BILL ANALYSIS SB 346 PageA SENATE THIRD READING SB 346 (Kehoe and Simitian) As Amended August 2, 2010 Majority vote SENATE VOTE :22-16 ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 6-3 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Nava, Chesbro, Davis, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Bradford, | | |Feuer, Monning, Ruskin | |Huffman, Coto, Davis, De | | | | |Leon, Gatto, Hall, | | | | |Skinner, Solorio, | | | | |Torlakson, Torrico | | | | | | |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------| |Nays:|Miller, Blakeslee, Smyth |Nays:|Conway, Harkey, Miller, | | | | |Nielsen, Norby | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY : Restricts the use of copper and other toxic chemicals in automobile brake pads. Specifically, this bill : 1)Limits the use of copper in motor vehicle brake pads to no more than .5% by weight by January 2025. 2)Exempts vehicles from the copper limitation on brake pad including: a) Military vehicles; b) Vehicles with internal closed oil immersed brakes that do not emit copper or other debris under normal operating conditions; c) Parking brakes; and, d) Motorcycles. 3)Restricts the use of the following toxic materials in brake pads by January 1, 2014: SB 346 PageB a) Cadmium and its compounds: 0.01% by weight; b) Chromium (VI)-salts: 0.1% by weight; c) Lead and its compounds: 0.1% by weight; and, d) Mercury and its compounds: 0.1% by weight. 4)Requires manufacturers of brake pads to follow the process to be adopted by the Department of Toxic Substance Control (DTSC) regarding criteria to evaluate alternatives to copper in brake pads. 5)Require brake pad manufacturers, beginning in 2014, to obtain certification to demonstrate compliance with these requirements and include that certification of the content of the brake pads. 6)Requires vehicle manufacturers and retailers of brake pads to ensure that only compliant brake pads are sold in this state. 7)Establishes a civil fine of up to $10,000 per violation of the brake pad certification requirements. 8)Establishes DTSC as the enforcing agency for the new article and permits them to remove non-compliant brake pads from sale, but specifically does not authorize the recall of vehicles to effect the removal of illegal brake pads. 9)Provides that this bill would not effect the authority of the DTSC from consideration of copper brakes pads in the existing Green Chemistry Initiative pursuant to AB 1879 (Feuer and Huffman) Chapter 559, Statutes of 2008. FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee: 1)Costs to DTSC of approximately $500,000 during 2010-11 and 2011-12. (Hazardous Waste Control Account (HWCA)) 2)Annual costs to DTSC of approximately $250,000 beginning in 2020-21 to accept and review requests for extension and exemption withdrawal, fully covered by request fees. (HWCA or Brake Friction Materials Water Pollution Fund (BFMWPF)) SB 346 PageC 3)Annual costs to DTSC ranging from $250,000 to $500,000 beginning in 2013-14 to enforce bans, including inspections of brake manufacturers and third-party certifiers and laboratory analysis of brake pads. (HWCA or BFMWPF) 4)Minor annual costs to the Secretary for Environmental Protection in the tens of dollars beginning in 2020-21 to review extension and exemption requests. (GF) COMMENTS : 1)Need for the bill . According the author, elevated copper levels occur in urban watersheds across California. Dissolved copper is toxic to phytoplankton (the base of the aquatic food chain). It also impairs salmon's ability to avoid predators and deters them from returning to their home streams to spawn. Scientific studies have shown that a major source of copper in highly urbanized watersheds is material worn off vehicle brake pads. It is estimated that about one-half of the copper found in run-off is attributed to brake pads. 2)Copper in the aquatic environment . According to the U.S. EPA, elevated levels of copper are toxic in aquatic environments and may adversely affect fish, invertebrates, plants, and amphibians. Acute toxic effects may include mortality of organisms; chronic toxicity can result in reductions in survival, reproduction, and growth.<1> Motor vehicles are a major source of toxic contaminants such as copper, a metal that originates from vehicle exhaust and brake pad wear. Copper and other pollutants are deposited on roads and other impervious surfaces and then transported to aquatic habitats via stormwater runoff. 3)Total Maximum Daily Loads . The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) has established Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) as allowable pollution limits on copper and other pollutants in several southern California urban watersheds. Failure to comply with these TMDLs will result in serious --------------------------- <1> US, EPA, Aquatic Life Ambient Freshwater Quality Criteria-Copper 2007 Revision (February 22, 2007). SB 346 PageD penalties to the local governments. The SWRCB is working to establish these TMDLs for watersheds throughout California. The ubiquity of copper in the urban environment, and the technical difficulty and impracticality of treating stormwater to remove it, mean that compliance with copper TMDLs will not be feasible without source reduction of copper. Cost could go into the billions of dollars to remediate if source reduction measures are not taken. Analysis Prepared by : Bob Fredenburg / E.S. & T.M. / (916) 319-3965 FN: 0005919