BILL NUMBER: AB 2505	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 22, 2008
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 7, 2008

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Brownley
    (   Coauthor:   Assembly Member  
Huffman   ) 

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2008

   An act to add Article 10.4.1 (commencing with Section 25214.25) to
Chapter 6.5 of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code, relating
to hazardous waste.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2505, as amended, Brownley. Hazardous waste: polyvinyl chloride
packaging container.
   Existing law, the Toxics in Packaging Prevention Act, prohibits a
manufacturer or supplier, as defined, from offering for sale or for
promotional purposes in this state a package or packaging component
that includes specified regulated metals and prohibits a person from
offering for sale or for promotional purposes in this state a product
in a package that includes those intentionally introduced regulated
metals. A violation of the hazardous waste control laws, including
the act, is a crime.
   This bill would prohibit a person, on and after January 1, 2010,
from selling or distributing in commerce in this state a polyvinyl
chloride packaging container, as defined.
    The bill would provide that a person who violates this
prohibition is not subject to the criminal penalties imposed pursuant
to the hazardous waste control laws and instead would be liable for
a civil penalty not to exceed $2,500 per day for each violation. The
bill would require the collected civil penalties to be deposited in
the Hazardous Waste Control Account, for expenditure by the
department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to implement and
enforce this prohibition.
   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) Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) packaging poses an environmental and
human health risk throughout its life cycle.
   (b) PVC production involves the use of vinyl chloride, a known
carcinogen, which may pose a health hazard to those in and around
manufacturing facilities.
   (c) Many types of PVC packaging contain phthalates, a class of
chemicals that have hormone-disrupting effects on humans.
   (d) PVC packaging has been found by the Toxics in Packaging
Clearinghouse of the Council of State Governments and others to have
a high incidence rate of lead and cadmium heavy metal contamination.
   (e) The combustion of PVC emits dioxins.
   (f) PVC packaging is recycled at very low levels.
   (g) PVC is a problematic contaminant in the recycling stream of
other, more abundant, nontoxic plastic resins, preventing
municipalities from accepting greater quantities of packaging for
recycling and preventing municipalities from achieving higher
landfill diversion rates.
   (h) When disposed of in a solid waste landfill or as litter, PVC
packaging may leach its toxins into the surrounding groundwater.
   (i) Recognizing the threat leached toxins pose on marine wildlife,
the Ocean Protection Council recently passed a resolution calling
for the banning of vinyl chloride in plastic packaging.
   (j) Alternatives to polyvinyl chloride packaging are abundant,
affordable, and are already competitive in the marketplace.
  SEC. 2.  Article 10.4.1 (commencing with Section 25214.25) is added
to Chapter 6.5 of Division 20 of the  Public Resources
  Health and Safety  Code, to read:

      Article 10.4.1.  Polyvinyl Chloride Packaging


   25214.25.  (a) For the purposes of this article, unless the
context clearly requires otherwise, "polyvinyl chloride packaging
container" means a container that is used to contain, hold, protect,
or display another product, alone or in combination with paperboard
or other materials, that may be flexible or rigid, and to which all
of the following applies:
   (1) The container is comprised predominantly of polyvinyl chloride
plastic resin.
   (2) The container has the shape of a  sac  
sack  , cup, bottle, bowl, box, clamshell, or other package
shape, including a blister pack.
   (b) "Polyvinyl chloride packaging container" does not include any
of the following:
   (1) A container that is used to contain a  petroleum
  petroleum-based  product, including a fuel
 or a lubricant   , a lubricant, a fuel
additive, or other petroleum-based product used on or in motor
vehicles  .
   (2) A container that is used to contain a prescription or
over-the-counter human or veterinary drug, including, but not limited
to, a drug as defined in Section 109925 or as defined in Section 321
of Title 21 of the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
   (3) A container that is used to contain a medical device, as
defined in Section 109920.
   25214.26.  On and after January 1, 2010, a person shall not sell
or distribute in commerce in this state a polyvinyl chloride
packaging container.
   25214.27.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this
chapter, a person who violates this article shall not be subject to
any criminal penalties imposed pursuant to this chapter and shall
only be subject to the civil penalty specified in subdivision (b).
   (b) A person who violates this article shall be liable for a civil
penalty not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per
day for each violation. That civil penalty may be assessed and
recovered in a civil action brought in any court of competent
jurisdiction.
   (c) Civil penalties collected pursuant to this article shall be
deposited in the Hazardous Waste Control Account, for expenditure by
the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to implement
and enforce this article.