BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2901
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2901 (Pavley)
As Amended August 19, 2004
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |41-32|(May 26, 2004) |SENATE: |25-14|(August 24, |
| | | | | |2004) |
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Original Committee Reference: NAT. RES.
SUMMARY : Enacts the Cell Phone Recycling Act of 2004 (Act) and
requires all retailers of cellular telephone (cell phones) to
have in place a system for the collection, reuse and recycling
of cell phones, requires the Department of Toxic Substances
Control (DTSC) to provide information on cell phone recycling
and to adopt regulations to prohibit a cell phone from being
sold in California if the cell phone is prohibited from sale in
the European Union.
The Senate amendments makes a number of clarifying changes to
the bill including redefining "cell phone" and deleting
requirements related to universal waste in California.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
1)Required DTSC to adopt regulations that prohibit a cell phone
from being sold if the cell phone is prohibited from being
sold in the European Union, to the extent that Directive
2002/95/EC, adopted by the European Parliament and the Council
of the European Union on January 27, 2003, prohibits that sale
due to the presence of heavy metals.
2)Required on and after July 1, 2005, every retailer of a cell
phone sold in California to have in place a system for the
acceptance, collection, reuse, and recycling or proper
disposal of used cell phones.
3)Prohibited the sale of cell phones in California by retailers
without a plan after July 1, 2005.
4)Stated that on or before July 1, 2006, and annually thereafter
as determined by DTSC, each retailer of a cell phone shall
include the following information in any notification
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submitted to DTSC pursuant to universal waste handlers:
a) The number of cell phones sold by the retailer in the
state during the previous year;
b) The number of cell phones accepted and or collected from
consumers in the state for recycling or proper disposal;
and,
c) Make information available to consumers, that describes
where and how to return, recycle, and dispose of a used
cell phone and opportunities, locations for the collection
or return of the cell phone, through the use of a toll free
telephone number, Internet Web site, information labeled on
the cell phone, information included in the packaging, or
information accompanying the sale of a cell phone.
5)Required, beginning July 1, 2005 and every three years
thereafter, the California Integrated Waste Management Board
(CIWMB) to establish, and update as necessary, statewide
recycling goals for used cell phones, and post on its Internet
Web site information regarding the amount of cell phones sold
in the state in the previous year, and the amount of used cell
phones recycled in the previous year.
6)Prohibited a state agency from procuring cell phones from any
retailer unless the retailer demonstrates compliance with this
Act.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee analysis, minor costs to DTSC to adopt regulations and
minor costs to CIWMB to adopt cell phone recycling goals.
COMMENTS : According to a recent report by INFORM, Inc.,
"Calling All Cell Phones: Collection, Reuse and Recycling
Programs in the US," cell phone subscriptions in the United
States have significantly grown over the past 18 years, from
340,000 in 1985 to more than 140 million by 2003. By 2005, it
is estimated that cell phone use will reach 175 million.
However, only about 5% of those phones are being collected,
reused or recycled. With the average life span of a cell phone
being only about 18 months, it is estimated that 130 million
cell phones will become obsolete and discarded each year in the
United States. In California, that means that 16.3 million cell
phones will become obsolete and discarded each year, and 62.5
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million will be stockpiled in California homes by 2005.
According to the author's office, this bill will assist in
phasing-out toxic materials and promoting a system that provides
a convenient and cost-free mechanism for consumers of cell
phones to recycle and reuse their obsolete cell phones.
Analysis Prepared by : Kyra Emanuels Ross / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092
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