BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1930|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1930
Author: De La Torre (D), et al
Amended: 7/15/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENV. QUALITY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/28/10
AYES: Simitian, Runner, Corbett, Hancock, Lowenthal,
Pavley, Strickland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 10-0, 8/2/10
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Ashburn, Corbett, Emmerson, Leno,
Price, Wolk, Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 6/2/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Hazardous waste: glass beads
SOURCE : Potter Industries, Inc.
DIGEST : This bill prohibits the manufacture or sale of
glass beads for use in certain kinds of blasting, if the
beads contain more than 75 parts per million of arsenic or
100 parts per million of lead.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Pursuant to several Health and Safety Code statutes,
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bans or regulates lead content in a variety of consumer
products, such as candy, toys, tableware, packaging,
children's jewelry, plumbing, and glass beverage
bottles.
2. Pursuant to the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic
Enforcement Act of 1986, commonly referred to as
Proposition 65, prohibits a person, in the course of
doing business, from knowingly and intentionally
exposing people to a chemical known to the state to
cause cancer or reproductive toxicity without first
giving clear and reasonable warning. The Governor must
publish a list of chemicals "known to the State of
California" to cause cancer, birth defects or other
reproductive harm. Both lead and arsenic are included
on this list. No person can knowingly discharge or
release those same chemicals into any source of drinking
water. Specified exemptions are allowed, such as when
the exposure or discharge would not pose a significant
risk of cancer, or, for chemicals that cause
reproductive toxicity, would not have observable effect
at 1,000 times the level in question.
3. Requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control
(DTSC), by January 1, 2011, to adopt regulations to
establish a process to identify and prioritize chemicals
or chemical ingredients in consumer products that may be
considered a "chemical of concern," in accordance with a
review process, as specified. (Section 25251 et seq.)
4. Requires DTSC, on or before January 1, 2011, to adopt
regulations to establish a process to evaluate chemicals
of concern, and their potential alternatives, in
consumer products in order to determine how best to
limit exposure or to reduce the level of hazard posed
by a chemical of concern, as specified.
This bill:
1. Prohibits the manufacture or sale of glass beads that
have more than 75 parts per million of arsenic or 100
parts per million of lead, if the glass beads are going
to be used with pressure, suction, or wet- or dry- type
blasting equipment.
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2. Requires each container of glass beads sold in the state
for surface preparation that will be used with pressure,
suction, or wet- or dry- type blasting equipment to be
labeled with the arsenic and lead limits required under
the bill.
3. Specifies that it does not limit or supersede any
authority under the state's ongoing "Green Chemistry"
initiative (AB 1879 [Feuer], Chapter 599, Statutes of
2008) through which DTSC is required to prioritize
chemicals for review and regulation to protect human
health.
4. Sunsets on January 1, 2015.
Comments
Purpose of the bill . According to the author, "Some
countries, including China, produce glass sphere with high
levels of arsenic and lead. While it is illegal to use
these toxic spheres in China, they are imported for use in
California and other states. Without a standard, these
foreign spheres can continue to be sold in California to
businesses that are completely unaware of the danger." The
author continues, "In order to protect individuals and the
environment, AB 1930 will conform California to the U.S.
military standard, preventing the manufacture and sale of
glass beads containing an excess of 75 ppm arsenic and 100
ppm lead, by weight."
NOTE: Please refer to the Senate Environmental Quality
Committee analysis for further background
information.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12
2012-13 Fund
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Enforcement costs $27 $107
$71Special*
* Hazardous Waste Control Account
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/11/10)
Potter Industries, Inc. (source)
American Glass Bead Manufacturers' Association
Chemical Industry Council of California
Swarco Industries Inc.
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/11/10)
Department of Toxic Substances Control
Fair Glass Bead Market Access Coalition
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the bill's sponsor,
Potter Industries, Inc.:
"Assembly Bill 1930 sets a standard for the manufacturing
and sale of glass spheres containing high levels of
arsenic and lead based on the standard used by the U.S.
military.
"Glass beads are pulverized when they are blown out of an
air compressor to treat surfaces or for other industrial
purposes. The resulting dust, containing excessive
levels of heavy metals, is inhaled by employees or blown
into the air potentially contaminating soil and/or water.
The U.S. military recognized the danger of glass beads
containing toxic levels of arsenic and lead and
established a standard to ensure that soldiers,
civilians, and the environment were safe from
contamination."
The sponsor refers to a briefing written by an internal
scientist, Dr. Ufuk Senturk, who writes, "Despite the
common public perception that glasses are inert, as
typically referenced for their use as toxic waste
containment, scientific literature, as explained above,
shows that glasses do leach and release toxic ingredients,
such as arsenic and lead. This is evidenced for commercial
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grade soda-lime-silicate glasses, where arsenic is shown to
leach up to 75% of its initial content when exposed to
basic pH conditions. Enhanced leaching under acidic
conditions is also known for soda-lime-silicate glasses (as
reported by Clark et al.)."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Fair Glass Bead Market Access
Coalition (FGBMAC) writes:
"The American Association of State Highway and
Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Subcommittee on
Materials first examined this issue in 2006. The
corporate sponsor of A.B. 1930 asked the subcommittee to
enact regulations restricting the source of recycled
glass cullet for bead manufacturing to North American
sources. That effort was opposed by the Subcommittee and
other domestic providers/ customers of glass beads. This
same manufacturer subsequently changed tactics away from
attempting to limit the source of glass cullet and
instead began proposing to limit the heavy metal content
of glass beads to 200 ppm arsenic, 200 ppm antimony and
200 ppm lead. In 2007, the Subcommittee decided to
empanel a task force led by Eileen Sheehy of the New
Jersey Department of Transportation to further review the
issue. That research, referenced earlier, is poised to
be released in a presentation to the subcommittee at
their annual meeting in August, 2010.
"Members of the FGBMAC have worked with the New Jersey
researchers to provide them with glass bead samples to
assist in their work. We are willing to support and see
enacted the heavy metal content levels that would be
proposed as a result of this peer-reviewed research. It
is our expectation that these limits will not be confined
to lead, but may include a number of heavy metals
including arsenic, barium and antimony."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,
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Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick,
Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande,
Niello, Nielsen, Norby, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino,
Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio,
Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines,
Yamada, John A. Perez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Tom Berryhill, Lieu, Audra Strickland,
Vacancy
TSM:mw 8/11/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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