Amended in Assembly April 6, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 888


Introduced by Assembly Member Bloom

February 26, 2015


An act to add Chapter 5.9 (commencing with Section 42360) to Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, relating to waste management.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 888, as amended, Bloom. Waste management: plastic microbeads.

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 ASTM International standard specification.

This bill would prohibit, on and after January 1, 2020, a person, as defined, from selling or offering for promotional purposes in this state a personal care product containing intentionally added plastic microbeads, as specified. The bill would exempt from those prohibitions the sale or promotional offer of a product containing less than 1 part per million (ppm) by weight of plastic microbeads, 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 localbegin delete officials, or by a person in the public interest, as provided.end deletebegin insert officials.end insert The bill would requirebegin delete 50% ofend delete the civil penalties collected in an action brought pursuant to the act to be retained by thebegin delete entity or person who broughend deletebegin insert office that broughtend insert the action.

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The bill would establish the Plastic Pollution Fund in the State Treasury. The bill would authorize the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery to expend the funds, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to implement and administer the act and reduce plastic pollution by, among other things, providing grants to local governments or other entities. The bill would require 50% of all civil penalties collected pursuant to the act, and any interest earned on the money in the fund, to be deposited into the fund.

end delete

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

Chapter 5.9 (commencing with Section 42360)
2is added to Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, to
3read:

4 

5Chapter  5.9. Plastic Microbeads Nuisance Prevention
6Law
7

 

8

42360.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

9(a) Plastic does not biodegrade into elements or compounds
10commonly found in nature like other organic materials,begin delete butend deletebegin insert but,end insert
11 instead, upon exposure to the elements photodegrades into smaller
12pieces of plastic causing land and water pollution that is virtually
13impossible to remediate.

14(b) Plastic pollution is the dominant type of anthropogenic debris
15found throughout the marine environment.

16(c) Plastic pollution is an environmental and human health
17hazard and a public nuisance.

P3    1(d) Microplastics that are five millimeters or less in diameter
2become bioavailable as soon as they enter the marine environment
3and are ingested by marine organisms.

4(e) Microplastics are persistent organic compounds that attract
5other pollutants commonly present in the environment, many of
6which are recognized to have serious deleterious impacts on human
7health or the environment, including DDT, DDE, PCBs, and flame
8retardants.

9(f) PAHs,begin delete PCBsend deletebegin insert PCBs,end insert and PBDEs from plastic transfer to fish
10tissuebegin delete during digestionend deletebegin insert when ingestedend insert andbegin delete bioaccumulate, resulting
11in liver damage.end delete
begin insert bioaccumulate.end insert

12(g) Fish that humans consume have been found to ingest
13begin delete microplastics.end deletebegin insert microplastics, which are then ingested by the humans
14who consume these fish.end insert

15(h) Consumer personal care products such as facial scrubs,
16soaps, and toothpaste increasingly contain thousands of
17microplastics in the form of plastic microbeadsbegin delete whichend deletebegin insert thatend insert are
18flushed down drains or make their way into the environment by
19other means as part of their intended use.

20(i) begin deleteSome plastic end deletebegin insertPlastic end insertmicrobeads in personal care products
21arebegin insert generallyend insert not recoverable through ordinary wastewater
22treatment and can be released into the environment.

23(j) Plastic microbeads have been found in surface waters within
24the United States, as well as in fish, marine mammals,begin delete andend delete reptiles,
25begin delete and in the digestive and circulatory systems of musselsend deletebegin insert mussels,end insert
26 and worms.

27(k) There are economically feasible alternatives to plastic
28microbeads used in personal care products, as evidenced by the
29current use of biodegradable, natural, abrasive materials in personal
30care products such as beeswax, shells, nuts, seeds, and sand.

31

42361.  

As used in this chapter, the following terms have the
32following meanings:

33(a) “Natural Exfoliant” means a substance occurring in and
34generated by the natural environment and includes, but is not
35limited to, the following substances: walnut shells, apricot hulls,
36sand, clay, or beeswax.

37(b) “Person” means an individual, business, or other entity.

38(c) “Personal care product” means an article intended to be
39rubbed, poured, sprinkled, or sprayed on, introduced to, or
40otherwise applied to, the human body or any part thereof for
P4    1cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the
2appearance, and an article intended for use as a component ofbegin delete such
3anend delete
begin insert that type ofend insert article.

4(d) “Plastic microbead” means an intentionally added plastic
5particle measuring five millimeters or less in every dimension.

6

42362.  

On and after January 1, 2020, a person shall not sell or
7offer for promotional purposes in this state any personal care
8products containing plastic microbeads.

9

42363.  

Section 42362 shall not apply to either of the following:

10(a) A person that sells or offers for promotional purposes a
11personal care product containing plastic microbeads in less than
121 part per million (ppm) by weight.

13(b) A product containing natural exfoliants that does not contain
14plastic microbeads.

15

42364.  

(a) A person who violates or threatens to violate Section
1642362 may be enjoined in any court of competent jurisdiction.

17(b) (1) A person who has violated Section 42362 is liable for
18a civil penalty not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars
19($2,500) per day for each violation in addition to any other penalty
20established by law. That civil penalty may be assessed and
21recovered in a civil action brought in any court of competent
22jurisdiction.

23(2) In assessing the amount of a civil penalty for a violation of
24this chapter, the court shall consider all of the following:

25(A) The nature and extent of the violation.

26(B) The number of, and severity of, the violations.

27(C) The economic effect of the penalty on the violator.

28(D) Whether the violator took good faith measures to comply
29with this chapter and when these measures were taken.

30(E) The deterrent effect that the imposition of the penalty would
31have on both the violator and the regulated community as a whole.

32(F) Any other factor that justice may require.

33(c) Actions pursuant to this section may be brought by the
34Attorney General in the name of the people of the state, by a district
35attorney, by a city attorney, or by a city prosecutor in a city or city
36and county having a full-time citybegin delete prosecutor, or as provided in
37subdivision (d).end delete
begin insert prosecutor.end insert

begin delete

38(d) Actions pursuant to this section may be brought by a person
39in the public interest if both of the following requirements are met:

P5    1(1) The private action is commenced more than 30 days from
2the date that the person has given notice of an alleged violation of
3Section 42362 that is the subject of the private action to the
4Attorney General and the district attorney, city attorney, or
5prosecutor in whose jurisdiction the violation is alleged to have
6occurred, and to the alleged violator.

7(2) Neither the Attorney General, a district attorney, a city
8attorney, nor a prosecutor has commenced and is diligently
9prosecuting an action against the violation.

10(3) The court, in issuing any final order in any action brought
11pursuant to this section, shall award costs of litigation, including
12reasonable attorney and expert witness fees, to any prevailing or
13substantially prevailing plaintiff.

14(e) Fifty percent of all civil

end delete

15begin insert(d)end insertbegin insertend insertbegin insertCivilend insert penalties collected pursuant to this section shall be
16paid to the office of the city attorney, city prosecutor, district
17attorney, or Attorney General, whichever office brought the begin delete action,
18or, in the case of an action brought by a person under subdivision
19(d), to the person taking action in the public interest.end delete
begin insert action.end insert

begin delete
20

42365.  

(a) The Plastic Pollution Fund is hereby established in
21the State Treasury. The department may expend the funds in the
22Plastic Pollution Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to
23implement and administer this chapter and for the purpose of
24reducing plastic pollution.

25(b) In addition to any other money that may be deposited in the
26Plastic Pollution Fund, all of the following amounts shall be
27deposited in the fund:

28(1) Fifty percent of all civil penalties collected pursuant to this
29chapter.

30(2) Any interest earned upon the money deposited into the
31Plastic Pollution Fund.

32(c) The department may expend the funds in the Plastic Pollution
33Fund by directly expending those funds, by transferring those funds
34to other state agencies, or by providing grants to local governments
35or other entities deemed eligible by the department, including, but
36not limited to, nongovernmental organizations and conservation
37corps.

end delete
38

42366.  

This chapter does not alter or diminish any legal
39obligation otherwise required in common law or by statute or
40regulation, and this chapter does not create or enlarge any defense
P6    1in any action to enforce the legal obligation. Penalties and sanctions
2imposed pursuant to this chapter shall be in addition to any
3penalties or sanctions otherwise prescribed by law.



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