BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2153
Page 1
(Without Reference to File)
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
2153 (Cristina Garcia)
As Amended August 31, 2016
2/3 vote. Urgency
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|ASSEMBLY: |55-16 |(June 2, 2016) |SENATE: | |(August 31, |
| | | | |27-11 |2016) |
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Original Committee Reference: E.S. & T.M.
SUMMARY: Establishes the Lead-Acid Battery Recycling Act of
2016 (Act) and creates new fees on lead-acid batteries to fund
lead contamination cleanup.
The Senate amendments:
1)Delete the repeal and rewrite of Section 25190 of Chapter 6.5
of the Health & Safety Code regarding penalty language related
to the management of lead-acid batteries.
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2)Modify various definitions.
3)Revise the language required by retailers to post on signage
or a customer's receipt about the refundable deposit.
4)Exempt individuals that replace damaged batteries and road
side service providers from the signage requirements.
5)Add language specifying requirements for remitting fees to the
Board of Equalization (BOE).
6)Sunset the Manufacturer Battery Fee on March 31, 2022.
Increase, beginning April 1, 2022, the California Battery Fee
from $1 to $2.
7)Delete the language authorizing a wholesaler of lead-acid
batteries to assume responsibility of paying the Manufacturer
Battery Fee at the behest of the manufacturer. Delete the
language authorizing any manufacturer exempted from its
obligations to pay the Manufacturer Battery Fee to voluntarily
submit an additional $1 Manufacturer Battery Fee per lead-acid
battery.
8)Require any Manufacturer Battery Fees remitted to be credited
against amounts owed by the manufacturer to the State under a
judgment or determination of liability or any other law for
removal, remediation or other response costs relating to a
release of a hazardous substance from a lead acid-battery
recycling facility. Prohibit a manufacturer from seeking more
than one credit for the same fee amount.
9)Authorize a manufacturer who has remitted a Manufacturer
Battery Fee to claim the amount paid as a factor to be
considered to reduce the manufacturer's share of liability in
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the allocation or apportionment of costs among potentially
responsible parties in a contribution action brought by a
private party related to a release of hazardous substances
from a lead-acid battery recycling facility.
10)State that the Act does not create a private cause of action
against a manufacturer. State that nothing in the Act limits
the State or any other party from bringing any cause of action
that may exist under any law.
11)Impose the Fee Collection Procedures Law requirements for the
BOE's role in managing the remitted fees.
12)Require the lead-acid battery fees to be appropriated by the
Legislature and expand how the moneys in the Lead-Acid Battery
Cleanup Fund may be used for areas of the state that have been
contaminated by the operation of a lead-acid battery recycling
facility.
13)Require the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to
report to the Legislature by February 1, 2018, and annually
thereafter, on the status of the Lead-Acid Battery Cleanup
Fund and DTSC's progress to implement use of the funds.
14)Delete the preclusion of lead-acid batteries for inclusion on
a list of Priority Products under the Safer Consumer Products
Program until a certain recycling rate has been achieved.
15)Authorize $1.2 million to be loaned from the California Tire
Recycling Management Fund to the Lead Acid Battery Cleanup
Fund for implementing the collection of the California Battery
Fee and the Manufacturer Battery Fee and require the loan to
be repaid by October 1, 2017.
16)Require a manufacturer to place a specified recycling symbol
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on all replacement lead-acid batteries sold in California.
17)Delete language requiring the balance of a judgment against
any manufacturer who has remitted any amount of manufacturer
battery fees to be reduced by the amount the manufacturer has
remitted to the state.
18)Delete language determining when the state can bring an
action against a manufacturer that has remitted the
Manufacturer Battery Fee and delete language restricting
timing of state actions and judicial action.
19)Delete language establishing civil penalties.
20)Delete the requirement that DTSC, within 30 days, notify all
manufacturers of lead-acid batteries sold in this state of the
changes to state law regarding lead-acid batteries.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, enactment of this bill could result in approximately
$1.2 million for the first two years of implementation and
ongoing costs of approximately $1.6 million annually (Battery
Cleanup Fund) to the BOE for implementation and administration
of the program. This bill could additionally result in minor
costs to DTSC (Battery Cleanup Fund), and up to $32 million in
revenue from the fee assessment (Battery Cleanup Fund).
COMMENTS:
Need for the bill: According to the author, "AB 2153 will
create a state mandated Lead-Acid (Car) Battery fee that will
serve as a funding mechanism for clean-up of areas contaminated
by lead-acid batteries. Consumers will be charged a $1 fee per
car battery at point of sale. Manufacturers will pay a $1 fee
on all batteries sold in the state. The money from the fee can
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go to re-pay the $176.6 million dollar loan from the General
Fund, and will be used to clean up areas of the state that have
been contaminated by the production and recycling of lead acid
batteries."
Lead-acid batteries: According to the California Board of
Equalization's estimates, based on 2012 Census data, lead-acid
car battery sales in California are approximately $1.6 billion.
That is based on an estimate of roughly 16 million batteries
sold at an average cost of $100. Under current law, any dealer
of lead-acid batteries is required to accept a lead-acid battery
from a consumer. This bill would require a dealer to accept
back a variety of specified lead-acid batteries, including car
batteries, boat batteries and storage batteries.
Exide Technologies: The Exide Technologies (Exide) battery
recycling facility in Vernon, California, recycled lead from
used automotive batteries and other sources. Over the course of
decades of operation, the facility polluted the soil beneath it
with high levels of lead, arsenic, cadmium and other toxic
metals. It also has contaminated groundwater, released battery
acid onto roads and contaminated homes and yards in surrounding
communities with lead emissions. In March, 2015, Exide was
forced to permanently close the facility.
DTSC estimates homes between 1.3 and 1.7 miles away from the
facility may potentially be affected by Exide's lead
contamination - that equates to somewhere between 5,000 - 10,000
residential properties. Cleaning each home costs about $45,000,
according to DTSC. If the cleanup grows to thousands of
properties, it could cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
Removing lead-contaminated soil from thousands of homes
surrounding Exide could result in the most extensive cleanup of
its kind in California and will be among the largest cleanup
ever conducted in the nation.
On April 20, 2016, the Governor signed legislation appropriating
a $176.6 million loan from the General Fund to the Toxic
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Substances Control Account to enable DTSC to test the remaining
properties, schools, daycare centers, and parks in the 1.7 mile
radius and remove contaminated soil at the properties that have
the highest lead levels and greatest potential exposure to
residents. After the $176.6 million is expended, DTSC will
likely need additional funds to do a complete and thorough
cleanup. This bill is intended to fill that gap while providing
an ongoing source of funds to address future lead contamination
from lead-acid batteries.
Use of proposed battery charge revenues: This bill would
require a fee to be added to the purchase price of a replacement
lead-acid battery at the point of sale. A non-refundable $1
California Battery Fee would be paid by the consumer and $1
Manufacturer Battery Fee would be paid per lead-acid battery
manufacturer.
This bill would authorize those fee revenues to be appropriated
to DTSC for the investigation, site evaluation, cleanup,
remedial action, removal, monitoring, or other response actions
at any area of the state that has been contaminated by the
operation of a lead acid battery recycling facility. In
addition, this bill would authorize funds in the Lead-Acid
Battery Cleanup Fund to be used towards repaying the $176.6
million General Fund loan.
Analysis Prepared by:
Paige Brokaw / E.S. & T.M. / (916) 319-3965 FN:
0005036
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