BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2139
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 2139 (Chesbro)
As Amended June 1, 2010
Majority vote
ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 6-3 NATURAL RESOURCES 6-3
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|Ayes:|Nava, Chesbro, Davis, |Ayes:|Chesbro, Brownley, De |
| |Feuer, Monning, Ruskin | |Leon, Hill, Huffman, |
| | | |Skinner |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Miller, Blakeslee, Smyth |Nays:|Gilmore, Knight, Logue |
| | | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Fuentes, Ammiano, | | |
| |Bradford, | | |
| |Charles Calderon, Coto, | | |
| |Davis, Monning, Ruskin, | | |
| |Skinner, Solorio, | | |
| |Torlakson, Torrico | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Conway, Harkey, Miller, | | |
| |Nielsen, Norby | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Enacts the California Product Stewardship Act (Act).
The Act requires the Department of Resources Recycling and
Recovery (DRRR) to administer a program to develop product
stewardship protocols to foster "cradle-to-cradle" producer
responsibility for products. Specifically, this bill :
1)Specifies that the Act is intended to provide sound product
stewardship protocols that encourage producers to research
alternatives during the product design and packaging phases to
foster producer responsibility and reduce the end-of-life
environmental impacts.
2)Establishes criteria for "covered products" and requires the
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Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (DRRR) to
recommend to the Legislature specific products that should be
included in the program by January 1, 2012.
3)Clarifies that actions taken under the Act do not interfere
with existing efforts of DTSC relating to green chemistry.
4)Establishes requirements for the producers or product
stewardship organizations to create a product stewardship plan
and requires the plan to be submitted by the producer to DRRR
within one year of the Legislature's approval of a covered
product. Requires DRRR to deem a plan complete or incomplete
within 45 days of receipt. Should DRRR deem the plan
incomplete the plan, requires notification to the producer,
who is charged with revising the plan within 45 days.
5)Specifies that a product stewardship program complies with
this chapter only if it achieves the collection rate specified
in the plan. If a program achieves a collection rate of at
least 95 percent, the producer or product stewardship
organization is not required to pay the annual fee established
by this bill.
6)Beginning six months after DRRR deems complete a plan,
prohibits the sale of a covered product unless the producer is
in compliance with the Act. To be in compliance the producer
must submit a product stewardship plan or participation in a
stewardship organization. The product stewardship plan must
include:
a) A description of the covered product and associated
brands covered by the plan;
b) Performance goals, including a description of how the
performance goals will be achieved and how results will be
measured;
c) Collection, reuse, and recycling rates for the covered
product;
d) If the covered product is prohibited from being disposed
of at a solid waste disposal facility, the performance goal
shall include a schedule to accomplish a 100 percent
collection rate;
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e) Financing methods for the plan;
f) Strategies for managing and reducing the life cycle
impacts of the covered product; and,
g) Education and outreach activities.
7)Beginning one year after a plan is deemed complete, and
annually thereafter, requires producers and product
stewardship organizations operating under the Act to submit an
annual report to DRRR, which includes the status of
performance goals, a description of outreach and educational
activities, and actions undertaken to manage and reduce the
life-cycle impacts of the covered product.
8)Establishes the Extended Producer Responsibility Account
(Account) and the Extended Producer Responsibility Penalty
Subaccount (Subaccount) in the Integrated Waste Management
Fund.
a) Requires producers subject to the Act to submit an
annual fee to DRRR to cover administrative costs to be
deposited into the Account. Requires DRRR to establish the
fee at an amount sufficient to cover the full costs of
implementing the requirements of the Act;
b) Requires all penalties collected under the Act to be
deposited into the Subaccount, which may be expended by
DRRR to cover costs of implementing the Act;
c) Specifies that the Account and Subaccount may be
expended by DRRR for incentives to enhance recyclability
and redesign efforts and to reduce environmental and safety
impacts of covered products; and,
d) If a product stewardship program achieves a collection
rate of 95 percent, specifies that the producer or product
stewardship organization is not required to pay the annual
fee.
9)Establishes enforcement provisions for the Act, including a
public hearing process. Specifies that DRRR take into account
the "good faith effort" of a producer toward implementing the
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plan. Establishes a civil penalty of $5,000 per day for
violations of the Act.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee this bill has annual start up costs to DRRR through
2011-12, of approximately $500,000 to coordinate with
representatives of state and local government, producers,
retailers, consumers, transporters, haulers, recyclers,
nonprofit organizations, and other interested stakeholders;
convene public workshops; and, nominate covered products.
(Product Stewardship Account (PSA)) This bill has potential
ongoing annual cost to DRRR in the hundreds of thousands of
dollars to review product stewardship plans and reports,
implement incentives to enhance recyclability and redesign
efforts and to reduce environmental and safety impacts of
covered products, and to enforce the provisions of the act.
(PSA)
Fee revenues, as authorized by this bill, should ultimately
cover the costs of implementing and administering the provisions
of this bill. (PSA) This bill also has possible savings
beginning in future years, potentially in the millions of
dollars annually, to various special funds to the extent DRRR's
EPR program lowers costs for other waste management programs.
COMMENTS : Product stewardship is a strategy to "close the loop"
by placing primary responsibility for life cycle management on
producers. This approach is similar to that being pursued for
green chemistry in California. In September 2007, the former
California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) adopted an
EPR Framework as an overall policy priority and committed to
seek statutory authority. Prior to adopting the Framework,
CIWMB conducted a stakeholder workshop on EPR. The Framework
was adopted by CIWMB in a public board meeting, which included
comments from stakeholders and the public.
The EPR Framework is a strategy to share responsibility among
those who make, sell, use, and dispose of products, while
placing the primary responsibility on producers to reduce a
product's lifecycle impacts. In other words, those who benefit
from a product would share in the costs associated with the
environmental impacts of the product.
In addition to encouraging recycling and waste reduction,
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product stewardship also addresses another pressing concern.
DTSC routinely tests products for toxicity to determine if the
product is hazardous and therefore prohibited from landfill
disposal. However, there is no system in place for the
management of these products (or the toxins they include).
Currently, the costs associated with managing household products
prohibited from landfill disposal are borne by local
governments. According to the League of California Cities,
"Cities and counties in California spend upwards of $500 million
annually to manage products banned from landfills as well as
those disposed of at the landfill - a cost that local
governments ultimately end up passing on to the consumers in the
form of fees on solid waste services."
According to the author, "The California Product Stewardship Act
requires manufacturers of hazardous products to create products
that are less toxic, more durable and easier to recycle when
they enter the waste stream. AB 2139 proposes an Extended
Producer Responsibility Framework, which would establish one law
to address a wide range of products. These waste products end
up in California landfills and make a significant impact on our
environment."
The goal of the EPR framework is to establish one law to address
a wide range of products that end up in California landfills and
have a significant impact on our environment. The author
states "by having producers share in the costs of managing
product discards, EPR harnesses the power of the free market to
drive environmental improvement." This bill is modeled after
the former CIWMB's EPR Framework.
Analysis Prepared by : Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092
FN: 0004731