BILL NUMBER: SB 568 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 24, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 12, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 15, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 23, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 14, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Lowenthal
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Brownley, Chesbro, Skinner, and
Wieckowski)
FEBRUARY 17, 2011
An act to add Chapter 6.6 (commencing with Section 42391) to Part
3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, relating to recycling.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 568, as amended, Lowenthal. Recycling: polystyrene food
containers.
Existing law requires all rigid plastic bottles and rigid plastic
containers sold in the state to be labeled with a code that indicates
the resin used to produce the rigid plastic bottle or rigid plastic
container. The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989,
administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery,
requires every rigid plastic packaging container, as defined, sold or
offered for sale in this state to generally meet one of specified
criteria.
This bill would prohibit a food vendor, on and after January 1,
2016, from dispensing prepared food to a customer in a polystyrene
foam food container and would define related terms. The bill would
provide that a food vendor that is a school district is not required
to comply with the bill's requirements until July 1, 2017, and would
allow a food vendor that is a school district to dispense prepared
food to a customer in a polystyrene foam food container after that
date if the governing board of the school district elects to adopt a
policy to implement a verifiable recycling program for polystyrene
foam food containers, which would be renewable, as specified. The
bill would also allow a food vendor to dispense prepared food to a
customer in a polystyrene foam food container after January 1, 2016,
in a city or county if the city or county elects to adopt an
ordinance establishing a specified recycling program for polystyrene
foam food containers, which would be operative, as specified.
The bill would allow a food vendor to dispense prepared food to a
customer in a polystyrene foam food container in a city or county if
that food vendor demonstrates to the satisfaction of the city or
county that compliance with the requirements of the bill would impose
an undue economic hardship, as defined. The bill would authorize a
city or county to exempt the food vendor until January 1, 2017, or
for a period of not more than one year from the date of the
demonstration, and would allow a food vendor to reapply for
additional one-year exemptions from the bill's requirements.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 6.6 (commencing with Section 42391) is added to
Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, to read:
CHAPTER 6.6. POLYSTYRENE FOAM FOOD CONTAINERS
42391. For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms have
the following meanings:
(a) "Customer" means a person obtaining prepared food from a food
vendor.
(b) (1) "Polystyrene foam food container" means a container made
of blown polystyrene and expanded and extruded foam that are
thermoplastic petrochemical materials utilizing the styrene monomer
and the container meets all of the following conditions:
(A) Polystyrene is the sole resin used to produce the rigid
plastic packaging container.
(B) The container is required to be labeled with a "6" pursuant to
subdivision (a) of Section 18015.
(C) The container is used, or is intended to be used, to hold
prepared food.
(2) A polystyrene foam food container may be processed by a number
of techniques, including, but not limited to, fusion of polymer
spheres or expandable bead polystyrene.
(3) Polystyrene foam may also be referred to as Styrofoam(T), a
Dow Chemical Company trademarked form of polystyrene foam insulation.
(4) A polystyrene foam food container includes, but is not limited
to, a cup, bowl, plate, tray, or clamshell container that is
intended for single use.
(c) (1) "Food vendor" means a food facility, as defined in Section
113789 of the Health and Safety Code, including, but not limited to,
a restaurant or retail food and beverage vendor located or operating
within the state.
(2) A food vendor also includes, but is not limited to, an
itinerant restaurant, pushcart, vehicular food vendors, a caterer, a
cafeteria, a store, a shop, a sales outlet, or other establishment,
including a grocery store or a delicatessen.
(3) A food vendor does not include a correctional facility,
including, but not limited to, a state prison, county jail, facility
of the Division of Juvenile Justice, county- or city-operated
juvenile facility, including juvenile halls, camps, or schools, or
other state or local correctional institution.
(d) "Prepared food" means food, as defined in Section 109935 of
the Health and Safety Code, including a beverage, that is served,
packaged, cooked, chopped, sliced, mixed, brewed, frozen, squeezed,
or otherwise prepared for consumption. Prepared food includes
"ready-to-eat food," as defined in Section 113881 of the Health and
Safety Code.
(1) "Prepared food" does not include raw, butchered meats, fish,
or poultry that is sold from a butcher case or a similar retail
appliance.
(2) "Prepared food" may be eaten either on or off the premises,
and includes takeout food.
(e) "Recycled" means the product or material is reused in the
production of another product and is diverted from disposal in a
landfill.
(f) "Undue economic hardship" means a situation unique to a food
vendor in which there are no reasonable alternatives to polystyrene
foam food containers in use by that food vendor and compliance with
Section 42392 would cause significant economic hardship to that food
vendor.
42392. Except as provided in Sections 42393 and
, 42394 , and 42394.5 , on and after
January 1, 2016, a food vendor shall not dispense prepared food to a
customer in a polystyrene foam food container.
42393. (a) A food vendor that is a school district, as defined in
Section 80 of the Education Code, is not required to comply with
Section 42392 until July 1, 2017.
(b) On and after July 1, 2017, a food vendor that is a school
district may dispense prepared food to a customer in a polystyrene
foam food container if the governing board of the school district
elects to adopt a policy to implement a verifiable recycling program
for polystyrene foam food containers under which at least 60 percent
of the polystyrene foam food containers purchased annually by that
school district will be recycled.
(c) If the governing board of a school district elects to adopt a
policy to implement a recycling program pursuant to subdivision (b),
the recycling program shall be effective for not more than five
years, and the school district may elect to renew the policy
implementing the program continuously for a period not to exceed five
years if, at the time of renewal, the school district demonstrates
with empirical data that the recycling program is achieving the goal
of recycling at least 60 percent of the polystyrene foam food
containers generated annually by the school district.
42394. (a) On and after January 1, 2016, a food vendor may
dispense prepared food to a customer in a polystyrene foam food
container in a city or county if either of the following apply:
(1) The city elects to adopt an ordinance establishing a recycling
program for polystyrene foam food containers for which the city
makes a finding, by a majority vote of the city council at a public
hearing, that, based on empirical data, at least 60 percent of the
polystyrene foam food containers generated annually in the city will
be recycled by that program.
(2) The county elects to adopt an ordinance establishing a
recycling program for polystyrene foam food containers for which the
county makes a finding, by a majority vote of the board of
supervisors at a public hearing, that, based on empirical data, at
least 60 percent of the polystyrene foam food containers generated
annually in the county will be recycled by that program.
(b) If a city or county elects to adopt an ordinance pursuant to
this section, the ordinance shall be operative for no more than five
years, and the city or county may elect to readopt the ordinance
continuously for an operative period not to exceed five years if, at
the time of adoption, the city or county demonstrates with empirical
data that the ordinance is achieving the goal of recycling at least
60 percent of the polystyrene foam food containers generated annually
in its jurisdiction.
42394.5. (a) A food vendor may dispense prepared food to a
customer in a polystyrene foam food container in a city or county if
that food vendor demonstrates to the satisfaction of the city or
county that compliance with Section 42392 will impose an undue
economic hardship. A city or county may exempt the food vendor
pursuant to this subdivision from the requirements of Section 42392
until January 1, 2017, or not more than one year from the date of the
demonstration, whichever date is later.
(b) A food vendor granted an exemption pursuant to subdivision (a)
may reapply to the city or county prior to the expiration of the
exemption.
(c) The city or county may grant additional exemptions, each
exemption not to exceed one year, from the requirements of Section
42392, if the food vendor demonstrates, at the time of application,
to the satisfaction of the city or county, continued undue economic
hardship.
42395. This chapter does not preempt the authority of a county,
city, or city and county to adopt and enforce additional single-use
takeout food packaging ordinances, regulations, or policies that are
more restrictive than the applicable standards required by this
chapter.
42396. The provisions of this chapter are severable. If any
provision of this chapter or its application is held invalid, that
invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can
be given effect without the invalid provision or application.