BILL ANALYSIS Ó
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2675|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2675
Author: Lowenthal (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION COMMITTEE : 7-3, 6/24/14
AYES: Correa, De León, Galgiani, Hernandez, Lieu, Padilla,
Torres
NOES: Berryhill, Cannella, Vidak
NO VOTE RECORDED: Vacancy
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-0, 8/14/14
AYES: De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters, Gaines
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 52-23, 5/28/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : State agency: public contracts
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires state agencies that purchase
products specified in the State Agency Buy Recycled Campaign
(SABRC) to increase the threshold of recycled purchases from 50%
to 75% by January 1, 2020.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
CONTINUED
AB 2675
Page
2
1. Requires state agencies to purchase products that contain
specified minimum amounts of postconsumer recycled-content
material in 11 reportable product categories defined in
statute.
2. Requires state agencies to ensure that at least 50% of the
purchases in the 11 categories are for recycled products.
3. Directs agencies to report annually to the Department of
Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) dollars spent
on recycled and non-recycled products purchased in the 11
categories.
This bill requires state agencies that purchase products
specified in SABRC to increase the threshold of recycled
purchases from 50% to 75% by January 1, 2020.
Background
Agencies are required to purchase recycled products whenever
available, if fitness and quality are equal and the products
cost the same or less than non-recycled products. Agencies
annually report information about their purchases in these
categories to CalRecycle. CalRecycle then compiles this
information and produces reports about SABRC compliance by
product category and department. The 11 reportable categories
are (1) paper products; (2) printing and writing papers; (3)
mulch, compost, co-compost; (4) glass products; (5) lubricating
oils; (6) plastic products; (7) paint; (8) antifreeze; (9)
tires; (10) tire-derived products; and (11) metal products.
This bill increases the requirement for recycled purchases in
these categories to 75% by January 1, 2020. In the most recent
SABRC report for Fiscal Year 2011-12, agencies spent about $130
million on recycled products. This accounted for 70% of
purchase amounts for the 11 categories. Additionally, purchases
in the three product categories of mulch, compost, co-compost;
metal products; and tire-derived products exceeded the 75% mark.
However, some product categories fell short of the current 50%
mandate.
Comments
According to the author's office, SABRC requires California
CONTINUED
AB 2675
Page
3
agencies to ensure that at least 50% of their purchases in 11
designated categories are of post-consumer recycled content
(PCRC) products. Goods manufactured with recycled materials
save native resources, produce less greenhouse gas emissions
than their virgin counterparts, and divert waste that would
otherwise end up in a landfill.
In the average fiscal year, the State of California spends more
than $1 billion dollars on the direct purchase of goods, and
more than $10 billion dollars on the purchase of services which
include goods. Components of SABRC have been in place at least
as far back as the California Integrated Waste Management Act of
1989. To date, state agencies have purchased more than $1
billion of SABRC-compliant post-consumer recycled content
products.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, unknown
increased state agency procurement costs or cost pressures by
2020, potentially in the hundreds of thousands of dollars
annually, to the extent additional virgin materials are
unavailable or purchases of additional recycled materials are
more expensive than virgin materials in five product categories
(glass products, lubricating oils, paper products, plastic
products, and printing and writing materials) for which
agencies' reportable purchases fall under the 75% threshold
(General Fund and special funds).
In order to meet the higher threshold, state agencies will need
to spend an additional $13.4 million on purchasing recycled
products, which represents a shift in spending of this amount
from purchases of non-recycled products to recycled products.
The overall impact of this shift in spending on state agency
procurement costs is unknown.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/11/14)
California Refuse Recycling Council
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : By requiring that agencies procure an
increased percentage of goods from PCRC sources, this bill
harnesses our state's considerable purchasing power to more
CONTINUED
AB 2675
Page
4
forcefully support a market that helps California meet both the
greenhouse gas reduction goals of the California Global Warming
Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32, Nunez, Chapter 488, Statutes of
2006) and the solid waste diversion goals of AB 341 (Chesbro,
Chapter 476, Statutes of 2011). It is a responsible and wise
use of taxpayer dollars that will benefit Californians for
generations to come.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 52-23, 5/28/14
AYES: Alejo, Ammiano, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta,
Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau,
Chesbro, Cooley, Dababneh, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong,
Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hall, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lowenthal, Medina,
Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Pan, Perea, John A. Pérez, V.
Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Weber, Wieckowski, Williams,
Yamada, Atkins
NOES: Achadjian, Allen, Bigelow, Chávez, Conway, Dahle,
Donnelly, Fox, Beth Gaines, Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Jones,
Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor, Melendez, Nestande, Olsen,
Patterson, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Frazier, Gorell, Linder, Rendon, Vacancy
MW:k 8/16/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****
CONTINUED