BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1824|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1824
Author: Monning (D)
Amended: 5/11/10 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE ENV. QUALITY COMMITTEE : 6-0, 6/14/10
AYES: Simitian, Corbett, Hancock, Lowenthal, Pavley,
Strickland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 10-0, 6/28/10
AYES: Kehoe, Cox, Alquist, Corbett, Denham, Leno, Price,
Walters, Wolk, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/13/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Hazardous materials: toxic chemicals: sewage
systems
SOURCE : California Association of RV Parks and
Campgrounds
DIGEST : This bill prohibits a person from using or
selling a chemical that is detrimental to a sewage disposal
system, as specified.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law
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1. Prohibits the use of a non-biodegradable toxic chemical
in a chemical toilet, recreational vehicle (RV) , 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 an RV,
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 as follows:
1. Prohibits a person from using a chemical that is
detrimental to a sewage disposal system in a chemical
toilet, a RV, or a waste facility of a vessel.
2. Prohibits 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 RV or vessel.
3. Defines 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
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G. A chemical identified by DTSC as being
detrimental to a sewage disposal system, in
regulations that may be adopted by DTSC.
4. Authorizes 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 RV, or a vessel.
5. Deletes 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. Authorizes DTSC to further regulate chemical toilet
additives.
Comments
According to the author's office, RV users when staying at
an RV park, 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 septic systems to fail and, in
turn, cause sewage to seep into the surrounding soil and
groundwater.
The author's office 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's office, 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
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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 Web site 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
Web site rather than face the legal challenge to their
testing methods.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee analysis:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12
2012-13 Fund
Enforcement $65 $40 $40 Special *
* Hazardous Waste Control Account.
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/29/10)
California Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (source)
California Travel Industry Association
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
Sierra Club California
OPPOSITION : (Verified 6/29/10)
Dometic Group, Thetford Corporation
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The California Association of RV
Parks and Campgrounds, the sponsor of this bill, argue that
this bill 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 this bill
furthers a public policy put forth by the Legislature in
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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, this bill simply clarifies that six additional
chemicals cannot be used in RV toilet additives for the
same reasons as the 19 currently banned.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Dometic Group, Thetford
Corporation, opposes this bill and states, that this bill
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.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block,
Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Charles
Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De
La Torre, De Leon, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher,
Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani,
Garrick, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber,
Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande,
Niello, Nielsen, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin,
Salas, Saldana, Silva, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland,
Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines,
Yamada, John A. Perez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Caballero, DeVore, Gilmore, Hagman,
Norby, Skinner, Vacancy
TSM:do 6/30/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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