BILL ANALYSIS AB 1998 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 12, 2010 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES Wesley Chesbro, Chair AB 1998 (Brownley) - As Amended: April 5, 2010 SUBJECT : Recycling: plastic and paper carryout bags. SUMMARY : Prohibits stores, as defined, from providing single-use carryout bags to customers. EXISTING LAW : 1)Requires operators of stores (defined as supermarkets and stores over 10,000 square feet that include a pharmacy) to establish an in-store plastic carryout bag recycling program. The program must include: a) Plastic bags provided by the store to include a label encouraging customers to return the bag to the store for recycling; b) Easily accessible recycling bins for plastic bags; c) All plastic bags collected must be recycled in a manner consistent with the local jurisdiction's recycling plan; d) The store must maintain records relating to the program for at least three years and must make the records available to the local jurisdiction or California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) upon request; and e) The operator of the store must make reusable bags available to customers. 2)Requires manufacturers of plastic bags to develop educational materials to encourage reducing, reusing, and recycling plastic bags. 3)Pre-empts local governments from requiring stores that meet these provisions to implement separate recycling programs or from imposing a fee on plastic bags. 4)Sunsets the above provisions on January 1, 2013. AB 1998 Page 2 THIS BILL : 1)States findings and declarations relating to single-use bag waste. 2)Moves the sunset date for the existing plastic bag recycling program from January 1, 2013 to July 1, 2011. 3)Defines terms used in the bill, including: a) "Reusable bag" as a bag that is designed and manufactured for at least 100 uses and is made of a washable material that "does not contain lead or any toxic metal in a toxic amount, as determined by the Department." b) "Single-use carryout bag" as a bag that is designed for one or more uses, but fewer than 100 uses; is made of plastic, paper, or other material; and, is provided by a store to a customer at the point of sale. c) "Store" as supermarkets; stores over 10,000 square feet that include a pharmacy; and, a convenience food store or foodmart engaged in retailing a limited line of goods that generally includes milk, bread, soda, and snacks. 4)On and after January 1, 2012, prohibits a store from providing single-use carryout bags to customers at the point of sale. Requires stores to make reusable bags available for purchase. 5)On or before January 1, 2015, requires the Department of Resources Recover and Recycling to report to the Legislature regarding the effectiveness of this bill. Specifies that the report include recommendations to further encourage the use of reusable bags and to reduce the consumption of single-use bags. Sunsets this reporting requirement on January 1, 2019. FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown COMMENTS : 1)Background AB 1998 Page 3 Plastic bags are a significant contributor to litter and marine debris. Their light weight and expansive nature makes them especially prone to blowing into waterways. Even when disposed of in the waste stream, these bags pose litter problems as they blow off of trucks and out of solid waste handling operations. According to the US EPA, marine debris has become a serious problem along shorelines, coastal waters, estuaries, and oceans throughout the world. It is estimated that 60-80% of all marine debris, and 90% of floating debris, is plastic. Marine debris can be life threatening to marine organisms and can wreak havoc on coastal communities and the fishing industry. Recent studies by the Algalita Marine Research Foundation and the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project have found that the average mass of plastics in the seawater off the coast of Long Beach is two and a half times greater than the average mass of plankton. After storms with excessive runoff, the mass of plastics is even greater. A similar study over seawater 1,000 miles west of San Francisco found the mass of plastics was six times the mass of plankton in drifts where marine animals congregate for feeding on plankton. In February 2007, the Ocean Protection Council (OPC) adopted a resolution to reduce marine debris, which included specific actions on single-use plastics. In November 2008, OPC adopted its final implementation strategy for the resolution. The strategy includes three "priority actions for measurable success:" 1) Implement a take-back program for convenience food packaging; 2) Prohibit single-use products that pose significant ocean littler impacts where a feasible alternative is available; and, 3) Assess fees on commonly littered items. Plastic single-use bags are included in action 2; OPC proposes that a fee be added for all single use paper and plastic bags to incentivize people to switch to reusable bags. OPC goes on to suggest that if a fee does not dramatically reduce the use of bags, a ban should be considered. Reusable bags are the most environmentally benign alternative to plastic bags. Paper, the most likely replacement for plastic, also has drawbacks, including being more costly for stores and using more energy to produce and recycle. However, these do degrade when littered and do not pose the threats to marine life that plastic bags do. Additionally, compostable or degradable plastic bags are not recyclable and contaminate recycling equipment if they are mixed in with conventional plastic bags. Moreover, most degradable bags do not break down in a marine AB 1998 Page 4 environment. AB 2449 (Levine), Chapter 845, Statutes of 2006 requires all stores to establish a plastic bag recycling program. The stated goal of this legislation was to increase recycling, and to create the infrastructure necessary to collect and recycle plastic bags. That bill also pre-empted local governments from enacting a per-bag fee on plastic bags. Local governments have indicated concerns with the pre-emption created by AB 2449, arguing that the fee could be used to discourage bag distribution and fund anti-litter or recycling programs. 2)This bill According to the author, Californians use over 19 billion plastic bags annually (approximately 552 per person), creating over 147,000 tons of waste. CIWMB staff estimates that only 5-6% of plastic materials are recycled in California. The author also states that paper bags also have negative environmental impacts, including deforestation, air pollution, and excessive energy consumption. The author states that California currently spends approximately $25 million annually to clean up plastic bag waste, and municipalities collectively spend $300 million annually. Heal the Bay, the bill's sponsor, states that 25 percent of the world's population lives in countries in which a ban or fee has been placed on single-use plastic carryout bags. While these policies are helpful in reducing marine debris from plastic, they have the unintended consequence of shifting disposable bags to paper, which have their own significant environmental impacts. This bill would eliminate the use of both plastic and paper bags and would require consumers to switch to reusable bags. 3)Related legislation a) AB 2138 (Chesbro) establishes recycling and composting requirements for take-out food packaging, including bags. This bill is scheduled to be heard in this committee on April 12th. b) SB 228 (DeSaulnier) requires bags labeled "compostable" or "marine degradable" to be readily and easily identifiable to assist in their collection and sorting. AB 1998 Page 5 This bill has been referred to this committee. c) SB 531 (DeSaulnier) establishes the "Single-Use Carryout Bag Responsibility Act" and requires suppliers of single-use carryout bags (paper and plastic) to remit a fee of $0.001 per bag to the Single-Use Carryout Bag Responsibility Fund to award grants to abate and cleanup bag litter and to encourage the proper disposal and collection of bags. This bill has been referred to this committee. 4)Suggested amendments a) The findings and declarations currently in the bill contain inaccuracies and would benefit from technical and clarifying changes. The committee may wish to amend the bill to make these changes. b) This bill sunsets the provisions in existing law on July 1, 2011 and commence the new requirements on January 1, 2012, which leaves a six month gap in oversight and management of single-use carryout bags. The committee may wish to extend the sunset date for existing law to December 31, 2011 to eliminate this gap. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support Heal the Bay (sponsor) American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO California Coastal Coalition California State Lands Commission ChicoBag Company ChicoEco Inc. Clean Water California Defenders of Wildlife Environment California Planning and Conservation League San Diego Coastkeeper Santa Barbara Channelkeeper Sierra Club California StopWaste.Org 7th Generation Advisors AB 1998 Page 6 Opposition American Forest and Paper Association Biodegradable Products Institute California Film Extruders and Converters Association California Taxpayers' Association Metabolix Analysis Prepared by : Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092