Amended in Assembly March 21, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1023

Introduced by Assembly Member Eggman

February 22, 2013

An act to begin delete amend Section 14549.2 of the Public Resources Code, relating to recycling. end delete begin insert add Chapter 4.2 (commencing with Section 39724) to Part 2 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to air resources. end insert

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1023, as amended, Eggman. begin delete Recycling: beverage containers: payments. end delete begin insert Air resources: greenhouse gas emis end insert begin insert sions. end insert

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Existing law, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, requires the State Air Resources Board to adopt a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit. Existing law requires the California Environmental Protection Agency to identify disadvantaged communities and requires the Department of Finance to develop a specified 3-year investment plan for the expenditure of funds in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund in the State Treasury to achieve reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, including increased in-state waste diversion through waste reduction, diversion, and reuse.

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This bill would enact the Greenhouse Gas Reduction through Recycling, Composting, and Recycled Content Manufacturing Investment Program and would require the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery to implement the program by expending funds appropriated by the Legislature for purposes of the program.

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The bill would require the department, in consultation with the board, to annually identify industry sectors that can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions through the increased use of recycled content or by recovering putrescible materials that would have emitted greenhouse gases if disposed. The bill would require the department to develop a market development program that would provide incentives for those eligible industry sectors to make investments for waste reduction, recycling, composting, and recycled manufacturing projects that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The bill would require the department to implement the market development program by disbursing funds to private or public entities in the form of incentive payments or grants for capital equipment.

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The bill would require the department to give priority, when disbursing funds, to projects benefiting or located in disadvantaged communities, as specified.

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Existing law, the California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act, requires a distributor to pay a redemption payment for every beverage container sold or offered for sale in the state to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery for deposit in the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund. The department is authorized to annually expend up to $10,000,000, or more under specified circumstances, from the fund to make market development payments for empty plastic beverage containers, until January 1, 2017. Existing law specifies procedures and conditions for making those market development payments.

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This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that payment provision.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

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The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

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(a) Recycling is one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce
greenhouse gases, and often ranks as “cost-negative” in analyses
evaluating cost effectiveness of various greenhouse gas reduction
strategies.

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(b) Investing in the burgeoning anaerobic digestion industry
reduces emissions from landfills, creates a low-carbon fuel that
reduces emissions in the transportation sector, and generates
renewable energy.

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(c) In addition to reducing landfill emission, the application of
compost saves .42 net tons of CO₂ for each ton composted through
soil carbon storage, and decreases water use, fertilizer use, and
soil erosion, according to data prepared by the State Air Resources
Board.

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(d) The State Air Resources Board has identified California’s
energy-intensive glass container manufacturing sector as a leading
generator of greenhouse gas emissions and has included this sector
as a “covered entity” under the “Cap and Trade Program”
adopted pursuant to the market-based compliance mechanism
authorized by Division 25 (commencing with Section 38500) of
the Health and Safety Code.

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(e) According to data from the United States Environmental
Protection Agency, for every 1 percent increase in recycled content
in the manufacture of new glass containers, there is an approximate
1 percent decrease in total direct greenhouse gas emissions from
the manufacturer and there is also a comparable upstream benefit
that results from not having to engage in mining or processing
virgin inputs.

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(f) According to a recent study from the Tellus Institute, the
collection and processing of recyclables generates nearly four
times as many jobs as compared to disposal, and domestic recycled
content processing and manufacturing of these recycled materials
adds an additional 2.5 to 18 jobs for every 1,000 tons recycled.

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begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

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begin insert Chapter 4.2 (commencing with Section 39 end insert begin insert 72 end insert begin insert 4) is added
to Part 2 of Division 26 of the end insert begin insert Health and Safety Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

begin insert

 

Chapter   begin insert 4.2. end insert Greenhouse Gas Reduction through
Recycling, Composting, and Recycled Content
Manufacturing Investment Program

 

begin insert 39724. end insert   

(a) This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as
the “Greenhouse Gas Reduction through Recycling, Composting,
and Recycled Content Manufacturing Investment Program.”

(b) For purposes of this chapter “department” means the
Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery.

begin insert 39725. end insert   

(a) The department shall implement this chapter by
expending funds appropriated by the Legislature for purposes of
this chapter.

(b) The department, in coordination with the state board, as
appropriate, shall establish the Greenhouse Gas Reduction through
Recycling, Composting, and Recycled Content Manufacturing
Investment Program pursuant to this chapter to provide incentives
or grants for waste reduction, recycling, composting, and recycled
content manufacturing projects that reduce greenhouse gas
emissions in this state.

begin insert 39726. end insert   

(a) The department, in consultation with the state
board, shall annually identify industry sectors that can reduce
their greenhouse gas emissions through the increased use of
recycled content or by recovering putrescible materials that would
have emitted greenhouse gases if disposed.

(b) The eligible industry sectors that the department may identify
pursuant to subdivision (a) may include, but are not limited to, all
of the following:

(1) Composting and anaerobic digestion.

(2) Recycled container glass manufacturing.

(3) Food processing.

(4) Recycled paper and paperboard manufacturing.

(5) Recycled plastic manufacturing.

(c) Upon identifying the eligible industry sectors pursuant to
subdivision (a), the department shall develop a market development
program that would provide incentives for those eligible industry
sectors to make investments for waste reduction, recycling,
composting, and recycled content manufacturing projects that
would reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

(d) The department shall implement the market development
program by disbursing funds to private or public entities in the
form of incentive payments or grants for capital equipment.

(e) The funds disbursed as investments by the department
pursuant to subdivision (d) shall not exceed thirty million dollars
($30,000,000) per year.

(f) The department shall give priority, when disbursing funds
for investments pursuant to this chapter, to projects benefiting or
located within the same disadvantaged communities that are
identified by the California Environmental Protection Agency
pursuant to Section 39711, for purposes of Chapter 4.1
(commencing with Section 39710). The department shall disburse
not less than 25 percent of the funds disbursed pursuant to this
chapter for projects benefiting these communities and not less than
10 percent of the funds disbursed pursuant to this chapter shall
be allocated for projects located within these communities.

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begin delete

SECTION 1.  

Section 14549.2 of the Public Resources Code
is amended to read:

14549.2.  

(a) For purposes of this section, the following
definitions shall apply:

(1) “Certified entity” means a recycling center, processor, or
dropoff or collection program certified by the department pursuant
to this division.

(2) “Product manufacturer” means a person who manufactures
a plastic product in this state.

(b) In order to develop California markets for empty plastic
beverage containers collected for recycling in the state, the
department may, consistent with Section 14581 and subject to the
availability of funds, pay a market development payment to a
certified entity or product manufacturer for empty plastic beverage
containers collected and managed pursuant to this section.

(c) The department shall make a market development payment
to a certified entity or product manufacturer in accordance with
this section only if the plastic beverage container is collected and
either recycled or used in manufacturing, in the state, as follows:

(1) The department shall make a market development payment
to a certified entity for empty plastic beverage containers that are
collected for recycling in the state, that are subsequently washed
and processed by a certified entity into a flake, pellet, or other
form in the state, and made usable for the manufacture of a plastic
product by a product manufacturer.

(2) The department shall make a market development payment
to a product manufacturer for empty plastic beverage containers
that are collected for recycling in the state, that are subsequently
washed and processed into a flake, pellet or other form in the state,
and used by that product manufacturer to manufacture a product
in this state.

(3) The department shall determine the amount of the market
development payment, which may be set at a different level for a
certified entity and a product manufacturer, but shall not exceed
one hundred fifty dollars ($150) per ton. In setting the amount of
the market development payment for both certified entities and
product manufacturers, the department shall consider all of the
following:

(A) The minimum funding level needed to encourage the in-state
washing and processing of empty plastic beverage containers
collected for recycling in this state.

(B) The minimum funding level needed to encourage the in-state
manufacturing that utilizes empty plastic beverage containers
collected for recycling in this state.

(C) The total amount of funds projected to be available for
plastic market development payments and the desire to maintain
the minimum funding level needed throughout the year.

(4) The department may make a market development payment
to both a certified entity and a product manufacturer for the same
empty plastic beverage container.

(d) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2017,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2017, deletes or extends that date.

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