BILL ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 228| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ UNFINISHED BUSINESS Bill No: SB 228 Author: DeSaulnier (D) Amended: 8/18/10 Vote: 21 SENATE ENV. QUALITY COMMITTEE : 5-2, 5/4/09 AYES: Simitian, Corbett, Hancock, Lowenthal, Pavley NOES: Runner, Ashburn SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-3, 1/21/10 AYES: Kehoe, Corbett, Leno, Liu, Price, Yee NOES: Cox, Denham, Walters SENATE FLOOR : 24-10, 1/28/10 AYES: Calderon, Cedillo, Corbett, Correa, DeSaulnier, Ducheny, Florez, Hancock, Kehoe, Leno, Liu, Lowenthal, Negrete McLeod, Oropeza, Padilla, Pavley, Price, Romero, Simitian, Steinberg, Wiggins, Wolk, Wright, Yee NOES: Aanestad, Ashburn, Cogdill, Cox, Denham, Dutton, Harman, Hollingsworth, Strickland, Wyland NO VOTE RECORDED: Alquist, Huff, Maldonado, Runner, Walters, Vacancy ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 55-21, 8/23/10 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Plastic bags: compostable or plastic bags SOURCE : Biodegradable Products Institute DIGEST : This bill, beginning July 1, 2011, (1) requires CONTINUED SB 228 Page 2 manufacturers of compostable plastic bags that meets the American Society for Testing and Materials D6400 standard specification to ensure that the bag is readily identifiable from other plastic bags, (2) prohibits a compostable bag sold or distributed in this state from displaying the chasing arrow identification code or any other symbol, and (3) clarifies that these provisions do not conflict with the Federal Trade Commission guidance for enviro claims. Assembly Amendments (1) delete a section requiring a certification reporting requirement to be submitted to the Department of Resources, Recovery, and Recycling, as specified; and (2) clarify that the provisions of the bill do not conflict with the Federal Trade Commission Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims. ANALYSIS : Under existing law, the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989: 1. Defines American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) "Standards for Compostable Plastics" and "Standard Specification for Non-Floating Biodegradable Plastics in the Marine Environment." 2. Prohibits a person from selling a plastic bag in this state with the term "compostable" or "marine biodegradable" unless the bag meets the above applicable ASTM standard specification. 3. Sets procedures for the California Integrated Waste Management Board which has been abolished and replaced as the Department of Resources Recovery and Recycling (DRRR) to review a new ASTM standard specification or other standard developed by another entity. This bill: 1. Beginning July 1, 2011, requires a manufacturer of a compostable plastic bag that meets an existing American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standard to ensure that the bag is readily and easily identifiable from other plastic bags. CONTINUED SB 228 Page 3 2. Defines "readily and easily identifiable" as: A. Labeled with a certification logo indicating that the bag meets the ASTM D6400 standard specification if the bag has been certified as meeting the standard by a recognized third-party independent verification. B. A bag that is a uniform green color and labeled with the word "compostable" on one side of the bag (at least one inch in height); or, a bag that is labeled with the word "compostable" on both sides of the bag in green, as specified. C. Specifies that a bag smaller than 14 inches by 14 inches, the lettering shall be in proportion to the size of the bag. 3. Prohibits a compostable bag sold or distributed in the state from displaying the chasing arrow resin identification code or any other recycling symbol. 4. Clarifies that the provisions of the bill do not conflict with the Federal Trade Commission Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims. Comments According to the author's office, the use of compostable bags is increasing, leading local governments to establish organics separation and composting. Currently, there is no way to visibly tell the difference between compostable, marine degradable, and [conventional] plastic bags. The author's office notes that conventional bags get into the compost stream and contaminate the compost leading to higher processing costs. This bill seeks to remedy this by requiring bags that meet the compostable and marine degradable standards as set in current law to be readily and easily identifiable for the purposes of separating these bags from [conventional] plastic bags in the recycling and composting streams." According to the author's office the use of compostable bags is increasing, leading local governments to establish CONTINUED SB 228 Page 4 organics separation and composting. Currently, there is no way to visibly tell the difference between compostable, marine degradable, and [conventional] plastic bags? As a result, [conventional] bags are getting into the compost stream and contaminating the compost and leading to higher processing costs. Likewise, can be contaminated if compostable bags are included in the [conventional] plastic recycling streams. This bill is intends to alleviate contamination concerns by making compostable bags easily identifiable for sorting. According to DRRR, "many existing composting operations reject compostable plastics because they have found that most of them, even those certified by the Biodegradable Products Institute [as meeting the ASTM D6400 standard], do not undergo degradation at a rate consistent with other compostable materials." Federal standards for organics require that compost not contain plastic of any kind. Including compostable plastics as feedstock would make the finished compost ineligible for use in organic farms. This bill applies only to compostable plastic bags and does not include biodegradable or marine degradable bags. While this may be helpful to ensure that only compostable bags are processed in composting operations, it does not address contamination of the recycling stream by biodegradable or marine degradable bags. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee this bill has no state costs. SUPPORT : (Verified 8/24/10) Biodegradable Products Institute (source) Californians Against Waste California Film Extruders and Converters Association Department of the Environment, City and County of San Francisco Heritage Bag Company CONTINUED SB 228 Page 5 Metabolix, Inc. ASSEMBLY FLOOR : AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gilmore, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jones, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Villines, Yamada, John A. Perez NOES: Adams, Anderson, Conway, Cook, DeVore, Fuller, Gaines, Hagman, Harkey, Jeffries, Knight, Logue, Miller, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Norby, Silva, Smyth, Audra Strickland, Tran NO VOTE RECORDED: Furutani, Hall, Vacancy, Vacancy TSM:do 8/24/10 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED