BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 568 Page 1 SENATE THIRD READING SB 568 (Alan Lowenthal) As Amended August 24, 2012 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 thermoplastic petrochemical materials utilizing the styrene monomer and that meets all of the following conditions: SB 568 Page 2 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 readopted. EXISTING LAW : 1)Requires, under the Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 (IWMA), cities and counties to divert 50% of their solid waste SB 568 Page 3 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.) 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 SB 568 Page 4 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. 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 SB 568 Page 5 relatively affordable, safe, and more ecologically sound alternatives. Analysis Prepared by : Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092 FN: 0005487