BILL ANALYSIS
AB 147
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Date of Hearing: May 28, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 147 (Saldana) - As Amended: May 5, 2009
Policy Committee: Environmental
Safety Vote: 5-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires a manufacturer and producer of an electronic
device or equipment to submit information about the hazardous
characteristics of the device or equipment to the Department of
Toxic Substances Control (DTSC). Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires a manufacturer of a covered electronic device to
prepare, and at the request of DTSC to submit within 28 days,
technical documentation or other information demonstrating
that the device is not prohibited from sale. Requires the
manufacturer to prepare and submit, if requested, available
information about the hazardous characteristics of the device.
2)Defines "electronic equipment" as a consumer device that works
by use of or relates to electric currents or electromagnetic
fields but is not a non-portable, fixed-installation device; a
covered electronic device, or a light.
3)Requires a producer of electronic equipment to prepare, and at
the request of DTSC to submit within 28 days, technical
documentation or other information demonstrating that the
device is allowed in the European Union (EU) under the RoHS
Directive (European Directive on the "Restriction on the Use
of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic
Equipment"). Requires the producer to prepare and submit, if
requested, available information about the hazardous substance
content and hazardous characteristics of the device.
4)Requires a producer of electronic equipment not sold in the EU
to submit to DTSC available information relating to the
hazardous substance content and hazardous characteristics of
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the equipment.
5)Requires DTSC to treat as confidential, any information
provided under this bill that is a trade secret and that is
identified by the manufacturer as a trade secret. Requires
information that is not a trade secret to be available to the
public pursuant to the California Public Records Act.
FISCAL EFFECT
Costs to DTSC of $100,000 in 2009-10 and 2010-11 to develop a
contract for translating technical information into English.
(Many covered electronic devices are being developed in
countries where the primary language is not English.)
(Electronic Waste Recovery and Recycling Account)
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . According to the author's office, DTSC needs
authority to request documentation from electronics
manufacturers detailing the amount of hazardous materials
contained in their products in order toe effectively manage
and regulate hazardous waste. Otherwise, DTSC must conduct
expensive product-by-product testing to determine the
hazardous materials content, if any, of a consumer item sold
in the state. The author notes that manufacturers currently
provide such information in the European Union per its RoHS
(Restriction of Hazardous Substances) Directive.
2)Background.
a) The RoHS Directive , in combination with Directive
2002/96/EC on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment
(WEEE), bans the sale of virtually all electronic devices
that run on electricity or battery power, if those devices
contain the listed heavy metals or fire retardants. The
RoHS Directive does not apply to batteries, unless they are
incorporated into the electronic devices. Since electronic
devices such as cellular phones, microwave ovens, radios,
DVD and video cassette players, blackberries and other
hand-held computer and communication devices are covered by
the RoHS Directive, they would be subject to the ban
proposed by this bill for California if they contain the
listed heavy metals and fire retardants.
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b) Electronic Waste Recovery and Recycling Program. SB 20
(Sher, Chapter 526, Statutes of 2003) established the
Electronic Waste Recovery and Recycling (e-Waste) program
and imposed a set of surcharges on most electronic devices
containing a video screen larger than four inches
diagonally. The surcharges, first imposed in January 2005,
range from $6 to $10, depending on the size of the video
screen and are projected to generate about $83 million in
FY 2006-07. After retailers and the BOE deduct 3% and
about 7% to cover their respective costs of surcharge
collection, about $78 million is available to the CIWMB
(and, to a lesser extent the DTSC) to administer the
e-waste program and to make incentive payments to eligible
entities to recycle or otherwise divert electronic devices
from solid waste landfills.
Because the surcharge is imposed on only a portion of the
total universe of electronic devices deemed hazardous by
the DTSC, the incentive payments made from the e-waste
Account are unlikely to be large enough to encourage the
recycling of all covered electronic devices.
c) Green Chemistry Initiative. AB 1879 (Feuer, Chapter
559, Statutes of 2008) and SB 509 (Simitian, Chapter 560,
Statutes of 2008) together established the Green Chemistry
Initiative. The initiative requires two main actions of
DTSC. First, DTSC is to adopt regulations, by January 1,
2011, to establish a process to identify and prioritize
chemicals or chemical ingredients in products that may be
considered a "chemical of concern." Second, DTSC is to
establish a process for evaluating chemicals of concern in
products and their potential alternatives in order to
determine how best to limit their exposure or reduce the
level of hazard the chemicals pose.
3)Supporters , including some environmental organizations, claim
that DTSC cannot effectively carry out its responsibilities
under the Green Chemistry initiative without the
product-specific information that it would have under this
bill. Supporters also note that manufactures currently
provide such information in the EU.
4)Opponents to the bill are representatives of the medical
technology industry, who are concerned that the bill has the
potential to apply to medical devices, thereby driving up the
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cost of those products. These opponents, noting that the
health and well being of many people rely on such devices, ask
that the bill be amended to clearly exclude medical devices.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081