AB 1699, as amended, 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,begin delete 2018end deletebegin insert
2019end insert, a person in the course of doing business, as defined, from selling or offering for promotional purposes in this state any personal care product containing microplastic, as specified. The bill would exempt from this prohibition the sale or promotional offer of a product containing less than 1 part per million (ppm) by weight of microplastic, as provided.
The bill would make a violator liable for 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. The bill would require the civil penalties collected in an action brought pursuant to the act to be retained by the office of the Attorney General or local official who 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.
14(c) Plastic pollution is an environmental and human health
15hazard and a public nuisance.
16(d) Consumer personal care products such as facial scrubs,
17soaps, and toothpaste increasingly contain thousands of
18
microplastic particles, ranging from 50 to 500 microns, which are
19flushed down drains as part of their intended use.
20(e) Microplastics in personal care products are not recoverable
21through ordinary wastewater treatment and so are released into
22the environment.
P3 1(f) Microplastics of the size found in personal care products are
2ingested by marine organisms.
3(g) Microplastics attract other pollutants commonly present in
4the environment, many of which are recognized to have serious
5deleterious impacts on human health or the environment, including
6DDT, DDE, PCBs, and flame-retardants.
7(h) Microplastics have been found in surface waters within the
8United States, as well as in fish, marine mammals, and reptiles,
9and in the digestive and circulatory systems of
mussels and worms.
10(i) PAHs, PCBs, and PBDEs from plastic transfer to fish tissue
11during digestion and bioaccumulate, resulting in liver damage.
12(j) Fish that humans consume have been found to ingest
13microplastics.
14(k) There are many biodegradable, natural alternatives to
15microplastics that are economically feasible, as evidenced by their
16current use in some consumer personal care products.
As used in this chapter, the following terms have the
18following meanings:
19(a) “Microplastic” means any plastic size 5 millimeter or less
20in all dimensions.
21(b) “Person” means an individual, trust, firm, joint stock
22company, corporation, company, partnership, limited liability
23company, and association.
24(c) “Personal care products” means mixtures and solutions used
25for bathing and facial or body cleaning, including, but not limited
26to, hand and body soap, exfoliates, shampoos, toothpastes, and
27scrubs.
28(d) “Person in the course of doing business” does not include
29any person
employing fewer than 10 employees in his or her
30business; any city, county, or district or any department or agency
31thereof or the state or any department or agency thereof or the
32federal government or any department or agency thereof; or any
33entity in its operation of a public water system.
34(e) “Plastic” means a synthetic material made from linking
35monomers through a chemical reaction to create a polymer chain
36that can be molded or extruded at high heat into various forms.
37Plastics can be made from many organic substances, including
38petroleum and natural gas.
On or after January 1,begin delete 2018end deletebegin insert 2019end insert, a person in the course
2of doing business shall not sell or offer for promotional purposes
3in this state any personal care products containing microplastic.
Section 42362 shall not apply to any person in the
5course of doing business that sells or offers for promotional
6purposes a personal care product containing microplastic in less
7than 1 part per million (ppm) by weight.
(a) A person who violates or threatens to violate Section
942362 may be enjoined in any court of competent jurisdiction.
10(b) (1) A person who violates Section 42362 is liable for a civil
11penalty not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500)
12per day for each violation in addition to any other penalty
13established by law. That civil penalty may be assessed and
14recovered in a civil action brought in any court of competent
15jurisdiction.
16(2) In assessing the amount of a civil penalty for a violation of
17this chapter, the court shall consider all of the following:
18(A) The nature and extent of the violation.
19(B) The number of, and severity of, the violations.
20(C) The economic effect of the penalty on the person.
21(D) Whether the person took good faith measures to comply
22with this chapter and the time these measures were taken.
23(E) The deterrent effect that the imposition of the penalty would
24have on both the person and the regulated community as a whole.
25(F) Any other factor that justice may require.
26(c) Actions pursuant to this section may be brought by the
27Attorney General in the name of the people of the state, by a district
28attorney, by a city attorney of a city having a population in excess
29of 750,000 persons,
or, with the consent of the district attorney,
30by a city prosecutor in a city or city and county having a full-time
31city prosecutor.
The civil penalties collected pursuant to Section 42364
33shall be retained by the office of the city attorney, city prosecutor,
34district attorney, or Attorney General, whichever office brought
35the action.
This chapter does not alter or diminish any legal
37obligation otherwise required in common law or by statute or
38regulation, and this chapter does not create or enlarge any defense
39in any action to enforce the legal obligation. Penalties and sanctions
P5 1imposed under this chapter shall be in addition to any penalties or
2sanctions otherwise prescribed by law.
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