or 
implying its food is anything other than pet food.
Finally, during the process of reviewing and updat -
ing the regulations, the Department found one addi -
tional area that would benefit from clarification. Spe -
cifically, the licensing regulations express the licens -
ing fees differently than the Health and Safety Code.
Objectives (Goals) of the Regulation
Broad objectives of this proposed regulatory action 
are to:
● Incorporate labeling guidelines based upon those 
from the AAFCO OP to increase consistency for 
producers and consumers.
● Incorporate by reference the Labeling Guide 
to increase clarity for producers and California 
consumers.
● Clarify ambiguous language in the existing 
regulations.
● Clarify licensing fees for producers.
Anticipated Benefits
Anticipated benefits from this proposed regulatory 
action are:
● Increases clarity of terms regulated producers 
can use to describe processed pet food, providing 
consumers with a better understanding of what 
they are purchasing for their pets.
● Increased clarity in permissible language regulat -
ed producers can print on a processed pet food la -
bel to protect consumers from confusion as to the 
proper use of the processed pet food.
● Increased consistency for producers selling in 
more than one state.
● Updated labeling guidelines for increased consis -
tency with industry standards.
● Continued protection of the public health and 
safety.
● Enhances the public’s wellbeing through protec -
tion of the health of their pets.
● Updated, clear, and consistent regulations.
Evaluation as to Whether the Proposed Regulations 
Are Inconsistent or Incompatible with Existing State 
and Federal Regulations
The Department has determined these regulations 
are neither inconsistent nor incompatible with other 
state regulations.CALIFORNIA REGULATORY NOTICE REGISTER 2023, VOLUME NUMBER 34-Z
1107
FORMS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE  
(Identified in the Informative Digest)
The Department is proposing to incorporate by ref -
erence Chapter X1 (ten) of the AAFCO Pet Food and 
Specialty Food Labeling Guide: AAFCO Association 
of American Feed Control Officials, AAFCO Pet Food and Specialty Pet Food Labeling Guide (Revised May 2016).
MANDATED BY FEDERAL  
LAW OR REGULATIONS
The Department determined these regulations are 
not identical to previously adopted or amended federal regulations.
OTHER STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS
The Department has determined there are no other 
statutory requirements
LOCAL MANDATE
The Department has determined this regulatory ac -
tion would not impose a mandate on local agencies or school districts, nor are there any costs for which re -
imbursement is required by part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of division 4 of the Government Code.
DISCLOSURES REGARDING THE 
PROPOSED ACTION  
 
FISCAL IMPACT ESTIMATES
● Cost or Savings to Any Local Agency or School District : None.
● Cost or Savings to Any State Agency : None.
● Other Nondiscretionary Cost or Savings Imposed on Local Agencies : None.
● Cost or Savings in Federal Funding to the State : 
None.
HOUSING COSTS
The Department has determined this regulatory 
action will not have any significant effect on housing costs.
1 The AAFCO Pet Food and Specialty Pet Food Labeling Guide 
designates chapters with Roman numerals.SIGNIFICANT STATEWIDE ADVERSE 
ECONOMIC IMPACT DIRECTLY 
AFFECTING BUSINESS, INCLUDING 
ABILITY TO COMPETE
The proposed regulations will not have any signif -
icant statewide adverse economic impact directly af -
fecting business or the ability of California businesses to compete with businesses in other states.
STATEMENT OF THE RESULTS OF THE 
ECONOMIC IMPACT ASSESSMENT (EIA)
The Department has determined that the proposed 
regulations would not affect the following:
A. T he creation or elimination of jobs within the 
state.
B. T he creation of new businesses or the elimination 
of existing businesses within the state.
C. T he expansion of businesses currently doing 
business within the state.
Anticipated Benefits:
The Department anticipates a benefit to the health 
and welfare of California residents by the enhance -
ment of the public’s wellbeing through protection of the general health and diet of their pets, and a contin -
ued protection of the public health and safety. There are no anticipated benefits to worker safety or the state’s environment.
COST IMPACTS ON REPRESENTATIVE 
PERSON OR BUSINESS
The Department is not aware of any cost impacts 
that a representative private person or business would necessarily incur in reasonable compliance with the proposed action.
Effect on Small Business
As this regulatory action permits a business to 
choose whether or not to produce or sell pet food un-
der the new labeling guidelines it permissive and not mandatory. The new regulations would affect all busi -
ness including small businesses if they chose to label products based on the labeling guidelines.
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED
The Department must determine that no reasonable 
alternative considered by the Department or that has otherwise been identified and brought to the attention 
of the Department would be more effective in carrying 
out the purpose for which the action is proposed (to 
align 17 CCR with 40 C.F.R. §  7 45.65 as required by 
40 C.F.R. §  7 45.325(e)(1)), would be as effective and 
less burdensome to affected private persons than the CALIFORNIA REGULATORY NOTICE REGISTER 2023, VOLUME NUMBER 34-Z
1108proposed action, or would be more cost–effective to 
affected private persons and equally effective in im -
plementing the statutory intent of 17 CCR section 
35035 or other provision of law.
TECHNICAL, THEORETICAL, AND/
OR EMPIRICAL STUDIES, REPORTS OR 
DOCUMENTS RELIED UPON
None.
CONTACT PERSON
Inquiries regarding the substance of the proposed 
regulations described in this notice may be directed 
to Melissa Vasquez of the Center for Environmental 
Health.
All other inquiries concerning the action described 
in this notice may be directed to David Martin, Office 
of Regulations, at (916) 440–7673.
In any inquiries or written comments, please 
identify the action by using the Department regu -
lation package identifier, DPH–18–016.
A V AILABILITY STATEMENTS
The Department has prepared and has available for 
public review an initial statement of reasons for the 
proposed regulations, all the information upon which 
the proposed regulations are based, and the text of the 
proposed regulations. The Office of Regulations, 1415 
L Street, Suite 500, Sacramento, CA 95814, will be the 
custodian of public records, including reports, docu -
mentation, and other material related to the proposed 
regulations (rulemaking file).
In order to request that a copy of this public notice, 
the regulation text, and the initial statement of reasons 
or alternate formats for these documents be mailed 
to you, please call (279) 217–0836 (or the California 
Relay Service at 711), send an email to regulations@
cdph.ca.gov , or write to the Office of Regulations at 
the address previously noted. Upon specific request, 
these documents will be made available in Braille, 
large print, audiocassette, or computer disk.
The full text of any regulation which is changed or 
modified from the express terms of the proposed ac -
tion will be made available by the Department’s Of -
fice of Regulations at least 15 days prior to the date on 
which the Department adopts, amends, or repeals the 
resulting regulation.
Final Statement of Reasons
A copy of the final statement of reasons (when pre -
pared) will be available upon request from the Office 
of Regulations.INTERNET ACCESS
Materials regarding the action described in this no -
tice (including this public notice, the text of the pro -
posed regulations, and the initial statement of reasons) 
that are available via the Internet may be accessed at 
www.cdph.ca.gov  by clicking on these links, in the 
following order: Decisions Pending & Opportunities 
for Public Participation, Proposed Regulations.
 
GENERAL PUBLIC INTEREST
ENVIRONMENTAL  
PROTECTION AGENCY 
UNIFIED PROGRAM SURCHARGE  
FEE CHANGE
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN  that the Secretary 
for the California Environmental Protection Agency 
(CalEPA) proposes to adjust the Unified Program state 
surcharge according to the California Health and Safe -
ty Code, Division 20, Chapter 6.11, section 25404.5(b), 
and the California Code of Regulations, Title 27, Divi -
sion 1, Subdivision 4, Chapter 1, Section 15240.
The Unified Program state surcharge is an assess -
ment on each entity regulated under the Unified Pro -
gram and is used to fund the necessary and reason -
able costs of all state agencies responsible for program 
implementation, ongoing maintenance and oversight 
of the Unified Program. Changes will be made in the 
Oversight and California Accidental Release Preven -
tion (CalARP) Program state surcharges. The Under -
ground Storage Tank, Aboveground Petroleum Storage 
Act, and Refinery Safety portions remain unchanged.
CalEPA has received 4.0 permanent positions to 
support inspection and enforcement authority imple -
mentation for the Hazardous Materials Business Plan 
(HMBP) and CalARP programs, including one attor -
ney position to support the Unified Program. To sup -
port these positions the current CalARP program sur -
charge will increase from the current $270 to $370 per 
regulated business annually and the Unified Program 
Oversight surcharge to support the HMBP program 
will increase from the current $84 to $94 per regulated 
business annually.
The Unified Program State Surcharge will be pub -
licly noticed in the California Regulatory Notice Reg -
ister for 30 days during which time comments will be 
accepted on the proposed changes. Written comments 
must be sent to the address or email below and must be 
received by 5:00 p.m. on September 25, 2023.