This article examines CA proposition 65, which led to the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Reform Act of 1986, from the perspective of risk management politics and economics. The proposition required warning for circumstances in which citizens would be exposed to a number of chemicals and criminalized the discharge of these chemicals into water. Enforcement was decentralized, meaning that any California citizen could sue without proving personal harm, and that the plaintiff in successful suits would receive 25% of the award. The authors believe that Proposition 65 will have negative economic consequences for both industry and taxpayers and will increase the state’s responsibility for management of environmental pollution.