BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 55|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 55
Author: Corbett (D)
Amended: 5/13/09
Vote: 21
SENATE ENV. QUALITY COMMITTEE : 5-2, 4/20/09
AYES: Simitian, Corbett, Hancock, Lowenthal, Pavley
NOES: Runner, Ashburn
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Recycling: California redemption value
containers
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill prohibits a convenience zone recycler
from paying scrap value on top of the California Refund
Value paid to consumers.
ANALYSIS : Under existing law, the California Beverage
Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act (Act), every
beverage container sold or offered for sale in this state
is required to have a minimum refund value. A distributor
is required to pay a redemption payment for every beverage
container sold or offered for sale in the state to the
Department of Conservation (DOC) and the department is
required to deposit those amounts in the California
Beverage Container Recycling Fund. The money in the fund
is continuously appropriated to DOC for the payment of
CONTINUED
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refund values and processing fees. A violation of the act
is a crime. Existing law requires DOC to adopt guidelines
and methods for paying handling fees to supermarket sites.
To ensure that handling fees paid to the supermarket site
are not used for the purpose of engaging in unfair and
predatory pricing, existing law requires an audit upon
certain complaints filed with DOC and sets forth a
procedure for handling the audit.
This bill revises the auditing procedure and revises the
definition of "unfair and predatory pricing."
Existing law requires DOC to convene an informal hearing if
the director of the department determines there is probable
cause that a supermarket site has engaged in unfair and
predatory pricing. Existing law allows the respondent to
rebut the presumption of unfair and predatory pricing by
demonstrating specified facts to the director.
This bill eliminates this opportunity to rebut the
presumption of unfair predatory pricing.
Existing law prohibits a supermarket site from receiving
handling fees for a period of six months to five years,
depending on certain criteria, if the director determines
that a supermarket site has engaged in unfair and predatory
pricing.
This bill decreases the period of time that a supermarket
site is ineligible to receive handling fees to a period of
two months to three years, depending on certain criteria,
if the director determines that the supermarket site has
engaged in unfair and predatory pricing.
Existing law establishes the amount that a beverage
distributor shall pay DOC for each beverage container sold
or offered for sale in this state.
This bill prohibits a certified recycling center that
receives handling fees from paying scrap value for redeemed
beverage containers and instead would require the recycling
center to pay only the refund value established in statute
for each type of beverage container.
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Comments
According to the author's office, California's successful
Bottle and Can Recycling Law has reached historic rates of
recycling. Containers covered in this program are recycled
at almost 70 percent.
Since 1988, Californians have recycled more than 10 million
tons of aluminum, glass and plastic beverage containers.
No other recycling program or policy in this state has
resulted in higher recycling levels, and no program of its
kind in the county has been found to be more cost
effective. California's recycling industry is comprised of
5,300 establishments, 85,000 jobs, generates $4 billion in
salaries and wages, and produces $10 billion worth of goods
and services annually.
Consumes have three options to ensure their containers are
recycled. One option is a municipal recycling program that
collects recyclables at ones curb. If consumer wishes to
redeem their California Refund Value (CRV) deposit, they
can either take their containers back to a local
convenience zone recycler typically based in a parking lot
of a grocery store or to a traditional recycler that has
its own site and recycles a wide range of products.
Convenience zone recyclers receive a handling fee for
collecting beverage containers. Handling fees are used to
create more opportunities for consumers to redeem their
containers. In 2006, AB 3056 (Assembly Natural Resources
Committee), Chapter 907, Statutes of 2006, was signed into
law removing any cap to the amount of handling fees paid to
one site, any minimum number of containers a site must
redeem to receive handling fees, and reduced of the
handling fees paid per container.
This bill protects a competitive market place between
convenience zone recyclers and traditional recyclers.
This bill prohibits convenience zone recyclers who receive
handling fees from paying a scrap value on top of the CRV
to consumers thereby reducing the viability of convenience
zone recyclers that do not pay that scrap value or
traditional recyclers who do not receive a handling fee.
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Any recycler that violates this provision will risk having
their handling fees suspended by the Department of
Conservation.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/12/09)
Allan Company
Californians Against Waste
Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries
Tomra Pacific, Inc.
TSM:cm 5/14/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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