BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1824
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 1824
AUTHOR: Monning
AMENDED: May 11, 2010
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE: June 14, 2010
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Rachel Machi
Wagoner
SUBJECT : HAZARDOUS MATERIALS: TOXIC CHEMICALS:
SEWAGE SYSTEMS
SUMMARY :
Existing law :
1)Prohibits the use of a non-biodegradable toxic chemical in a
chemical toilet, recreational vehicle, or waste facility.
2)Prohibits the sale of a non-biodegradable toxic chemical in
a container which indicates that the chemical could be used
in a chemical toilet, a waste facility of a recreational
vehicle, or a waste facility of a vessel.
3)Requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC)
to develop and adopt regulations to define non-biodegradable
toxic chemicals and limitations on the sale thereof.
This bill expands the above prohibition to prohibit the use or
sale of a chemical that is detrimental to a sewage disposal
system by:
1)Prohibiting a person from using a chemical that is
detrimental to a sewage disposal system in a chemical
toilet, a recreational vehicle, or a waste facility of a
vessel.
2)Prohibiting a person from selling a chemical that is
detrimental to a sewage disposal system in a container that
indicates that the chemical could be used in a chemical
toilet or a waste facility of a recreational vehicle or
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vessel.
3)Defining a chemical that is detrimental to a sewage disposal
system as any of the following:
a) 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol, known as bronopol;
b) 1-(3-chlorallyl)-3,5,7-triaza-1-azoniaadamantane
chloride, known as dowicil;
c) Formaldehyde;
d) Glutaraldehyde;
e) Para-formaldehyde;
f) Para-dichlorobenzene; or,
g) A chemical identified by DTSC as being detrimental to
a sewage disposal system, in regulations that may be
adopted by DTSC.
4)Authorizing DTSC, by regulation, to limit or prohibit the
use or sale of a chemical detrimental to a sewage disposal
system in a product used for a chemical toilet, a
recreational vehicle, or a vessel.
5)Deleting the requirement for DTSC to develop and adopt
regulations to define non-biodegradable toxic chemicals and
to set limitations on the sale of those chemicals.
6)Authorizing DTSC to further regulate chemical toilet
additives.
COMMENTS :
1) Purpose of Bill . According to the author, when recreation
vehicle (RV) users pull into an RV park, they can hook up
to the park septic system during overnight stays. Many of
the RV park septic systems operate using natural
bio-organisms to treat and break down the sewage. However,
some of the commonly used RV toilet additives are toxic
chemicals that kill the natural bio-organisms and cause
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septic systems to fail and, in turn, cause sewage to seep
into the surrounding soil and groundwater.
The author states that if asked, most users of the RV park
septic system would not know there are environmentally safe
or "green" products that can be used in RV toilets in lieu
of the products that contain harmful chemicals that could
be detrimental to septic systems. RV park owners are
attempting to educate their customers about alternatives,
however that is not enough to reduce the harmful impact of
the toxic toilet additives.
According to the author, the RV park owners have been in
discussion with regulatory agencies on a solution to
address this issue for nearly five years. Last year DTSC
tested several RV toilet additives and concluded that,
under the testing methods prescribe in the regulations,
several products currently sold in California contain
chemicals that met the definition of a non-biodegradable
toxic chemical and should not be sold and used in
California.
DTSC posted advisories on their website notifying
consumers, retailers and manufacturers that certain
specified chemicals are prohibited from use in RV toilet
additives. However, one manufacturer challenged DTSC's
testing methods and DTSC pulled the advisories from their
website rather than face the legal challenge to their
testing methods.
2) Arguments in Support . The sponsors argue that AB 1824 will
help keep the state's ground water clean and benefit
hundreds of small businesses throughout the state;
potentially saving them tens of thousands of dollars that
would otherwise be spent on repairing or replacing their
parks' septic systems. The sponsor states that AB 1824
furthers a public policy put forth by the Legislature in
1977, when it determined that certain chemicals should not
be used in RV toilet additives. There are already 19
chemicals banned by current regulations. According to the
sponsor, AB 1824 would simply clarify that six additional
chemicals cannot be used in RV toilet additives for the
same reasons as the 19 currently banned.
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3) Arguments in Opposition . The opposition states that AB
1824 statutorily prohibits certain product lines that
contain prohibited chemicals, rather than relying upon the
current scientific criteria. The opposition argues that
this lack of scientific-based criteria would compromise the
performance of products with consumers, and places the
Legislature in the position of making scientific judgments
that are inconsistent with the Green Chemistry Initiative.
According to the opposition, rather than outright
prohibiting specified chemicals from the use in chemical
toilets, there should be a performance-based standard on a
specific chemical's biodegradable characteristics that is
more scientifically justified.
SOURCE : California Association of RV Parks and
Campgrounds
SUPPORT : California Travel Industry Association
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
Sierra Club California
OPPOSITION : Dometic Group, Thetford Corporation