BILL NUMBER: AB 258 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 1, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 9, 2007
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Krekorian
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Feuer)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Huffman, Karnette, and Portantino)
FEBRUARY 5, 2007
An act to add Section 30237 to the Public Resources Code,
and to add Chapter 5.2 (commencing with Section 13367) to
Division 7 of the Water Code, relating to the water quality.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 258, as amended, Krekorian. Environment: marine
debris: Water quality: plastic discharges.
Under the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, the State
Water Resources Control Board and the California regional water
quality control boards are the principal state agencies with
authority over matters relating to water quality. The state board and
the regional boards prescribe waste discharge requirements for the
discharge of waste in accordance with the federal national pollutant
discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit program established by
the federal Clean Water Act and the Porter-Cologne Water Quality
Control Act. A person who discharges waste into the waters of the
state in violation of waste discharge requirements, or other order or
prohibition issued by a regional board or the state board, is
required upon the order of that regional board or the state board, to
clean up the waste or to abate the effects of the waste. The act
authorizes the state board or a regional board to issue a cleanup or
abatement order.
This bill would require the state board and the regional boards,
by January 1, 2009, to implement a program for the control of
discharges of preproduction plastics from point and nonpoint sources,
including waste discharge, monitoring, and reporting requirements
that at a minimum, target facilities that handle preproduction and
nonpoint sources involved in the transfer of preproduction plastic,
and the implementation of specified best management practices for the
control of discharges of preproduction plastic. The state board
would be required, when developing the program, to consult with
regional boards with plastic manufacturing, handling, and
transportation facilities that have already voluntarily implemented a
program to control discharges of preproduction plastic. The
state board would also be required to establish criteria
for submittal of the no exposure certification by certain plastic
manufacturing and processing facilities. A plastic manufacturing and
process facility that is given a no exposure certification would not
be required to implement the best management practices if all
manufacturing, loading, unloading, and storage activities occur
within the certified facility, unless required by the state board or
a regional board. The state board would be required to establish a
fee schedule sufficient to pay for the costs of implementing and
administering the program.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) The increasing problem of marine debris is harmful to marine
resources, particularly species that ingest or become entangled in
floating debris.
(b) Plastic is the most common type of marine debris, comprising
up to 90 percent of floating marine debris.
(c) The problem of plastic marine debris is increasing in
California and the North Pacific Gyre, where densities of
microplastics have tripled during the last decade.
(d) Plastics are especially harmful to the marine environment due
to plastics' nondegradable qualities.
(e) Thermoplastic resin pellets, commonly known as "nurdles,"
plastic powders, and production scrap, all of which have been
mistaken as food by marine life, are a significant source of beach
pollution. One survey conducted in the summer of 1998 estimated that
over 100 million nurdles were polluting Orange County beaches alone.
This represented over 98 percent of all the pollution collected in
terms of abundance and 17 percent in terms of weights.
(f) Plastics can contain potentially harmful constituents such as
phthalates, bisphenol A, styrene, perfluorooctanoic acid, vinyl
chloride, and flame retardants.
(g) Nurdles have been shown to adsorb chemicals from ambient
seawater. Concentrations of pollutants, such as polychlorinated
biphenyls and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene have been found to be
up to one million times higher on nurdles than levels detected in
surrounding seawater.
(h) Approximately 60 billion pounds of nurdles are manufactured
annually in the United States alone.
(i) The presence of resin pellets is not unique to United States
beaches and waters. Studies have shown an international proliferation
of nurdles in the marine environment.
(j) Plastic and other debris litter our beaches and
represents represent a threat to California's
$46 billion ocean-dependent, tourism-oriented economy, and in certain
circumstances may pose a public health threat.
(k) State and local agencies spend millions of dollars per year in
litter collection.
(l) The majority of trash capture best management practices, such
as catch basin inserts, are not designed to capture nurdles. The
typical mesh in a catch basin insert is five millimeters while the
nurdles diameter is one to two millimeters.
(m) A coordinated effort among state agencies is necessary to
create a comprehensive response to reduce the harmful effects of
marine debris.
(n) Increased control over industrial discharges will reduce the
amount of plastics entering the aquatic environment.
(o) Eliminating marine debris from the world's oceans is a
universal goal for government, industry, businesses, and individuals.
SEC. 2. Chapter 5.2 (commencing with Section 13367) is added to
Division 7 of the Water Code, to read:
CHAPTER 5.2. PLASTIC DEBRIS ERADICATION PROGRAM
13367. (a) For purposes of this chapter, "preproduction plastic"
includes plastic pellets, plastic resin products, powdered coloring
for plastics, plastic additives, and plastic fragments.
(b) (1) The state board and the regional
boards shall implement a program to control discharges of
preproduction plastic from point and nonpoint sources.
(2) The state board, when developing this program, shall consult
with any regional board with plastic manufacturing, handling, and
transportation facilities located within the regional board's
jurisdiction that has already voluntarily implemented a program to
control discharges of preproduction plastic.
(c) The program control measures shall, at a minimum, include
waste discharge, monitoring, and reporting requirements that target
facilities that handle preproduction plastic and nonpoint sources
involved in the transfer of preproduction plastics.
(d) The program shall, at a minimum, require plastic
manufacturing, handling, and transportation facilities to implement
best management practices to control discharges of preproduction
plastics.
(e) At a minimum, the best management practices shall include all
of the following:
(1) Zero loss containment systems shall be installed at all storm
drains that are down-gradient of areas where preproduction plastic is
present or transferred. A zero loss containment system is defined as
a device or series of devices that traps all particles retained by a
one millimeter mesh screen and has a design treatment capacity of
not less than the peak flowrate resulting from a one-year, one-hour
storm in the subdrainage area.
(2) At all points of transfer, preproduction plastic shall be
received in completely sealed containers. The container shall be
watertight and durable enough so as not to rupture under typical
loading and unloading activities.
(3) At all points of preproduction plastic storage and transfer,
preproduction plastic shall be stored in a manner that prevents
discharge. Storage containers must be sealed, watertight, and durable
enough so as not to rupture under typical loading and unloading
activities.
(4) At all points of storage and transfer of preproduction
plastic, capture devices shall be in place under all transfer valves
and devices used in loading, unloading, or other transfer of
preproduction plastic.
(5) A facility shall have a vacuum system available for quick
cleanup of fugitive preproduction plastic.
(f) The state board shall establish criteria for submittal for the
no exposure certification requirement by plastic manufacturing and
process facilities subject to the national pollutant discharge
elimination system permitting requirements pursuant to Section 122.26
of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations and the no exposure
certification requirements pursuant to Section 122.26(g) of Title 40
of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(1) The criteria shall include specific procedures, controls, and
best management practices necessary to achieve the zero discharge of
preproduction plastic from facilities manufacturing and processing
preproduction plastics.
(2) The no exposure certification shall be required annually.
(3) "No exposure" means that all industrial materials and
activities are protected by a storm resistant shelter to prevent
exposure to rain, snow, snowmelt, or runoff. Industrial materials and
activities include, but are not limited to, material handling
equipment or activities, industrial machinery, raw materials,
intermediate products, byproducts, and final products, or waste
products. Material handling activities include storage, loading and
unloading, transportation, or conveyance, of a raw material,
intermediate product, byproduct, final product, or waste product.
(g) If a plastic manufacturing and processing facility is given a
no exposure certification and all manufacturing, loading, unloading,
and storage activities occur within the certified no exposure
facility, the facility is not required to implement the best
management practices pursuant to subdivision (d), unless required by
the state board or the regional boards.
(h) The state board shall establish a fee schedule sufficient to
pay for the costs of implementing and administering the program
established under this chapter.
(i) The state board and the regional boards shall implement this
chapter by January 1, 2009.
(j) Nothing in this chapter limits the authority of the state
board or the regional boards to establish requirements in addition to
the best management practices for the elimination of discharges of
preproduction plastic.