BILL NUMBER: AB 258	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 27, 2007
	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 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. 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  minimum  best
management practices for the control of discharges of preproduction
plastic. The state board would be required, when developing the
program, to consult with  any  regional  boards
  board  with plastic manufacturing, handling, and
transportation facilities  located within the regional board's
jurisdiction  that  have   has 
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
  any other  best management practices  for the
control of preproduction plastic,  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.   The bill
would require an entity that manufactures, handles, distributes, or
transports preproduction plastic to apply for coverage under a
specified stormwater discharge permit, and would require the permit
fees to be used by the state board to implement the preproduction
plastic requirements. 
   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 
 can be  harmful to marine resources, particularly species
that ingest or become entangled in  floating  
that  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,"

    (b)    Thermoplastic resin pellets, 
plastic powders, and production scrap  , all of which have
been   can be  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) 
    (c)  Approximately 60 billion pounds of  nurdles
  resin pellets  are manufactured annually in the
United States alone. 
   (i) The presence of resin pellets 
    (d)     The presence of plastic resin
pellets and other litter  is not unique to United States beaches
and waters. Studies have shown  an international
proliferation of nurdles in the   plastic resin pellets
and other litter in the international  marine environment.

   (j) Plastic and other debris litter our beaches and represent

    (e)     Litter found on our beaches
represents  a threat to California's $46 billion
ocean-dependent, tourism-oriented economy, and in certain
circumstances may pose a public health threat. 
   (k) 
    (f)  State and local agencies spend millions of dollars
per year in litter collection. 
   (l) 
    (g)  The majority of trash capture best management
practices, such as catch basin inserts, are not designed to capture
 nurdles   resin pellets  . The typical
mesh in a catch basin insert is five millimeters while the 
nurdles  diameter  of resin pellets  is one to two
millimeters. 
   (m) 
    (h)  A coordinated effort among state agencies is
necessary to create a comprehensive response to reduce the 
harmful effects of marine debris   presence of marine
debris litter  . 
   (n) 
    (i)  Increased control over industrial discharges will
reduce the amount of plastics entering the aquatic environment.

   (o) 
    (j)  Eliminating marine debris  litter  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 
 PREPRODUCTION PLASTIC DEBRIS  PROGRAM


   13367.  (a)  For purposes of this chapter, "preproduction plastic"
includes plastic  pellets, plastic resin products 
 resin pellets  , 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.  A facility that handles preproduction plastic shall
comply with either subdivision (e) or the criteria established
pursuant to subdivision (f).  
   (e) At a minimum, the best management practices shall include all
of the following:  
   (e) At a minimum, the state board shall require the following best
management practices:
   (1)  Zero loss   Appropriate 
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  
facility shall install a containment system that  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.  In   a situation where
the regional board determines that a one millimeter or similar mesh
screen is not appropriate, the regulated facility and regional water
board shall work collaboratively to identify and implement
technically feasible alternative storm drain control measures that
are designed to achieve the same performance as a one millimeter mesh
screen.  
   (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.  
   (2) At all points of preproduction plastic transfer, measures
shall be taken to prevent discharge, including, but not limited to,
completely sealed containers durable enough so as not to rupture
under typical loading and unloading activities.
   (3) At all points of preproduction plastic storage, preproduction
plastic shall be stored in completely sealed containers that are
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
  make available to its employees a vacuum or vacuum
type system,  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
  any other  best management  practices
pursuant to subdivision (d), unless required by the state board or
the regional boards.   practices for the control of
preproduction plastic.  
   (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.  
   (h) An entity that manufactures, handles, distributes, or
transports preproduction plastic shall be required to apply for
coverage under the a general permit for storm water discharges
associated with industrial activities. General permit fees required
pursuant to this section shall calculated in accordance with Section
2200 of Title 23 of the California Code of Regulations, and the
revenue generated from the fees shall be used by the state board to
implement 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.