Senate Bill No. 47

Introduced by Senator Hill

December 17, 2014

An act to add Article 3 (commencing with Section 115810) to Chapter 4 of Part 10 of Division 104 of, and to repeal Section 115812 of, the Health and Safety Code, and to amend Section 42873 of the Public Resources Code, relating to environmental health.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 47, as introduced, Hill. Environmental health: synthetic turf.

Existing law regulates certain behavior related to recreational activities and public safety, including, among other things, playgrounds and wooden playground equipment.

This bill would require the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, by July 1, 2017, in consultation with the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, the State Department of Public Health, and the Department of Toxic Substances Control, to prepare and provide to the Legislature and post on the office’s Internet Web site a study analyzing synthetic turf, as defined, for potential adverse health impacts. The bill would require the study to include certain information, including a hazard analysis of individual, synergistic, and cumulative exposures to the chemicals that may be found in synthetic turf, as provided. The bill would prohibit a public or private school or local government, until January 1, 2018, from installing, or contracting for the installation of, a new field or playground surface made from synthetic turf within the boundaries of a public or private school or public recreational park, as provided.

The California Tire Recycling Act (act) requires a person who purchases a new tire to pay a California tire fee, for deposit in the California Tire Recycling Management Fund, for expenditure by the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for programs related to the disposal of waste tires. The act specifies that the activities eligible for funding include the manufacture of specified products made from used tires.

The bill would include the above study as one of the acceptable activities eligible for this funding.

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.  

Article 3 (commencing with Section 115810) is
added to Chapter 4 of Part 10 of Division 104 of the Health and
Safety Code, to read:

 

Article 3.  The Children’s Safe Playground and Turf Field Act
of 2015

 

115810.  

For purposes of this article, “synthetic turf” means
any composition material that contains recycled crumb rubber
from waste tires and is used to cover or surface a field or
playground.

115811.  

(a) By July 1, 2017, the Office of Environmental
Health Hazard Assessment, in consultation with the Department
of Resources Recycling and Recovery, the State Department of
Public Health, and the Department of Toxic Substances Control,
shall prepare and provide to the Legislature and post on the office’s
Internet Web site a study analyzing synthetic turf for potential
adverse health impacts.

(b) The study shall include all of the following:

(1) A hazard analysis of individual, synergistic, and cumulative
exposures to the chemicals that may be found in synthetic turf,
such as 4-t-octylphenol, acetone, arsenic, barium, benzene,
benzothiazole, butylated hydroxyanisole, cadmium, carbon black,
chloroethane, chromium, lead, manganese, matex, mercury, methyl
ethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, n-hexadecane, naphthalene,
nickel, nylon, phenol, phthalates, polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons, and zinc.

(2) A specific analysis evaluating varying exposure activities,
environments, duration of play, ages of different populations who
play on synthetic turf, and exposure pathways, including whether
chemicals found in tires have negative impacts on human health
when used in indoor and outdoor fields and parks with various
weather exposures and potentially ingested by children or coming
in contact with children’s bodies.

(3) Biomonitoring or other exposure monitoring of children or
adults exposed to synthetic turf to be used to assess their exposure
to chemicals found in the synthetic turf, to the extent feasible, to
determine potential health impacts on children and other age
groups.

(4) An examination of the potential for fields and playgrounds
containing synthetic turf to cause adverse health impacts, including,
but not limited to, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, testicular cancer,
prostate cancer, sarcoma cancer, and leukemia. This examination
shall include people who have developed these health impacts and
played on fields and playgrounds containing used tires, including,
but not limited to, soccer goalies.

(5) An examination of the health impacts associated with
synthetic turf fields and playgrounds of varying age.

(6) An evaluation of the differences in the manufacturers of
synthetic turf and different turf, field, and playground products,
including those that do not use recycled tires, and how these
differences may affect health impacts. The evaluation shall include,
but not be limited to, the types and age of tires used, the tire
processing, and the type of plasticizer, backing material, adhesives,
and plastic blades of artificial grass used to make the final synthetic
turf product.

(7) An evaluation of the differences, in terms of health impacts,
between crumb rubber and alternative surface materials, including
coconut fibers, rice husks, cork, and used shoes.

(8) A review of current research on the health impacts of
synthetic turf done by authoritative bodies from around the country
and the world.

(9) Research to fill any data gaps, such as those data gaps
identified by the report prepared by the Office of Environmental
Health Hazard Assessment on behalf of the Department of
Resources Recycling and Recovery titled “Safety Study of
Artificial Turf Containing Crumb Rubber Infill Made From
Recycled Tires: Measurements of Chemicals and Particulates in
the Air, Bacteria in the Turf, and Skin Abrasions Caused by
Contact with the Surface.”

(10) An examination of the health impacts of exposures to many
low level volatile organic compounds and polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons found in synthetic turf fields and playgrounds.

(c) At least 20 synthetic turf fields and playgrounds around the
state shall be analyzed for purposes of the study.

(d) (1) A study submitted to the Legislature pursuant to
subdivision (a) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795
of the Government Code.

(2) The requirement for submitting a study to the Legislature
imposed pursuant to subdivision (a) is inoperative on July 1, 2021,
pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.

115812.  

(a) (1) A public or private school or local government
shall not install, or contract for the installation of, a new field or
playground surface made from synthetic turf within the boundaries
of a public or private school or public recreational park.

(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any installation of a field
or playground surface made from synthetic turf that commenced,
or any contract for such installation entered into, prior to January
1, 2016.

(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2018,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2018, deletes or extends that date.

SEC. 2.  

Section 42873 of the Public Resources Code is
amended to read:

42873.  

(a) Activities eligible for funding under this article,
that reduce, or that are designed to reduce or promote the reduction
of, landfill disposal of used whole tires, may include the following:

(1) Polymer treatment.

(2) Rubber reclaiming and crumb rubber production.

(3) Retreading.

(4) Shredding.

(5) The manufacture of products made from used tires,
including, but not limited to, all of the following:

(A) Rubberized asphalt, asphalt rubber, modified binders, and
chip seals.

(B) Playground equipment.

(C) Crash barriers.

(D) Erosion control materials.

(E) Nonslip floor and track surfacing.

(F) Oilspill recovery equipment.

(G) Roofing adhesives.

(H) Tire-derived aggregate applications, including lightweight
fill and vibration mitigation.

(I) Molded products.

(J) Products using recycling rubber and other materials, such
as plastic.

(K) Paint and coatings.

(6) Other environmentally safe applications or treatments
determined to be appropriate by the begin delete board. end delete begin insert department. end insert

begin insert

(7) A study to analyze synthetic turf for potential adverse health
impacts, pursuant to Section 115811 of the Health and Safety Code.

end insert

(b) (1) The begin delete board may end delete begin insert department shall end insert not expend funds for
an activity that provides support or research for the incineration
of tires. For the purposes of this article, incineration of tires,
includes, but is not limited to, fuel feed system development, fuel
sizing analysis, and capacity and production optimization.

(2) Paragraph (1) does not affect the permitting or regulation
of facilities that engage in the incineration of tires.

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CORRECTIONS:

Text--Page 2.

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