BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2891 Page 1 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 Page 2 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 Page 3 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 Page 4 REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION: Support None on file. Opposition None on file. Analysis Prepared by:Josh Tooker / E.S. & T.M. / (916) 319-3965