BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2891
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Date of Hearing: April 12, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Luis Alejo, Chair
AB 2891
(Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials) - As
Introduced February 29, 2016
SUBJECT: Household hazardous waste: guidelines
SUMMARY: Requires the Department of Resources, Recycling and
Recovery (CalRecycle) to consult with the State Water Resources
Control Board (State Water Board) and the Department of Toxic
Substances Control (DTSC) when preparing guidelines and state
policy to guide the efforts of local agencies when providing
household hazardous waste (HHW) collection, recycling, and
disposal programs. Specifically, this bill:
1) Requires CalRecycle to consult with the State Water
Board in addition to the DTSC in preparing guidelines and a
state policy to guide the efforts of local agencies when
providing HHW collection, recycling, collection and
disposal programs.
2) Requires CalRecycle, beginning January 1, 2019, and
thereafter annually to update and post the HHW guidelines
on its Internet Web site.
EXISTING LAW:
AB 2891
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1) Requires the California Integrated Waste Management
Board (CIWMB, now CalRecycle) to prepare, in consultation
with DTSC, guidelines and a state policy to guide the
efforts of local agencies to provide household hazardous
waste collection, recycling, and disposal programs.
2) Vests CalRecycle with all of the authority, duties,
powers, purposes, responsibilities, and jurisdiction of the
CIWMB. (Public Resources Code 40401)
3) Requires the guidelines for HHW management programs to
include the following elements: a) the development of a
model operation plan for community household hazardous
waste collection, recycling and disposal programs, and, b)
the establishment of guidelines on the generic types of
household hazardous substances that should be disposed of
as hazardous waste, and c) guidelines on the safe
management of hazardous wastes generated by households
which may be excluded from HHW collection programs, but may
require some special handling.
4) Defines household hazardous waste as hazardous waste
generated incidental to owning or maintaining a place of
residence. Household hazardous waste does not include waste
generated in the course of operating a business concern at
a residence.
5) Finds that residential households that generate small
amounts of hazardous waste need an appropriate means of
disposing of the hazardous waste they generate. Counties
and cities provide for the collection of household
hazardous waste as a community service to ensure proper
handling and disposal of the hazardous material and to
prevent the potential contamination of solid waste
AB 2891
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landfills.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS:
Need for the bill: Households generate many wastes that are
banned from solid waste landfill disposal and therefore cannot
be placed in a home's garbage, down the drain or abandoned.
Items such as household batteries, paint, fluorescent tubes and
bulbs, pesticides and used oil are considered hazardous and
require special handling and management under state law. Many
residents are unaware or confused as to the proper management
methods for these hazardous products; which poses an additional
challenge for local governments when running HHW collection
programs. Many stakeholders have been working to increase
collection and decrease costs of the management of these HHW.
Household hazardous waste: Many common household products, such
as batteries, paint and compact fluorescent bulbs, contain
potentially hazardous ingredients and as a result require
special handling once they become a waste. Once these products
become a waste, if they are handled or disposed of incorrectly,
they can pose a threat to human health, animals and the
environment. When these products are discarded, they become
"household hazardous waste." In California, it is illegal to
dispose of HHW in the trash, down the drain, or by abandonment.
HHW is typically managed through a HHW Program run by local
governments.
This bill provides various technical, non-controversial changes
to the Public Resources Code dealing with the management of
household hazardous waste.
AB 2891
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Josh Tooker / E.S. & T.M. / (916) 319-3965