BILL NUMBER: SB 498 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 2, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Senator Lara
FEBRUARY 21, 2013
An act to amend Section 25253 25251
of the Health and Safety Code, relating to hazardous materials.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 498, as amended, Lara. Hazardous materials: green chemistry.
Existing law, part of the hazardous waste control laws, requires
the Department of Toxic Substances Control to adopt, by January 1,
2011, regulations to establish a process by which chemicals of
concern in consumer products, and their potential
alternatives, are evaluated to determine how best to limit exposure
or to reduce the level of hazard posed by a chemical of concern. The
regulations are required to specify actions that the department may
take following the completion of the analysis. Existing law
defines the term "consumer product" for purposes of those
requirements and excludes from that definition certain devices,
materials, food, packaging, and pesticides.
This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to that
provision additionally exclude from the definition of
consumer products a motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating
of less than 14,000 pounds, and that motor vehicle's component or
replacement parts .
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 25251 of the Health
and Safety Code is amended to read:
25251. For purposes of this article, the following definitions
shall apply:
(a) "Clearinghouse" means the Toxics Information Clearinghouse
established pursuant to Section 25256.
(b) "Council" means the California Environmental Policy Council
established pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 71017 of the
Public Resources Code.
(c) "Office" means Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment.
(d) "Panel" means the Green Ribbon Science Panel established
pursuant to Section 25254.
(e) "Consumer product" means a product or part of the product that
is used, brought, or leased for use by a person for any purposes.
"Consumer product" does not include any of the following:
(1) A dangerous drug or dangerous device as defined in Section
4022 of the Business of Professions Code.
(2) Dental restorative materials as defined in subdivision (b) of
Section 1648.20 of the Business and Professions Code.
(3) A device as defined in Section 4023 of the Business of
Professions Code.
(4) A food as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 109935.
(5) The packaging associated with any of the items specified in
paragraph (1), (2), or (3).
(6) A pesticide as defined in Section 12753 of the Food and
Agricultural Code or the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and
Rodenticide (7 United States Code Sections 136 and following).
(7) A motor vehicle, as defined in Section 415 of the Vehicle
Code, with a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 14,000 pounds,
as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 350 of the Vehicle Code, and
that motor vehicle's component or replacement parts.
(f) This section shall become effective on January 1, 2012.
SECTION 1. Section 25253 of the Health and
Safety Code is amended to read:
25253. (a) (1) On or before January 1, 2011, the department shall
adopt regulations pursuant to this section that establish a process
for evaluating chemicals of concern in consumer products, and their
potential alternatives, to determine how best to limit exposure or to
reduce the level of hazard posed by a chemical of concern, in
accordance with the review process specified in Section 25252.5. The
department shall adopt these regulations in consultation with all
appropriate state agencies and after conducting one or more public
workshops for which the department provides public notice and
provides an opportunity for all interested parties to comment.
(2) The regulations adopted pursuant to this section shall
establish a process that includes an evaluation of the availability
of potential alternatives and potential hazards posed by those
alternatives, as well as an evaluation of critical exposure pathways.
This process shall include life cycle assessment tools that take
into consideration, but shall not be limited to, all of the
following:
(A) Product function or performance.
(B) Useful life.
(C) Materials and resource consumption.
(D) Water conservation.
(E) Water quality impacts.
(F) Air emissions.
(G) Production, in-use, and transportation energy inputs.
(H) Energy efficiency.
(I) Greenhouse gas emissions.
(J) Waste and end-of-life disposal.
(K) Public health impacts, including potential impacts to
sensitive subpopulations, including infants and children.
(L) Environmental impacts.
(M) Economic impacts.
(b) The regulations adopted pursuant to this section shall specify
the range of regulatory responses that the department may take
following the completion of the alternatives analysis, including, but
not limited to, any of the following actions:
(1) Not requiring any action.
(2) Imposing requirements to provide additional information needed
to assess a chemical of concern and its potential alternatives.
(3) Imposing requirements on the labeling or other type of
consumer product information.
(4) Imposing a restriction on the use of the chemical of concern
in the consumer product.
(5) Prohibiting the use of the chemical of concern in the consumer
product.
(6) Imposing requirements that control access to or limit exposure
to the chemical of concern in the consumer product.
(7) Imposing requirements for the manufacturer to manage the
consumer product at the end of its useful life, including recycling
or responsible disposal of the consumer product.
(8) Imposing a requirement to fund green chemistry challenge
grants where no feasible safer alternative exists.
(9) Any other outcome the department determines accomplishes the
requirements of this article.
(c) The department, in developing the processes and regulations
pursuant to this section, shall ensure that the tools available are
in a form that allows for ease of use and transparency of
application. The department shall also make every feasible effort to
devise simplified and accessible tools that consumer product
manufacturers, consumer product distributors, consumer product
retailers, and consumers can use to make consumer product
manufacturing, sales, and purchase decisions.