BILL NUMBER: AB 2718 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 5, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Adams
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
An act to amend Sections 14571.2, 14571.8, and 14581
Section 14571.2 of, and to add Sections 14526.8,
14571.6.5, 14571.6.6, and 14571.6.7 to, the Public Resources Code,
relating to recycling, and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2718, as amended, Adams. Recycling: beverage containers:
recycling centers.
(1) Existing law, the California Beverage Container Recycling and
Litter Reduction Act (act), requires a distributor to pay a
redemption payment for every beverage container sold or offered for
sale in the state to the Division of Recycling in the Department of
Resources Recycling and Recovery. The division is required to deposit
those amounts in the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund.
Existing law defines "convenience zone" for the purposes of the act
and requires that every convenience zone is to be served by at least
one certified recycling center, with specified operating hours.
Existing law imposes specified requirements upon dealers located in a
convenience zone that is not served by a recycling center, including
that the dealer redeem beverage containers at the dealer's location
when the dealer is open for business.
This bill would define the term "unserved convenience zone" and
would require the department to provide assistance and incentives to
reduce the number of unserved convenience zones to less than 5% of
total convenience zones by January 1, 2012. The bill would exempt,
until December 31, 2011, a dealer from the requirement to redeem
beverage containers. The bill would make a dealer meeting certain
requirements eligible for the payment of handling fees, thereby
making an appropriation.
The bill would permit the division to authorize an operator of a
certified recycling center to be open for business less than 30 hours
per week, but not less than 20 hours per week, if the recycling
center is located in an unserved convenience zone, as defined, that
has been unserved for at least 6 continuous months.
(2) Under existing law, the money in the fund is continuously
appropriated to the division to pay, among other things, handling
fees to provide an incentive for the redemption of empty beverage
containers in convenience zones. Existing law prohibits the division
from making handling fee payments to more than one certified
recycling center in a convenience zone.
This bill would permit the division to authorize additional
certified recycling centers to be eligible for handling fees and to
increase the amount of the handling fee, thereby making an
appropriation.
(3) Existing law, provides that after making payments of refund
values and administrative fees, the remaining moneys in the
California Beverage Container Recycling Fund are continuously
appropriated to the division for expenditure for designated programs,
grants, and fee payments. If the division determines there are
insufficient funds to make these payments, the department is required
to reduce all payments proportionally, after notifying the
appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature.
This bill would repeal the requirement that the division reduce
the payments in that manner. Since the bill would revise the
conditions under which funds are expended from a continuously
appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation.
(4) Existing law authorizes the division to make payments to
local agencies for beverage container recycling and litter cleanup
activities.
This bill would authorize the division to withhold these funds
from a local agency if the department determines that the agency has
prohibited the siting of a supermarket site, caused a supermarket
site to close its business, or adopted a certain land use policy. The
bill would also delete obsolete provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 14526.8 is added to the Public Resources Code,
to read:
14526.8. "Unserved convenience zone" means a convenience zone
where there is not in operation a certified recycling center or other
location that meets the requirements of subdivision (a) of Section
14571, and where the zone is otherwise not exempt pursuant to Section
14571.8.
SEC. 2. Section 14571.2 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
14571.2. (a) The department shall continuously assist dealers and
recyclers to establish certified recycling locations within each
convenience zone. This assistance includes, but is not limited to,
providing information to companies and organizations interested in
operating recycling in the convenience zone; providing dealers with
names of prospective recyclers for the convenience zone and providing
recyclers with the names of dealers in need of a recycler for a
convenience zone; providing dealers and recyclers with information on
grants, advertising funds, and other resources available; and
providing recyclers with advice regarding appearance and image of the
recycling center and the efficient handling and transportation of
recycled beverage containers.
(b) The department shall provide assistance and incentives to
reduce the number of unserved convenience zones to less than 5
percent of the total number of convenience zones by January 1, 2012.
(c) (1) Notwithstanding Section 14571.6, for any convenience zone
that was unserved on July 1, 2009, the obligation of dealers in that
convenience zone to redeem empty beverage containers in the store
shall be suspended until December 31, 2011.
(2) Notwithstanding Section 14585, a dealer , located in an
unserved convenience zone, that chooses to redeem empty
beverage containers inside the store shall be eligible to receive
handling fees pursuant to Section 14585 and a processor shall pay
refund values, administrative costs, and processing payments to the
dealer pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 14573.5 in the same
manner as a recycling center operating in compliance with Section
14571.
SEC. 3. Section 14571.6.5 is added to the Public Resources Code,
to read:
14571.6.5. (a) Notwithstanding Section 14571, the department may
allow the operator of a certified recycling center to be open for
business for less than 30 hours per week, but not less than 20 hours
per week, if the certified recycling center is located in a
convenience zone that has been unserved for at least six continuous
months, and the convenience zone is identified by the department as
an unserved convenience zone.
(b) A certified recycling center that is authorized by the
department pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be eligible to apply for
handling fees pursuant to Section 14585, and a processor shall pay
refund values, administrative costs, and processing payments to the
certified recycling center pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section
14573.5 in the same manner as to a certified recycling center
operating in compliance with Section 14571.
SEC. 4. Section 14571.6.6 is added to the Public Resources Code,
to read:
14571.6.6. Notwithstanding Sections 14571 and 14585, the
department may authorize the operator of a certified recycling center
to be eligible to apply for the payment of handling fees if the
certified recycling center is located in a convenience zone that has
been unserved for at least six continuous months, the certified
recycling center is not located in a supermarket site, and the
convenience zone in which the certified recycling center is located
is identified by the department as an unserved convenience zone.
SEC. 5. Section 14571.6.7 is added to the Public Resources Code,
to read:
14571.6.7. Notwithstanding Section 14585, the department may
authorize the operator of a certified recycling center to be eligible
to be paid, for a period of 24 months, a handling fee in an amount
equivalent to 120 percent of the amount of the handling fee paid on
January 1, 2011, if the certified recycling center is located in a
convenience zone that has been unserved for at least six continuous
months, and the convenience zone is identified by the department as
an unserved convenience zone.
SEC. 6. Section 14571.8 of the Public Resources
Code is amended to read:
14571.8. (a) A lease entered into by a dealer after January 1,
1987, shall not contain a leasehold restriction that prohibits or
results in the prohibition of the establishment of a recycling
location.
(b) The director may grant an exemption from the requirements of
Section 14571 for an individual convenience zone only after the
department solicits public testimony on whether or not to provide an
exemption from Section 14571. The solicitation process shall be
designed by the department to ensure that operators of recycling
centers, dealers, and members of the public in the jurisdiction
affected by the proposed exemption are aware of the proposed
exemption. After evaluation of the testimony and any field review
conducted, the department shall base a decision to exempt a
convenience zone on one, or any combination, of the following
factors:
(1) The exemption will not significantly decrease the ability of
consumers to conveniently return beverage containers for the refund
value to a certified recycling center redeeming all material types.
(2) Except as provided in paragraph (5), the nearest certified
recycling center is within a reasonable distance of the convenience
zone being considered for exemption.
(3) The convenience zone is in the area of a curbside recycling
program that meets the criteria specified in Section 14509.5.
(4) The requirements of Section 14571 cannot be met in a
particular convenience zone due to local zoning or the dealer's
leasehold restrictions for leases in effect on January 1, 1987, and
the local zoning or leasehold restrictions are not within the
authority of the department and the dealer. However, any lease
executed after January 1, 1987, shall meet the requirements specified
in subdivision (a).
(5) The convenience zone has redeemed less than 60,000 containers
per month for the prior 12 months and, notwithstanding paragraph (2),
a certified recycling center is located within one mile of the
convenience zone that is the subject of the exemption.
(c) The department shall review each convenience zone in which a
certified recycling center was not located on January 1, 1996, to
determine the eligibility of the convenience zone under the exemption
criteria specified in subdivision (b).
(d) The total number of exemptions granted by the director under
this section shall not exceed 45 percent of the total number of
convenience zones identified pursuant to this section.
(e) The department may, on its own motion, or upon petition by any
interested person, revoke a convenience zone exemption if either of
the following occurs:
(1) The condition or conditions that caused the convenience zone
to be exempt no longer exists, and the department determines that the
criteria for an exemption specified in this section are not
presently applicable to the convenience zone.
(2) The department determines that the convenience zone exemption
was granted due to an administrative error.
(f) If an exemption is revoked and a recycling center is not
certified and operational in the convenience zone, the department
shall, within 10 days of the date of the decision to revoke, serve
all dealers in the convenience zone with the notice specified in
subdivision (a) of Section 14571.7.
(g) An exemption shall not be revoked when a recycling center
becomes certified and operational within an exempt convenience zone
unless either of the events specified in paragraphs (1) and (2) of
subdivision (e) occurs.
SEC. 7. Section 14581 of the Public Resources
Code is amended to read:
14581. (a) Subject to the availability of funds, the department
shall expend the moneys set aside in the fund, pursuant to
subdivision (c) of Section 14580, for the purposes of this section:
(1) For each fiscal year commencing July 1, 2008, the department
may expend the amount necessary to make the required handling fee
payment pursuant to Sections 14571.2, 14571.6.5, 14571.6.6,
14571.6.7, and 14585.
(2) Fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) shall be expended
annually for payments for curbside programs and neighborhood dropoff
programs pursuant to Section 14549.6.
(3) (A) Fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000), plus the
proportional share of the cost-of-living adjustment, as provided in
subdivision (b), shall be expended annually in the form of grants for
beverage container litter reduction programs and recycling programs
issued to either of the following:
(i) Certified community conservation corps that were in existence
on September 30, 1999, or that are formed subsequent to that date,
that are designated by a city or a city and county to perform litter
abatement, recycling, and related activities, if the city or the city
and county has a population, as determined by the most recent
census, of more than 250,000 persons.
(ii) Community conservation corps that are designated by a county
to perform litter abatement, recycling, and related activities, and
are certified by the California Conservation Corps as having operated
for a minimum of two years and as meeting all other criteria of
Section 14507.5.
(B) Any grants provided pursuant to this paragraph shall not
comprise more than 75 percent of the annual budget of a community
conservation corps.
(4) (A) Ten million five hundred thousand dollars ($10,500,000)
may be expended annually for payments of five thousand dollars
($5,000) to cities and ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for payments to
counties for beverage container recycling and litter cleanup
activities, or the department may calculate the payments to counties
and cities on a per capita basis, and may pay whichever amount is
greater, for those activities.
(B) Eligible activities for the use of these funds may include,
but are not necessarily limited to, support for new or existing
curbside recycling programs, neighborhood dropoff recycling programs,
public education-promoting beverage container recycling, litter
prevention, and cleanup, cooperative regional efforts among two or
more cities or counties, or both, or other beverage container
recycling programs.
(C) These funds may not be used for activities unrelated to
beverage container recycling or litter reduction.
(D) To receive these funds, a city, county, or city and county
shall fill out and return a funding request form to the Department of
Conservation. The form shall specify the beverage container
recycling or litter reduction activities for which the funds will be
used.
(E) The Department of Conservation shall annually prepare and
distribute a funding request form to each city, county, or city and
county. The form shall specify the amount of beverage container
recycling and litter cleanup funds for which the jurisdiction is
eligible. The form shall not exceed one double-sided page in length,
and may be submitted electronically. If a city, county, or city and
county does not return the funding request form within 90 days of
receipt of the form from the department, the city, county, or city
and county is not eligible to receive the funds for that funding
cycle.
(F) (i) For the purposes of this paragraph, per capita population
shall be based on the population of the incorporated area of a city
or city and county and the unincorporated area of a county. The
department may withhold payment to any city, county, or city and
county that has prohibited the siting of a supermarket site, caused a
supermarket site to close its business, or adopted a land use policy
that restricts or prohibits the siting of a supermarket site within
its jurisdiction.
(ii) The department shall withhold all or a portion of the payment
to a city, county, or city and county for which the department
determines that the city, county, or city and county has prohibited
the siting of a supermarket site, caused a supermarket site to close
its business, or adopted a land use policy that restricts or
prohibits the siting of a supermarket site within its jurisdiction
and that this action resulted in an unserved convenience zone.
(5) One million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) may be
expended annually in the form of grants for beverage container
recycling and litter reduction programs.
(6) (A) The department shall expend the amount necessary to pay
the processing payment established pursuant to Section 14575. The
department shall establish separate processing fee accounts in the
fund for each beverage container material type for which a processing
payment and processing fee are calculated pursuant to Section 14575,
or for which a processing payment is calculated pursuant to Section
14575 and a voluntary artificial scrap value is calculated pursuant
to Section 14575.1, into which account shall be deposited both of the
following:
(i) All amounts paid as processing fees for each beverage
container material type pursuant to Section 14575.
(ii) Funds equal to the difference between the amount in clause
(i) and the amount of the processing payments established in
subdivision (b) of Section 14575, and adjusted pursuant to paragraph
(2) of subdivision (c) of, and subdivision (f) of, Section 14575, to
reduce the processing fee to the level provided in subdivision (f) of
Section 14575, or to reflect the agreement by a willing purchaser to
pay a voluntary artificial scrap value pursuant to Section 14575.1.
(B) Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, the
moneys in each processing fee account are hereby continuously
appropriated to the department for expenditure without regard to
fiscal years, for purposes of making processing payments pursuant to
Section 14575.
(7) Up to five million dollars ($5,000,000) may be annually
expended by the department for the purposes of undertaking a
statewide public education and information campaign aimed at
promoting increased recycling of beverage containers.
(8) Up to fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) may be expended
annually by the department for quality incentive payments for empty
beverage containers pursuant to Section 14549.1.
(9) Up to twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) may be expended
annually by the department, until January 1, 2012, to issue grants
for recycling market development and expansion-related activities
aimed at increasing the recycling of beverage containers, including,
but not limited to, the following:
(A) Research and development of collecting, sorting, processing,
cleaning, or otherwise upgrading the market value of recycled
beverage containers.
(B) Identification, development, and expansion of markets for
recycled beverage containers.
(C) Research and development for products manufactured using
recycled beverage containers.
(D) Research and development to provide high-quality materials
that are substantially free of contamination.
(E) Payments to California manufacturers who recycle beverage
containers that are marked by resin type identification code "3," "4,"
"5," "6," or "7," pursuant to Section 18015.
(10) Up to ten million dollars ($10,000,000) may be transferred on
a one-time basis by the department to the Recycling Infrastructure
Loan Guarantee Account, for expenditure pursuant to Section 14582.
(11) Up to ten million dollars ($10,000,000) may be expended
annually by the department for the payment of recycling incentive
payments pursuant to Section 14549.7 until payments for eligible
beverage containers redeemed or collected for recycling on or before
December 31, 2009, have been paid.
(12) Up to five million dollars ($5,000,000) may be expended
annually by the department for market development payments for empty
plastic beverage containers pursuant to Section 14549.2, until
January 1, 2012.
(b) The amount that is set aside pursuant to paragraph (3) of
subdivision (a) is a base amount that the department shall adjust
annually to reflect any increases or decreases in the cost of living,
as measured by the Department of Labor, or a successor agency, of
the federal government.
(c) (1) The department shall review all funds on a quarterly basis
to ensure that there are adequate funds to make the payments
specified in this section and the processing fee reductions required
pursuant to Section 14575.
(2) If the department determines, pursuant to a review made
pursuant to paragraph (1), that there may be inadequate funds to pay
the payments required by this section and the processing fee
reductions required pursuant to Section 14575, the department shall
immediately notify the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of
the Legislature regarding the inadequacy.
(d) Prior to making an expenditure pursuant to paragraph (7) of
subdivision (a), the department shall convene an advisory committee
consisting of representatives of the beverage industry, beverage
container manufacturers, environmental organizations, the recycling
industry, nonprofit organizations, and retailers to advise the
department on the most cost-effective and efficient method of the
expenditure of the funds for that education and information campaign.