BILL ANALYSIS
SB 757
COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
2008-2009 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 757
AUTHOR: Pavley
AMENDED: As Introduced
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE: April 20, 2009
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Caroll
Mortensen
SUBJECT : LEAD WHEEL WEIGHTS
SUMMARY :
Existing law :
1) Pursuant to several Health and Safety Code statutes, bans
or regulates lead content in a variety of consumer
products, such as candy, toys, tableware, packaging,
plumbing, and glass beverage bottles.
2) Pursuant to The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement
Act of 1986, commonly referred to as Proposition 65,
prohibits a person, in the course of doing business, from
knowingly and intentionally expose people to a chemical
known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive
toxicity without first giving clear and reasonable warning.
Requires the governor to publish a list of chemicals
"known to the State of California" to cause cancer, birth
defects or other reproductive harm. Provides that no
person shall knowingly discharge or release those same
chemicals into any source of drinking water. Allows for
specified exemptions such as when the exposure or discharge
would not pose a significant risk of cancer, or, for
chemicals that cause reproductive toxicity, would have not
observable effect at 1,000 times the level in question.
3) Requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC),
by January 1, 2011, to adopt regulations to establish a
process to identify and prioritize chemicals or chemical
ingredients in consumer products that may be considered a
"chemical of concern," in accordance with a review process,
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as specified.
4) Requires DTSC, on or before January 1, 2011, to adopt
regulations to establish a process to evaluate chemicals of
concern, and their potential alternatives, in consumer
products in order to determine how best to limit exposure
or to reduce the level of hazard posed by a chemical of
concern, as specified.
This bill :
1) Prohibits the manufacture, sale, or installation in
California of wheel weights that contain more than 0.1%
lead.
2) Authorizes a court to enjoin a person who violates or
threatens to violate this prohibition.
3) Authorizes administrative and civil penalties for violation
of this prohibition:
a) Provides that a person who violates this prohibition
is subject to administrative or civil penalties not to
exceed $2,500/day for each violation.
b) Requires a variety of factors to be considered in
determining penalties such as the nature, extent, and
willfulness of the violation, and deterrent effect of
the penalty on the violator and regulated community as a
whole.
c) Requires penalties to be deposited in the Hazardous
Waste Control Account for the Department of Toxic
Substances Control to implement and enforce this
prohibition.
COMMENTS :
1) Purpose of the bill . According to the author, "Research is
increasingly showing that lead wheel weights falling off
cars and trucks are a major, unregulated source of lead
pollution in drinking water, which poses potential risks to
human and environmental health. When lead wheel weights
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fall from vehicles onto roadways, they are often abraded by
traffic. The lead dust can wash into storm drains, streams
and reservoirs, including those which are sources of
drinking water. According to the U.S. Geological Survey,
about 2,000 tons of these weights fall from vehicles every
year and onto roadways. California's share of this source
of lead pollution is about half a million pounds.
Moreover, aside from the public health reasons, banning
lead in wheel weights is a viable option for industry.
Already all of California's wheel weight manufacturers are
phasing out lead wheel weights and are instead producing
wheel weights with safer metals, such as steel. Many other
companies, such as General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota,
Costco, Bridgestone Firestone, and Wal-Mart are joining the
currently voluntary effort. SB 757 would simply codify
existing practice and would further insure that lead does
not make its way back into wheel weights in the state."
2) Effects of Lead on Public Health . The United States
Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) considers lead and
lead compounds "persistent bioaccumulative toxic" chemicals
for because of their toxicity, presence in the environment
for long periods of time, not readily destroyable, and
ability to accumulate in body tissue. Lead exposure can be
linked to: lower intelligence, behavior problems, nervous
system disorders, cancer, strokes, high blood pressure,
kidney problems, anemia, cavities, delayed puberty. Lead
is especially harmful to young children and developing
fetuses.
3) Effects of Lead on the Environment . Although lead is a
mineral that naturally occurs in soil, according to
co-sponsor, Center for Environmental Health's (CEH) report,
Clean Highways and Water! An End to Lead Wheel Balancing
Weights in California (August 2008), the levels of lead in
the environment are approximately 1,000 times more than
what they were a few hundred years ago. It is an aquatic
contaminant and harmful to aquatic animals including fish
and water fowl. In addition, it is also damaging to
plants, reducing growth and photosynthesis.
4) Lead Wheel Weights . Wheel weights are clipped to the rims
of automobiles to balance the tires and can loosen and fall
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off. They are either washed into storm sewers and end up
in waterways or are gathered during street cleaning and
placed in municipal landfills. These weights are
susceptible to atmospheric corrosion. According to CEH's
report, lead wheel weights are typically made of a mixture
of 95 percent lead and five percent antimony, another
metal. Currently, there are no regulatory controls
governing the use of lead wheel weights.
5) Private and Public Actions on Lead Wheel Weights .
a) Private Action . In August 2008, as part of a legal
settlement of a Proposition 65 enforcement action
brought by CEH, Chrysler and the three largest wheel
weight manufacturers, Perfect Equipment, Inc., Hennessy
Industries, Inc., and Plombo, Inc., agreed to the
phase-out of lead wheel weights in California by the end
of 2009. The author and sponsors seek to codify this
agreement through this bill.
b) Other States . This year, Washington and Maine have
introduced legislation to ban lead wheel weights and
require that existing lead wheel weights be recycled.
c) Federal Administration . To encourage the transition
away from the use of lead wheel weights, the US EPA has
created the National Lead Free Wheel Weight Initiative
which is a voluntary effort.
d) Other Countries . In 2005, the European Union banned
lead wheel weights while Japan and Korea are phasing
them out.
6) Alternatives to Lead Wheel Weights . This bill creates a
prohibition on lead in wheel weights, but does not address
the issue of alternatives to lead for this purpose.
Currently, wheel weights can be produced with other
materials such as steel and zinc. The author may wish to
consider establishing guidance on appropriate alternatives
to lead for the manufacture, sale, and installation of
wheel weights, taking into consideration environmental and
public health concerns.
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7) Technical Amendment Needed . Delete subsections (a) and (b)
of Section 25215.6, that prohibit the manufacture, sale,
and installation of lead wheel weights, and replace with
the following:
"No person shall manufacture, sell, or install any wheel
weight in California that contains more than 0.1 percent
lead by weight."
8) Double Referral to Judiciary Committee . If this measure is
approved by this committee, the do pass motion must include
the action to re-refer the bill to the Senate Judiciary
Committee
SOURCE : Center for Environmental Health, Clean Water
Action
SUPPORT : American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO,
California State PTA, Perfect Equipment Inc.,
Planning and Conservation League, Sierra Club,
Worksafe
OPPOSITION : None on file