BILL ANALYSIS SB 55 Page 1 Date of Hearing: July 6, 2009 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES Nancy Skinner, Chair SB 55 (Corbett) - As Amended: May 20, 2009 SENATE VOTE : 29-4 SUBJECT : California redemption value containers SUMMARY : Deletes an obsolete requirement that the Department of Conservation (DOC) calculate a redemption rate for beverage containers subject to the California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act (Bottle Bill). This bill retains the requirement that DOC calculate the recycling rate for beverage containers. EXISTING LAW pursuant to the Bottle Bill: 1)Requires every beverage container, as defined, sold or offered for sale in this state to have a minimum refund value and requires a distributor to pay a redemption payment for every beverage container sold or offered for sale in the state to DOC, which 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 refund values and processing fees. 2)Defines "beverage' to include, among other things, soda, beer and other malt beverages, wine and distilled spirit coolers, carbonated mineral and soda waters, noncarbonated fruit drinks, and vegetable juices, in liquid form that are intended for human consumption. Excludes from the definition of 'beverage', among other things, vegetable drinks in beverage containers of more than 16 ounces, milk, medical food, and any product sold in a container that is not an aluminum beverage container, a glass container, a plastic beverage container, or a bimetal container. 3)Requires DOC to establish reporting periods of six months each for redemption rates and recycling rates for beverage containers and requires them to determine and report the redemption rates and recycling rates for those beverage containers for each reporting period. SB 55 Page 2 FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, this bill has negligible state costs. COMMENTS : This bill deletes provisions that require DOC to calculate and report on redemption rates. DOC is required to calculate a recycling rate based on the commonly used ratio of materials recycled divided by materials sold, which is a true indicator of program activities. The redemption rate calculation considers postfilled food or drink containers (not included in the Bottle Bill) returned for recycling, in addition to empty beverage containers (included in the Bottle Bill) returned for recycling. The recycling rate calculation only considers empty beverage containers returned for recycling. In this respect, the redemption rate does not actually depict the success of the Bottle Bill because it includes material that is outside of its scope. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support Sierra Club Opposition None on file Analysis Prepared by : Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092