AB 1699, as introduced, Bloom. Waste management: microplastics.
The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Proposition 65) prohibits any person, in the course of doing business, from knowingly and intentionally exposing any individual to a chemical known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity without giving a specified warning, or from discharging or releasing such a chemical into any source of drinking water, except as specified. Existing law prohibits the sale of expanded polystyrene packaging material by a wholesaler or manufacturer. Existing law prohibits a person from selling a plastic product in this state that is labeled with the term “compostable,” “home compostable,” or “marine degradable” unless, at the time of sale, the plastic product meets the applicable American Society for Testing and Materials standard specification.
This bill would prohibit, after January 1, 2016, a person in the course of doing business, as defined, from selling or offering for promotional purposes in this state any cleaning product, personal care product, or both containing microplastic, as specified. The bill would provide exceptions to the above provision, including an exception for the sale of a product containing less than 1 part per million (ppm) by weight of microplastic, as provided.
The bill would require the imposition of a civil penalty not to exceed $2,500 per day for each violation. The bill would authorize the penalty to be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought in any court of competent jurisdiction by the Attorney General or local officials, as provided, or a by a person in the public interest, as specified.
The bill would require the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery to administer and implement these provisions and would authorize the department to adopt and modify regulations as necessary to further the purposes of this act.
The bill would establish the Plastic Pollution Fund in the State Treasury. The bill would authorize the department to expend the funds, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to implement and administer the act by, among other things, providing grants to local governments or other entities. The bill would require 50% of all civil penalties collected pursuant to the act, and any interest earned on the money in the fund, to be deposited into the fund. The bill would require 50% of all civil penalties collected in an action pursuant to the act to be paid to the Attorney General, local officials, or to a person acting in the public interest, whichever entity brought the action.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Chapter 5.9 (commencing with Section 42360)
2is added to Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, to
3read:
4
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
8(a) Plastic does not biodegrade like other organic materials, but,
9upon exposure to the elements photodegrades into smaller pieces
10causing land and water pollution that is virtually impossible to
11remediate.
12(b) Plastic pollution is the dominant type of anthropogenic debris
13found throughout the marine environment.
P3 1(c) Plastic pollution is an environmental and human health
2hazard and a public nuisance.
3(d) Consumer personal care products such as facial scrubs,
4soaps, and toothpaste increasingly contain thousands of
5
microplastic particles, ranging from 50-500 microns, which are
6flushed down drains as part of their intended use.
7(e) Microplastics in personal care products are not recoverable
8through ordinary wastewater treatment and so are released into
9the environment.
10(f) Microplastics of the size found in cleaning and personal care
11products are ingested by marine organisms.
12(g) Microplastics are persistent organic compounds that attract
13other pollutants commonly present in the environment, many of
14which are recognized to have serious deleterious impacts on human
15health or the environment, including DDT, DDE, PCBs, and
16flame-retardants.
17(h) Microplastics have been found in surface waters within the
18United States, as well as in fish, marine mammals, and reptiles,
19
and in the digestive and circulatory systems of mussels and worms.
20(i) PAHs, PCBs and PBDEs from plastic transfer to fish tissue
21during digestion and bioaccumulate, resulting in liver damage.
22(j) Fish that humans consume have been found to ingest
23microplastics.
24(k) There are many biodegradable, natural alternatives to
25microplastics that are economically feasible alternatives to
26microplastics, as evidenced by their current use in some consumer
27personal care products.
As used in this chapter, the following terms have the
29following meanings:
30(a) “Department” means the Department of Resources Recycling
31and Recovery.
32(b) “Cleaning products, personal care products, or both” means
33mixtures and solutions used for bathing and cleaning, including,
34but not limited to, hand and body soap, exfoliates, shampoos,
35toothpastes, and scrubs.
36(c) “Microplastic” means any plastic size 5 millimeter or less
37in all dimensions.
38(d) “Person” means an individual, trust, firm, joint stock
39company, corporation, company, partnership, limited liability
40company, and
association.
P4 1(e) “Person in the course of doing business” does not include
2any person employing fewer than 10 employees in his or her
3business; any city, county, or district or any department or agency
4thereof or the state or any department or agency thereof or the
5federal government or any department or agency thereof; or any
6entity in its operation of a public water system.
7(f) “Plastic” means a synthetic material made from linking
8monomers through a chemical reaction to create a polymer chain
9that can be molded or extruded at high heat into various forms.
10Plastics are typically made from petroleum, natural gas, or other
11organic substances.
On or after January 1, 2016, a person in the course of
13doing business shall not sell or offer for promotional purposes in
14this state any cleaning products, personal care products, or both
15containing microplastic.
(a) Section 42362 shall not apply to any person in the
17course of doing business that sells or offers for promotional
18purposes a cleaning product, personal care product, or both
19containing microplastic in less than 1 part per million (ppm) by
20weight.
21(b) (1) Section 42362 shall not apply to any person in the course
22of doing business if it is shown that an otherwise prohibited
23cleaning product, personal care product, or both is designed for a
24use where it is unlikely that the product will pass or probably will
25pass into any wastewater treatment system or water of the state.
26(2) The department shall adopt regulations as necessary to
27implement this
subdivision.
(a) A person who violates or threatens to violate Section
2942362 may be enjoined in any court of competent jurisdiction.
30(b) (1) A person who violates Section 42362 is liable for a civil
31penalty not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500)
32per day for each violation in addition to any other penalty
33established by law. That civil penalty may be assessed and
34recovered in a civil action brought in any court of competent
35jurisdiction.
36(2) In assessing the amount of a civil penalty for a violation of
37this chapter, the court shall consider all of the following:
38(A) The nature and extent of the violation.
39(B) The number of, and severity of, the violations.
40(C) The economic effect of the penalty on the person.
P5 1(D) Whether the person took good faith measures to comply
2with this chapter and the time these measures were taken.
3(E) The deterrent effect that the imposition of the penalty would
4have on both the person and the regulated community as a whole.
5(F) Any other factor that justice may require.
6(c) Actions pursuant to this section may be brought by the
7Attorney General in the name of the people of the state, by a district
8attorney, by a city attorney of a city having a population in excess
9of 750,000 persons,
or, with the consent of the district attorney,
10by a city prosecutor in a city or city and county having a full-time
11city prosecutor, or as provided in subdivision (d).
12(d) Actions pursuant to this section may be brought by a person
13in the public interest if both of the following requirements are met:
14(1) The private action is commenced more than 60 days from
15the date that the person has given notice of an alleged violation of
16Section 42362 that is the subject of the private action to the
17Attorney General and the district attorney, city attorney, or
18prosecutor in whose jurisdiction the violation is alleged to have
19occurred, and to the alleged violator.
20(2) Neither the Attorney General, a district attorney, a city
21attorney, nor a prosecutor has commenced and is diligently
22prosecuting an action against the
violation.
23(e) The court, in issuing any final order in any action brought
24pursuant to this section, shall award costs of litigation, including
25reasonable attorney and expert witness fees, to any prevailing or
26substantially prevailing party, unless the court determines the
27award is inappropriate.
The department shall administer and implement this
29chapter. The department may adopt and modify regulations as
30necessary to implement and further the purposes of this chapter.
(a) The Plastic Pollution Fund is hereby established in
32the State Treasury. The department may expend the funds in the
33Plastic Pollution Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to
34implement and administer this chapter by directly expending those
35funds, by transferring those funds to other state agencies, or by
36providing grants to local governments or other entities deemed
37eligible by the department, including, but not limited to,
38nongovernmental organizations and the California Conservation
39Corps.
P6 1(b) In addition to any other moneys that may be deposited in
2the Plastic Pollution Fund, all of the following amounts shall be
3deposited in the fund:
4(1) Fifty percent of all civil
penalties collected pursuant to
5Section 42364.
6(2) Any interest earned upon the money deposited into the
7Plastic Pollution Fund.
Fifty percent of all civil penalties collected pursuant to
9Section 42364 shall be paid to the office of the city attorney, city
10prosecutor, district attorney, or Attorney General, whichever office
11brought the action, or in the case of an action brought by a person
12under subdivision (d) of Section 42364, to that person.
This chapter does not alter or diminish any legal
14obligation otherwise required in common law or by statute or
15regulation, and nothing in this chapter shall create or enlarge any
16defense in any action to enforce the legal obligation. Penalties and
17sanctions imposed under this chapter shall be in addition to any
18penalties or sanctions otherwise prescribed by law.
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