BILL NUMBER: SB 1274 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 371
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 16, 2014
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 16, 2014
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 21, 2014
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 7, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 16, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 24, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Senators Hancock and Correa
FEBRUARY 21, 2014
An act to amend Sections 42986, 42987, 42987.1, 42989.1, 42990,
42991, 42993.1, 42993.2, 42993.3, and 42993.4 of the Public Resources
Code, relating to recycling.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1274, Hancock. Recycling: used mattresses.
(1) Existing law, the Used Mattress Recovery and Recycling Act,
requires a mattress recycling organization to be established by a
qualified industry association to develop, implement, and administer
a mattress recycling program, including the development of a state
plan by July 1, 2015, for recycling used mattresses in the state that
includes specified goals and elements. The plan is required to
include an element that ensures that urban and rural local
governments and participating solid waste facilities that accept
mattresses are provided with a mechanism for the recovery of
illegally disposed used mattresses that is funded at no additional
cost to the local government or solid waste facility, as provided.
This bill would require that element to ensure that urban and
rural local governments and participating permitted solid waste
facilities and authorized solid waste operations that accept
mattresses are provided with the above mechanism.
Existing law also requires the plan to include a provision that
allows an individual to drop off a mattress, at no charge, at a
mattress recycling center, permitted solid waste facility, or other
municipal facility that accepts mattresses, and for the payment of a
reasonable amount to that municipal or solid waste facility.
This bill would require the plan to allow an individual to also
drop off a mattress at a recycler, renovator, authorized solid waste
operation, or other municipal facility that accepts mattresses
consistent with solid waste regulations. The bill would also require
the payment amount to be determined as reasonable by the municipal
facility or solid waste facility or operation and the mattress
recycling organization.
The bill would also, for purposes of the act, make a clarifying
change to the definition of a solid waste facility.
(2) The act requires, commencing 90 days after the date the
department approves or conditionally approves the mattress recycling
plan, each manufacturer, renovator, retailer, or distributor that
sells a mattress to add a charge to the purchase price of the
mattress, as provided. Existing law requires the department to
approve or disapprove a final used mattress recycling program budget.
This bill would instead require, commencing 90 days after the date
the department approves the budget, each manufacturer, renovator,
retailer, or distributor that sells a mattress to add a charge to the
purchase price of the mattress, as provided.
(3) The act requires the mattress recycling organization to
arrange for an audit conducted by an independent certified public
accountant to be delivered to the department, allows the mattress
recycling organization to obtain copies of that audit, and prohibits
the department from disclosing any confidential proprietary
information in the audit. The department is authorized to conduct its
own audit if it determines that an audit is necessary. The act also
requires a mattress recycler or mattress renovator to submit a report
by July 1, 2017, and each year thereafter to the department, which
the department is required to make public.
This bill would in addition prohibit the department from
disclosing any confidential proprietary information in the audit that
the department is authorized to conduct, would instead allow the
mattress recycling organization to obtain copies of that audit, and
would also prohibit the department from disclosing this confidential
information in the annual report submitted by recyclers and
renovators. The bill would require the report to be submitted by May
1, 2017, and each year thereafter and would require the report to
also be submitted to the mattress recycling organization.
(4) The act authorizes the department to impose an administrative
civil penalty on a manufacturer, organization, recycler, renovator,
or retailer in violation of the act and to take other specified
enforcement actions. The department is required to deposit these
penalties into the Mattress Recovery and Recycling Penalty Account,
which is available for expenditure by the department, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, to implement and enforce the act
and for offsetting certain costs reimbursed by the mattress recycling
organization.
This bill would additionally authorize the department to impose
civil penalties on distributors and to take those specified
enforcement actions against distributors and recyclers. The bill
would delete the authorization for the expenditure of these penalties
to offset those reimbursed costs. The bill would also make technical
and clarifying changes.
(5) Existing law authorizes the department to adopt emergency
regulations relating to the used mattress recovery and recycling plan
and the program budget. Existing law prohibits the department from
adopting regulations with regard to any other provision of the act.
This bill would prohibit the department from adopting emergency
regulations with regard to any other provision of the act.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 42986 of the Public Resources Code is amended
to read:
42986. For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions
shall apply:
(a) (1) "Consumer" means an owner of a mattress, including a
person, business, corporation, limited partnership, nonprofit
organization, or governmental entity, and including the ultimate
purchaser, owner, or lessee of a mattress.
(2) "Consumer" does not include a government organization or other
party that obtains one or more used mattresses in the course of
collecting used mattresses for recycling for purposes of this
chapter, or through the ordinary collection and handling of municipal
solid waste.
(b) "Distributor" means a company that has a contractual
relationship with one or more manufacturers to market and sell
mattresses to retailers.
(c) "Foundation" means a ticking-covered structure used to support
a mattress or sleep surface. The structure may include constructed
frames, foam, box springs, or other materials, used alone or in
combination.
(d) "Good faith effort" means all reasonable and economically
practical efforts by a mattress recycling organization to implement
the components identified in its approved plan consistent with its
annual budget.
(e) "Importer" means a party qualifying as an "importer of record"
for purposes of Section 1484(a)(2)(B) of Title 19 of the United
States Code, with regard to the import of a finished mattress sold in
the state that was manufactured or assembled by a company outside
the United States.
(f) (1) "Manufacturer" means any of the following:
(A) The person who manufactures a mattress and who sells, offers
for sale, or distributes a mattress in the state.
(B) If there is no person who is a manufacturer of a mattress for
purposes of subparagraph (A), the manufacturer is the person who
imports the mattress into the state for sale or distribution.
(2) Except as provided pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision
(b) of Section 42987, a retailer that brings a mattress into its
store locations from an out-of-state warehouse or distribution center
is not a manufacturer.
(g) (1) "Mattress" means a resilient material or combination of
materials that is enclosed by a ticking, is used alone or in
combination with other products, and is intended for or promoted for
sleeping upon.
(2) "Mattress" includes a foundation and a renovated mattress or
renovated foundation.
(3) "Mattress" does not include the following:
(A) An unattached mattress pad or unattached mattress topper,
including items with resilient filling, with or without ticking,
intended to be used with or on top of a mattress.
(B) A sleeping bag or pillow.
(C) A car bed, crib, or bassinet mattress.
(D) Juvenile products, including a carriage, basket, dressing
table, stroller, playpen, infant carrier, lounge pad, or crib bumper,
and the pads for those juvenile products.
(E) A product containing liquid- and gaseous-filled ticking,
including a water bed and air mattress that does not contain
upholstery material between the ticking and the mattress core.
(F) Upholstered furniture that does not otherwise contain a
detachable mattress or that is a fold out sofa bed or futon.
(h) "Mattress recycling organization" or "organization" means an
organization exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3) or Section
501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, that is established
by a qualified industry association, composed of manufacturers,
renovators, and retailers, and certified pursuant to Section 42987,
to develop, implement, and administer the mattress recycling program
established pursuant to this chapter.
(i) "Used mattress recovery and recycling plan" or "plan" means
the plan for recycling used mattresses that is developed by the
mattress recycling organization pursuant to this chapter.
(j) "Program" or "used mattress recycling program" means the
program implemented by the mattress recycling organization pursuant
to a plan approved by the department.
(k) "Qualified industry association" means the International Sleep
Products Association or a successor of that organization, or a group
of mattress manufacturers that collectively represent at least 35
percent of the volume of mattresses manufactured in the United
States.
( l ) "Recycle" or "recycling" has the same meaning as
defined in Section 40180.
(m) "Recycler" means a person that engages in the manual or
mechanical separation of mattresses to substantially recover
components and commodities contained in mattresses for the purpose of
reuse or recycling.
(n) "Recycling charge" or "charge" means the charge imposed on the
sale of a new or renovated mattress at the point of sale and
collected by the organization to fund the recycling of used
mattresses pursuant to this chapter.
(o) (1) "Renovate" or "renovation" means altering a used mattress
for the purpose of resale and includes one or more of the following:
(A) Replacing the mattress, ticking, or filling.
(B) Adding additional filling.
(C) Rebuilding a used mattress.
(D) Replacing components with new or postconsumer materials unless
the material is a clean recycled material, consists of used
electronic parts or controls, or is a used mattress base that is not
covered by ticking.
(2) "Renovate" or "renovation" does not include any of the
following:
(A) Stripping a mattress of its ticking or filling without adding
new material.
(B) Sterilizing or sanitizing a mattress without otherwise
altering the mattress.
(C) Altering a mattress by a renovator when a person retains the
altered mattress for lease, rental, or personal use.
(D) Refurbishing that disqualifies a mattress for a yellow
wholesale renovator tag to be affixed to the mattress, in accordance
with the regulations adopted by the Department of Consumer Affairs.
(p) "Renovator" means a person who renovates used mattresses for
the purpose of sale, or offering for sale, in this state.
(q) "Retailer" means a person who sells mattresses in the state or
offers to a consumer a mattress in the state through any means,
including, but not limited to, by remote offering, including sales
outlets or catalogs, electronically through the Internet, by
telephone, or through the mail.
(r) "Sale" or "sell" means the transfer of title of a mattress for
consideration, including by a manufacturer, a distributor, or a
retailer for eventual consumption to a consumer in the state,
including remote sales conducted through sales outlets, catalogs, or
the Internet or any other similar electronic means. For purposes of
this chapter, a long-term lease of not less than 12 months is the
same as a sale.
(s) "Solid waste facility" means, for purposes of this chapter, a
solid waste facility as defined in Section 40194 that accepts, under
its normal operating conditions, used mattresses from the public for
collection, storing, and handling, whether for recycling or disposal.
(t) (1) "Ticking" means the outermost layer of fabric or related
material of a mattress.
(2) "Ticking" does not include another layer of fabric or related
material that is quilted together with, or otherwise attached to, the
outermost layer of fabric or related material.
(u) "Used mattress" means a mattress that has been abandoned or
discarded by a consumer.
SEC. 2. Section 42987 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
42987. (a) (1) A qualified industry association or a successor
organization may establish a mattress recycling organization for
purposes of this chapter, which shall be composed of manufacturers,
renovators, and retailers and be certified pursuant to this section
to develop, implement, and administer the mattress recycling program
established pursuant to this chapter.
(2) Within 60 days of receipt of a request for certification, the
department shall notify the requesting qualified industry association
of the department's decision whether or not to certify that a
mattress recycling organization has been established by the qualified
industry association or successor organization and is composed of
manufacturers, renovators, and retailers for purposes of establishing
the mattress recycling plan.
(3) Prior to certification by the department, the department's
director shall appoint an advisory committee to be part of the
mattress recycling organization.
(A) The advisory committee may be comprised of members of the
environmental community, solid waste industry, local government, and
public and private representatives involved in the collection,
processing and recycling of used mattresses, and other interested
parties.
(B) The mattress recycling organization shall consult the advisory
committee at least once during the development and implementation of
the plan required pursuant to Section 42987.1, and annually prior to
the submittal of both an annual report required pursuant to Section
42990.1 and an annual budget required pursuant to Section 42988.
(b) (1) Each manufacturer, retailer, and renovator shall register
with the mattress recycling organization.
(2) A retailer may register with the mattress recycling
organization as a manufacturer for a brand for which there is not a
registered manufacturer.
(c) On and after January 1, 2016, a retailer shall not sell,
distribute, or offer for sale a mattress in the state unless the
retailer is in compliance with this chapter and the manufacturer or
renovator of the mattress sold by the retailer is listed in
compliance with this chapter.
(d) On and after January 1, 2016, a manufacturer or renovator
shall not sell, offer for sale, or import a mattress in this state,
or sell or distribute a mattress to a distributor or retailer, unless
the manufacturer or renovator is in compliance with this chapter.
SEC. 3. Section 42987.1 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
42987.1. On or before July 1, 2015, the mattress recycling
organization shall develop and submit to the department a plan for
recycling used mattresses in the state in an economically efficient
and practical manner that includes all of the following goals and
elements:
(a) Program objectives consistent with the state's solid waste
management hierarchy.
(b) The names of manufacturers, renovators, and brands covered
under the plan.
(c) A consultation process with affected stakeholders, including,
but not limited to, local government representatives, recyclers, and
solid waste industry representatives.
(d) Methods to increase the number of used mattresses diverted
from landfills, reduce the number of illegally dumped used
mattresses, and increase the quantity of used materials recovered
through this process and recycled for other uses.
(e) (1) The establishment and administration of a means for
funding the plan in a manner that distributes the mattress recycling
organization's costs uniformly over all mattresses sold in the state.
(2) The funding mechanism shall provide sufficient funding for the
mattress recycling organization to carry out the plan, including the
administrative, operational, and capital costs of the plan.
(f) The publishing of an annual report for each calendar year of
operation.
(g) Conducting research, as needed, related to improving used
mattress collection, dismantling, and recycling operations, including
pilot programs to test new processes, methods, or equipment on a
local, regional, or otherwise limited basis.
(h) A program performance measurement that shall collect program
data for the purpose of the annual report. The information shall
include:
(1) A methodology for estimating the amount of mattresses sold in
the state, used mattresses available for collection in the state, and
for quantifying the number of used mattresses collected and recycled
in the state.
(2) A methodology for determining mattresses sold in the state by
the manufacturers and renovators of the mattress recycling
organization.
(i) A description of methods used to coordinate activities with
existing used mattress collecting and recycling programs, including
existing nonprofit mattress recyclers, and with other relevant
parties as appropriate, with regard to the proper management or
recycling of discarded or abandoned mattresses, for purposes of
providing the efficient delivery of services and avoiding unnecessary
duplication of effort and expense.
(j) Entering into contracts or agreements, which may include
contracts and agreements with existing nonprofit or for-profit
recyclers, that are necessary and proper for the mattress recycling
organization to carry out these duties consistent with the terms of
this chapter.
(k) Establishment of a financial incentive to encourage parties to
collect for recycling used mattresses discarded or illegally dumped
in the state.
( l ) Ensuring, to the maximum extent possible, that
urban and rural local governments and participating permitted solid
waste facilities and authorized solid waste operations that accept
mattresses are provided with a mechanism for the recovery of
illegally disposed used mattresses that is funded at no additional
cost to the local government, solid waste facility, or solid waste
operation.
(m) Developing processes to collect used mattresses from
low-income communities for recycling in accordance with the poverty
line annually established by the Secretary of California Health and
Human Services pursuant to the federal Omnibus Budget Reconciliation
Act of 1981 (Public Law 97-35), as amended.
(n) Providing outreach efforts and education to consumers,
manufacturers, and retailers, for the purpose of promoting the
recycling of used mattresses and options available to consumers for
the free dropoff of used mattresses.
(o) A provision that allows an individual to drop off, at no
charge, a mattress at a recycler, renovator, mattress recycling
center, permitted solid waste facility, authorized solid waste
operation, or other municipal facility that accepts mattresses
consistent with state solid waste regulations, and that provides for
the payment to a municipal or solid waste facility or operation that
accepts mattresses an amount determined by the municipal or solid
waste facility or operation and the mattress recycling organization
to be reasonable for accepting, collecting, storing, transporting,
and handling used mattresses.
(p) Ensuring that the impact of Article XIII C of the California
Constitution is addressed for local governments participating in the
program.
(q) A report from the advisory committee, established pursuant to
paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 42987, which includes a
summary of the consultative process between the advisory committee
and the mattress recycling organization during the development of the
plan, as well as any other information deemed pertinent by the
advisory committee to maximizing the recovery and recycling of used
mattresses in the state.
(r) Other information requested by the department that is
reasonably related to compliance with the recycling plan and that the
organization can reasonably compile.
SEC. 4. Section 42989.1 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
42989.1. (a) Commencing 90 days after the date the department
approves the budget pursuant to Section 42988.1, each manufacturer,
renovator, retailer, or distributor that sells a mattress to a
consumer or to the ultimate end user of the mattress in the state
shall add the charge to the purchase price of the mattress and shall
remit the charge collected to the mattress recycling organization.
(b) In each transaction described in subdivision (a), the charge
shall be clearly visible on the invoice, receipt, or functionally
equivalent billing document provided by the seller to the consumer as
a separate line item.
(c) The mattress recycling organization shall develop
reimbursement criteria to enable retailers to recover administrative
costs associated with collecting the charge.
(d) The mattress recycling organization shall determine the rules
and procedures that are necessary and proper to implement the
collection of the charge in a fair, efficient, and lawful manner.
SEC. 5. Section 42990 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
42990. (a) The mattress recycling organization shall keep
minutes, books, and records that clearly reflect the activities and
transactions of the mattress recycling organization.
(b) The accounting books of the mattress recycling organization
shall be audited at the organization's expense by an independent
certified public accountant retained by the organization at least
once each calendar year.
(c) The mattress recycling organization shall arrange for the
audit to be delivered to the department, along with the annual report
required pursuant to Section 42990.1. The department shall review
the audit for compliance with this chapter and consistency with the
plan created pursuant to this chapter. The department shall notify
the mattress recycling organization of any compliance issues or
inconsistencies. The department shall not disclose any confidential
proprietary information in the audit.
(d) The department may conduct its own audit if it determines that
an audit is necessary to enforce the requirements of this chapter
and that the audit conducted pursuant to subdivision (b) is not
adequate for this purpose. The mattress recycling organization may
obtain copies of the audit upon request. The department shall not
disclose any confidential proprietary information in the audit.
SEC. 6. Section 42991 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
42991. (a) On or before May 1, 2017, and annually thereafter, a
person that is engaged in business as a recycler or renovator shall
submit to the department and to the mattress recycling organization a
report that includes the following:
(1) Quantitative information on the number of mattresses received
and recycled or renovated in the state during the preceding calendar
year.
(2) Other information deemed necessary by the department that is
reasonably related to compliance with this chapter and that can be
reasonably compiled.
(b) For purposes of determining the used mattress recycling rate,
on or before May 1, 2017, and annually thereafter, an operator of a
solid waste facility or operation shall report to the department and
to the mattress recycling organization, in a form and manner
determined by the department, regarding the number of used mattresses
received by that facility or operation that were recycled,
renovated, or disposed of within the state in the preceding calendar
year.
(c) The department shall make the information provided pursuant to
this section available to interested parties and to the public. The
department shall not disclose any confidential proprietary
information.
SEC. 7. Section 42993.1 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
42993.1. (a) The department may impose an administrative civil
penalty on any manufacturer, mattress recycling organization,
distributor, recycler, renovator, or retailer that is in violation of
this chapter. The amount of the administrative civil penalty shall
not exceed five hundred dollars ($500) per day, but, if the violation
is intentional, knowing, or reckless, the department may impose an
administrative civil penalty of not more than five thousand dollars
($5,000) per day.
(b) The department shall not impose a penalty on the mattress
recycling organization pursuant to this section for a failure to
comply with this chapter if the organization demonstrates it received
false or misleading information from a member of the organization or
other party that was the direct cause of its failure to comply.
(c) The department shall deposit all penalties collected pursuant
to this section into the Mattress Recovery and Recycling Penalty
Account, which is hereby created in the Used Mattress Recycling Fund.
Upon appropriation by the Legislature, moneys deposited into the
Mattress Recovery and Recycling Penalty Account shall be expended by
the department to administer and enforce this chapter.
SEC. 8. Section 42993.2 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
42993.2. Upon a written finding that a manufacturer, mattress
recycling organization, renovator, distributor, recycler, or retailer
has not met a material requirement of this chapter, in addition to
any other penalties authorized under this chapter, the department may
take any of the following actions, after affording the manufacturer,
organization, renovator, distributor, recycler, or retailer a
reasonable opportunity to respond to, or rebut, the finding, to
ensure compliance with the requirements of this chapter:
(a) Revoke the mattress recycling organization's plan approval or
require the mattress recycling organization to resubmit the plan.
(b) Remove the manufacturer or renovator from the department's
Internet Web site and list of compliant manufacturers and renovators,
as specified in Section 42993.
(c) Require additional reporting requirements relating to
compliance with the material requirement identified by the
department.
SEC. 9. Section 42993.3 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
42993.3. (a) A manufacturer, renovator, distributor, recycler,
retailer, and mattress recycling organization shall do both of the
following:
(1) Upon request, provide the department with reasonable and
timely access, as determined by the department and as authorized
pursuant to Title 13 (commencing with Section 1822.50) of Part 3 of
the Code of Civil Procedure, to its facilities and operations, as
necessary to determine compliance with this chapter.
(2) Upon request, provide the department with relevant records
necessary to determine compliance with this chapter.
(b) The records required by this chapter shall be maintained and
accessible for three years. All reports and records provided to the
department pursuant to this chapter shall be provided under penalty
of perjury.
(c) The department may take disciplinary action against a
manufacturer, renovator, distributor, recycler, retailer, or mattress
recycling organization if the manufacturer, renovator, distributor,
recycler, retailer, or mattress recycling organization fails to
provide the department with the access required pursuant to this
section, including, but not limited to, imposing penalties pursuant
to Section 42993.1 and posting an immediate notice on the department'
s Internet Web site pursuant to Section 42993 that the manufacturer
or renovator is no longer in compliance with this chapter.
SEC. 10. Section 42993.4 of the Public Resources Code is amended
to read:
42993.4. (a) (1) The department may adopt emergency regulations
to implement this chapter with regard to establishing a process for
the submission of the used mattress recovery and recycling plan to
the department, and the approval of that plan, pursuant to Section
42987.3 and for the submission of the proposed used mattress
recycling program budget to the department, and the approval of the
budget by the department, pursuant to Sections 42988 and 42988.1.
(2) The department shall not adopt emergency regulations pursuant
to this section with regard to any other provision of this chapter.
(3) This section does not limit the department's authority to
adopt regulations pursuant to Section 40502.
(b) The emergency regulations adopted pursuant to this section
shall be adopted in accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code, and for the purposes of that chapter, including Section 11349.6
of the Government Code, the adoption of these regulations is an
emergency and shall be considered by the Office of Administrative Law
as necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace,
health, safety, and general welfare. Notwithstanding Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of
the Government Code, any emergency regulations adopted by the
department pursuant to this section shall be filed with the Office of
Administrative Law.