California eases environmental labeling law

As before, it is illegal to make any untruthful, deceptive or misleading environmental marketing claim, whether implicit or implied. But the new, less restrictive, law allows companies to use conformity to the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) environmental marketing guidelines as a defense against any action brought. The state law defines environmental claim as any claim contained in the FTC guidelines. These guidelines currently are under review by FTC (see lead story).