BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1419
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 13, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
1419 (Eggman) - As Amended May 5, 2015
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Policy |Natural Resources |Vote:|9 - 0 |
|Committee: | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill authorizes CalRecyle to revoke the certification of a
recycling center found to be abandoned if the center is not open
during its posted hours on two consecutive inspections and has
not reported any received volumes of California Redemption Value
AB 1419
Page 2
(CRV) containers for a period of 30 consecutive days.
Additionally, this bill provides an opportunity for a hearing on
the revocation to be conducted in the same manner as a hearing
for an application that was denied.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Minor cost savings for CalRecyle (Beverage Container Recycling
Fund) resulting from the modification of the existing revocation
process.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, the current process to
determine a certified recycling center is abandoned is
unnecessarily cumbersome and negatively impacts already
limited CalRecycle staffing resources. This bill streamlines
CalRecyle's authority by creating a rebuttable presumption
that a recycling center is abandoned while preserving due
process if the owner of a certified recycling center wishes to
resume operation.
2)Background. The California Beverage Container Recycling and
Litter Reduction Act (Bottle Bill) requires beverage
containers sold in this state to have a California refund
value (CRV) of 5 cents for containers that hold fewer than 24
ounces and 10 cents for containers that hold 24 ounces or
more.
California's Bottle Bill has achieved an overall recycling
rate over 80 percent - higher than any other bottle bill
AB 1419
Page 3
program in North America. According to Californians Against
Waste, since its inception 25 years ago, the program has
resulted in the recycling of over 11.9 million tons of glass;
3 million tons of aluminum; and, more than 2 million tons of
plastic. In addition to the diversion from landfill disposal,
this recycling has avoided an estimated 2 million metric tons
of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gas emissions over the last four
years.
The Bottle Bill is designed to provide consumers with a
financial incentive for recycling and to make recycling
convenient to consumers. The centerpiece of the Bottle Bill
is the CRV. Consumers pay a deposit, the CRV, on each
beverage container they purchase. Retailers collect the CRV
from consumers when they buy beverages. The dealer retains a
small percentage of the deposit for administration and remits
the remainder to the distributor, who also retains a small
portion for administration before remitting the balance to
CalRecycle. When consumers return their empty beverage
containers to a recycler (or donate them to a curbside or
other program), the deposit is paid back as a refund.
3)Revoking certification. The process for revoking the
certification of an abandoned recycling center takes a minimum
of 60 days, following an inspection process that takes six to
eight weeks. While certified recycling centers are required
to notify CalRecycle if they close or change ownership,
revoking the certification of a closed recycling center only
occurs if CalRecycle receives a complaint that the center is
not operating or if a center is closed when CalRecycle
conducts an inspection.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
AB 1419
Page 4