BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                       SB 
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          SENATE THIRD READING
          SB 568 (Alan Lowenthal)
          As Amended  July 12, 2011
          Majority vote 

           SENATE VOTE  :21-15  
           
          NATURAL RESOURCES   6-3         APPROPRIATIONS      9-5         
           
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Ayes:|Chesbro, Brownley,        |     |Ayes: Fuentes,            |
          |     |Dickinson, Hill, Monning, |     |Blumenfield,              |
          |     |Skinner                   |     |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
          |     |                          |     |Davis, Gatto, Hill, Lara, |
          |     |                          |     |Solorio                   |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
          |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
          |Nays:|Knight, Grove, Halderman  |     |Nays: Harkey, Donnelly,   |
          |     |                          |     |Nielsen, Norby, Wagner    |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
           SUMMARY  :  Prohibits a food vendor from dispensing prepared food 
          to a customer in a polystyrene foam food container after January 
          1, 2016, (July 1, 2017, for school districts) unless the local 
          government or school district adopts a recycling program that 
          can recycle at least 60% of its polystyrene foam food 
          containers.  Specifically,  this bill  :
           
           1)Prohibits a food vendor from dispensing prepared food to a 
            customer in a polystyrene foam food container after January 1, 
            2016.

          2)Defines "food vendor" as an operation that stores, prepares, 
            packages, serves, vends, or otherwise provides food for human 
            consumption at the retail level, including, but not limited 
            to, a restaurant, cafeteria, pushcart, vehicular food vendor, 
            caterer, store, shop, sales outlet, or other establishment, 
            including a grocery store or a delicatessen.

          3)Defines "polystyrene foam food container" as a container made 
            of blown polystyrene and expanded and extruded foam that are 








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            thermoplastic petrochemical materials utilizing the styrene 
            monomer and that 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 by law to be labeled with a 
               "6," which indicates that the resin used to produce the 
               container was polystyrene; and, 

             c)   The container is used, or is intended to be used, to 
               hold prepared food.

          4)Defines "prepared food" as food, including a beverage, that is 
            served, packaged, cooked, chopped, sliced, mixed, brewed, 
            frozen, squeezed, or otherwise prepared for consumption.  
            Prepared food does not include raw, butchered meats, fish, or 
            poultry that is sold from a butcher case or a similar retail 
            appliance.

          5)Applies the prohibition on polystyrene foam food containers to 
            school districts beginning on July 1, 2017.

          6)Allows a food vendor that is a school district to dispense 
            prepared food to a customer in a polystyrene foam food 
            container after July 1, 2017, if the school district elects to 
            adopt a policy to implement a verifiable recycling program for 
            polystyrene foam food containers under which at least 60% of 
            the polystyrene foam food containers purchased annually by 
            that school district will be recycled.  

          7)Allows a city or county to dispense prepared food to a 
            customer in a polystyrene foam food container after January 1, 
            2016, if the city or county elects to adopt an ordinance 
            establishing a recycling program for polystyrene foam food 
            container under which at least 60% of the polystyrene foam 
            food containers generated annually in the city will be 
            recycled by that program.

          8)Limits the term of a school district, city, or county's 
            recycling program to not more than five years unless the 
            policy or ordinance implementing the program is renewed or 








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            readopted.

           EXISTING LAW  : 

          1)Requires, under the Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 
            (IWMA), cities and counties to divert 50% of their solid waste 
            by 2000.  The IWMA provides various programs to reduce litter 
            and educate consumers about the importance of recycling.  

          2)Provides, under the California Beverage Container Recycling 
            and Litter Reduction Act of 1986, funding and education 
            programs to reduce beverage container litter.  

          3)Prohibits a person from selling a plastic bag or a plastic 
            food or beverage container that is labeled as "compostable" or 
            "marine degradable" unless that plastic bag or container meets 
            American Society for Testing and Materials standards or a 
            standard adopted by the Department of Resources Recycling and 
            Recovery. 
           
           4)Requires operators of stores, such as supermarkets, to 
            establish an in-store plastic carryout bag recycling program.
             
          FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Assembly Appropriations 
          Committee: 

          1)Beginning in 2015-16, potential annual costs of an unknown 
            amount, potentially in the tens of thousands of dollars, to 
            state agencies that are food vendors that will purchase food 
            containers made with relatively expensive alternative 
            materials.  Actual costs will depend upon the volume of food 
            containers purchased by food vendors that are state agencies, 
            the price of alternatives at the time of their procurement in 
            excess of the cost of polystyrene food containers, and the 
            ability of state agencies to recover costs from customers who 
            purchase food served in the containers.  (Various funds.)

          2)Beginning in 2016-17, potential state mandate costs of an 
            unknown amount resulting from claims filed by school districts 
            that elect to use relatively expensive food containers made 
            from polystyrene alternatives or that choose to adopt a 
            polystyrene recycling program.  (General Fund.)








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           COMMENTS  :  According to a 2004 report prepared by the California 
          Integrated Waste Management Board, in 1999, California disposed 
          of over 3.3 million tons of plastic in landfills.  That is 
          roughly equivalent to the weight of the nearly 36 million 
          Californians (averaging 185 pounds).  Plastics represent 8.9% 
          (by weight) and perhaps twice as much (by volume) of the 
          material disposed of in California landfills.  In general, 
          plastics rank behind paper as the second-largest category (by 
          volume) of material being landfilled in California.  Polystyrene 
          is one of the most widely used plastics and is estimated at 0.8% 
          (by weight) of the materials landfilled.  However, due to its 
          lightweight nature, its volume is much greater.  
           
           Commercial and institutional polystyrene products, including 
          polystyrene foam food container (i.e., Styrofoam), represent 42% 
          of polystyrene production.  Polystyrene foam food containers 
          present unique challenges in its management due in part to 
          contamination from food residue.  Additionally, a polystyrene 
          foam food container by its nature has a useful life that can be 
          measured in minutes or hours.  Yet, it takes several decades to 
          hundreds of years to deteriorate in the environment or landfill. 
           These containers also represent a significant challenge as 
          litter.  A California Department of Transportation study 
          conducted from 1998-2000 found that polystyrene products 
          comprised 15% of the total volume of litter collected from storm 
          drains.   This type of litter reaches the sea by rivers and 
          municipal drainage systems, and then tends to break apart, where 
          it can be eaten by animals.

          Styrene is an industrial chemical used to make polystyrene 
          products.  This year, the National Toxicology Program, an 
          interagency group coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health 
          and Human Services released the Twelfth Edition of its Report on 
          Carcinogens.  The report said that styrene is reasonably 
          anticipated to be a carcinogen.  While the low levels of the 
          chemical in consumer products make the risk to the average 
          consumer low, workers in certain occupations are potentially 
          exposed to much higher levels of styrene than the general 
          population.  Workers may breathe in high levels of styrene in 
          the workplace and absorb styrene through the skin. 









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          Numerous cities and counties in California have already adopted 
          some form of a polystyrene ban.  At least forty jurisdictions 
          have banned polystyrene or expanded polystyrene altogether, 
          including San Francisco and Oakland.  An additional fifteen 
          jurisdictions, including Los Angeles City, Los Angeles County, 
          Orange County, and San Jose, have banned the products in 
          government facilities or at government events.  Local 
          jurisdictions have cited various reasons for implementing the 
          ban including the fact that polystyrene is a common 
          environmental pollutant and a non-biodegradable substance, there 
          is no meaningful way to recycle the product, and biodegradable, 
          compostable, or recyclable disposable food service ware are 
          relatively affordable, safe, and more ecologically sound 
          alternatives. 
           
           
           Analysis Prepared by  :    Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916) 
          319-2092 


                                                               FN:  0002213