BILL NUMBER: AB 2138	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Chesbro

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2010

   An act to add Chapter 6.6 (commencing with Section 42395) to Part
3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, relating to recycling.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2138, as introduced, Chesbro. Recycling: food service
packaging: carryout bags.
   The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, which is
administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery
requires every rigid plastic packaging container, as defined, sold or
offered for sale in this state, to generally meet one of specified
criteria. Existing law requires the operator of a store to establish
an at-store recycling program for plastic carryout bags, until
January 1, 2013.
   This bill would enact the Plastic Ocean Pollution Reduction,
Recycling, and Composting Act and would prohibit a food provider,
after an unspecified date, but not after July 1, 2013, from
distributing a disposable food service packaging or a single-use
carryout bag, as defined, unless the packaging or bag meet the
criteria for either compostable packaging or recyclable packaging.
The bill would prohibit a food provider, on and after July 1, 2013,
from distributing a disposable food service packaging or a single-use
carryout bag to a consumer, unless the department determines the
packaging or bag meet a specified composting or recycling rate. The
department would be required to adopt regulations to implement these
requirements.
   This bill would provide for the imposition of a civil penalty upon
a person violating these requirements and would require the
penalties to be deposited into the Ocean Pollution Reduction Account,
which the bill would create in the Integrated Waste Management Fund
in the State Treasury. The bill would authorize the department to
expend the moneys deposited in the account, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, to provide public education and assist local
governmental agencies in efforts to reduce plastic waste and marine
debris, and for the board's costs of implementing the act.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.   The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) Plastic and packaging waste represents a significant and
fast-growing component of the state's waste stream. California
disposes of more than three million tons of plastic packaging waste
annually. Plastic is the fastest growing component of generated
waste, increasing from less than 5 percent in 1980 to more than 12
percent in 2008.
   (b) With the sole exception of plastic beverage containers covered
by the California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction
Act, little of generated plastic is currently recycled. Excluding
beverage containers, less than 5 percent of plastic packaging is
currently recycled.
    (c) Plastic, including, but not limited to polystyrene,
disposable food service packaging, and single-use bag litter, and the
resulting ocean pollution, present more than an aesthetic problem,
as this pollution poses a danger to marine organisms through
ingestion and entanglement.
   (d) This plastic litter and ocean pollution present a serious and
growing threat to water quality, the beneficial uses of the waters of
the state, and recreational human use, as well as threatening the
ability of California's waters and the Pacific Ocean to sustain
aquatic life.
   (e) Upwards of 80 percent of ocean pollution originates from
land-based human activities including littering and waste disposal
practices. Each year thousands of Californians volunteer countless
hours to clean up plastic and disposable food service packaging, and
single-use bag litter from public roadways, beaches, parks, and other
areas of the state.
    (f) California's aquatic and marine environments are increasingly
threatened by the amount of plastic, disposable food service
packaging, and single-use bags that are carried by storm water
runoff.
   (g) Under a consent decree, a total maximum daily load (TMDL) for
trash is required to be developed for all impaired waters within the
state within the next decade. The TMDL for the Los Angeles River and
Ballona Creek Watershed require that the amount of trash be reduced
to zero to protect beneficial uses.
   (h) The costs to state agencies and local governments to comply
with existing TMDL requirements, pending TMDL requirements, or the
TMDL requirements yet to be developed, will run into the billions of
dollars.
   (i) Data collected during California's annual Coastal Cleanup and
the 1999 Pilot Litter Study by the Department of Conservation
indicate that plastic, disposable food service packaging, and
single-use bags, represent some of the most commonly littered items.
   (j) Disposable food service packaging is used "on the go" when
access to trash and recycling receptacles is most limited.
   (k) Plastics generally can become inadvertent litter even if
initially properly discarded, and are carried by wind from uncovered
trash cans and dumpsters, vehicles, and solid waste facilities,
including landfills.
    (l) The benefits of reducing, recycling and composting plastics,
disposable food service packaging, and single-use bags, will have a
direct positive impact on the California economy.
   (m) A 2005 study for the former Natural Resources Agency concluded
that ocean-dependent industries add forty-two billion nine hundred
million dollars ($42,900,000,000) and 408,000 jobs to California's
economy.
    (n) Compounding the problem of plastic packaging and waste, this
material is nonbiodegradable, and litter prone, since, even when
properly disposed, lightweight plastic packaging and single-use bags
can be blown from trash cans, garbage trucks, and landfills.
   (o) Nonbiodegradable plastic litter poses a real and growing
threat to water quality and the marine environment.
  SEC. 2.  Chapter 6.6 (commencing with Section 42395) is added to
Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, to read:
      CHAPTER 6.6.  PLASTIC OCEAN POLLUTION REDUCTION, RECYCLING, AND
COMPOSTING ACT



      Article 1.  General Provisions


   42395.  This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Plastic Ocean Pollution Reduction, Recycling, and Composting Act.
   42395.1.  It is the intent of the Legislature, consistent with
recommendations in the Ocean Protection Council report "Eliminating
Land-based Discharges of Marine Debris in California," to designate
responsibility and authority for reduction of marine debris, plastic
ocean pollution, and its sources to a state agency.

      Article 2.  Definitions


   42395.2.  For the purposes of this chapter the following terms
have the following meanings, unless the context clearly requires
otherwise:
   (a) "Compostable packaging" means a material that meets any of the
following criteria:
   (1) The packaging is accepted back for composting by the food
provider.
   (2) The packaging is accepted for composting in a residential
collection program available to at least 75 percent of the households
in the jurisdiction in which it is distributed, as determined
pursuant to the regulations adopted by the department.
   (3) The packaging is made of a material that meets the American
Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standard specification for
Compostable Plastics D6400, as published in September 2004. For
purposes of this paragraph, an ASTM standard specification does not
include an ASTM Standard Guide, a Standard Practice, or a Standard
Test Method.
   (4) The packaging is recovered for composting at a rate of 25
percent or more, as determined pursuant to the regulations adopted by
the department.
   (b) "Department" means the Department of Resources Recycling and
Recovery.
   (c) (1) "Disposable food service packaging" means single-use
disposable products used by a food provider for serving or
transporting prepared and ready-to-consume food or beverages.
   (2) "Disposable food service packaging" includes, but is not
limited to, plates, cups, bowls, trays, and hinged or lidded
containers.
   (3) "Disposable food service packaging" does not include such
single-use disposable items as straws, cup lids, or utensils, or
single-use disposable packaging for unprepared foods.
   (d) "Food provider" means an establishment that provides prepared
food for public consumption on or off its premises and includes, but
is not limited to, a store, shop, sales outlet, restaurant, grocery
store, supermarket, delicatessen, catering truck, or vehicle.
   (e) (1) "Prepared food" means ready to consume food or beverage
prepared on the food provider's premises, using a cooking or food
preparation technique.
   (2) "Prepared food" does not include raw uncooked meat, fish, or
eggs, unless the item is provided for consumption without further
food preparation.
   (f) "Recyclable packaging" means a material that meets any of the
following criteria:
   (1) The packaging is accepted back for recycling by the food
provider.
   (2) The packaging is accepted for recycling in a residential
collection program available to at least 75 percent of the households
in the jurisdiction in which it is distributed, as determined
pursuant to regulations adopted by the department.
   (3) The packaging is recovered for recycling at a rate of 25
percent or more, as determined pursuant to regulations adopted by the
department.
   (g) "Single-use carryout bag" means a carryout bag provided by a
store to a customer at the point of sale.

      Article 3.  Packaging Waste Reduction and Recycling
Responsibilities


   42395.5.  (a) On and after ____, until July 1, 2013, a food
provider shall not distribute a disposable food service packaging or
a single-use carryout bag to a consumer, unless the disposable food
service packaging or single-use carryout bag meet the criteria for
either compostable packaging or recyclable packaging.
   (b) On and after July 1, 2013, a food provider shall not
distribute a disposable food service packaging or a single-use
carryout bag to a consumer, unless the department determines the
disposable food service packaging or single-use carryout bag is
recovered for composting or recovered for recycling at a rate of 25
percent or more.
   42395.6.  The department shall adopt regulations for purposes of
implementing this chapter, including determining recycling and
composting rates.

      Article 4.  Fines and Penalties


   42395.7.  (a) A person violating this chapter is subject to a
civil penalty of not more than one hundred dollars ($100) for each
day the person is in violation of this chapter.
   (b) The total annual penalties assessed upon a violator of this
chapter shall not exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
   (c) On or before____, and on or before July 1 annually thereafter,
the department shall annually publish a list setting forth any
penalties that have been levied against a person who was in violation
of this chapter in the preceding calendar year.
   (d) The department shall deposit all penalties or fines paid
pursuant to this section into the Ocean Pollution Reduction Account,
which is hereby created in the Integrated Waste Management Fund in
the State Treasury. The moneys deposited in the Ocean Pollution
Reduction Account may be expended by the department, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, to provide public education and
assist local governmental agencies in efforts to reduce plastic waste
and marine debris, and for the department's costs of implementing
this chapter.