BILL NUMBER: AB 2139 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Chesbro
FEBRUARY 18, 2010
An act to add Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 48800) to Part 7
of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, relating to solid waste.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2139, as introduced, Chesbro. Solid waste: product stewardship.
The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989,
administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery,
requires a pharmaceutical manufacturer that sells or distributes
medication that is self-injected at home through the use of
hypodermic needles and other similar devices to submit a plan to the
department that describes how the manufacturer supports the safe
collection and proper disposal of the waste devices.
This bill would create the California Product Stewardship Act and
would define the term "covered product" as including medical sharps,
containers used to contain pesticides intended for residential use,
small personal use propane tanks, personal butane lighters, and
single-use food packaging that the department determines is a
significant source of ocean and beach contamination. The bill would
require the department by July 1, 2011, to establish a baseline
collection rate for the amount of those products that is discarded
and subsequently collected. The bill would provide a procedure for
determining the collection rate applicable commencing January 1,
2014.
The bill would require, by September 30, 2011, a producer or the
product stewardship organization created by one or more producers of
a covered product to submit a product stewardship plan to the
department, which would be required to include specified elements,
including performance goals and product goals. On or before January
1, 2012, the department would be required to review and either
approve or disapprove the product stewardship plan submitted to the
department.
The bill would prohibit the producer of a covered product, on and
after July 1, 2012, from selling a covered product unless the
producer or product stewardship organization of the covered product
has submitted a plan to the department that is approved by the
department. The act would require a producer of a covered product to
collect the covered product pursuant to the product stewardship plan
and to meet the performance goals included in the product stewardship
plan.
Each producer or product stewardship organization implementing a
product stewardship plan would be required to prepare and submit to
the department an annual report describing the activities carried out
pursuant to the product stewardship plan.
A producer or product stewardship organization submitting a
product stewardship plan would be required to pay the department a
fee of $10,000 when submitting the plan for review and approval and
to pay an annual administrative fee of $1,000. The bill would provide
for the imposition of administrative civil penalties upon a producer
who does not comply with the act's requirements. The bill would
create in the existing Integrated Waste Management Fund the Product
Stewardship Account and would require that the administrative fees be
deposited into that account and that the penalties be deposited into
the Product Stewardship Penalty Subaccount that the bill would
create in that account. The bill would authorize the fees and
penalties to be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to
cover the board's program implementation costs and as incentives to
enhance recyclability and redesign efforts and to reduce
environmental and safety impacts of covered products.
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. Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 48800) is added to
Part 7 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, to read:
CHAPTER 5. CALIFORNIA PRODUCT STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM
Article 1. Findings and Declarations
48800. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) This chapter requires the Department of Resources Recycling
and Recovery to develop, implement, and administer the Product
Stewardship Program.
(b) Product stewardship is a mechanism to place responsibility for
end-of-life management issues for products on those involved in the
product chain in an equitable manner.
(c) The program established by this chapter will test the efficacy
of a consistent framework approach for managing products that have
significant end-of-life waste management impacts as well as impacts
on the environment and public health. This framework approach
provides a consistent process that includes goals and oversight so
that a level playing field exists among all producers, while
maintaining flexibility for specific products and for producers to
design their product stewardship programs.
(d) End-of-life management of solid waste has historically been
the responsibility of state and local governments with the primary
physical management and financial burden placed on local government
and ratepayers, who have no ability to influence the design of the
products or packaging to reduce waste management costs.
(e) Prior to this program, the state addressed products with
end-of-life management issues through a patchwork of product and
material specific programs.
(f) Implementing product stewardship programs that are funded and
managed by the producers of products with significant end-of-life
impacts reduces the role of, and cost to, state and local government
and ratepayers.
(g) The Product Stewardship Program established by this chapter
will explore the feasibility and potential environmental, economic,
and social benefits of instituting a permanent product stewardship
program for an extended number of products while still providing
producers with the flexibility to customize individual product
stewardship plans toward the most effective and efficient approach
for a particular product or product category.
(h) The Product Stewardship Program established by this chapter
will test the applicability of extended producer responsibility and
may be used as a template for including additional products in these
programs.
Article 2. General Provisions
48800.1. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the
California Product Stewardship Act.
Article 3. Definitions
48800.2. For purposes of this chapter, and unless the context
otherwise requires, the definitions in this article govern the
construction of this chapter.
48800.3. "Brand" means a name, symbol, word, or mark that
identifies a product, rather than its components, and attributes the
product to the owner or licensee of the brand as the producer.
48800.4. "Collection rate" means a quantitative measure
established by the department pursuant to Section 48811 or determined
pursuant to Section 48812, as applicable, that establishes the
amount of a covered product required to be collected pursuant to a
product stewardship plan.
48800.5. "Consumer product" means a product that is sold in this
state in a transaction that is a retail sale or in a transaction to
which a use tax applies pursuant to Part 1 (commencing with Section
6001) of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.
48800.6. "Covered product" means all of the following consumer
products that are used or discarded in this state, as defined by the
department:
(a) "Covered product 1" means medical sharps, including hypodermic
needles, hypodermic needles with syringes, blades, and needles, that
are not subject to Article 3.3 (commencing with Section 47115) or
Chapter 1 of Part 7.
(b) "Covered product 2" means containers used to contain
pesticides intended for residential use.
(c) "Covered product 3" means small personal use propane tanks.
(d) "Covered product 4" means personal butane lighters.
(e) "Covered product 5" means single-use food packaging that the
department determines is a significant source of ocean and beach
contamination.
48800.7. "Department" means the Department of Resources Recycling
and Recovery.
48800.8. "Performance goal" means the collection rate of a
covered product, and may include, but is not limited to, the reuse
and recycling rate established by the product stewardship plan for
that covered product.
48800.9. "Producer" shall be determined, with regard to a covered
product that is sold, offered for sale, or distributed in the state,
as meaning one of the following:
(a) A person who manufactures the covered product and who sells,
offers for sale, or distributes that covered product in the state
under that person's own name or brand.
(b) If there is no person who sells, offers for sale, or
distributes the covered product in the state under the person's own
name or brand, the producer of the covered product is the owner or
licensee of a trademark or brand under which the covered product is
sold or distributed in the state, whether or not the trademark is
registered.
(c) If there is no person who is a producer of the covered product
for purposes of subdivisions (a) and (b), the producer of that
covered product is the person who imports the product into the state
for sale or distribution.
48800.10. "Product goal" means those qualitative or quantitative
goals determined by the producer to measure improvements that reduce
the life cycle impacts of a covered product.
48800.11. "Product stewardship" means requiring the producer of a
covered product, and all other entities involved in the product
chain, to share in the responsibility of reducing the life cycle
impact of the covered product and its packaging, including requiring
the producer who makes design and marketing decisions for the covered
product to bear the primary responsibility for this reduction.
48800.12. "Product stewardship organization" means an
organization appointed by one or more producers to act as an agent on
behalf of the producer to design, submit, and administer a product
stewardship plan pursuant to this chapter.
48800.13. "Product stewardship plan" or "plan" means a plan
written by an individual producer or a product stewardship
organization, on behalf of one or more producers, that includes all
of the information required by Section 48813.
48800.14. "Recycling rate" means a quantitative measure that
establishes the amount of a collected covered product that is
recycled as compared to the total amount of the covered product that
is collected, including the amount of the covered product that is
discarded for reuse, energy recovery, or safe disposal.
48800.15. "Reporting period" means the period commencing January
1 and ending on December 31 of the same calendar year.
48800.16. "Reuse rate" means a quantitative measure that
establishes the amount of a collected covered product that is reused
as compared to the total amount of the covered product that is
collected, including the amount of the covered product that is
discarded by recycling, energy recovery, or safe disposal.
48800.17. "Sell" or "sales" means any transfer of title of a
covered product for consideration, including a remote sale conducted
through a sale outlet, catalog, or Internet Web site or similar
electronic means, but does not include a lease.
Article 4. Product Stewardship Program
48810. This chapter does not limit, supersede, duplicate, or
otherwise conflict with the authority of the Department of Toxic
Substances Control under Section 25257.1 of the Health and Safety
Code to fully implement Article 14 (commencing with Section 25251) of
Chapter 6.5 of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code, including
the authority of the Department of Toxic Substances Control to
include products in its product registry.
48811. (a) On or before July 1, 2011, the department shall
establish a baseline collection rate for the amount of each covered
product that is discarded and subsequently collected, based on
existing collection data.
(b) On and after July 1, 2011, and for the calendar years
commencing January 1, 2012, and January 1, 2013, the collection rate
shall be the collection rate established pursuant to this section.
48812. (a) On and after January 1, 2014, the collection rate for
a covered product shall be determined in the following manner:
(1) For the calendar year commencing January 1, 2014, the
collection rate shall be 5 percent more than the baseline collection
rate determined pursuant to Section 48811.
(2) On and after January 1, 2015, the collection rate for each
covered product shall increase by no less than 5 percent annually
until a 95 percent collection rate is reached.
(b) A producer may petition the department for an adjustment to
the collection rate. The department may grant an adjustment to the
collection rate only if the department determines there are
documented exigent circumstances that are beyond the control of the
producer or product stewardship organization.
48813. (a) On or before September 30, 2011, a producer or a
product stewardship organization that is created by one or more
producers of a covered product shall submit a product stewardship
plan to the department. A product stewardship organization created
pursuant to this section shall be open for participation by all
producers of a covered product.
(b) A producer, group of producers, or product stewardship
organization shall consult with stakeholders during the development
of the product stewardship plan, including soliciting stakeholder
comments and responding to stakeholder comments prior to submitting
the product stewardship plan.
(c) Each product stewardship plan for a covered product shall
address the environmental impacts of the covered product over the
entire life cycle of that product, including the product design,
manufacture, and distribution of the covered product, and the
collection, transportation, reuse, recycling, and final disposition
of the discarded covered product, in accordance with this chapter.
The plan shall include, at a minimum, all of the following elements:
(1) Contact information for all participating producers.
(2) A description of the covered product and associated brands
covered by the plan.
(3) Performance goals, including a detailed description of how the
performance goals will be achieved and how results will be measured,
and including both of the following:
(A) The collection rate shall be included as a performance goal
for the covered product.
(B) A reuse rate and a recycling rate for the covered product
shall be included in the performance goals.
(4) An overview of the roles and responsibilities of key players
along the product chain.
(5) Financing methods for the product stewardship plan.
(6) Strategies for managing and reducing the life cycle impacts of
the covered product, steps that will be taken to ensure
environmentally sound management, and how impacts will be tracked
over time to show continual improvement.
(7) Education and outreach activities.
(8) A description of the consultation process used to consult with
affected stakeholders regarding the product stewardship plan.
(9) Product goals, including, but not limited to, product
designing and materials content, manufacturing, packaging,
distribution, and end-of-life management goals. The product goals
shall address the use of virgin material in the manufacture of the
covered product, the impact upon, or use of, water or energy by the
covered product, the use of, or generation of hazardous substances
by, the covered product, the carbon footprint of the covered product,
the covered product's longevity, the recycled content of the covered
product, and the covered product's recyclability, where applicable.
48814. (a) On or before January 1, 2012, the department shall
review the product stewardship plan submitted to the department and
either approve or disapprove the plan. If the department does not
approve the plan, the department shall notify the producer or
organization that submitted the plan and the producer or organization
shall revise and resubmit the disapproved product stewardship plan
within 30 days after receiving the notification.
(b) All product stewardship plans submitted to the department
shall be available to the public on the department's Internet Web
site.
(c) A producer shall notify the department 30 days before
instituting a significant or material change to a product stewardship
plan.
48815. On and after July 1, 2012, a producer shall not offer a
covered product for sale in this state or offer a covered product for
promotional purposes in this state unless the producer or a product
stewardship organization consisting of producers of the covered
product has submitted a product stewardship plan to the department
pursuant to Section 48816 and the product stewardship plan is
approved by the department pursuant to Section 48817.
48816. A producer of a covered product shall do all of the
following when implementing this chapter, including an approved
product stewardship plan:
(a) Collect the individual covered product to be reused or
recycled pursuant to the product stewardship plan for the covered
product submitted by the producer or product stewardship organization
pursuant to Section 48813 and approved by the department pursuant to
Section 48814.
(b) Meet the performance goals included in the product stewardship
plan, including achieving the collection rate established pursuant
to Section 48812.
(c) Provide collection services, in accordance with Section 48817,
for the covered product, that do not charge a fee at the time when
the covered product is collected for either recycling or disposal.
(d) Pay all administrative and operational costs associated with
the product stewardship plan, including the costs of collection,
transportation, and recycling or disposal, or both, of the covered
product.
(e) Submit the annual report required by Section 48818.
48817. A covered product shall be handled and recycled, or if not
feasible to be recycled, disposed of, in accordance with all state
and federal laws and regulations and local ordinances and
regulations, including, but not limited to, any law, regulation, or
ordinance that regulates hazardous waste.
Article 5. Reporting
48818. (a) Beginning one year after a product stewardship plan is
approved or no later than January 1, 2013, whichever date is
earlier, and every subsequent year thereafter, each producer or
stewardship organization implementing a product stewardship plan
shall prepare and submit to the department an annual report
describing the activities carried out pursuant to the product
stewardship plan during the previous reporting period, including, but
not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Whether the producer or product stewardship organization, in
implementing the plan, attained the performance goals for the covered
product, and if the performance goals were not met, what actions the
producer or product stewardship organization will take during the
next reporting period to attain those performance goals.
(2) Whether the producer or product stewardship organization, in
implementing the plan, attained the product goals for the covered
product, and if the product goals were not met, what actions the
producer or stewardship organization will take during the next
reporting period to achieve those product goals.
(b) The department shall review a report submitted pursuant to
this section and shall approve the report if the department
determines the report contains the information required by this
section.
(c) The department shall make all reports submitted to the
department pursuant to this section available to the public on the
department's Internet Web site.
Article 6. Financial Provisions
48819. (a) The producer or product stewardship organization
submitting a product stewardship plan shall pay the department an
administrative fee in the amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000)
when the plan is submitted for review and approval and thereafter pay
an annual administrative fee of one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(b) The total amount of annual fees collected pursuant to this
section shall not exceed the amount necessary to recover costs
incurred by the department in connection with the administration and
enforcement of the requirements of this chapter.
48820. (a) The Product Stewardship Account and the Product
Stewardship Penalty Subaccount are hereby established in the
Integrated Waste Management Fund.
(b) All fees collected pursuant to this chapter shall be deposited
in the Product Stewardship Account and may be expended by the
department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to cover the
department's costs to implement this chapter.
(c) All penalties collected pursuant to this chapter shall be
deposited in the Product Stewardship Penalty Subaccount and may be
expended by the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to
cover the department's costs to implement this chapter.
(d) All funds collected may be expended as incentives to enhance
reuse, recyclability, and redesign efforts and to reduce
environmental and safety impacts of covered products.
Article 7. Enforcement
48821. (a) If, after holding a public hearing, the department
finds that a producer has failed to make a good faith effort to
comply with this chapter, the department shall issue a compliance
order with a schedule for achieving compliance.
(b) If, after issuing an order and schedule for compliance
pursuant to subdivision (a), the department finds that the producer
has failed to make a good faith effort to comply with this chapter,
the department may impose an administrative civil penalty of ten
thousand dollars ($10,000) per day until the producer achieves
compliance.
(c) For purposes of this section, "good faith effort" means all
reasonable and feasible efforts by a producer towards implementing
the requirements of this chapter, including, but not limited to,
meeting the performance goals specified in the plan.
48822. (a) The department, or its designee, may inspect, audit,
or require and review third-party audits of producers, product
stewardship organizations, and service providers, including
collectors and recyclers, that are utilized to fulfill the
requirements of a product stewardship plan.
(b) For purposes of this section, a "service provider" means any
person who is authorized to perform an action to implement the
product stewardship plan with regard to the collection, recycling,
reuse, or disposal of a covered product, but does not include the
consumer of the covered product.