BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       



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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 1930
          Author:   De La Torre (D), et al
          Amended:  7/15/10 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE ENV. QUALITY COMMITTEE  :  7-0, 6/28/10
          AYES:  Simitian, Runner, Corbett, Hancock, Lowenthal,  
            Pavley, Strickland

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  10-0, 8/2/10
          AYES:  Kehoe, Alquist, Ashburn, Corbett, Emmerson, Leno,  
            Price, Wolk, Wyland, Yee
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Walters
           
          ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  76-0, 6/2/10 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Hazardous waste:  glass beads

           SOURCE  :     Potter Industries, Inc.


           DIGEST  :    This bill prohibits the manufacture or sale of  
          glass beads for use in certain kinds of blasting, if the  
          beads contain more than 75 parts per million of arsenic or  
          100 parts per million of lead.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law:

          1. Pursuant to several Health and Safety Code statutes,  
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             bans or regulates lead content in a variety of consumer  
             products, such as candy, toys, tableware, packaging,  
             children's jewelry, plumbing, and glass beverage  
             bottles.

          2. Pursuant to the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic  
             Enforcement Act of 1986, commonly referred to as  
             Proposition 65, prohibits a person, in the course of  
             doing business, from knowingly and intentionally  
             exposing people to a chemical known to the state to  
             cause cancer or reproductive toxicity without first  
             giving clear and reasonable warning.  The Governor must  
             publish a list of chemicals "known to the State of  
             California" to cause cancer, birth defects or other  
             reproductive harm.  Both lead and arsenic are included  
             on this list.  No person can knowingly discharge or  
             release those same chemicals into any source of drinking  
             water.  Specified exemptions are allowed, such as when  
             the exposure or discharge would not pose a significant  
             risk of cancer, or, for chemicals that cause  
             reproductive toxicity, would not have observable effect  
             at 1,000 times the level in question.

          3. Requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control  
             (DTSC), by January 1, 2011, to adopt regulations to  
             establish a process to identify and prioritize chemicals  
             or chemical ingredients in consumer products that may be  
             considered a "chemical of concern," in accordance with a  
             review process, as specified.  (Section 25251 et seq.)

          4. Requires DTSC, on or before January 1, 2011, to adopt  
             regulations to establish a process to evaluate chemicals  
             of concern, and their potential alternatives, in  
             consumer products in order to determine how best to  
             limit exposure or to reduce the level of  hazard posed  
             by a chemical of concern, as specified.

          This bill: 

          1. Prohibits the manufacture or sale of glass beads that  
             have more than 75 parts per million of arsenic or 100  
             parts per million of lead, if the glass beads are going  
             to be used with pressure, suction, or wet- or dry- type  
             blasting equipment.

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          2. Requires each container of glass beads sold in the state  
             for surface preparation that will be used with pressure,  
             suction, or wet- or dry- type blasting equipment to be  
             labeled with the arsenic and lead limits required under  
             the bill.

          3. Specifies that it does not limit or supersede any  
             authority under the state's ongoing "Green Chemistry"  
             initiative (AB 1879 [Feuer], Chapter 599, Statutes of  
             2008) through which DTSC is required to prioritize  
             chemicals for review and regulation to protect human  
             health.

          4. Sunsets on January 1, 2015.

           Comments
           
           Purpose of the bill  .  According to the author, "Some  
          countries, including China, produce glass sphere with high  
          levels of arsenic and lead.  While it is illegal to use  
          these toxic spheres in China, they are imported for use in  
          California and other states.  Without a standard, these  
          foreign spheres can continue to be sold in California to  
          businesses that are completely unaware of the danger."  The  
          author continues, "In order to protect individuals and the  
          environment, AB 1930 will conform California to the U.S.  
          military standard, preventing the manufacture and sale of  
          glass beads containing an excess of 75 ppm arsenic and 100  
          ppm lead, by weight."

           NOTE:  Please refer to the Senate Environmental Quality  
                 Committee analysis for further background  
                 information.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  Yes

          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:

                          Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

             Major Provisions                2010-11     2011-12     
             2012-13               Fund  

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            Enforcement costs             $27       $107       
            $71Special*

            * Hazardous Waste Control Account

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/11/10)

          Potter Industries, Inc. (source)
          American Glass Bead Manufacturers' Association
          Chemical Industry Council of California
          Swarco Industries Inc.
          
           OPPOSITION  :    (Verified  8/11/10)

          Department of Toxic Substances Control
          Fair Glass Bead Market Access Coalition
          
           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    According to the bill's sponsor,  
          Potter Industries, Inc.:

            "Assembly Bill 1930 sets a standard for the manufacturing  
            and sale of glass spheres containing high levels of  
            arsenic and lead based on the standard used by the U.S.  
            military. 

            "Glass beads are pulverized when they are blown out of an  
            air compressor to treat surfaces or for other industrial  
            purposes.  The resulting dust, containing excessive  
            levels of heavy metals, is inhaled by employees or blown  
            into the air potentially contaminating soil and/or water.  
             The U.S. military recognized the danger of glass beads  
            containing toxic levels of arsenic and lead and  
            established a standard to ensure that soldiers,  
            civilians, and the environment were safe from  
            contamination."

          The sponsor refers to a briefing written by an internal  
          scientist, Dr. Ufuk Senturk, who writes, "Despite the  
          common public perception that glasses are inert, as  
          typically referenced for their use as toxic waste  
          containment, scientific literature, as explained above,  
          shows that glasses do leach and release toxic ingredients,  
          such as arsenic and lead.  This is evidenced for commercial  

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          grade soda-lime-silicate glasses, where arsenic is shown to  
          leach up to 75% of its initial content when exposed to  
          basic pH conditions. Enhanced leaching under acidic  
          conditions is also known for soda-lime-silicate glasses (as  
          reported by Clark et al.)."

           ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION  :    Fair Glass Bead Market Access  
          Coalition (FGBMAC) writes:

            "The American Association of State Highway and  
            Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Subcommittee on  
            Materials first examined this issue in 2006.  The  
            corporate sponsor of A.B. 1930 asked the subcommittee to  
            enact regulations restricting the source of recycled  
            glass cullet for bead manufacturing to North American  
            sources.  That effort was opposed by the Subcommittee and  
            other domestic providers/ customers of glass beads.  This  
            same manufacturer subsequently changed tactics away from  
            attempting to limit the source of glass cullet and  
            instead began proposing to limit the heavy metal content  
            of glass beads to 200 ppm arsenic, 200 ppm antimony and  
            200 ppm lead.  In 2007, the Subcommittee decided to  
            empanel a task force led by Eileen Sheehy of the New  
            Jersey Department of Transportation to further review the  
            issue.  That research, referenced earlier, is poised to  
            be released in a presentation to the subcommittee at  
            their annual meeting in August, 2010.
             
             "Members of the FGBMAC have worked with the New Jersey  
            researchers to provide them with glass bead samples to  
            assist in their work.  We are willing to support and see  
            enacted the heavy metal content levels that would be  
            proposed as a result of this peer-reviewed research.  It  
            is our expectation that these limits will not be confined  
            to lead, but may include a number of heavy metals  
            including arsenic, barium and antimony."


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  : 
          AYES:  Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall,  
            Bill Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford,  
            Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,  
            Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,  
            DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,  

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            Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick,  
            Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,  
            Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Logue, Bonnie  
            Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande,  
            Niello, Nielsen, Norby, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino,  
            Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio,  
            Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines,  
            Yamada, John A. Perez
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Tom Berryhill, Lieu, Audra Strickland,  
            Vacancy


          TSM:mw  8/11/10   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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