Ask a California chemical supplier what it takes to sell a gamma-butyrolactone mixture to a chip lab, and the old answer was paperwork. Permits, reports, record-keeping and transaction requirements applied to certain GBL mixtures that the federal government already exempted. Now, with Governor Gavin Newsom’s signature on Senate Bill 1306, most of that is gone.
Senator Dave Cortese, a San José Democrat, announced the signing. The bill removes the state requirements for qualifying mixtures containing GBL at concentrations of 70 percent or less by weight or volume. Pure GBL gets no such relief: existing rules on its purchase, storage and use stay.
Why chipmakers care
GBL mixtures are essential to semiconductor manufacturing and research, and the state’s old treatment put suppliers to the industry through hoops their federal-only competitors avoided. The detail that matters is the match with Washington: SB 1306 lines California up with longstanding federal exemptions.
The stakes are large. According to Cortese’s office, California accounted for about 51 percent of US semiconductor research and development in 2021, and its semiconductor sector contributes more than $100 billion a year to the state economy.
“California cannot claim to be the global leader in semiconductor innovation while maintaining outdated regulations that make it harder and more expensive to manufacture and conduct research here than with our global competitors,” Cortese said. He added that the bill cuts red tape and helps keep the next generation of research, manufacturing and high-paying jobs in the state.
Industry backing
SEMI, the trade association for the electronics manufacturing supply chain, welcomed the signing. Its Americas president, Joe Stockunas, said the law promotes consistent policies to strengthen supply chain resiliency and safe use of critical materials. “California gains important clarity and alignment,” he said, that will help keep the semiconductor ecosystem resilient while upholding high standards for safety and responsible industry practices.
