BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2139
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Date of Hearing: April 19, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Wesley Chesbro, Chair
AB 2139 (Chesbro) - As Amended: April 6, 2010
SUBJECT : Solid waste: product stewardship.
SUMMARY : Enacts the California Product Stewardship Act (Act).
The Act requires the Department of Resources Recycling and
Recovery (DRRR) to administer a program to develop product
stewardship protocols to foster "cradle-to-cradle" producer
responsibility for specified products.
EXISTING LAW
1)Pursuant to the California Integrated Waste Management Act of
1989, requires local governments to divert 50% of solid waste
generated from landfill disposal through source reduction,
reuse, and recycling.
2)Establishes the California Oil Recycling Enhancement Act,
which requires manufacturers of used oil to pay a fee of 4
cents per quart (16 cents per gallon) to DRRR. DRRR then pays
a recycling incentive of 4 cents per quart to industrial
generators, curbside collection program operators, and
certified used oil collection centers for used oil collected
from the public and transported for recycling. This Act
includes related grants and loans, development and
implementation of an information and education program, and a
reporting, monitoring, and enforcement program.
3)Establishes the Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003, which
requires a retailer selling a covered electronic device (CED)
in California to collect a recycling fee (between $8 and $25)
from the consumer. Fees are deposited into the Electronic
Waste Recovery and Recycling Account, which is continually
appropriated to DRRR and the Department of Toxic Substances
Control (DTSC) to make electronic waste recovery payments to
cover the net cost of an authorized collector in operating a
"free and convenient" system for collecting, consolidating,
and transporting CEDs, and to make electronic waste recycling
payments to cover an electronic waste recycler's average net
cost of receiving, processing, and recycling CEDs. The Act
defines CED as a product that contains a video display device
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4 inches and larger.
4)Establishes the Cell Phone Recycling Act of 2004, which
requires every retailer of cell phones to have in place a
system for the acceptance and collection of used cell phones
for reuse, recycling, or proper disposal.
5)Establishes the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Act of 2006,
which requires every retailer of rechargeable batteries to
have in place a system for the acceptance and collection of
used rechargeable batteries for reuse, recycling, or proper
disposal.
6)Establishes the Mercury Thermostat Collection Act of 2008,
which requires manufacturers to establish and maintain a
program for out-of-service mercury-added thermostats.
Requires the program to include collection, handling, and
arranging for appropriate management of out-of-service
mercury-added thermostats.
7)Requires pharmaceutical manufacturers that sell or distribute
a medication in California, which is usually self-injected at
home with a hypodermic needle to submit to the DRRR a plan
that describes any actions taken by the manufacturer for the
safe collection and proper disposal of the waste devices by
July 1, 2010, and annually thereafter.
THIS BILL :
1)Specifies that the Act is intended to provide sound product
stewardship protocols that encourage producers to research
alternatives during the product design and packaging phases to
foster producer responsibility and reduce the end-of-life
environmental impacts.
2)Establishes three "covered products" to be included in the
Act:
a) Home generated medical sharps, including hypodermic
needles, pen needles, intravenous needles, and lancets;
b) Small non-reusable propane containers; and,
c) Household pesticides intended for home use, except those
which are primarily intended for residential cleaning and
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disinfection.
3)Clarifies that actions taken under the Act do not interfere
with existing efforts of DTSC relating to green chemistry.
4)Establishes requirements for the producers to create a product
stewardship plan and requires the plan to be submitted by the
producer to DRRR by September 30, 2011. Requires DRRR to
approve or disapprove the plan by January 1, 2012. Should
DRRR disapprove the plan, requires notification to the
producer, who is charged with revising the plan within 30
days.
5)Beginning July 1, 2012, prohibits the sale of a covered
product unless the producer is in compliance with the Act. To
be in compliance the producer must:
a) Submit a product stewardship plan or participation in a
stewardship organization. The product stewardship plan
must include:
i) A description of the covered product and associated
brands covered by the plan;
ii) Performance goals, including a description of how
the performance goals will be achieved and how results
will be measured;
iii) Collection, reuse, and recycling rates for the
covered product;
iv) If the covered product is prohibited from being
disposed of at a solid waste disposal facility, the
performance goal shall include a schedule to accomplish a
100 percent collection rate;
v) Financing methods for the plan;
vi) Strategies for managing and reducing the life cycle
impacts of the covered product; and,
vii) Education and outreach activities.
b) Pay operational costs associated with the Act.
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6)Beginning June 30, 2013, requires producers and stewardship
organizations operating under the Act to submit an annual
report to DRRR, which includes the status of performance
goals, a description of outreach and educational activities,
and actions undertaken to manage and reduce the life-cycle
impacts of the covered product.
7)Establishes the Extended Producer Responsibility Account
(Account) and the Extended Producer Responsibility Penalty
Subaccount (Subaccount) in the Integrated Waste Management
Fund.
a) Requires producers subject to the Act to submit an
unspecified administrative fee to DRRR to cover
administrative costs to be deposited into the Account.
b) Requires all penalties collected under the Act to be
deposited into the Subaccount, which may be expended by
DRRR to cover costs of implementing the Act.
c) Specifies that the Account and Subaccount may be
expended by DRRR for incentives to enhance recyclability
and redesign efforts and to reduce environmental and safety
impacts of covered products.
8)Establishes enforcement provisions for the Act, including a
public hearing process. Specifies that DRRR take into account
the "good faith effort" of a producer toward implementing the
plan. Establishes unspecified civil liability for violations
of the Act.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Background : Product stewardship is a strategy to "close the
loop" by placing primary responsibility for life cycle
management on producers. This approach is similar to that
being pursued for green chemistry in California. In
September 2007, the former California Integrated Waste
Management Board (CIWMB) adopted an EPR Framework as an
overall policy priority and committed to seek statutory
authority. Prior to adopting the Framework, CIWMB conducted
a stakeholder workshop on EPR. The Framework was adopted by
CIWMB in a public board meeting, which included comments from
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stakeholders and the public.
The EPR Framework is a strategy to share responsibility among
those who make, sell, use, and dispose of products, while
placing the primary responsibility on producers to reduce a
product's lifecycle impacts. In other words, those who
benefit from a product would share in the costs associated
with the environmental impacts of the product.
In addition to encouraging recycling and waste reduction,
product stewardship also addresses another pressing concern.
DTSC routinely tests products for toxicity to determine if the
product is hazardous and therefore prohibited from landfill
disposal. However, there is no system in place for the
management of these products (or the toxins they include).
Currently, the costs associated with managing household products
prohibited from landfill disposal are borne by local
governments. According to the League of California Cities,
"Cities and counties in California spend upwards of $500
million annually to manage products banned from landfills as
well as those disposed of at the landfill - a cost that local
governments ultimately end up passing on to the consumers in
the form of fees on solid waste services."
2)This bill : According to the author, "The California Product
Stewardship Act requires manufacturers of hazardous products
to create products that are less toxic, more durable and
easier to recycle when they enter the waste stream. AB 2139
proposes an Extended Producer Responsibility Framework which
would establish one law to address a wide range of toxic
products including medical waste like hypodermic needles,
household pesticides, small propane tanks, and other hazardous
waste found around the home. These waste end up in California
landfills and make a significant impact on our environment."
The goal of the EPR framework is to establish one law to address
a wide range of products that end up in California landfills
and have a significant impact on our environment. The author
states "by having producers share in the costs of managing
product discards, EPR harnesses the power of the free market
to drive environmental improvement." This bill is modeled
after the former CIWMB's EPR Framework.
3)Medical Sharps : An estimated one million Californians inject
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medications outside traditional health care facilities and
generate approximately 389 million sharps each year. The
numbers of patients using injectable medications will continue
to grow because it is an effective delivery method for
medications used to treat conditions including diabetes,
multiple sclerosis, infertility, migraines, allergies, and
hemophilia. California was one of the fore-runners in
addressing the dangers of sharps in the waste stream with the
passage of SB 1305 (Figueroa), Chapter 64, Statutes of 2006,
which prohibits the disposal of medical sharps in California's
landfills. Although illegal, most of these used needles still
end up in household trash and pose a significant risk of
injury and/or infection to custodial workers and solid waste
employees.
4)Universal waste : Universal wastes are household hazardous
wastes that contain mercury, lead, cadmium, copper and other
substances hazardous to human and environmental health. In
general, universal waste may not be discarded in solid waste
landfills. Examples of these wastes are batteries,
fluorescent tubes, and some electronic devices. This bill
includes two universal wastes that are routinely disposed with
household trash and pose a significant risk to solid waste
employees, non-empty small propane tanks and pesticide
containers.
5)Prior and Related Legislation :
a) AB 289 (Chesbro) 2009: Proposed the California Product
Stewardship Act of 2009 (Act). The Act requires the
California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) to
administer a program to provide environmentally sound
product stewardship protocols to foster "cradle-to-cradle"
producer responsibility. (Held in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee)
b) AB 1343 (Huffman): Creates an architectural paint
recovery program to require manufacturers or designated
stewardship organizations to develop and submit an
architectural paint stewardship plan to reduce the
generation of post consumer paint, promote the reuse of
post consumer architectural paint, and manage the
end-of-life of post consumer architectural paint, in an
environmentally sound fashion, including collection,
transportation, processing, and disposal. (Held in the
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Senate Appropriations Committee)
c) AB 2176 (Blumenfield): Enacts the California Lighting
Toxics Reduction and Jobs in Recycling Act (Act) which
establishes a producer responsibility program for
mercury-containing lamps and a fee program for inefficient
lamps. (Scheduled for hearing in Assembly Environmental
Safety and Toxic Materials on April 20)
d) AB 2398 (J. Perez): Requires, by September 30, 2011, a
producer or product stewardship organization to submit a
carpet stewardship plan which would be required to include
specified elements, including performance goals.
(Scheduled for hearing in this committee on April 19)
e) SB 1100 (Corbett): Creates a product stewardship
program for household batteries. (Referred to the Senate
Appropriations Committee)
1)Double Referred : This bill was heard by the Assembly
Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee on April
14, and passed with a vote of 6-3.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Association of Bay Area Governments
California Product Stewardship Council
California State Association of Counties
Californians Against Waste
Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority
City and County of San Francisco
Del Norte Solid Waste Management Authority
Humboldt Waste Management Authority
League of California Cities
Marin Sanitary Service
Santa Clara Board of Supervisors
Sierra Club, California
Solid Waste Association of North America
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Opposition
American Chemistry Council
California Chamber of Commerce
California Manufacturers and Technology Association
Chemical Industry Council of California
Consumer Specialty Products Association
Grocery Manufacturers Association
Monsanto
Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment
Soap and Detergent Association
Western Plant Health Association
Analysis Prepared by : Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092