BILL NUMBER: AB 283 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 23, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 13, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Chesbro
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Ruskin)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Evans, Huffman, and Nava)
FEBRUARY 12, 2009
An act to add Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 48800) to Part 7
of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, relating to solid waste.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 283, as amended, Chesbro. Solid waste: extended producer
responsibility program.
The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989,
administered by the California Integrated Waste Management Board, is
required to reduce, recycle, and reuse solid waste generated in the
state to the maximum extent feasible in an efficient cost-effective
manner to conserve water, energy, and other natural resources.
This bill would create the California Product Stewardship Act of
2009 and would require the board to administer the program. The bill
would require the board to adopt regulations by July 1, 2011, in
order to implement the program to provide environmentally sound
product stewardship protocols that encourage producers to research
alternatives during the product design and packaging phases to foster
cradle-to-cradle producer responsibility and reduce the end-of-life
environmental impacts of the product.
The bill, on and after January 1, 2012, would require the board to
select covered products, as defined, according to certain
requirements. The bill would exempt the selection of covered products
from the requirements of the Administrative Law
Procedure Act. On and after July 1, 2012, a covered
product would be prohibited from being sold or used for promotional
purposes unless the producer or product stewardship organization, as
defined, of the covered product, submits a product stewardship plan
to the board that meets certain timelines and content requirements,
including, but not limited to, a description of the system for
collecting discarded covered products, methods proposed to maximize
the recycling of packaging, a description of the processing and
disposal system, and strategies for managing and reducing the life
cycle impacts of covered products and packaging such as through
redesign.
The bill would establish an annual reporting requirement for
producers or stewardship organizations, require administrative fees
to be set by the board, and authorize civil penalties of up to
$50,000 to be imposed by the board. The bill would require that the
administrative fees be deposited into the Extended Producer
Responsibility Account and that the penalties be deposited into the
Extended Producer Responsibility Penalty Subaccount that the bill
would create in the Integrated Waste Management Fund. The bill would
authorize the fees and penalties to be expended, upon appropriation
by the Legislature, to cover the board's program implementation costs
and as incentives to enhance recyclability and redesign efforts and
to reduce environmental and safety impacts of covered products.
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. Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 48800) is added to
Part 7 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, to read:
CHAPTER 5. CALIFORNIA PRODUCT STEWARDSHIP ACT OF 2009
Article 1. Findings and Declarations
48800. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) California has long been a national and international leader
in environmental stewardship efforts and mandating the diversion of
solid waste from disposal.
(2) By exercising a leadership role, the state will move forward
toward a future in which the environment and the economy both grow
stronger together by recycling more and reusing materials, which
encourages new markets and creates new jobs, instead of burying
resources that are lost to the economy forever.
(3) The California Integrated Waste Management Board
(CIWMB) board is the state agency charged with
monitoring and regulating activities to reduce, recycle, and reuse
solid waste generated in the state to the maximum extent feasible in
an efficient and cost-effective manner to conserve water, energy, and
other natural resources, and to protect the environment.
(4) The CIWMB board currently
oversees regulation of the state's solid waste stream while local
government is responsible for solid waste management within its
jurisdiction.
(5) To meet the mandates of the Integrated Waste
Management Act of 1989, the CIWMB this division, the
board develops and implements programs in accordance with the
act's waste management hierarchy, pursuant to Section 40051 of the
Public Resources Code.
(6) End-of-life management of solid waste has been the
responsibility of the state and local governments with the financial
burden placed on both local government and the taxpayers.
(7) Local governments throughout California are also working hard
to meet expanding environmental mandates to reduce solid waste
generation and landfill disposal, to prevent hazardous wastes from
being improperly disposed of, and to keep the rivers, streams, and
waterways free of trash. These mandates expose local governments to
significant financial burdens for end-of-life management of products
at a time when local governments are struggling with significant
budgetary constraints.
(8) The concept of product stewardship, also referred to as
extended producer responsibility, seeks to create shared
responsibility mechanisms for producers to mitigate or even eliminate
the negative impacts of their products at the end of its life.
(9) The CIWMB board adopted a final
"Extended Producer Responsibility Framework" policy document in 2008
to guide efforts to reduce the end-of-life environmental impacts of
products and require that producers share in the responsibility for
the stewardship of their products in order to promote environmental
sustainability.
(10) Currently, the state addresses products with end-of-life
management issues through a patchwork of product and material
specific programs that have experienced various levels of success.
(11) Establishing the Extended Producer Responsibility Framework
Program under this chapter offers an alternative to the materials and
products approach while providing the flexibility to customize
individual product stewardship plans toward the most effective and
efficient approach for a particular product or product category.
(12) The generation of solid waste and associated management has
the potential to harm natural resources and contribute to global
warming, which can place an economic burden on local government.
Disposal of solid waste prevents materials from circulating in the
state's economy in order to produce jobs and new products.
(13) It is necessary for producers to design and manufacture
products that are more resource efficient, less hazardous, have fewer
greenhouse gas impacts, and are more recyclable.
(14) Convenient and environmentally sound product stewardship
programs that include collecting, transporting, and recycling
unwanted products will help protect California's environment and the
health of state residents by encouraging producers to design and
produce products that have a lower carbon footprint, are less
hazardous and energy and material intensive, and are more reusable or
recyclable than other products.
(15) This chapter directs the CIWMB board
to develop, implement, and administer the Extended Producer
Responsibility Framework Program. The program includes a framework
for managing individual products that have significant end-of-life
waste management impacts as well as impacts on the environment and
public health.
Article 2. General Provisions
48800.1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the
California Product Stewardship Act of 2009.
48800.1.5. (a) The act shall apply the extended producer
responsibility approach to a broad range of problem products,
packaging, and materials and offers an opportunity to reduce waste
and increase recycling by customizing individual product stewardship
plans toward the most effective and efficient approach for a
particular product or product category.
(b) (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that the
CIWMB board coordinate with other state agencies
such as the Department of Toxic Substances Control, the Department
of Conservation, and the State Water Resources Control Board, as well
as local jurisdictions, industry sectors, business groups,
environmental organizations, and other interested stakeholders in
implementing this chapter.
(2) It is the intent of the Legislature that in developing the
framework, the CIWMB board design
performance goals for covered products that reduce the end-of-life
and life cycle impacts of covered products.
(3) It is the intent of the Legislature that the CIWMB
board design the program to help satisfy the
waste diversion requirements of the Integrated Waste
Management Act of 1989 this division in a manner
that minimizes costs and maximizes benefits for California's
economy, improves the end-of-life management of products, and
maximizes additional environmental and economic benefits for
California.
(4) It is the intent of the Legislature, recognizing local
government land use authority, to encourage the development of the
additional materials processing capacity that is needed to meet state
objectives for decreasing solid waste disposal by identifying
incentives for local governments and businesses to locate and approve
new or expanded facilities that meet and exceed their capacity
needs, and to recognize those entities that make significant
contributions to the state's overall solid waste reduction and
recycling objectives through the siting of facilities for the
processing of materials diverted from the solid waste stream.
Article 3. Definitions
48800.2. For purposes of this chapter, and unless the context
otherwise requires, the definitions in this article govern the
construction of this chapter.
48800.3. "Board" means the California Integrated Waste Management
Board.
48800.4. "Brand" means a name, symbol, word, or mark that
identifies a product, rather than its components, and attributes the
product to the owner or licensee of the brand as the producer.
48800.5. "Capture rate" is a component of the performance goals
for a covered product and means a quantitative measure that
establishes an amount of product to be collected by the product
stewardship system for that product by an established date.
48800.6. "Covered product" means a consumer product used or
disposed of in this state that has been selected by the board
pursuant to Section 48813.
48800.7. "Cradle-to-cradle design" means an ideal condition where
the product is developed for closed-loop systems in which every
ingredient is safe and beneficial.
48800.8. "Department" means the Department of Toxic Substances
Control.
48800.9. "Disposition rate" is a component of the performance
goals for a covered product and means a quantitative measure that
establishes the amounts of unwanted product that are reused,
recycled, or recovered, including energy recovery or safe disposal.
48800.10. "Extended producer responsibility" means the extension
of the shared responsibility of producers, and all entities involved
in the product chain, to reduce the cradle-to-cradle impacts of a
product and its packaging, with the primary responsibility being with
the producer who makes design and marketing decisions.
48800.11. "Historic product" means a covered product ready to be
discarded by the user that is not a new product or product currently
marketed or sold by the manufacturer.
48800.12. "Orphan product" means any one of the following:
(a) A covered product that lacks a manufacturer's brand.
(b) A covered product for which the manufacturer is no longer in
business and has no successor in interest.
(c) A covered product that is a brand for which the board cannot
identify an owner.
48800.13. "Performance goal" means product goals, capture rates,
and disposition rates established by the board for covered products.
48800.14. "Producer" means one of the following:
(a) A person or entity that manufactures a covered product that
sells, offers for sale, or distributes that covered product in
California under the manufacturer's own name or brand.
(b) If subdivision (a) does not apply, a person who is not the
manufacturer of the product but is the owner or licensee of a
trademark or brand under which a product is sold or distributed in
California, whether or not the trademark is registered.
(c) If subdivisions (a) and (b) do not apply, a person who imports
the product into California for sale or distribution.
48800.15. "Product goal" is a component of the performance goals
for a covered product and means a qualitative or quantitative goal to
measure improvements that reduce the life cycle impacts of products.
It shall include product design and materials content,
manufacturing, packaging, distribution, and end-of-life management.
It shall address use of virgin material, water, energy, and hazardous
substances, as well as carbon footprint, product longevity, recycled
content, and recyclability.
48800.16. "Product stewardship organization" means all of the
following:
(a) An organization appointed by a producer or producers to act as
an agent on behalf of the producer or producers to design, submit,
and administer a product stewardship plan.
(b) The organization shall be open for participation by all
producers of a covered product.
48800.17. "Product stewardship plan" means a plan written by an
individual producer or a stewardship organization, on behalf of a
producer, that addresses the environmental impacts of a covered
product over the entire life cycle of that product, including product
design, manufacture, and distribution, and the collection,
transportation, reuse, recycling, and final disposition of discarded
covered products as provided in this chapter.
48800.18. "Reporting period" means the period commencing January
1 and ending on December 31 of the same calendar year.
48800.19. "Retailer" means a person that offers new products for
sale at retail through any means, including remote offerings such as
sales outlets, catalogs, or an Internet Web site.
48800.20. "Secondary material" means material that is being
reused or recycled that would otherwise be disposed of in a landfill.
48800.21. "Sell" or "sales" means any transfer of title for
consideration, including remote sales conducted through sales
outlets, catalogs, or an Internet Web site or similar electronic
means, but does not include leases.
Article 4. Extended Producer Responsibility Framework Program
48810. (a) (1) The Extended Producer Responsibility Framework
Program is hereby created.
(2) The program shall be administered by the board.
(3) The program shall provide environmentally sound product
stewardship protocols that encourage producers to research
alternatives during the product design and packaging phases to foster
cradle-to-cradle producer responsibility and reduce the end-of-life
environmental impacts.
(b) For purposes of this chapter, the board shall review existing
and proposed international, federal, and state extended producer
responsibility programs and make reasonable efforts to promote
consistency among the programs established pursuant to this part and
those other programs.
(c) To ensure the goals of this article are achieved successfully
and efficiently, the board shall collaborate with representatives of
state and local government, producers, retailers, consumers,
transporters, haulers, recyclers, nonprofit organizations, and other
interested stakeholders with respect to all regulations adopted
pursuant to this article and shall consider the net economic impacts
and benefits of a product stewardship plan prior to its approval.
(d) (1) By July 1, 2011, the board, following one or more noticed
public workshops and in consultation with the State Air Resources
Board, the Department of Conservation, the State Department of Public
Health, the Department of Toxic Substances Control, the State Water
Resources Control Board, and other appropriate state agencies, shall
adopt regulations to implement this chapter.
(2) The board shall also consult with other state and local
environmental regulatory agencies, as well as representatives of
local government, producers, retailers, consumers, transporters,
haulers, recyclers, nonprofit organizations, and other interested
stakeholders in adopting the regulations.
(e) The board, in addition to any other regulations necessary to
implement this chapter, shall do all of the following:
(1) Establish definitions.
(2) Establish a process for selecting covered products and
determining performance goals.
(3) Establish a process for product stewardship plan development,
review, and submittal.
(4) Establish a process for providing data and reporting to the
board.
(5) (A) Prepare recommendations, in consultation with local
government and the business community, for immediate incentives for
producers that stimulate waste reduction, pollution prevention,
energy efficiency, and increased secondary use of recycled and reused
materials that would otherwise be disposed of.
(B) The incentives specified in subparagraph (A) may include, but
are not limited to, an expedited approach to state-issued permits
needed to implement product stewardship programs, recognizing local
government land use authority, investments in more market
development, cost-effective energy savings and reducing water usage,
tax incentives for utilizing renewable resources, loans from the
Recycling Market Development Revolving Loan Program pursuant to
Section 42023.1 to qualifying product stewardship organizations for
startup of stewardship programs, and further incentives for designing
products and processing facilities from recycled and reused
materials that would otherwise be disposed of.
(C) Nothing in this section shall be construed to interfere with a
local government's sole authority over local land-use
land use decisions.
(6) Prepare recommendations for long-term incentives to foster
environmental product design to reduce waste and use of hazardous
materials, to reward businesses for superior environmental
performance that results in significant solid or hazardous waste
reduction or increased use of secondary materials, and for
investments that support longer term change to material markets and
market development.
(7) Prepare recommendations for funding incentives, by consulting
with product stewardship stakeholders to determine how to fund
additional cradle-to-cradle stewardship initiatives and disincentives
for solid waste disposal as a viable option.
(8) Establish penalties for violations of this chapter.
(9) Develop guidelines designed to ensure that activities
undertaken pursuant to this chapter do not interfere
overlap, duplicate, or conflict with the
following:
(A) Efforts by the department undertaken pursuant to Article 14
(commencing with Section 25251) of Chapter 6.5 of Division 20 of the
Health and Safety Code.
(B) The State Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Commission's energy efficiency programs.
(C) The State Air Resources Board climate change efforts to
achieve and maintain state and federal ambient air quality standards
and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
(D) The State Water Resources Control Board efforts for water
quality protection.
(E) The Ocean Protection Council's ocean litter reduction efforts.
(F) The Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act
(Division 12.1 (commencing with Section 14500)).
(G) The Rigid Plastic Packaging Containers Program pursuant to
Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 42300) of Part 3.
(H) Any other state product stewardship or life cycle law or
regulatory program for a product.
48811. (a) Nothing in this chapter or any regulation adopted or
actions taken by the board pursuant to this chapter shall be
interpreted to limit, abrogate, supersede, duplicate, or otherwise
conflict with federal law, federal policy, or federal treaty
obligations.
(b) Nothing in this chapter or any regulation adopted or actions
taken by the board pursuant to this chapter shall be interpreted to
limit, supersede, duplicate, or otherwise conflict with the authority
of the department under Section 25257.1 of the Health and Safety
Code to fully implement Article 14 (commencing with Section 25251) of
Chapter 6.5 of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code, including
the authority of the department to include products in its product
registry.
48812. As a part of the board's annual report to the Legislature
pursuant to Section 40507, the board shall include a section on the
progress and implementation of the Extended Producer Responsibility
Framework Program.
48813. On and after January 1, 2012, the board, in consultation
with all appropriate state agencies and local governments, and after
one or more noticed public workshops with an opportunity for all
interested parties to comment, shall select covered products
according to the following requirements:
(a) The board shall only select covered products that have been
identified with environmental, waste management, and health impacts
resulting from the manufacture, transport, use, and disposal, that
meet one or more of the following criteria:
(1) Those products that pose a significant threat to public health
and safety when discarded.
(2) Products that pose a threat of increased greenhouse gas
emissions.
(3) Products that impose significant end-of-life management costs
on state or local government.
(b) The factors the board shall consider in selecting covered
products pursuant to subdivision (a) shall include, but are not
limited to, the following:
(1) Current impacts to local government and general ratepayers.
(2) Public health, toxicity, and significant environmental and
safety impacts and benefits.
(3) Resource recovery and material conservation potential,
including the potential for product redesign to achieve greater waste
reduction, toxicity reduction, water consumption reduction, increase
in recycled content, and greater capability for being recycled.
(4) Energy use and conservation potential.
(5) Climate change impacts and benefits.
(6) Existing infrastructure capacity for material management and
potential for expansion.
(7) Success in collecting and processing similar products in other
programs in the United States and other countries.
(8) The selection of products in extended producer responsibility
programs in other states.
(9) Ocean pollution impacts.
(10) Stormwater runoff impacts.
(11) The lack of an existing product stewardship or other
regulatory system for the product.
(12) Life cycle net environmental impacts.
(13) Public safety and public health uses of products.
(c) The board may select covered products and set performance
goals over time at regularly scheduled board meetings. All products
banned from landfill disposal in California shall be designated
within one year of adoption of the regulations pursuant to Section
48810, and shall be managed under a product stewardship program.
(d) Through the product selection process, the board shall do the
following:
(1) Identify and notify potential interested parties for a
proposed covered product.
(2) Select and define a covered product or covered products. This
shall include historic and orphan products in addition to new
products.
(3) Determine whether the packaging for a covered product shall be
considered part of the covered product.
(4) Establish any implementation dates for requirements for
covered products.
(5) Identify unique environmental impacts or management
requirements, if any, for a covered product.
(6) Set performance goals and timeframes for the covered product.
(7) Establish measurement metrics and reporting protocols for the
covered product.
(e) The selection process for covered products described in this
section shall not be subject to the requirements of Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of
the Government Code. However, selected covered products and
associated performance goals shall be submitted to the Office of
Administrative Law for filing and printing with the Secretary of
State.
48814. (a) On and after July 1, 2012, a covered product shall not
be offered for sale or used for promotional purposes in this state
unless the producer or product stewardship organization of the
covered product submits a product stewardship plan in accordance with
this chapter and the regulations adopted pursuant to subdivision (c)
of Section 48810.
(b) A producer shall do all of the following:
(1) (A) Submit a product stewardship plan or participate in a
stewardship organization.
(B) The producer, however, shall maintain responsibility for
compliance with this chapter.
(2) (A) Collect the individual covered product pursuant to a
product stewardship plan to be reused or recycled, unless the board
determines that the covered product is not reusable or recyclable.
(B) Covered products that have been determined by the board not to
be recyclable nor reusable shall be disposed of or managed in
properly permitted facilities appropriate for the covered product,
including disposal or management of all hazardous products,
components, or materials in properly permitted hazardous waste
facilities appropriate for the product, component, or material.
(3) Provide for collection services without charging a fee at the
time that covered products are discarded and collected for recycling
or disposal.
(4) Pay all the administrative and operational costs associated
with the product stewardship plan, including the costs of collection,
transportation, and recycling or disposal, or both, of covered
products, including the costs of local government.
44815. (a) The producer or product stewardship organization of a
covered product shall submit a product stewardship plan to the board.
(b) Each product stewardship plan for a covered individual product
shall include, at a minimum, all of the following:
(1) Contact information for all participating producers.
(2) A description of the product and associated brand covered by
the plan.
(3) A detailed description of how the performance goals set by the
board will be achieved.
(4) A description of methods proposed to be used to maximize the
recycling of packaging that is delivered into the program along with
the discarded covered product.
(5) A description of the collection system for collecting the
discarded covered product, including, but not limited to, the
following:
(A) How the discarded covered product will be collected in all
cities, cities and counties, and counties of the state.
(B) The entities that will perform collection services.
(C) How the collection system is available, convenient,
accessible, and free of charge statewide.
(D) Locations, hours, and days of operation for collection
locations.
(6) A description of the processing and disposal system, including
the following:
(A) How the discarded covered product will be reused and recycled.
(B) If the covered product is not reusable nor recyclable, how the
covered product will be disposed of or managed in properly permitted
facilities appropriate to the covered product, including the
disposal or management of hazardous substances.
(C) The location and permit status of processing or disposal
facilities.
(D) Processing methods utilized at each facility and how residuals
will be handled.
(7) How the product stewardship plan will be financed, including
the following:
(A) The mechanism for securing and dispersing funds to cover
administrative, operational, and capital costs, including the
assessment of charges to producers who participate through a
stewardship organization.
(B) Adequate insurance and financial assurance for collection,
handling, and disposal operations.
(8) Strategies for managing and reducing the life cycle impacts of
covered products and packaging, including through redesign and how
impacts will be tracked over time to show continual improvement.
(9) Education and outreach activities, including the following:
(A) Providing information to the general public on how to use the
collection system for a covered product.
(B) Providing information regarding the collection system to
collectors, including local governments if they are envisioned to be
part of the collection system, retailers, and other interested
parties.
(10) The consultation process used to consult with affected
stakeholders and the general public about the contents of the product
stewardship plan.
(c) Producers shall submit their product stewardship plan, or
updates to the product stewardship plan, to the board within 180 days
following the selection of a covered product or 180 days prior to
the sale of a new covered product.
(d) Product stewardship plans shall be revised and submitted to
the board every four years.
(e) All product stewardship plans submitted to the board shall be
available to the public on the board's Internet Web site.
(f) A producer shall notify the board 30 days in advance of
instituting a material change to a product stewardship plan.
Article 5. Reporting
48820. (a) Beginning June 30, 2012, and every subsequent year
thereafter, each producer or stewardship organization operating a
product stewardship plan shall prepare and submit to the board an
annual report describing the activities of the product stewardship
program during the previous reporting period, including, but not
limited to, the following:
(1) How the product stewardship plan attained the performance
goals for the covered product, and if the performance goals were not
met, what actions the producer or stewardship organization will take
during the next reporting period to do so.
(2) A description of the outreach and education activities
undertaken during the reporting period.
(3) The actions undertaken to manage and reduce the life cycle
impacts of the covered products and packaging, from product design to
end-of-life management, including how the formulation, packaging,
and distribution of products have been improved to reduce waste,
reduce toxicity, reduce carbon footprint, reduce other environmental
impacts, increase recycled content, increase product longevity, and
make covered products more easily recyclable.
(b) All reports submitted to the board are required to be approved
by the board members at a monthly committee or board hearing no
later than 90 days after submittal.
(c) All reports submitted to the board shall be made available to
the public on the board's Internet Web site.
Article 6. Financial Provisions
44825. (a) All producers shall submit an administrative fee to
the board, according to a fee schedule established by the board.
(b) The total amount of annual fees collected pursuant to this
section shall not exceed the amount necessary to recover costs
incurred by the board in connection with the administration and
enforcement of the requirements of this chapter.
48826. (a) The Extended Producer Responsibility Account and the
Extended Producer Responsibility Penalty Subaccount are hereby
established in the Integrated Waste Management Fund.
(b) All fees collected pursuant to this chapter shall be deposited
in the Extended Producer Responsibility Account and may be expended
by the board, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to cover the
board's costs to implement this chapter.
(c) All penalties collected pursuant to this chapter shall be
deposited in the Extended Producer Responsibility Penalty Subaccount
and may be expended by the board, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, to cover the board's costs to implement this chapter.
(d) All funds collected may be expended as incentives to enhance
recyclability and redesign efforts and to reduce environmental and
safety impacts of covered products.
Article 7. Enforcement
48830. (a) Civil liability in an amount of up to fifty thousand
dollars ($50,000) may be administratively imposed by the board
against a producer for any violation of this chapter. The board shall
deposit all penalties in the Extended Producer Responsibility
Penalty Subaccount.
(b) The board shall adopt regulations that specify the procedures
and amounts for the imposition of administrative civil penalties
pursuant to this subdivision.
48831. The board, or its designee, is authorized to inspect,
audit, or require and review third-party audits of producers, product
stewardship organizations, and service providers including
collectors and recyclers that are utilized to fulfill the
requirements of a product stewardship plan.