BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Senator Ellen M. Corbett, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
SB 757
Senator Pavley
As Introduced
Hearing Date: April 28, 2009
Health and Safety Code
BCP:jd
SUBJECT
Lead Wheel Weights
DESCRIPTION
This bill would prohibit the manufacture, sale, or installation
in California of wheel weights that contain more than 0.1
percent lead.
This bill would provide that any person who violates that
prohibition shall be liable for an administrative or civil
penalty, as specified, and may be enjoined by a court.
BACKGROUND
Wheel weights are commonly used on cars and trucks in order to
keep the wheels balanced. If a wheel is unbalanced, it may
vibrate, cause difficulty in handling, and increase tire wear.
The weights, historically made mostly of lead (typically around
95percent), are commonly lost on city streets as a result of
wheels striking curbs, potholes, or other sharp impacts. The
weights often fall onto roadways, are abraded by traffic, and
result in lead dust that spreads into the surrounding
environment.
A report by the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) (a
cosponsor of the bill) entitled "Clean Highways and Water! An
End to Lead Wheel Balancing Weights in California" states that
CEH has "just finalized legal agreements with the three largest
wheel weight manufacturers and now with Chrysler." Those
agreements generally call for parties to cease shipping lead
(more)
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weights into California by (at the latest) December 31, 2009,
and were part of a settlement of a Proposition 65 enforcement
action. (Proposition 65, the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic
Enforcement Act of 1986, seeks to protect California citizens
and the State's drinking water sources from chemicals known to
cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm, and to
inform citizens about exposures to such chemicals.)
Accordingly, this bill seeks to codify that settlement by
prohibiting the manufacture, sale, or installation of wheel
weights that contain more than 0.1percent lead, and providing
injunctive relief as well as civil and administrative penalties
for non-compliance.
This bill was approved by the Senate Committee on Environmental
Quality on April 20, 2009.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
Existing law authorizes the Department of Toxic Substances
Control (DTSC) to administer various programs to control the
release of toxic substances into the soil and groundwater.
Existing law prohibits the manufacturing, shipping, selling,
offering for sale, or offering for promotional purposes, of
jewelry, children's jewelry, and body piercing jewelry, as
defined, unless the jewelry is made entirely from specified
materials. Those provisions include restrictions on the amount
of lead that may be present in certain jewelry materials.
(Health & Saf. Code Sec. 25214.1, et seq.)
Existing law provides that persons who violate the above
prohibition are subject to civil penalties, as specified, and
require the court to consider various factors in assessing the
amount of civil penalties. (Health & Saf. Code Sec. 25214.3.)
This bill would provide that no person shall manufacture or sell
at either the wholesale or retail level in California any wheel
weight that contains more than 0.1 percent lead by weight. This
bill would additionally provide that no person engaged in the
business of selling or installing wheel weights shall sell or
install any wheel weight in California that contains more than
0.1 percent lead by weight.
This bill would provide that any person who violates or
threatens to violate the provisions of this bill may be enjoined
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by a court; and that, notwithstanding any other law, a person
shall not be subject to criminal penalties and shall only be
subject to administrative or civil penalties, as specified.
This bill would provide that a person who violates the above
prohibitions shall be liable for an administrative or civil
penalty up to $2,000 per day for each violation. That penalty
may be assessed or recovered in an administrative or civil
action, as specified.
This bill would provide that in assessing the amount of an
administrative or civil penalty for a violation of the above
provisions, the presiding officer or court shall consider: (1)
the nature and extent of the violation; (2) the number and
severity of the violations; (3) the economic effect of the
penalty on the violator; (4) whether the violator took good
faith measures to comply; (5) the willfulness of the misconduct;
(6) the deterrent effect of the penalty; and (7) other factors
that justice may require.
This bill would provide that penalties collected pursuant to
this bill shall be deposited in the Hazardous Waste Control
Account for expenditure by DTSC.
COMMENT
1. Stated need for the bill
According to the author,
In August 2008, Chrysler, Perfect Equipment, Inc., Hennessy
Industries and Plombco Inc., which are all the lead wheel
weight manufacturers in California, agreed to phase-out lead
wheel weights in California by the end of 2009 as a result
of a settlement of a Proposition 65 enforcement lawsuit.
The agreement marks the first-ever legally binding statewide
rule phasing out lead wheel weights in the United States.
SB 757 seeks to codify this settlement. SB 757 would
promote the use of non-toxic alternative metals for wheel
weights and prohibit the sale and installation of lead wheel
weights in California after December 31, 2009.
There is strong precedent in California for banning lead
from many consumer products. Much research has demonstrated
the toxicity of lead and the legislature has responded by
banning lead in a number of ways, including in plumbing
fixtures, jewelry, candy, packaging, glass beverage bottles,
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toys, and tableware. Lead is known to be a highly toxic
metal and California has already taken great steps to
eliminate the use of lead in many consumer products.
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 also joining
the current voluntary effort. SB 757 would simply codify
existing practice and would further ensure that lead does
not make its way back into wheel weights in the state.
2. Administrative penalty, civil penalty, and injunctive relief
Pursuant to this bill, violators of the proposed prohibition on
manufacture, sale, or installation of lead wheel weights
containing more than 0.1 percent lead may be enjoined, or be
subject to an administrative or civil penalty, as specified.
Those penalties are substantially similar to those under
existing law for violations of prohibitions relating to lead
jewelry. (See Health & Saf. Code Sec. 25214.3.)
Specifically, this bill would provide that any person who
violates or threatens to violate the bill's prohibition may be
enjoined. Violators of the bill's prohibition would also be
liable for an administrative or civil penalty not to exceed
$2,500 per day for each violation. In assessing that penalty,
the presiding officer or court is required to consider various
factors, including the nature and extent of the violation,
number and severity of the violation, whether good faith
measures were taken to comply, and the willfulness of the
misconduct. Those factors are identical to the considerations
required under Section 25214.3 of the Health and Safety Code.
3. This bill seeks to codify a settlement
The author notes that SB 757 seeks to codify a settlement in a
recent case against lead wheel weight manufacturers under
Proposition 65. The Los Angeles Times' August 21, 2008 article
entitled "Lead wheel weights to be phased out in California by
end of 2009" reported:
The settlement ends a lawsuit filed in May by the
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Oakland-based Center for Environmental Health against
Chrysler and the three largest makers of lead wheel weights
for the U.S. market. Some observers see the settlement as a
first step toward a broader ban on the products.
In its suit, the group contended that wheel weights falling
off vehicles release 500,000 pounds of lead each year into
the environment in California. Lost wheel weights are
ground down by passing vehicles and the lead can find its
way into drinking water supplies, according to the U.S.
Geological Survey. They also end up in landfills, where the
lead can leach into groundwater. . . .
Under the settlement, approved by Alameda County Superior
Court Judge Barbara Miller, Chrysler will end the use of
factory-installed lead wheel weights in vehicles sold in
California by July 31, 2009. In addition, wheel-weight
producer Plombco Inc. of Canada will end shipments of lead
wheel weights to California by the end of this year.
Producers Perfect Equipment Inc. and Hennessey Industries,
both based in LaVergne, Tenn., will stop shipments to
California by the end of 2009.
Consistent with the above article, the sponsors note that as
this bill codifies a settlement, it would not interfere with any
pending litigation.
4. Author's amendments
The following technical, clarifying amendment was agreed to in
the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality but is to be taken
in this Committee due to procedural timing requirements:
On page 2, strike out lines 3 through 8, inclusive, and
insert:
25215.6. No person shall manufacture, sell, or install any
wheel weight in California that contains more than 0.1 percent
lead by weight
Support: Perfect Equipment Inc.; Consumers Union
Opposition : None Known
HISTORY
Source : Center for Environmental Health; Clean Water Action
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Related Pending Legislation : None Known
Prior Legislation :
AB 1681 (Pavely, Chapter 415, Statutes of 2006), prohibited the
manufacture, shipping, sale, or offering for sale of jewelry,
children's jewelry, or jewelry used in body piercing that is not
made entirely from certain specified materials.
AB 2901 (Brownley, Chapter 575, Statutes of 2008), authorized
DTSC to take specified measures to enforce compliance with
existing prohibitions on lead in jewelry and on packaging
containing regulated metals, as specified.
Prior Vote : Senate Committee on Environmental Quality (Ayes 5,
Noes 2)
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