BILL NUMBER: AB 1933	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 31, 2012
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 31, 2012
	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 24, 2012
	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 21, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Gordon

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2012

   An act to amend Sections 14585 and 14596 of the Public Resources
Code, relating to beverage containers, making an appropriation
therefor, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect
immediately.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1933, Gordon. Beverage containers: handling fees: enforcement.
   (1) The existing California Beverage Container Recycling and
Litter Reduction Act requires a distributor of specified beverage
containers to pay a redemption payment to the Department of Resource
Recycling and Recovery, for each beverage container, as defined, sold
or transferred, for deposit in the California Beverage Container
Recycling Fund. From the fund, the department is continuously
appropriated the amount necessary to pay handling fees to provide an
incentive for the redemption of empty beverage containers in
convenience zones. The department is required to pay a handling fee
in an amount determined by subtracting the amount of the statewide
average per-container cost to redeem beverage containers incurred by
a certified recycler that does not receive a handling fee from the
statewide average per-container cost incurred by recycling centers
that receive handling fees, based on a survey the department is
required to conduct at least once every 2 years to determine the
actual cost for the redemption of beverage containers.
   This bill would require the per-container handling fee to be set,
as of the effective date of this act, until March 1, 2013, at an
amount that is not less than the amount of the per-container handling
fee that was in effect on July 1, 2011. The bill would authorize the
department to update the methodology and scrap values used for
calculating the handling fee, as specified. The bill would make an
appropriation by increasing the amount that the department is
authorized to pay from a continuously appropriated fund.
    (2) Existing law requires any person importing more than a 100
pounds of aluminum, bimetal, or plastic beverage container material,
or more than 1,000 pounds of glass beverage container material, into
the state to report the material and to provide an opportunity for
inspection and prohibits any person from falsifying documents
required pursuant to the act or the regulations adopted by the
department. A violation of the act is a crime.
   This bill would decrease the amount of materials for which a
person is required to report to the department to 25 pounds of empty
aluminum, bimetal, or plastic beverage container material, or more
than 250 pounds of empty glass beverage container material, and would
additionally require the person to provide the department with
certain documentation regarding those materials.
   The bill would require a vehicle entering the state that contains
more than 25 pounds of empty beverage container material to pass
through the nearest plant quarantine inspection station and obtain
proof of inspection from the department. The bill would authorize the
department to enter into a interagency agreement with the Department
of Food and Agriculture to implement this requirement.
   The bill would provide that an operator of a vehicle that contains
more than 25 pounds of empty beverage container material is in
violation of the act if the operator fails to stop at, or willfully
avoids, a plant quarantine inspection station, as specified. The bill
would provide that a 2nd or subsequent violation of this requirement
within 3 years of a prior conviction is punishable as a misdemeanor.
The bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating new
crimes.
   (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
   (4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately
as an urgency statute.
   Appropriation: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 14585 of the Public Resources Code is amended
to read:
   14585.  (a) The department shall adopt guidelines and methods for
paying handling fees to supermarket sites, nonprofit convenience zone
recyclers, or rural region recyclers to provide an incentive for the
redemption of empty beverage containers in convenience zones. The
guidelines shall include, but not be limited to, all of the
following:
   (1) Handling fees shall be paid on a monthly basis, in the form
and manner adopted by the department. The department shall require
that claims for the handling fee be filed with the department not
later than the first day of the second month following the month for
which the handling fee is claimed as a condition of receiving any
handling fee.
   (2) The department shall determine the number of eligible
containers per site for which a handling fee will be paid in the
following manner:
   (A) Each eligible site's combined monthly volume of glass and
plastic beverage containers shall be divided by the site's total
monthly volume of all empty beverage container types.
   (B) If the quotient determined pursuant to subparagraph (A) is
equal to, or more than, 10 percent, the total monthly volume of the
site shall be the maximum volume which is eligible for a handling fee
for that month.
   (C) If the quotient determined pursuant to subparagraph (A) is
less than 10 percent, the department shall divide the volume of glass
and plastic beverage containers by 10 percent. That quotient shall
be the maximum volume that is eligible for a handling fee for that
month.
   (3) (A) On and after the effective date of the act amending this
section during the 2011-12 Regular Session, and until March 1, 2013,
the department shall pay a handling fee per eligible container in the
amount determined pursuant to subdivisions (f) and (g).
   (B) On and after July 1, 2014, the department shall pay a handling
fee per eligible container in the amount determined pursuant to
subdivision (f).
   (4) If the eligible volume in any given month would result in
handling fee payments that exceed the allocation of funds for that
month, as provided in subdivision (b), sites with higher eligible
monthly volumes shall receive handling fees for their entire eligible
monthly volume before sites with lower eligible monthly volumes
receive any handling fees.
   (5) (A) If a dealer where a supermarket site, nonprofit
convenience zone recycler, or rural region recycler is located ceases
operation for remodeling or for a change of ownership, the operator
of that supermarket site nonprofit convenience zone recycler, or
rural region recycler shall be eligible to apply for handling fees
for that site for a period of three months following the date of the
closure of the dealer.
   (B) Every supermarket site operator, nonprofit convenience zone
recycler, or rural region recycler shall promptly notify the
department of the closure of the dealer where the supermarket site,
nonprofit convenience zone recycler, or rural region recycler is
located.
   (C) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), any operator who fails to
provide notification to the department pursuant to subparagraph (B)
shall not be eligible to apply for handling fees.
   (b) The department may allocate the amount authorized for
expenditure for the payment of handling fees pursuant to paragraph
(1) of subdivision (a) of Section 14581 on a monthly basis and may
carry over any unexpended monthly allocation to a subsequent month or
months. However, unexpended monthly allocations shall not be carried
over to a subsequent fiscal year for the purpose of paying handling
fees but may be carried over for any other purpose pursuant to
Section 14581.
   (c) (1) The department shall not make handling fee payments to
more than one certified recycling center in a convenience zone. If a
dealer is located in more than one convenience zone, the department
shall offer a single handling fee payment to a supermarket site
located at that dealer. This handling fee payment shall not be split
between the affected zones. The department shall stop making handling
fee payments if another recycling center certifies to operate within
the convenience zone without receiving payments pursuant to this
section, if the department monitors the performance of the other
recycling center for 60 days and determines that the recycling center
is in compliance with this division. Any recycling center that
locates in a convenience zone, thereby causing a preexisting
recycling center to become ineligible to receive handling fee
payments, is ineligible to receive any handling fee payments in that
convenience zone.
   (2) The department shall offer a single handling fee payment to a
rural region recycler located anywhere inside a convenience zone, if
that convenience zone is not served by another certified recycling
center and the rural region recycler does either of the following:
   (A) Operates a minimum of 30 hours per week in one convenience
zone.
   (B) Serves two or more convenience zones, and meets all of the
following criteria:
   (i) Is the only certified recycler within each convenience zone.
   (ii) Is open and operating at least eight hours per week in each
convenience zone and is certified at each location.
   (iii) Operates at least 30 hours per week in total for all
convenience zones served.
   (d) The department may require the operator of a supermarket site
or rural region recycler receiving handling fees to maintain records
for each location where beverage containers are redeemed, and may
require the supermarket site or rural region recycler to take any
other action necessary for the department to determine that the
supermarket site or rural region recycler does not receive an
excessive handling fee.
   (e) The department may determine and utilize a standard container
per pound rate, for each material type, for the purpose of
calculating volumes and making handling fee payments.
   (f) (1) On or before January 1, 2008, and every two years
thereafter, the department shall conduct a survey pursuant to this
subdivision of a statistically significant sample of certified
recycling centers that receive handling fee payments to determine the
actual cost incurred for the redemption of empty beverage containers
by those certified recycling centers. The department shall conduct
these cost surveys in conjunction with the cost surveys performed by
the department pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 14575 to
determine processing payments and processing fees. The department
shall include, in determining the actual costs, only those allowable
costs contained in the regulations adopted pursuant to this division
that are used by the department to conduct cost surveys pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 14575.
   (2) Using the information obtained pursuant to paragraph (1), the
department shall then determine the statewide weighted average cost
incurred for the redemption of empty beverage containers, per empty
beverage container, at recycling centers that receive handling fees.
   (3) Except as provided in subdivision (g), the department shall
determine the amount of the handling fee to be paid for each empty
beverage container by subtracting the amount of the statewide
weighted average cost per container to redeem empty beverage
containers by recycling centers that do not receive handling fees
from the amount of the statewide weighted average cost per container
determined pursuant to paragraph (2).
   (4) The department shall adjust the statewide average cost
determined pursuant to paragraph (2) for each beverage container
annually to reflect changes in the cost of living, as measured by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor
or a successor agency of the United States government.
   (5) The cost information collected pursuant to this section at
recycling centers that receive handling fees shall not be used in the
calculation of the processing payments determined pursuant to
Section 14575.
   (g) (1) On and after the effective date of the act amending this
section during the 2011-12 Regular Session, and until March 1, 2013,
the per-container handling fee shall not be less than the amount of
the per-container handling fee that was in effect on July 1, 2011.
   (2) The department may update the methodology and scrap values
used for calculating the handling fee from the most recent cost
survey if it finds that the handling fee resulting from the most
recent cost survey does not accurately represent the actual cost
incurred for the redemption of empty beverage containers by those
certified recycling centers.
  SEC. 2.  Section 14596 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
   14596.  (a) Any person importing more than 25 pounds of empty
aluminum, bimetal, or plastic beverage container material, or more
than 250 pounds of empty glass beverage container material, into the
state, shall report the material to the department and provide the
department with all of the following:
   (1) Documentation on the source of the material.
   (2) Documentation on the destination of the material.
   (3) Any other information deemed necessary by the department as it
relates to the importation of empty beverage container material.
   (4) An opportunity for inspection, in accordance with the
regulations adopted by the department.
   (b) (1) (A) In addition to inspections required by the regulations
adopted by the department pursuant to subdivision (a), a vehicle
entering the state that contains more than 25 pounds of empty
beverage container material shall pass through the nearest plant
quarantine inspection station maintained pursuant to Section 5341 of
the Food and Agricultural Code, and shall obtain proof of inspection
from the department.
   (B) The department may enter into an interagency agreement with
the Department of Food and Agriculture to implement the requirements
of this subdivision.
   (2) The operator of a vehicle that contains more than 25 pounds of
empty beverage container material is in violation of this chapter if
the operator does any of the following:
   (A) Fails to stop the vehicle at a plant quarantine inspection
station.
   (B) Willfully avoids a plant quarantine inspection station.
   (C) Fails to stop upon demand of a clearly identified plant
quarantine inspection station officer, an officer of the California
Highway Patrol, or an officer of a state or local law enforcement
agency, when the officer orders the operator to stop for the purpose
of determining whether this operator is in violation of this section.

   (c) The department may impose civil penalties pursuant to Section
14591.1 or take disciplinary action pursuant to Section 14591.2 for a
violation of this section.
   (d) Subdivision (c) does not prohibit the imposition of a criminal
penalty pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 14591 for a violation
of subdivision (b). A second or subsequent violation of subdivision
(b) within three years of a prior conviction of a violation of
subdivision (b) shall be punishable as a misdemeanor.
  SEC. 3.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.
  SEC. 4.  This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
   In order to encourage the recycling of beverage containers,
thereby protecting public health and safety and the environment, it
is necessary that this act take effect immediately.