California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1435

Introduced by Assembly Member Alejo

(Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Bigelow and Cooper)

(Principal coauthor: Senator Cannella)

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Calderon, Dodd, Eggman, Gordon, Gray, and Olsen)

(Coauthor: Senator Galgiani)

February 27, 2015

An act to amend Section 25214.12 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to hazardous waste.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1435, as introduced, Alejo. Hazardous waste: toxics: packaging.

The Toxics in Packaging Prevention Act generally prohibits a manufacturer or supplier from offering for sale or for promotional purposes in this state a package or packaging component that includes intentionally introduced lead, mercury, cadmium, or hexavalent chromium in the package or in a packaging component. The act defines the term “package” as meaning any container that provides a means of marketing, protecting, or handling a product and specifies that a package does not include a reusable bag.

This bill would also exclude a “glass beverage container” and a “glass food or drink container” from the definition of “package.”

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

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

SECTION 1.  

Section 25214.12 of the Health and Safety Code
is amended to read:

25214.12.  

For purposes of this article, the following terms have
the following meanings:

(a) “Authorized official” means a representative of a
manufacturer or supplier who is authorized pursuant to the laws
of this state to bind the manufacturer or supplier regarding the
accuracy of the content of a certificate of compliance.

(b) “ASTM” means begin delete the American Society for Testing and
Materials end delete begin insert ASTM International end insert .

(c) “Distribution” means the practice of taking title to a package
or a packaging component for promotional purposes or resale. A
person involved solely in delivering a package or a packaging
component on behalf of a third party is not engaging in distribution.

(d) (1) “Intentional introduction” means the act of deliberately
utilizing a regulated metal in the formation of a package or
packaging component where its continued presence is desired in
the final package or packaging component to provide a specific
characteristic, appearance, or quality.

(2) “Intentional introduction” does not include either of the
following:

(A) The use of a regulated metal as a processing agent or
intermediate to impart certain chemical or physical changes during
manufacturing, where the incidental retention of a residue of that
metal in the final package or packaging component is not desired
or deliberate, if the final package or packaging component is in
compliance with subdivision (c) of Section 25214.13.

(B) The use of recycled materials as feedstock for the
manufacture of new packaging materials, where some portion of
the recycled materials may contain amounts of a regulated metal,
if the new package or packaging component is in compliance with
subdivision (c) of Section 25214.13.

(e) “Incidental presence” means the presence of a regulated
metal as an unintended or undesired ingredient of a package or
packaging component.

(f) “Manufacturer” means any person, firm, association,
partnership, or corporation producing a package or packaging
component.

(g) “Manufacturing” means the physical or chemical
modification of a material to produce packaging or a packaging
component.

(h) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), “package” means
any container, produced either domestically or in a foreign country,
providing a means of marketing, protecting, or handling a product
from its point of manufacture to its sale or transfer to a consumer,
including a unity package, an intermediate package, or a shipping
container, as defined in the ASTM specification D 996. “Package”
also includes, but is not limited to, unsealed receptacles, including
carrying cases, crates, cups, pails, rigid foil and other trays,
wrappers and wrapping films, bags, and tubs.

(2) “Package” does not include begin delete a end delete begin insert any of the following: end insert

begin insert (A) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert A “glass beverage container,” as defined in Section 14513
of the Public Resources Code. end insert

begin insert (B) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert A “glass food or drink container,” as defined in Section
14513.3 of the Public Resources Code. end insert

begin insert (C) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert A end insert reusable bag, as defined in subdivision (d) of Section
42250 of the Public Resources Code.

(i) “Packaging component” means any individual assembled
part of a package that is produced either domestically or in a
foreign country, including, but not necessarily limited to, any
interior or exterior blocking, bracing, cushioning, weatherproofing,
exterior strapping, coatings, closures, inks, labels, dyes, pigments,
adhesives, stabilizers, or any other additives. Tin-plated steel that
meets the ASTM specification A 623 shall be considered as a single
package component. Electrogalvanized coated steel and hot dipped
coated galvanized steel that meet the ASTM qualifications A 591,
A 653, A 879, and A 924 shall be treated in the same manner as
tin-plated steel.

(j) “Purchaser” means a person who purchases and takes title
to a package or a packaging component, from a manufacturer or
supplier, for the purpose of packaging a product manufactured,
distributed, or sold by the purchaser.

(k) “Recycled material” means a material that has been separated
from solid waste for the purpose of recycling the material as a
secondary material feedstock. Recycled materials include paper,
plastic, wood, glass, ceramics, metals, and other materials, except
that recycled material does not include a regulated metal that has
been separated from other materials into its elemental or other
chemical state for recycling as a secondary material feedstock.

(l) “Regulated metal” means lead, mercury, cadmium, or
hexavalent chromium.

(m) (1) “Supplier” means a person who does or is one or more
of the following:

(A) Sells, offers for sale, or offers for promotional purposes, a
package or packaging component that is used by any other person
to package a product.

(B) Takes title to a package or packaging component, produced
either domestically or in a foreign country, that is purchased for
resale or promotional purposes.

(C) Acts as an intermediary for the purchase of a package or
packaging component for resale from a manufacturer located in
another country to a purchaser located in this state, and who may
receive a commission or a fee on that sale.

(D) Listed as the importer of record on a United States Customs
Service form for an imported package or packaging component.

(2) “Supplier” does not include a person involved solely in
delivering a package or packaging component on behalf of a third
party.

(n) “Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse” means the Toxics in
Packaging Clearinghouse (TPCH) of the Council of State
Governments.