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Committee advances Chris Thayer27s OEHHA nomination after extended questions on PFAS, modeling and Prop. 65

California State Senate Committee on Rules · January 21, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

The Senate Rules Committee voted 3-1 to send Chris Thayer27s nomination for OEHHA director to the full Senate after senators pressed her on use of modeled versus measured data, PFAS, CalEnviroScreen updates and Prop. 65 warnings.

The Senate Rules Committee voted 3-1 to advance Chris Thayer, PhD, as director of the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), after an extended exchange about scientific methods, real-world monitoring and regulatory communication.

Thayer opened by summarizing a 30-year career in environmental health and said OEHHA27s role is to translate science into actionable information "that helps protect people and the environment," emphasizing transparency, scientific rigor and community engagement.

Why it matters: Several senators pressed Thayer on the agency27s use of modeled or indirect data rather than on-the-ground exposure monitoring. Sen. Grove asked why OEHHA relies on models when, she said,…

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