BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 567
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          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.)








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          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.
           








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          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  .  









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              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  .









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           Analysis Prepared by  :    Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081