BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1333
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 12, 2005
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Ira Ruskin, Chair
AB 1333 (Frommer) - As Introduced: February 22, 2005
SUBJECT : Grease waste hauler.
SUMMARY : Makes it a misdemeanor criminal offense to
incompletely remove grease from grease traps or otherwise
improperly deposit grease materials at any place other than an
authorized facility. Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes it unlawful for any grease waste hauler to remove grease
from a grease trap or grease interceptor unless the hauler, to
the extent feasible, completely removes all grease, greasy
liquid, matter, and solids from the grease trap or grease
interceptor each time of removal.
2)Makes it unlawful for any grease hauler to reinsert into a
grease trap, grease interceptor, manhole, cleanout, or other
sanitary sewer facility or any other place not authorized to
receive them, any materials that the hauler has removed from
the grease trap or grease interceptor. Nor can the hauler
deposit, dump, place, release, those materials, or cause those
materials to be discharged or otherwise deposited at any place
other than a facility authorized to receive the materials.
3)Defines, for purposes of the penal code "grease waste hauler"
to be "an individual or business who removes grease and
accompanying materials from a grease trap or a grease
interceptor and transports the materials to another location.
It does not include a hauler of grease from grease traps
serving industrial processes that principally contain
petroleum hydrocarbons.
4)Makes it unlawful for any person to manage or dispose of
grease removed from a grease trap or grease interceptor into a
land treatment unit.
5)Defines, for purposes of the penal code, "land treatment unit"
or "land farm" to be "a facility or part of a facility at
which waste is applied onto or incorporated into the soil
surface so that constituents are degraded, transformed, or
immobilized with the treatment zone."
AB 1333
Page 2
6)Provides that any person who violates this section shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county
jail for not more than six months and by a fine as follows:
a) For a first conviction, not less than five thousand
dollars ($5,000) nor more than ten thousand dollars
($10,000).
b) For a second and subsequent conviction, not less than
ten thousand dollars ($10,000) nor more than fifty thousand
dollars ($50,000).
AB 1333
Page 3
7)Apportions the fines paid pursuant to this section as follows:
a) Twenty-five percent shall be deposited in the
Environmental Enforcement and Training Account, which is
used to help fund statewide training for local
environmental enforcement officials. (The measure however
cites Section 14303 of the Public Resources Code which
governs the California Conservation Corps programs. The
author intends the former program to receive the funds.);
b) Twenty-five percent shall be paid to the office of the
prosecuting entity;
c) Twenty-five percent shall be distributed pursuant to
Section 1463.001, which is the method for apportioning
fines between the city and the county in which the crime
occurred; and,
d) Twenty-five percent to the local health officer or other
local public officer or agency that investigated the matter
which lead to bringing the action.
8)Authorizes the court to bar the violating individual or
business from engaging in the business of grease hauling for a
period not to exceed five years if it finds that the violator
has engaged in a practice or pattern of violation, consisting
of two or more convictions.
9)Permits the court to require, in addition to any fine imposed
upon conviction, as a condition of probation, that a person
convicted under this section remove, or pay the cost of
removing, to the extent they are able, any materials which the
convicted person dumped or caused to be dumped in violation of
this section.
EXISTING LAW , under the Food and Agricultural Code, generally
regulates haulers of grease under the chapter governing
Horsemeat and Pet Food (Food and Agriculture Code Section 19200
et seq.).
1)Defines "rendering" as the recycling, processing, and
conversion of animal and fish materials and carcasses from the
meat, poultry, and seafood industries, as well as inedible
kitchen grease into fats, oils, and proteins, and other
AB 1333
Page 4
products that are used primarily as feed in the animal,
poultry, and pet food industries and other industries. (Food
and Agriculture Code Section 19213.)
2)Authorizes any person registered as a transporter or licensed
as a renderer of inedible kitchen grease may deliver any
inedible kitchen grease to a licensed renderer or collection
center for processing or recycling into usable products. As
used in this section, "usable products" includes, but is not
limited to, biofuels, lubricants, and animal feed, provided
the uses for animal feed are permitted by the rules and
regulations adopted by the United States Food and Drug
Administration. (added by AB 1071 (Matthews) Chapter 929,
Statutes of 2004.)
AB 1333
Page 5
3)Requires the California Department of Food and Agriculture
(CDFA) to issue licenses to individuals who operate rendering
plants and collection centers. The application for a license
must include the name and address of the applicant, where the
center is to be operated, the experience the applicant has in
rendering, and other information deemed necessary. The annual
license fee is $100. CDFA also has the authority to charge an
additional fee of not more than $3,000 per year per collection
center to cover the costs of administering the program.
4)Requires licensed renderers, who receive inedible kitchen
grease, to keep specified records for one year. The records
shall include the name, address, and registration number of
every transporter who has delivered material to the renderer;
the total amount of inedible kitchen grease purchased in each
transaction; and date of the transaction. Failure to keep
records can result in a misdemeanor.
5)Requires, a person who transports inedible kitchen grease to
be registered by CDFA. The registration application shall
include the applicant's name and address, a description of the
operation, vehicles used in the transportation, list of
drivers, and any other information deemed necessary. The
registration includes a $100 fee. CDFA has the authority to
charge an additional fee of not more than $300 per year per
vehicle and not more than $3,000 per year per registered
transporter to cover the costs of administering the program.
6)Requires licensed transporters of inedible kitchen grease to
maintain records for one year. The records shall include the
name and address of each location from which the transporter
obtained the material, the quantity of material received, and
the date the material was obtained.
7)Specifies that the vehicles used in the transportation of
inedible kitchen grease must display the name of the owner on
the vehicle in letters not less than two inches high.
8)Establishes the Environmental Circuit Prosecutor Project as
part of the Local Environmental Enforcement and Training
Program. This program is meant to assist local enforcement
personnel in the investigation and enforcement of all
environmental laws.
AB 1333
Page 6
FISCAL EFFECT : Minimal costs which would probably be covered by
the fines. Contains a crimes and infractions disclaimer.
COMMENTS : By introducing AB 1333, the author is seeking to
make the most egregious violators of statutes governing the
proper handling and disposal of grease removed from grease traps
subject to misdemeanor penalties.
1)The sponsors of this measure, the California District
Attorneys Association (CDAA), explain that under current law
prosecutions are often hampered because they must actually
catch illegal dumpers in the act and have accurate discharge
measurements in order to prove they are exceeding discharge
limits or the extent of harm to the environment. They assert
that AB 1333 takes a simpler and more sensible approach by
making the act of disposal to an unauthorized place illegal in
and of itself. This should better deter cheaters that are
taking advantage of businesses that think they are doing the
right thing.
2)The sponsor of the measure state that "Brown grease" is
a major problem because it threatens our natural
resources, our health, and the remediation cost
dissipates precious tax dollars. District Attorneys
have prosecuted many different waste haulers in the past
few years, all of whom were filling our sewers and
creeks with grease that had been taken out of legitimate
restaurant grease traps and interceptors. Currently,
grease cases are complicated to prosecute because
various practices are not expressly illegal.
California's Water and Fish and Game Codes do not
provide prosecutors with the tools required to address
this serious problem. Prosecutors need legislation to
provide strict penalties for the mishandling of brown
grease. AB 1333 gives them the needed tools by
specifically creating a strict liability crime for
improper removal and disposal of grease waste."
Background
3)A major cause of sewer spills that contaminate drinking water
supplies and pollute rivers, streams, and coastal waters is
the improper handling and disposal of grease from commercial
establishments. The improper management of fats, oils, and
grease wastes causes environmental and public health damage.
AB 1333
Page 7
It is important for the protection of human health and the
environment that grease removed from grease traps, "brown
grease," be transported, managed, treated, and disposed of
properly thereby keeping it from entering the human food chain
or causing harm to the environment.
4)California's Regional Water Quality Control Boards have
determined that sanitary sewer overflows, or sewage spills,
often contain high levels of suspended solids, pathogenic
organisms, toxic pollutants, nutrients, oxygen demanding
organic compounds, oil, grease, and other pollutants. Sewage
discharged to surface waters of the state poses a threat to
the public health, adversely affects aquatic life, and impairs
the public recreational use and aesthetic enjoyment of surface
waters.
5)According to the sponsors, among the local governments
studying sewer blockages are the City of Los Angeles, the City
of Sacramento and Orange County. Studies demonstrate that
blockages due to buildup of fats, oil, and grease are a major
cause of sewage overflow. Forty-one percent (41%) of the 682
sewage spills occurring during 2001 in Los Angeles were the
result of grease buildup in the sewer system. In Sacramento,
grease blockages accounted for forty-four percent (44%) of
annual mainline blockages between 1996 and 2000, and sewage
spills caused by grease blockages cost an average of $235,000
during the four-year period. Six specific mainline stoppages
directly attributable to restaurant-generated grease cost the
Sacramento County Sanitation District over $1.4 million in
flooded structure claims. Orange County beaches were closed
more than 2,000 days between 1987 and 2000 as a result of
bacterial contamination due to sewage spills, many of which
were caused by grease clogs. Sewage spills caused by pipeline
blockages and pipeline breaks were responsible for the
majority (70%) of the ocean and bay water closures in Orange
County from 1987-2004. Grease blockage was directly
attributable for twenty-eight percent (28%) of the sewer
pipeline blockages that resulted in ocean and bay closures in
Orange County from 1999-2004.
AB 1333
Page 8
6)Daniel Hinerfeld, Deputy Director for the Natural Resources
Defense Council in Southern California, was recently quoted in
the Los Angeles Times as saying, "There's not enough
investigation into the sources of pollution and not enough
efforts to halt pollution." Hinerfeld's statement followed in
the wake of 2003's beach closures and advisories; 1,459 in Los
Angeles County, 1,329 in Orange County, 896 in San Diego
County and 720 in Ventura County. The number of closures and
advisories in 2003 represents an increase of sixty percent
(60%) for Los Angeles County and an increase seventy-three
percent (73%) for Ventura County when compared to the prior
year.
Technical amendment needed :
7)On Page 3, lines 8-10, twenty-five percent of the collected
fines are required to be deposited in the Environmental
Enforcement and Training Account, which is used to help fund
statewide training for local environmental enforcement
officials. The measure however cites Section 14303 of the
Public Resources Code which governs the California
Conservation Corps programs. The author intends the former
program to receive the funds.
8)The measure should be amended to delete the reference to the
Public Resources Code and cite the Penal Code Section 14303
instead;
Request for further amendments :
9)The membership of the California Grain and Feed Association
(CGFA) includes most of the California rendering companies
engaged in servicing grease interceptors and the hauling and
disposal of interceptor grease. They support "most of the
provisions of the bill including those regarding disposal of
interceptor grease at land treatment units as well as the
penalty provisions of the bill. We think these provisions
will assist in preventing the improper disposal of grease."
10)However, CGFA would like the author to amend the measure to
permit the use of mobile separator units. CGFA states, "While
we do support the concept of removing all grease, solids and
water from interceptor units, the bill does not recognize that
some interceptor service companies now have equipment on their
AB 1333
Page 9
pumping trucks that separate the grey water from the solids
and grease. They can then pump the grey water back into the
interceptor unit which actually makes the unit operate more
effectively and prevents some grease from escaping into the
sewer system." They contend that permitting the use of such
equipment eliminates the need to haul the water long distances
and also reduces the number of dumping trips at sanitation
district facilities. In addition, particularly in remote and
rural areas, they think that mobile separator units are more
efficient where there are long distances between the food
facility and a treatment plant. CGFA would like to permit the
"separated water" be returned to the inlet chamber of the
interceptor unit if equipment capable of separating the water
is used and if this practice is permitted by the local
sanitation district.
11)While the concept of how a mobile separator unit might work
is relatively straightforward, there appears to be some
question as to how it would work in fact. According to the
author's office, several cities have banned the use of mobile
separator units including Huston and Baton Rouge.
12)There author and the Committee might be concerned that such
an amendment might undermine the effectiveness of the
straightforward ban in the current bill on the disposal of
removed material back into the filter input or down the drain.
It could make it very difficult for local authorities to
determine what kind of waste the transporter is pumping back
into the interceptor and would require the enforcing authority
to quantify how much grease is contained within the effluent
entering back into the grease interceptor.
13)CGFA would also like to see language in the bill that would
prohibit grease from being hauled in the same vehicles that
haul other wastes.
14)The East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) would like
further definition of what is an "authorized facility" in a
manner that does not prohibit the receipt of grease by a
publicly owned treatment works. The difficulty with making
such an amendment is whether it then requires one to make a
list of all current authorized uses, which would then need to
be updated from time to time. Any amendment along those lines
should be carefully crafted.
AB 1333
Page 10
Related legislation : AB 1065 (Agriculture Committee) This bill
would impose additional record keeping requirements on those
registered transporters of material removed from a grease trap.
This measure is still in Rules Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California District Attorneys Association (Sponsor)
Liquid Environmental Solutions
San Diego Baykeeper
Santa Monica Baykeeper
Support if Amended
California Grain and Feed Association
East Bay Municipal Utility District
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Michael Endicott / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965