BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2256
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 2256 (Huffman)
As Amended June 1, 2010
Majority vote
BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS 6-3APPROPRIATIONS 11-5
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Hayashi, Eng, Hill, Ma, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Ammiano, |
| |Nava, Ruskin | |Bradford, Coto, Davis, |
| | | |Hill, Hall, Skinner, |
| | | |Solorio, Torlakson, |
| | | |Torrico |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Conway, Niello, Smyth |Nays:|Conway, Harkey, Miller, |
| | | |Nielsen, Norby |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY : Prohibits a person from packaging or labeling a
consumer product for distribution or sale in California as
flushable, sewer and septic safe, or other like term or phrase
unless the product meets certain criteria, as specified.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Prohibits a person from packaging or labeling a consumer
product for distribution or sale in California if that product
is contained in a package, or has an affixed label, that
states that the consumer product is flushable, sewer and
septic safe, or other like term or phrase unless the product
meets the acceptance criteria as published in the Guidance
Document for Assessing the Flushability of Nonwoven Consumer
Products (Guidance Document), published by the Association of
the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA), as that document exists
on January 1, 2012.
2)Requires a person who has packaged or labeled a consumer
product for distribution or sale in California that is labeled
as flushable, sewer and septic safe, or other like term or
phrase to maintain, in written form, documentation of the
testing substantiating the validity of the claim that the
product meets the acceptance criteria, as well as
documentation that this testing has been performed by a
laboratory that is capable of and qualified to perform the
testing as specified in the acceptance criteria.
AB 2256
Page 2
3)Provides that if the consumer product is tested prior to
January 1, 2012, and meets the acceptance criteria, or the
equivalent criteria for toilet, septic, and sewage systems,
any documentation may be used to substantiate the validity of
the claim that the product meets the criteria.
4)Requires an annual audit for laboratories that performs
testing for the purposes of this bill for quality assurance
and control, commencing January 1, 2015.
5)Makes the violation of the requirements of this bill
punishable by a fine not to exceed $2,500.
6)Exempts a wholesaler or retailer who does not initiate a
representation by advertising or by placing the representation
on a package from this bill's provisions.
7)Makes legislative findings and declarations.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Regulates the labeling requirements on various consumer
products.
2)Criminalizes making any untruthful, deceptive, or misleading
environmental marketing claim, whether explicit or implicit.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, negligible state costs, if any.
COMMENTS : According to the author's office, "?There currently
is no consistent or widely accepted definition of what
constitutes a 'flushable' consumer product. As a result,
companies have used their own definitions and methods to
determine the flushability of their products. For consumers and
sewage utilities, this means there has been no single reference
from which to assess the flushability of products. Many
sanitation agencies around the state are experiencing problems
at their treatment plants with "flushable" products. In some
cities, such as Petaluma, costly screening facilities have
failed to stop these indispersible products from finding their
way through the system.
AB 2256
Page 3
"It is in the interests of manufacturers, retailers, consumers,
regulators and wastewater treatment agencies and operators for
there to be a standard for flushability to avoid products that
harm septic systems, clog piping and pumps, and load up screens
in municipal wastewater plants from being labeled flushable and
subsequently flushed."
Minimum standards exist for the construction of building
drainage pipe systems; these include allowable pipe diameters
and slopes, venting requirements, and piping materials.
Increasingly, smaller diameter pipes are being installed in new
buildings. The passage of solid materials through these systems
is dependent on the water being able to move the product. In
1995, the National Energy Policy Act (H.R. 776) mandated that
all new toilets must flush with no more than 1.6 gallons of
water. If a flushable product can pass through a
low-consumption toilet after one flush, there is a strong
likelihood that product could pass through a stronger toilet
system.
In the 1980s, wipes advertised as "flushable" first appeared on
the market. Since then, two types of flushable wipes have been
designed and introduced: dispersible and low-strength wipes.
Low-strength has been one approach to making nonwovens with
permanent bonds flushable. These wipes collapse in a toilet,
presenting a very small profile and the flexibility to travel
through pipes unencumbered. However, their low wet strength
makes them poor performers in most cleaning jobs. The second
type of flushable wipe is dispersible. These products perform
like a standard wipe as far as strength and softness, but in a
toilet disperse into individual fibers or small groups of
fibers.
After four years of work, involving some 40 companies, in 2008
INDA published the first edition of its Guidance Document, which
contains guidelines representing the first-ever initiative to
provide companies with a comprehensive framework for testing
products to determine their flushability.
For a product to be flushable, it must clear toilets and
properly maintained drainage pipe systems under expected product
usage conditions, be compatible with existing wastewater
conveyance, treatment, reuse, and disposal systems, and become
unrecognizable in a reasonable period of time and be sage in the
natural receiving environments.
AB 2256
Page 4
The Guidance Document contains flow charts of key questions that
need to be answered for each route a product could follow
post-flushing. The questions are answered through a series of
tests. Acceptance criteria for each test and for each question
either demonstrate compatibility with the disposal system or
determine whether further testing would be required before
flushability could be clearly established.
The Guidance Document standards have already been adopted by 90%
of the flushable moist wipe industry.
Analysis Prepared by : Rebecca May / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301
FN: 0004736