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 containingbegin delete intentionally addedend delete plastic microbeadsbegin insert that are used to exfoliate or cleanse in a rinse-off productend insert, 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 local officials. The bill would require the civil penalties collected in an action brought pursuant to the act to be retained by the office that brought the action.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Chapter 5.9 (commencing with Section 42360)
2is added to Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, to
3read:
4
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, but, instead,
11upon exposure to the elements photodegrades into smaller pieces
12of 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.
18(d) Microplastics that are five millimeters or less in diameter
19become bioavailable as soon as they enter the marine environment
20and are ingested by marine organisms.
21(e) Microplastics are persistent organic compounds that attract
22other pollutants commonly present in the environment, many of
23which are recognized to have serious deleterious impacts on human
24health or the environment, including DDT, DDE, PCBs, and flame
25retardants.
P3 1(f) PAHs, PCBs, and PBDEs from plastic transfer to fish tissue
2when ingested and
bioaccumulate.
3(g) Fish that humans consume have been found to ingest
4microplastics, which are then ingested by the humans who consume
5these fish.
6(h) Consumer personal care products such as facial scrubs,
7soaps, and toothpaste increasingly contain thousands of
8microplastics in the form of plastic microbeads that are flushed
9down drains or make their way into the environment by other
10means as part of their intended use.
11(i) Plastic microbeads in personal care products are generally
12not recoverable through ordinary wastewater treatment and can
13be released into the environment.
14(j) Plastic microbeads have been found in surface waters within
15the
United States, as well as in fish, marine mammals, reptiles,
16
mussels, and worms.
17(k) There are economically feasible alternatives to plastic
18microbeads used in personal care products, as evidenced by the
19current use of biodegradable, natural, abrasive materials in personal
20care products such as beeswax, shells, nuts, seeds, and sand.
As used in this chapter, the following terms have the
22following meanings:
23(a) “Naturalbegin delete Exfoliant”end deletebegin insert exfoliantend insertbegin insert”end insert means a substance occurring
24in and generated by the natural environment and includes, but is
25not limited to, the following substances: walnut shells, apricot
26hulls, sand, clay, or beeswax.
27(b) “Person” means an individual, business, or other entity.
28(c) begin insert(1)end insertbegin insert end insert “Personal care product” means an article intended to
29be rubbed, poured, sprinkled, or sprayed on, introduced to, or
30otherwise applied to, the human body or any part thereof for
31cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the
32appearance, and an article intended for use as a component of that
33type of article.
34(2) “Personal care product” does not include a prescription
35drug, as defined in Section 110010.2 of the Health and Safety
36Code.
37(d) “Plastic microbead” means an intentionally addedbegin insert solidend insert
38 plastic particle measuring five millimeters or less in every
39dimension.
On and after January 1, 2020, a person shall not sell or
2offer for promotional purposes in this state any personal care
3products containing plastic microbeadsbegin insert that are used to exfoliate
4or cleanse in a rinse-off product, including, but not limited to,
5toothpasteend insert.
Section 42362 shall not apply to either of the following:
7(a) A person that sells or offers for promotional purposes a
8personal care product containing plastic microbeads in less than
91 part per million (ppm) by weight.
10(b) A product containing natural exfoliants that does not contain
11plastic microbeads.
(a) A person who violates or threatens to violate Section
1342362 may be enjoined in any court of competent jurisdiction.
14(b) (1) A person who has violated Section 42362 is liable for
15a civil penalty not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars
16($2,500) per day for each violation in addition to any other penalty
17established by law. That civil penalty may be assessed and
18recovered in a civil action brought in any court of competent
19jurisdiction.
20(2) In assessing the amount of a civil penalty for a violation of
21this chapter, the court shall consider all of the following:
22(A) The nature and extent of the violation.
23(B) The number of, and severity of, the violations.
24(C) The economic effect of the penalty on the violator.
25(D) Whether the violator took good faith measures to comply
26with this chapter and when these measures were taken.
27(E) The deterrent effect that the imposition of the penalty would
28have on both the violator and the regulated community as a whole.
29(F) Any other factor that justice may require.
30(c) Actions pursuant to this section may be brought by
the
31Attorney General in the name of the people of the state, by a district
32attorney, by a city attorney, or by a city prosecutor in a city or city
33and county having a full-time city prosecutor.
34(d) Civil penalties collected pursuant to this section shall be
35paid to the office of the city attorney, city prosecutor, district
36attorney, or Attorney General, whichever office brought the action.
This chapter does not alter or diminish any legal
38obligation otherwise required in common law or by statute or
39regulation, and this chapter does not create or enlarge any defense
40in any action to enforce the legal obligation. Penalties and sanctions
P5 1imposed pursuant to this chapter shall be in addition to any
2penalties or sanctions otherwise prescribed by law.
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