BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1337
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Date of Hearing: April 29, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Wesley Chesbro, Chair
AB 1337 (Allen) - As Amended: March 21, 2013
SUBJECT : Solid waste: plastic bag: recycling
SUMMARY : Pre-empts any local government from enacting or
enforcing any rule prohibiting the distribution of plastic
single-use carryout bags or imposing a fee on the distribution
of non-plastic single-use carryout bags (i.e., paper).
EXISTING LAW establishes the At-Store Recycling Program, which:
1)Requires operators of stores, defined as supermarkets and
stores over 10,000 square feet that includes a pharmacy, to
establish an at-store recycling program. Under the program:
a) Plastic bags provided by the store must include a label
encouraging customers to return the bag to the store for
recycling.
b) Stores must provide clearly labeled and easily
accessible recycling bins for plastic bags.
c) All plastic bags collected must be recycled in a manner
consistent with the local jurisdiction's recycling plan.
d) The store must maintain records relating to the program
for at least three years and must make the records
available to the local jurisdiction or the Department of
Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) upon request.
e) The operator of the store must make reusable bags
available to customers.
1)Requires plastic carryout bag manufacturers to develop
educational materials to encourage reducing and recycling of
plastic carryout bags and make those materials available to
stores.
2)Authorizes a city, county, or the state to levy fines for
stores in violation of this law.
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3)Sunsets the above provisions on January 1, 2020.
THIS BILL :
1)Prohibits a city, county, or other public agency from
adopting, implementing, or enforcing an ordinance, resolution,
regulation, or rule that prohibits a retail establishment from
offering to its customers, or that otherwise prohibits a
person from using, a single-use plastic carryout bag used to
contain "meat, poultry, fruits, vegetables, household chemical
products, or food or products intended for consumption or use
by domestic pets."
2)Prohibits a city, county, or other public agency that has
adopted such a rule from adopting, implementing, or enforcing
an ordinance, resolution, regulation, or rule that imposes a
fee, tax, or other charge upon a retail establishment that
provides single-use carryout bags that are not made of plastic
(generally paper bags) or that require a retail establishment
to collect such a fee.
3)Specifies that the bill does not prohibit the sale of reusable
bags.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
Purpose of the bill. According to the author, while plastic
bags comprise a small portion of California's total waste stream
(the author states 0.13 percent; the most recent CalRecycle
waste characterization study indicates 0.3 percent), they have
been banned for environmental reasons without consideration of
the health risks involved. "There is an increasing risk to the
public health that may be attributable to localities adopting
bans on plastic carryout bags."
Plastic bag impacts. Every year California taxpayers spend an
estimated $25 million disposing of the 19 billion plastic bags
used annually. Although plastic represents a relatively small
fraction of the overall waste stream in California by weight,
plastic is the most prevalent form of marine debris. Plastics
are estimated to compose 60-80 percent of all marine debris and
90 percent of all floating debris. According to the California
Coastal Commission, the primary source of marine debris is urban
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runoff, of which lightweight plastic bags and plastic film are
particularly susceptible. Due to the interplay of ocean
currents, marine debris tends to accumulate in certain areas of
the ocean. The North Pacific Central Gyre is where much of the
marine debris originating from the California coast ends up. A
study by the Algalita Marine Research Foundation found an
average of more than 300,000 plastic pieces per square mile of
the Gyre and that the mass of plastic was six times greater than
zooplankton floating on the water's surface.
Most plastic marine debris exists as small plastic particles due
to excessive UV radiation exposure resulting in
photo-degradation. These plastic pieces are ingested by marine
organisms and have been proven to negatively affect over 250
animal species worldwide. In addition, hydrophobic chemicals
present in the ocean in trace amounts (e.g., from contaminated
runoff and oil and chemical spills) have an affinity for, and
can bind to, plastic particles and may also enter and accumulate
in the food chain through the same mechanism. Plastic debris
also contributes to the migration of invasive species, as
organisms become attached to floating debris and are carried
great distances by ocean currents.
Local government actions. In response to the significant
environmental impacts of plastic debris, Californians Against
Waste (which tracks local bag ordinances) has identified 51
local ordinances, covering 72 cities and counties, that ban
plastic single-use carryout bags. This bill would invalidate
all of these local ordinances and prohibit any other local
government from adopting similar requirements. This bill would
not pre-empt local governments that opt to charge a fee for
plastic single-use carryout bags.
Health risks from reusable bags? In 2009, a study funded by the
American Chemistry Council raised questions about the possible
health impacts of reusable bags. Testing of 84 reusable bags
found bacteria on approximately half of the bags sampled, and
seven bags tested positive for E. coli (the testing did not
identify the strain of E. coli; it should be noted that most
strains of E. coli are harmless).
Earlier this year, the University of Pennsylvania Law School
Institute for Law and Economics published a research paper that
linked the initial implementation with San Francisco's plastic
bag ban with an increased number of emergency room admissions
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from bacterial intestinal infections. San Francisco's health
officer, Tomas Aragon, has responded to the report by noting
that the authors did not consult with an epidemiologist, which
prevented them from understanding how the specific city
demographics contribute to intestinal illnesses. The report did
not look at data from any of the other communities with bans in
place.
Both of these studies demonstrate that, as with any item used to
store or contain food, consumers should use common sense and
clean reusable bags regularly.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
Bag It!
California Coastkeeper Alliance
California State Association of Counties
Californians Against Waste
City and County of San Francisco
Clean Water Action/Clean Water Fund
Environment California
Environmental Working Group
Green Cities California
Heal the Bay
League of California Cities
Plastic Pollution Coalition
Save Our Shores
Seventh Generation Advisors
Surfrider Foundation
The Center for Oceanic Awareness, Research, and Education
Turtle Island Restoration Network
World Centric
5Gyres
Analysis Prepared by : Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092
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