BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 567 Page 1 Date of Hearing: July 13, 2011 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair SB 567 (DeSaulnier) - As Amended: April 11, 2011 Policy Committee: Natural ResourcesVote:6-3 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No SUMMARY This bill expands to all plastic consumer products existing restrictions on the sale of certain plastic products labeled as "compostable" or "marine biodegradable" and makes other label restrictions. The author has agreed to amendments that clarify the existing standards for specified terms to which the Department of Recycling and Resources Recovery (Calrecyle) is to compare revised or new standards for those terms. (Summary continued below.) FISCAL EFFECT 1)Minor, absorbable ongoing costs to Calrecycle to review standards. (Integrated Waste Management Fund (IWMF).) 2)Potential minor, absorbable ongoing costs to Calrecycle to adopt standards and make recommendations to the Legislature. (IWMF.) 3)Potential ongoing costs to Calrecycle of an unknown amount, but possibly in the tens of thousands of dollars annually, to enforce and oversee implementation of the bill's provisions. (IWMA.) (The bill does not require enforcement or oversight by Calrecycle. The department, based on its experience with implementation of past legislation-AB 2449, Levine (Chapter 845, Statutes of 2006)-that similarly required no enforcement or oversight of the Integrated Waste Management Board (the department's predecessor), anticipates pressure to oversee and enforce the bill's implementation, nonetheless.) SB 567 Page 2 4)Unknown ongoing GF costs, likely not significant, to the Attorney General (AG) to enforce the provisions of this bill. (GF.) 5)Unknown ongoing revenue from imposition of civil penalties. (GF.) SUMMARY (continued) Specifically, this bill: 1)Repeals existing, separate prohibitions on the sale of plastic bags and food containers, respectively, labeled as "compostable" or "marine biodegradable." 2)Prohibits the sale of a plastic product labeled as "compostable" or "marine biodegradable" unless the product meets the applicable ASTM standard specification for the term or a standard adopted by the Calrecycle. 3)Requires Calrecycle to review a revision of an ASTM standard specification for the following materials: (a) compostable plastics, (b) nonfloating biodegradable plastics in the marine environment or (c) biodegradable plastics used as coatings on paper and other compostable substrates. 4)Directs Calrecycle to adopt a revised ASTM standard for the above-mentioned materials only if Calrecycle determines the revised standard is more protective of public health, public safety and the environment and is consistent with state policies. 5)Authorizes Calrecycle to adopt a standard for the above-mentioned materials, or qualifications to those materials, such as "home compostable," that differs from an ASTM standard if certain conditions are met. 6)Authorizes Calrecycle to review a new standard developed by ASTM or any other organization for the labels "compostable" or "marine degradable" and to make recommendations to the Legislature if Calrecycle determines the new standard to be more protective of public health, public safety and the environment and consistent with state policies. SB 567 Page 3 7)Prohibits the sale of a plastic consumer product labeled with the following: "biodegradable;" "degradable;" "decomposable;" any term that implies the product will breakdown, fragment or decompose; or a qualified claim, such as "home biodegradable." 8)Authorizes a local government or the state to impose civil penalties for violation of the bill's provisions, as follows: $500/day for first offence; $1,000/day for second offense; $2,000 for subsequent offenses. 9)Directs the AG to collect penalties for state actions and authorizes the AG, upon appropriation, to use penalty revenues to enforce the bill's provisions 10)Declares state agency costs associated with implementation of this bill to be recoverable by the AG from liable parties. 11)Requires a manufacturer or supplier to provide a person, upon request and within 90 days of the request, easily understandable and scientifically accurate documentation of compliance with the provisions of this bill. COMMENTS 1)Rationale . The author notes many products currently sold in California are labeled with end-of-life claims, such as "compostable" and "biodegradable," even though those products do not meet, nor are they required to meet, scientific standards for the meaning of those terms. The author notes that consumers buy products that, because of the product's labeling, they mistakenly believe are less harmful to the environment or may be placed in compost bins or similar "green" waste containers. The author contends the consequences of such erroneous labeling are contamination of the waste stream, added waste management costs, and the placement of many plastic products in landfills. This bill will extend existing prohibitions against the mislabeling of plastic bags and food packaging to all plastic consumer products. The result, the author argues, will be scientifically accurate product labels, consumer education, proper disposal of plastic products, and reduced waste management costs. 2)Background . SB 567 Page 4 a) Regulation of Use of End-of-Life Labels . Current law includes two separate provisions concerning the placement of end-of-life management claims on plastic bags and food and beverage containers. For each these categories of products, statute prohibits the sale of a product labeled as "compostable" or "marine biodegradable" unless the bag or food or beverage container meets standards for those terms as specified by the ASTM. Statute also prohibits the sale of any of these categories of products labeled "biodegradable," "degradable," "decomposable" or any form of those terms. The rationale behind regulation of use such of end-of-life labels is that, unless tied to a scientific standard-such as ASTM's standard specification-these terms are vague and lead to consumer confusion and improper disposal. Consumers may choose to purchase products with these labels because they assume they will be composted, will not accumulate in a landfill, or will, in some way, be disposed of in an environmentally benign way. Because many of these products, despite their label, are not truly compostable, or only degrade under certain conditions not typically found in a compost facility, many compost operators remove all plastic products, regardless of label, from their compostable materials. In the end, most products end up in a landfill where degradation is intentionally slow, regardless of product labels. b) American Society for Testing and Materials . ASTM describes itself as "one of the largest voluntary standards development organizations in the world-a trusted source for technical standards for materials, products, systems, and services?that guides design, manufacturing and trade in the global economy." 3)Related Legislation . This bill is similar to SB 1454 (DeSaulnier, 2010), which passed the Assembly 42-28 and the Senate 24-7 but was vetoed by the governor, citing unforeseen consequences. 4)Support . This bill is supported by the American Chemistry Council and Californians Against Waste, among others. 5)There is no formal opposition registered against this bill . SB 567 Page 5 Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081