BILL ANALYSIS
SB 346
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SENATE THIRD READING
SB 346 (Kehoe and Simitian)
As Amended August 2, 2010
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :22-16
ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 6-3
APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Nava, Chesbro, Davis, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Bradford, |
| |Feuer, Monning, Ruskin | |Huffman, Coto, Davis, De |
| | | |Leon, Gatto, Hall, |
| | | |Skinner, Solorio, |
| | | |Torlakson, Torrico |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Miller, Blakeslee, Smyth |Nays:|Conway, Harkey, Miller, |
| | | |Nielsen, Norby |
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SUMMARY : Restricts the use of copper and other toxic chemicals
in automobile brake pads. Specifically, this bill :
1)Limits the use of copper in motor vehicle brake pads to no
more than .5% by weight by January 2025.
2)Exempts vehicles from the copper limitation on brake pad
including:
a) Military vehicles;
b) Vehicles with internal closed oil immersed brakes that
do not emit copper or other debris under normal operating
conditions;
c) Parking brakes; and,
d) Motorcycles.
3)Restricts the use of the following toxic materials in brake
pads by January 1, 2014:
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a) Cadmium and its compounds: 0.01% by weight;
b) Chromium (VI)-salts: 0.1% by weight;
c) Lead and its compounds: 0.1% by weight; and,
d) Mercury and its compounds: 0.1% by weight.
4)Requires manufacturers of brake pads to follow the process to
be adopted by the Department of Toxic Substance Control (DTSC)
regarding criteria to evaluate alternatives to copper in brake
pads.
5)Require brake pad manufacturers, beginning in 2014, to obtain
certification to demonstrate compliance with these
requirements and include that certification of the content of
the brake pads.
6)Requires vehicle manufacturers and retailers of brake pads to
ensure that only compliant brake pads are sold in this state.
7)Establishes a civil fine of up to $10,000 per violation of the
brake pad certification requirements.
8)Establishes DTSC as the enforcing agency for the new article
and permits them to remove non-compliant brake pads from sale,
but specifically does not authorize the recall of vehicles to
effect the removal of illegal brake pads.
9)Provides that this bill would not effect the authority of the
DTSC from consideration of copper brakes pads in the existing
Green Chemistry Initiative pursuant to AB 1879 (Feuer and
Huffman) Chapter 559, Statutes of 2008.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Costs to DTSC of approximately $500,000 during 2010-11 and
2011-12. (Hazardous Waste Control Account (HWCA))
2)Annual costs to DTSC of approximately $250,000 beginning in
2020-21 to accept and review requests for extension and
exemption withdrawal, fully covered by request fees. (HWCA or
Brake Friction Materials Water Pollution Fund (BFMWPF))
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3)Annual costs to DTSC ranging from $250,000 to $500,000
beginning in 2013-14 to enforce bans, including inspections of
brake manufacturers and third-party certifiers and laboratory
analysis of brake pads. (HWCA or BFMWPF)
4)Minor annual costs to the Secretary for Environmental
Protection in the tens of dollars beginning in 2020-21 to
review extension and exemption requests. (GF)
COMMENTS :
1)Need for the bill . According the author, elevated copper
levels occur in urban watersheds across California. Dissolved
copper is toxic to phytoplankton (the base of the aquatic food
chain). It also impairs salmon's ability to avoid predators
and deters them from returning to their home streams to spawn.
Scientific studies have shown that a major source of copper
in highly urbanized watersheds is material worn off vehicle
brake pads. It is estimated that about one-half of the copper
found in run-off is attributed to brake pads.
2)Copper in the aquatic environment . According to the U.S. EPA,
elevated levels of copper are toxic in aquatic environments
and may adversely affect fish, invertebrates, plants, and
amphibians. Acute toxic effects may include mortality of
organisms; chronic toxicity can result in reductions in
survival, reproduction, and growth.<1>
Motor vehicles are a major source of toxic contaminants such
as copper, a metal that originates from vehicle exhaust and
brake pad wear. Copper and other pollutants are deposited on
roads and other impervious surfaces and then transported to
aquatic habitats via stormwater runoff.
3)Total Maximum Daily Loads . The State Water Resources Control
Board (SWRCB) has established Total Maximum Daily Loads
(TMDLs) as allowable pollution limits on copper and other
pollutants in several southern California urban watersheds.
Failure to comply with these TMDLs will result in serious
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<1> US, EPA, Aquatic Life Ambient Freshwater Quality
Criteria-Copper 2007 Revision (February 22, 2007).
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penalties to the local governments. The SWRCB is working to
establish these TMDLs for watersheds throughout California.
The ubiquity of copper in the urban environment, and the
technical difficulty and impracticality of treating stormwater
to remove it, mean that compliance with copper TMDLs will not
be feasible without source reduction of copper. Cost could go
into the billions of dollars to remediate if source reduction
measures are not taken.
Analysis Prepared by : Bob Fredenburg / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965
FN: 0005919