BILL ANALYSIS
AB 903
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Date of Hearing: April 28, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Wesley Chesbro, Chair
AB 903 (Chesbro) - As Introduced: February 26, 2009
SUBJECT : Solid waste: state agency recycling: electronic
waste.
SUMMARY : Requires each state agency, as part of its annual
report to the California Integrated Waste Management Board
(CIWMB) summarizing the agency's progress in reducing solid
waste, to also include information about the agency's disposal
reduction of electronic waste (e-waste).
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires each state agency to develop and adopt, in
consultation with the CIWMB, an integrated waste management
plan.
2)Requires each state agency and each large state facility to
divert at least 50 percent of all solid waste through source
reduction, recycling, and composting activities.
3)Requires each state agency to submit an annual report to the
CIWMB summarizing its progress in reducing solid waste.
Requires each state agency's annual report to, at a minimum,
include all of the following: 1) Calculations of annual
disposal reduction; and, 2) Information on the changes in
waste generated or disposed of due to increases or decreases
in employees, economics, or other factors; and, 3) A summary
of progress made in implementing the integrated waste
management plan; and, 4) The extent to which the state agency
intends to utilize programs or facilities established by the
local agency for the handling, diversion, and disposal of
solid waste.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS :
E-waste: According to the US Environmental Protection Agency
(US EPA), lead, mercury, cadmium and brominated flame retardants
AB 903
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are among the substances of concern in e-waste. While these
substances possess certain performance characteristics, they can
have substantial negative impacts on the environment and public
health if the products are not properly managed at the end of
product's useful life.
State auditor report on the State's e-waste shortcomings . In
November 2008, the California State Auditor (State Auditor)
released a report entitled, Electronic Waste: Some State
Agencies Have Discarded Their Electronic Waste Improperly, While
State and Local Oversight is Limited (Report Number 2008-112).
Through its audit of five state agencies, the State Auditor
found that, contrary to state regulation prohibiting the
practice, all five agencies discarded electronic devices by
throwing the devices in the trash. Together the five agencies,
the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Employment Development
Department, the California Highway Patrol, the Department of
Transportation, and the Department of Justice, improperly
discarded nearly 400 electronic devices. Because e-waste can
contain toxic metals such as lead and mercury, the State Auditor
asserts that these state agencies may have contributed to
environmental contamination that can pose a threat to public
health and safety.
To fascilitate proper e-waste disposal by state agencies, the
State Auditor recommends that, "If the Legislature believes that
state agencies should track more accurately the amounts of
e-waste they generate, recycle, and dispose of, it should impose
such a requirement." This bill implements the State Auditor's
recommendation.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Shannon McKinney / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965
AB 903
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