BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1159
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Date of Hearing: April 13, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Das Williams, Chair
AB 1159
(Gordon) - As Amended April 6, 2015
SUBJECT: Product stewardship: pilot program: household
batteries and home-generated sharps waste
SUMMARY: Establishes a pilot product stewardship program for
the management of medical sharps and household primary
batteries.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Under the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989,
requires each city or county to divert 50 percent of solid
waste from landfill disposal or transformation on and after
January 1, 2000. Establishes a statewide policy goal that not
less than 75 percent of solid waste be source reduced,
recycled, or composted on and after January 1, 2020.
2)Establishes the California Oil Recycling Enhancement Act,
which requires manufacturers of used oil to pay a fee of 4
cents per quart (16 cents per gallon) to the Department of
Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), which then pays
a recycling incentive of 4 cents per quart to industrial
generators, curbside collection program operators, and
certified used oil collection centers for used oil collected
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from the public and transported for recycling.
3)Establishes the Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003, which
requires a retailer selling a covered electronic device (CED)
in California to collect a recycling fee (between $3 and $5)
from the consumer. Fees are deposited into the Electronic
Waste Recovery and Recycling Account, which is continuously
appropriated to CalRecycle and the Department of Toxic
Substances Control (DTSC) to make electronic waste recovery
payments to cover the net cost of an authorized collector in
operating a "free and convenient" system for collecting,
consolidating, and transporting CEDs, and to make electronic
waste recycling payments to cover an electronic waste
recycler's average net cost of receiving, processing, and
recycling CEDs. Defines CED as a product that contains a
video display device 4 inches and larger.
4)Establishes the Cell Phone Recycling Act, which requires every
retailer of cell phones to have in place a system for the
acceptance and collection of used cell phones for reuse,
recycling, or proper disposal.
5)Establishes the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Act, which
requires every retailer of rechargeable batteries to have in
place a system for the acceptance and collection of used
rechargeable batteries for reuse, recycling, or proper
disposal.
6)Establishes the Dry Cell Battery Management Act, which
establishes requirements for the production and labeling of
consumer products with dry cell batteries and sets limits on
the amount of mercury in those batteries.
7)Establishes the Mercury Thermostat Collection Act, which
requires manufacturers to establish and maintain a program for
mercury-added thermostats. Requires the program to include
collection, handling, and arranging for appropriate management
of mercury-added thermostats.
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8)Requires pharmaceutical manufacturers that sell or distribute
a medication in California that is usually self-injected at
home with a hypodermic needle to submit to CalRecycle a plan
that describes any actions taken by the manufacturer for the
safe collection and proper disposal of the waste devices.
9)Establishes the Product Stewardship for Carpets Program, which
requires manufacturers of carpet sold in California to submit
a carpet product stewardship plan to CalRecycle that
demonstrates how waste carpet will be collected and properly
managed.
10)Establishes the Architectural Paint Recovery Program, which
requires architectural paint manufacturers to develop and
implement a program to manage waste latex paint.
11)Establishes the Used Mattress Recovery and Recycling Act,
which requires mattress manufacturers and retailers to develop
a mattress stewardship program to increase the recovery and
recycling of used mattresses.
12)Prohibits the disposal of home-generated sharps waste in
solid waste or recycling streams and requires pharmaceutical
manufacturers that sell or distribute a medication in
California that is self-injected at home through the use of a
hypodermic needle, pen needle, intravenous needle, or any
other similar device to annually submit a plan to CalRecycle
that describes what actions, if any, the manufacturer supports
for the safe management of sharps waste.
13)Under the Cartwright Act, establishes broad anti-trust
requirements for businesses in California.
14)Under the Unfair Business Practices Act and the Unfair
Competition Law, imposes civil liability and criminal
penalties for any unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent business
act.
THIS BILL:
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1)Requires product stewardship organizations (i.e., an
organization created by one or more producers of covered
products) to develop and implement a product stewardship plan.
2)Defines "covered product" as a consumer product that is used
or discarded in the state that is either a home generated
sharp waste or household battery.
3)On or before January 1, 2017, requires CalRecycle to adopt
regulations to implement the bill, which shall include:
a) Performance standards for a covered product, including a
minimum collection rate and appropriate geographic coverage
for a covered product;
b) Procedures for plan submittal;
c) The appointment of a stakeholder advisory committee.
4)Specifies that the creation, implementation, management, and
cost of a plan by an organization are not a violation of the
Cartwright Act, the Unfair Practices Act, or the Unfair
Competition Law.
5)On or before July 1, 2017, requires an organization to submit
a plan to CalRecycle that will divert the covered product from
landfills and manage the covered product in a manner that is
consistent with the state's hierarchy for waste management.
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6)Requires that the plan include the following:
a) Strategies to achieve the performance standards
established by CalRecycle;
b) Strategies for managing and reducing the life-cycle
impacts of the covered product;
c) A funding mechanism that provides sufficient funding to
carry out the plan, as specified; and,
d) A process by which the financial activities of the
organization will be subject to independent audit, which
may be reviewed by CalRecycle.
7)Within 30 days of receipt of a plan, requires CalRecycle to
review the plan and determine whether or not the plan is
complete. If it deems the plan incomplete, requires
CalRecycle to notify the organization and requires the
organization to revise and resubmit the plan within 30 days.
8)Within 60 days of determining that a plan is complete,
requires CalRecycle to approve or not approve a plan based on
whether or not the plan complies with the bill and establishes
procedures for a plan that is not approved.
9)Requires an organization that submits a plan to pay an annual
administrative fee to CalRecycle. Requires CalRecycle to set
the fee at an amount that is adequate to cover the costs of
administering the program.
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10)Directs fees and any penalties collected to the Product
Stewardship Account, which the bill establishes in the
Integrated Waste Management Fund. Specifies that fees
collected may be used by CalRecycle to implement the
requirements of the bill.
11)Establishes civil penalties of up to $1,000 per day for
violations, and up to $10,000 per day for intentional,
knowing, or negligent violations. Requires CalRecycle or a
court to consider specified factors when assessing a penalty.
12)On or before March 1, 2017, requires CalRecycle to appoint a
stakeholder advisory committee for each covered product to
provide technical feedback to an organization. Requires that
members of the advisory committee include the environmental
community, solid waste industry, local governments, retailers,
and other key stakeholders. Specifies that the advisory
committee be independent of the organization.
13)Beginning on or before January 1 one year after the approval
of the first plan, and annually thereafter, requires each
organization to submit a report to CalRecycle describing the
activities carried out pursuant to the plan, as specified.
14)On or before January 1, 2023, requires CalRecycle to report
specified information to the Legislature.
15)Sunsets the above provisions and related CalRecycle
regulations on January 1, 2024.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
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COMMENTS:
1)This bill. According to the author:
AB 1159 would establish the Product Stewardship Pilot
Program, which would require producers and product
stewardship organizations of covered products - either
home-generated sharps waste or household batteries, to
develop and implement a product stewardship plan.
Both of these products are widely used, lack convenient
disposal and recycling opportunities for consumers, and
have significant and indisputable end-of-life impacts.
The regulations would be performance-based instead of
"command and control," meaning that the product
manufacturers would be given certain performance goals for
the program but would be left to develop the compliance
mechanisms in the most cost-effective and efficient manner
possible and meet the goals set by the state.
2)Product stewardship/expanded producer responsibility (EPR).
Product stewardship refers to a policy model that includes
manufacturers in the end-of-life management for products that
they produce. The California Product Stewardship Council
states that EPR is a strategy to place a shared responsibility
for end-of-life product management on all entities involved in
the product chain, instead of the local governments and
taxpayers, while encouraging product design changes that
minimize a negative impact on human health and the environment
at every stage of a product's lifecycle. Ideally, EPR allows
the costs of management and disposal to be incorporated into
the total cost of a product. Good EPR programs result in
products that are better designed for reuse and recycling,
make recycling more convenient for consumers, reduce illegal
disposal of hazardous materials, and encourage the use of
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recycled materials in new products.
In 2007, CalRecycle adopted strategic directives to guide solid
waste management in California. Strategic Directive 5:
Producer Responsibility states that "it is a core value of
[CalRecycle] that producers assume the responsibility for the
safe stewardship of their materials in order to promote
environmental sustainability."
3)Household batteries. In California, household batteries are
classified as universal waste, which includes materials that
DTSC has determined are hazardous waste that are ubiquitous
and contain mercury, lead, cadmium, copper, or other
substances hazardous to human and environmental health. Since
2006, universal waste has been prohibited from disposal in
solid waste landfills.
Currently, local household hazardous waste collection programs
are the primary outlet for proper management of universal
waste and other hazardous wastes generated by households,
including batteries. Cost estimates to manage waste batteries
average around $800 per ton (with some costing up to $2,700
per ton), amounting to tens of millions of dollars each year.
With decreasing revenues and increasing responsibilities on
local governments, another solution is necessary to manage
these products. Many local governments have greatly decreased
their household hazardous waste programs, leaving few
management options for the public. To date, 133 local
resolutions have been adopted in California supporting the EPR
model.
The non-profit organization Call2Recycle is working in North
America to collect and recycle rechargeable batteries.
Call2Recycle operates under the Rechargeable Battery Recycling
Corporation to promote "environmental sustainability by
providing free battery and cell phone recycling in North
America." The Call2Recycle program for rechargeable battery
and cell phone recycling is available to residents, retailers,
businesses, communities, municipalities, and public agencies
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in the US and Canada. The program was created in 1994 and is
funded by battery and product manufacturers to raise awareness
about the importance of battery recycling and to promote
product stewardship initiatives.
In 2006, the European Commission adopted the Batteries Directive
2006/66/EC, which requires member states of the European Union
to reach a 25 percent collection rate by 2012 and 45 percent
by 2016. The directive also establishes toxicity limits for
batteries.
4)Medical sharps. An estimated one million Californians inject
medications outside traditional health care facilities, which
generate approximately 389 million sharps each year. The
numbers of patients using injectable medications will continue
to grow because it is an effective delivery method. The most
common home use of sharps is to manage diabetes. Other
reasons to home-inject include multiple sclerosis,
infertility, migraines, allergies, hemophilia, and medications
for pets.
California was one of the first states to address the problems
of sharps with the passage of SB 1305 (Figueroa), Chapter 64,
Statutes of 2006 to prohibit the disposal of medical sharps in
California's landfills. Although illegal, most used needles
still end up in household trash and pose a significant risk of
injury and/or infection to custodial workers and solid waste
employees.
5)Previous legislation.
a) AB 2284 (Williams, 2014) would have required producers
of non-rechargeable household batteries to develop and
implement a plan to collect and manage batteries sold in
the state. This bill was held in Assembly Appropriations
Committee.
b) AB 488 (Williams, 2013) would have required producers of
non-rechargeable household batteries to develop and
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implement a plan to collect and manage batteries sold in
the state. This bill was held in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
c) AB 403 (Stone, 2013) would have required businesses that
sell medical sharps to establish a product stewardship plan
for the end of life management of home-generated medical
sharps. This bill was held in the Senate Environmental
Quality Committee.
d) SB 515 (Corbett, 2011) would have required a producer of
batteries sold in California to develop and implement a
household battery stewardship plan describing how it would
achieve collection of household batteries and the maximum
feasible recovery of materials from the collected
batteries. This bill was held in the Senate Appropriations
Committee.
e) SB 1100 (Corbett, 2010) was substantially similar to SB
515. This bill was held in the Assembly Rules Committee.
6)Suggested amendments.
a) The intent of this bill is to ensure that producers of
covered products comply with the requirements of the bill,
either as individual companies or as members of an
organization; however, due to a drafting oversight, the
bill does not explicitly require them to participate. The
committee may wish to amend the bill to clarify that
individual producers are subject to the bill's
requirements.
b) This bill requires CalRecycle to adopt regulations
relating to the product stewardship plan; however, it does
not authorize CalRecycle to determine whether or not a plan
complies with the regulations. The committee may wish to
amend the bill to grant CalRecycle this authority.
c) This bill includes a Legislative Counsel drafting error
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on page 10, lines 1-2. The committee may wish to amend the
bill to delete those lines.
d) This bill establishes unspecified dates by which
administrative fees must be paid to CalRecycle. Given
CalRecycle's authority to establish regulations under the
bill, the committee may wish to strike this provision.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
7th Generation Advisors
California Product Stewardship Council
California State Association of Counties
Californians Against Waste
Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority
City of Torrance
Environmental Action Committee of West Marin
Force
Los Angeles County Solid Waste Management Committee/Integrated
Waste Management Task
Natural Resources Defense Council
Recycle Smart
Rural County Representatives of California
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Opposition
AdvaMed
Biocom
Biotechnology Industry Organization
California Cable and Telecommunications Association
California Healthcare Institute
California Manufacturers and Technology Association
PhRMA
Analysis Prepared by:Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092