BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 423| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- UNFINISHED BUSINESS Bill No: SB 423 Author: Bates (R) Amended: 8/15/16 Vote: 21 SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 7/15/15 AYES: Wieckowski, Gaines, Bates, Hill, Jackson, Leno, Pavley SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/27/15 AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza, Nielsen SENATE FLOOR: 40-0, 9/1/15 AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block, Cannella, De León, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall, Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Runner, Stone, Vidak, Wieckowski, Wolk ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-1, 8/18/16 - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Surplus household consumer product waste: management SOURCE: Author DIGEST: This bill requires the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to convene a Retail Waste Working Group to identify regulatory and policy directives that need clarification for managing consumer products, and adopt consensus recommendations for waste reduction opportunities. Assembly Amendments struck provisions exempting non-prescription SB 423 Page 2 pharmaceutical products from the Medical Waste Management Act (MWMA). ANALYSIS: Existing federal law: 1)Authorizes, under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to oversee the safety of food, drugs, and cosmetics. 2)Regulates, under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976, the management of solid and hazardous wastes. In the context of pharmaceuticals, RCRA imposes strict protocols for the collection of controlled substances. Existing state law: 1) Regulates, under the Medical Waste Management Act (MWMA) which is administered by the State Department of Public Health (DPH), the management, handling, and disposal of medical waste, as defined, including pharmaceutical waste. 2) Regulates, under the Hazardous Waste Control Act which is administered by the Department of Toxic Substances Control, the management, handling and disposal of hazardous waste, as defined. This bill requires DTSC to convene a Retail Waste Working Group to identify regulatory and policy directives that need clarification for managing consumer products, and adopt consensus recommendations for waste reduction opportunities. Specifically, this bill: SB 423 Page 3 1)Requires DTSC to convene a Retail Waste Working Group comprised of representatives of large retailers, small retailers, district attorneys, certified unified program agencies, nongovernment organizations, local governments, other relevant state agencies as determined by DTSC, manufacturers, reverse distributors, and other stakeholders to consider and make findings and recommendations on the following: a) Regulatory and statutory requirements that may be considered confusing or may need clarification or specification when applied to the overall management by manufacturer, distributor, supplier, vendor, retail, and reverse logistics facilities of surplus household products that are wastes, including those that can be considered hazardous waste or medical waste when the waste determination is made; and, b) Consensus statutory or regulatory recommendations to facilitate and increase the liquidation, and sale of surplus household consumer products and waste reduction opportunities for those products and to clarify waste management requirements to encourage the management of surplus household products by manufacturer, distributor, supplier, vendor, retail, and reverse logistics facilities in a manner that is protective of public health and the environment. 2)Defines "surplus household consumer product" as a household consumer product that cannot or will not be sold to a consumer through that product's primary market. 3)Requires, by June 1, 2017, the Retail Waste Working Group to report the findings and recommendations on the aforementioned policy issues to the Legislature. SB 423 Page 4 Comments Need for the bill. According to the author, when pharmaceuticals, other health care products, and household consumer products are not sold at an initial point of sale, the products are often processed at a reverse distribution center where the center performs various activities such as consolidation, repackaging, donation, and disposal upon completion of any of these management activities. The author states that jurisdiction over these products at the point they are considered discarded or recycled under current law, including when they are considered stored or accumulated for discard or recycling, can fall under either the MWMA or hazardous and solid waste provisions of the California Health and Safety Code. The author asserts that this dual jurisdiction has led to confusion in the regulated community. The author states that multiple stakeholder discussions have taken place on the issues of retail waste, including over-the-counter pharmaceutical waste in California. This bill provides goals for the Retail Waste Workgroup to work towards developing consensus policy recommendations on these outstanding waste management issues in California. This will ensure both the regulators and the regulated community have a defined timeline by which agreement on these issues is to be attained. Regulatory confusion. DTSC has authority over the management of hazardous wastes and universal wastes. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has authority over cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and medical waste. The Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery has authority over solid wastes. Retail establishments argue that the various statutory and regulatory requirements of when a product becomes a waste and how it must be handled make it difficult for their employees to determine the appropriate handling of a product. Retailers argue that because of the complexity of the current regulatory scheme, they are not separating products that may be able to be SB 423 Page 5 donated or liquidated from those that are deemed waste if there is any question that they may be risking violation of various statutory waste handling requirements. The retailers assert that the result is a far greater than necessary rate of disposal or destruction of items that could have been retained for their useful life. Retail Waste Workgroup. Retailers that operate stores in California and those that sell goods in California through the Internet, mail-order catalogs, door-to-door sales and other outlets are all subject to California's medical waste and/or hazardous waste laws and regulations. In an effort to clarify California's hazardous waste regulatory requirements, DTSC is gathering information and developing an understanding of hazardous waste management practices at various types of retailers. In 2015, DTSC created a Retail Waste Workgroup to identify regulatory requirements that need clarification and to provide that clarification. The Retail Waste Workgroup consists of large and small retailers, district attorneys from multiple counties, certified unified program agency representatives, consultants, non-government organizations, CDPH and DTSC. This bill is proposing to turn the fruits of those discussions into policy recommendations for broader consumer product management by codifying the Retail Waste Working Group and establishing a date-certain for consensus policy recommendations to be made to the Legislature. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: No According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, enactment of this bill would result in minor, absorbable costs to DTSC. SUPPORT: (Verified8/19/16) SB 423 Page 6 American Cleaning Institute American Coatings Association California Chamber of Commerce California Manufacturers and Technology Association California Paint Council California Retailers Association Consumer Specialty Products Association Grocery Manufacturers Association Industrial Environmental Association National Federation of Independent Business Solid Waste Association of North America OPPOSITION: (Verified8/19/16) None received ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-1, 8/18/16 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon NOES: Eggman NO VOTE RECORDED: Roger Hernández, Kim Prepared by:Rachel Machi Wagoner / E.Q. / (916) 651-4108 8/19/16 19:25:12 **** END **** SB 423 Page 7