BILL NUMBER: AB 1784 INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Quirk FEBRUARY 18, 2014 An act to amend Section 5342 of the Food and Agricultural Code, and to amend Sections 14572 and 14595.5 of the Public Resources Code, relating to beverage containers. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1784, as introduced, Quirk. Beverage containers: enforcement. (1) The existing California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act requires certified recycling centers, when accepting an empty beverage container from a consumer, to pay the refund value. A violation of the act is a crime. This bill would prohibit a certified recycling center from accepting or paying a refund value to a consumer for more than 50 pounds of empty beverage containers submitted by that consumer to the certified recycling center during a single 24-hour period. Since a violation of this requirement would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) The act prohibits any person from paying, claiming, or receiving any refund value or other specified payments of fees for imported beverage container material, previously redeemed containers, rejected containers, line breakage, or other ineligible material, or, with intent to defraud, taking specified actions with regard to redeeming ineligible containers. This bill would require the department, when implementing these prohibitions, to consider proximity to the state border when assigning employees to the department's audits of redemption centers. (3) Existing law requires a vehicle entering the state that contains more than 25 pounds of empty beverage container material to pass through the nearest plant quarantine inspection station and obtain proof of inspection from the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery. The department is authorized to enter into an interagency agreement with the Department of Food and Agriculture to implement this requirement. Existing law authorizes plant quarantine officers at plant quarantine inspection stations to, among other things, ascertain the origin, quantity, and kinds of meat and meat products, poultry and poultry products, eggs, and livestock transported into or out of this state through the station. This bill would require the plant quarantine officers at plant quarantine inspection stations to ascertain the origin and quantity of high volumes of empty beverage containers transported by vehicles entering the state. (4) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 5342 of the Food and Agricultural Code is amended to read: 5342. (a) (1) Plant quarantine officers at plant quarantine inspection stations may ascertain the origin, quantity, and kinds of meat and meat products, poultry and poultry products, eggs, and livestock transported into or out of this state through the stations. The operator ofanya vehiclewhichthat is transportingany such commodityone of these commodities into or out of the state throughanya plant quarantine inspection station shall stop and give this information upon request to a plant quarantine officer at the plant quarantine inspection station.SuchThe request may be by a sign which is openly displayed at the station or by any other means which is deemed by the director as effective.The(2) The director may accept, on behalf of the state, donations of money from any person to defray the costs of the department under thissectionsubdivision .Any suchThat money shall be paid into the State Treasury and credited to the Department of Agriculture Fund. The director may limit expenditures under thissectionsubdivision relating to livestock to the amounts so donated for this purpose, and shall limit expenditures under this section relating to poultry and poultry products and eggs to the amounts so donated for this purpose. (b) Plant quarantine officers at plant quarantine inspection stations shall ascertain the origin and quantity of high volumes of empty beverage containers transported by vehicles entering the state for purposes of determining compliance with Section 14596 of the Public Resources Code. SEC. 2. Section 14572 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 14572. (a) (1) Except as provided insubdivision (b)subdivisions (b) and (e) , a certified recycling center shall accept from any consumer or dropoff or collection program any empty beverage container, and shall pay to the consumer or dropoff or collection program the refund value of the beverage container. (2) Except as provided in paragraph (3), the recycling center may pay the refund value based on the weight of returned containers. (3) On and after September 1, 2013, for beverage containers redeemed by consumers, a certified recycling center shall pay the refund value using the applicable segregated rate, as defined in paragraph (43) of subsection (a) of Section 2000 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, as that section read on September 1, 2013, which shall be based on the weight of the redeemed beverage containers. (b) Any recycling center or processor that was in existence on January 1, 1986, and that refused, as of January 1, 1986, to accept at a particular location a certain type of empty beverage container may continue to refuse to accept at the location the type or types of empty beverage containers that the recycling center or processor refused to accept as of January 1, 1986. A certified recycling center that refuses, pursuant to this subdivision, to accept a certain type or types of empty beverage containers is not eligible to receive handling fees unless the center agrees to accept all types of empty beverage containers and is a supermarket site. This subdivision does not preclude the certified recycling center from receiving a handling fee for beverage containers redeemed at supermarket sites that do accept all types of containers. (c) The department shall develop procedures by which recycling centers and processors that meet the criteria of subdivision (b) may recertify to change the material types accepted. (d) (1) Only a certified recycling center may pay the refund value to consumers or dropoff or collection programs. A person shall not pay a noncertified recycler for empty beverage containers an amount that exceeds the current scrap value for each container type, which shall be determined in the following manner: (A) For a plastic or glass beverage container, the current scrap value shall be determined by the department. (B) For an aluminum beverage container, the current scrap value shall be not greater than the amount paid to the processor for that aluminum beverage container, on the date the container was purchased, by the location of end use, as defined in the regulations of the department. (2) A person shall not receive or retain, for empty beverage containers that come from out of state, any refund values, processing payments, or administrative fees for which a claim is made to the department against the fund. (3) Paragraph (1) does not affect curbside programs under contract with cities or counties. (e) A certified recycling center shall not accept or pay a refund value to a consumer for more than 50 pounds of empty beverage containers submitted by that consumer to the certified recycling center during a single 24-hour period. SEC. 3. Section 14595.5 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 14595.5. (a) (1)NoA person shall not pay, claim, or receiveanya refund value, processing payment, handling fee, or administrative fee for any of the following: (A) Beverage container material that the person knew, or should have known, was imported from out of state. (B) A previously redeemed container, rejected container, line breakage, or other ineligible material. (2)NoA person shall not , with intent to defraud, do any of the following: (A) Redeem or attempt to redeem an out-of-state container, rejected container, line breakage, previously redeemed container, or other ineligible material. (B) Return a previously redeemed container to the marketplace for redemption. (C) Bring an out-of-state container, rejected container, line breakage, or other ineligible material to the marketplace for redemption. (D) Receive, store, transport, distribute, or otherwise facilitate or aid in the redemption of a previously redeemed container, out-of-state container, rejected container, line breakage, or other ineligible material. (b) For purposes of implementing subdivision (a), the department shalltake all reasonabledo both of the following: (1) Consider proximity to the state's border when assigning employees to the department's audits of redemption centers. (2) Take all reasonable steps to exclude beverage container material imported from out of state, previously redeemed containers, rejected containers, and line breakage, when conducting surveys to determine a commingled rate pursuant to Section 14549.5. SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.