BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1141
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 27, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Nancy Skinner, Chair
AB 1141 (Calderon) - As Amended: April 13, 2009
SUBJECT : Carryout bags
SUMMARY : Expands the single-use plastic carryout bag (plastic
bag) recycling program, establishes a 50% recycling goal for
plastic bags, and establishes a $0.001 manufacturer fee on
plastic bags.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires operators of stores (defined as supermarkets and
stores over 10,000 square feet that include a pharmacy) to
establish an in-store plastic carryout bag recycling program.
The program:
a) Requires plastic bags provided by a store to include a
label encouraging customers to return the bag to the store
for recycling;
b) Easily accessible recycling bins for plastic bags;
c) All plastic bags collected must be recycled in a manner
consistent with the local jurisdiction's recycling plan;
d) The store must maintain records relating to the program
for at least three years and must make the records
available to the local jurisdiction or California
Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) upon request; and
e) The operator of the store must make reusable bags
available to customers.
2)Requires manufacturers of plastic bags to develop educational
materials to encourage reducing, reusing, and recycling
plastic bags.
3)Pre-empts local governments from requiring stores that meet
these provisions to implement separate recycling programs or
from imposing a fee on plastic bags.
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4)Establishes a January 1, 2013 sunset on the above provisions.
THIS BILL :
1)Revises the definitions of "reusable bag." The current
definition is 2.5 mils thick; this bill revises the definition
to 1.1 mils thick and specifies that it must be able to carry
15 pounds.
2)Requires a manufacturer who sells plastic bags to a store to
make arrangements with the store operator, upon request, for
the collection, transport, and recycling of bags and other
film plastic collected.
3)Requires a local government that prohibits the distribution of
plastic bags to "be responsible for providing alternatives? to
customers, for which the city, county, or public agency shall
not charge any person, including a manufacturer, distributor,
operator, or a consumer, a fee."
4)Extends the sunset on this program to January 1, 2017.
5)Requires CIWMB to establish a 50% recycling goal for plastic
bag waste by 2014. Requires CIWMB, in conjunction with bag
manufacturers, retailers, local governments, recyclers, waste
haulers, and end-users of recyclable material, to increase the
availability of plastic bag recycling and collection programs.
6)Beginning July 1, 2011, requires a manufacturer or distributor
of plastic bags to pay a single use bag extended producer
responsibility fee of $0.001 (one-tenth of one cent) per bag
to CIWMB. Specifies that not more than 5% of the fees
collected be appropriated to CIWMB for administration of the
fee and an unspecified amount, as appropriated by the
Legislature, to CIWMB to administer the program. Directs the
remainder to state agencies and cities and counties to develop
programs, including education and outreach and reusable bag
giveaways, to alleviate and mitigate plastic bag litter.
7)Requires CIWMB to develop a voluntary best practices
educational program for plastic bags targeted to retailers.
8)Requires CIWMB to convene an advisory panel, appointed by the
Executive Director, to assist CIWMB in determining how the fee
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revenue should be distributed, to include manufacturers,
recyclers, waste haulers, local government, retailers,
anti-litter organizations, recycled content product
manufacturers, and environmental organizations.
9)Establishes recycled content requirements for plastic bags:
20% by 2011; 25% by 2013; and, 30% by 2014. Beginning July 1,
2011, requires that the bags have a printed statement
indicating the percentage of recycled content. Requires
manufacturers to obtain from suppliers information relating to
the source and related information of post-consumer plastic.
10)Beginning June 30, 2012, and annually thereafter, requires
manufacturers to submit a report to CIWMB certifying
compliance with the bill, with specified information. If a
manufacturer is unable to obtain sufficient post-consumer
recycled content plastic, requires the certification to
specify that fact, including information relating to the
efforts made by the manufacturer to obtain adequate material.
11)Beginning July 1, 2011, requires every wholesaler and
distributor of plastic bags to certify to CIWMB the name and
physical location of each manufacturer.
12)By December 31, 2012, requires CIWMB to report to the
Legislature on the status of the recycled content
requirements, including related information. Requires
suppliers, recyclers, manufacturers, wholesalers, and
distributors to comply with requests for information from
CIWMB related to the report. Authorizes CIWMB to refer any
false or misleading information provided to the Attorney
General for prosecution.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Background
Californians use over 19 billion plastic bags annually
(approximately 552 per person), creating over 147,000 tons of
waste. CIWMB staff estimates that only 5-6% of plastic bags are
recycled in California. Paper bags also have negative
environmental impacts, including deforestation, air pollution,
and excessive energy consumption. Compostable bags are not a
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viable alternative at this time, due to lack of a composting
infrastructure that can process them and negative impacts to
existing recycling operations.
Plastic bags are a significant contributor to litter and marine
debris. Their light weight and expansive nature makes them
especially prone to blowing into waterways. Even when disposed
of in the waste stream, these bags pose litter problems as they
blow off of trucks and out of solid waste handling operations.
According to the USEPA, marine debris has become a serious
problem along shorelines, coastal waters, estuaries, and oceans
throughout the world. It is estimated that 60-80% of all marine
debris, and 90% of floating debris, is plastic. Marine debris
can be life threatening to marine organisms and can wreak havoc
on coastal communities and the fishing industry. Recent studies
by the Algalita Marine Research Foundation and the Southern
California Coastal Water Research Project have found that the
average mass of plastics in the seawater off the coast of Long
Beach is two and a half times greater than the average mass of
plankton. After storms with excessive runoff, the mass of
plastics is even greater. A similar study over seawater 1,000
miles west of San Francisco found the mass of plastics was six
times the mass of plankton in drifts where marine animals
congregate for feeding on plankton.
The Ocean Protection Council (OPC) has been at the forefront on
this issue. In February 2007, OPC adopted a resolution to
reduce marine debris, which included specific actions on
single-use plastics. In November 2008, OPC adopted its final
implementation strategy for the resolution. The strategy
includes three "priority actions for measurable success:" 1)
Implement a take-back program for convenience food packaging;
2) Prohibit single-use products that pose significant ocean
litter impacts where a feasible alternative is available; and,
3) Assess fees on commonly littered items. Plastic single-use
bags are included in action 2; OPC proposes that a fee be added
for all single use paper and plastic bags to incentivize people
to switch to reusable bags. OPC goes on to suggest that if a
fee does not dramatically reduce the use of bags, a ban should
be considered.
In 2006, AB 2449 (Levine), Chapter 845, was enacted, requiring
all stores to establish a plastic bag recycling program. The
stated goal of this legislation was to increase recycling and to
create the infrastructure necessary to collect and recycle
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plastic bags. That bill also pre-empted local governments from
enacting a per-bag fee on plastic bags, but did not prohibit
local government bans.
2)This bill
According to the author, this bill "represents a significant
step forward to reducing marine debris and litter and enhancing
recycling and the use of recycled material by setting up a 50%
single-use carryout bag waste reduction goal by 2014. AB 1141
would create a new revenue stream for state and local
governments to fund recycling, waste reduction, and litter
prevention programs. Additionally, in order to spur recycling
markets for plastic bags and other plastic film, the legislation
establishes a phased-in minimum content requirement for
single-use carryout bags."
The American Chemistry Council (ACC), the bill's sponsor, states
that nationally an estimated 812 million pounds of post-consumer
film plastic (including plastic bags) was recovered in 2006.
This represents a 24% increase from 2005. "Enactment of AB 1141
would further stimulate the state's recycling infrastructure and
expand public education and awareness of recycling
opportunities."
3)Concerns with this approach
Significant concerns have been raised about the approach taken
by this bill to address marine debris. Issues associated with
plastic bag litter and marine debris are not likely to be
addressed by increased recycling. The current recycling rate on
plastic bags is approximately 5%. Plastic bag litter, while
partly caused by accidental loss during transport and solid
waste handling, is most often the result of individual behavior.
Generally, individuals who are careless enough to litter are
not likely to participate in a recycling program. Even if
California achieves the 50% recycling goal established by this
bill, it would not address the behavioral patterns associated
with littering. Anti-litter campaigns, while helpful, have not
been able to eliminate the overwhelming amount of litter
generated in California.
While this bill has been amended to remove the preemption
against local government plastic bag bans, it was replaced with
language that would make it prohibitively expensive for local
governments to prohibit the use of plastic bags. San
Francisco's existing ban on plastic bags eliminated nearly 150
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million bags per year.
4)Related legislation
a) AB 68 (Brownley), which would also establish a 25 cent
fee on single-use carryout bags. AB 68 passed out of this
committee on April 13th.
b) AB 87 (Davis), which would also establish a 25 cent fee
on single-use carryout bags. AB 87 passed out of this
committee on April 13th.
AB 68 and AB 87 are similar to two bills, with the same
sponsors, as AB 2058 (Levine) and AB 2928 (Davis)
introduced last year. Assemblymembers Davis and Brownley
became joint-authors on AB 2058, which was the only of
those bills to pass out of Assembly Natural Resources. It
was held on the Senate Appropriations Suspense File.
c) SB 228 (DeSaulnier) requires bags labeled "compostable"
or "marine degradable" to be readily and easily
identifiable to assist in their collection and sorting.
This bill has been referred to the Senate Environmental
Quality Committee.
d) SB 531 (DeSaulnier) establishes the "Single-Use Carryout
Bag Responsibility Act" and requires suppliers of
single-use carryout bags (paper and plastic) to remit a fee
of $0.001 per bag to the Single-Use Carryout Bag
Responsibility Fund to award grants to abate and cleanup
bag litter and to encourage the proper disposal and
collection of bags. This bill will be heard in the Senate
Environmental Quality Committee on April 27.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Chemistry Council (sponsor)
Opposition
Cal-Tax
City and County of San Francisco
City of Manhattan Beach
Clean Water Action
County of Los Angeles
Environment California
Heal the Bay
Recycling & Waste Commission of the County of Santa Clara
Save the Bay
Sierra Club California
Stop Hidden Taxes Coalition
Surfrider Foundation
65 individuals
Analysis Prepared by : Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092