BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1100
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 29, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Pedro Nava, Chair
SB 1100 (Corbett) - As Amended: June 15, 2010
SENATE VOTE : 23-10
SUBJECT : Product stewardship: household batteries.
SUMMARY : This bill requires producers of household batteries to
institute a stewardship program to manage used household
batteries by September 30, 2011. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires battery producers to set up and finance programs to
take back used batteries and recycle or properly dispose of
them. These stewardship plans are subject to review and
approval by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery
(DRRR).
2)Establishes requirements for the elements of the stewardship
plan that describe how it will implement, finance, and oversee
a program to manage household batteries to achieve specified
collection rates.
3)Provides that the household battery stewardship plan may be
carried out by a stewardship organization appointed by one or
more of the battery producers.
4)Establishes collection rates for household batteries of 25
percent by January 1, 2014, and 45 percent by January 1, 2016,
with an overall program target of 95 percent.
5)Provides that batteries that are sold in an electronic device
already subject to California's E-Waste laws and batteries
that are not designed to be removed by the consumer from
products are not required to be included in a battery
stewardship program.
6)Requires DRRR to review the stewardship plans and deem them
complete or incomplete within 45 days of the submission of the
plan, and establishes a procedure for addressing deficiencies.
7)Requires producers, on or before April 1, 2013, to submit an
annual report describing implementation of the stewardship
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plan including sales data from the previous calendar year.
8)Allows a registered hazardous waste transporter to elect to
submit a household battery stewardship plan to DRRR on behalf
of one or more producers and requires a hazardous waste
transporter making that election to comply with the provisions
applicable to a household battery stewardship organization.
9)Requires DRRR, on or before July 1, 2012, and annually
thereafter, to list on its Internet web site a list of the
brands of household batteries that are in compliance with the
stewardship requirements.
10)Prohibits the sale of household batteries in California
unless the producer has submitted a stewardship plan that has
been deemed complete.
11)Requires battery producers to pay to DRRR the full costs of
reviewing and acting on the plan.
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)Prohibits the disposal of some common or "universal" wastes in
solid waste landfills. Universal wastes are hazardous wastes
that are generated by a wide variety of sources that contain
mercury, lead, cadmium, copper and other substances hazardous
to human and environmental health. Examples of these wastes
are household batteries, fluorescent tubes, and some
electronic devices (California Code of Regulations, Title 22,
Division 4.5, Chapter 23).
3)Pursuant to the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Act establishes
a mandatory take-back program for rechargeable batteries at
retail locations (PRC 42451 et seq.).
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, this bill will result in an annual cost to DRRR of
approximately $290,000, which is recovered from fees on battery
manufactures. The bill is likely to reduce local government
costs for the disposal of household batteries. The scope of
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these cost reductions is unknown. On the other hand, by
requiring producers to take responsibility for the collection
and disposal of used batteries, the bill is likely to increase
the retail cost of batteries in the state.
COMMENTS :
1)Need for the bill. According to the author, "in 2006 all
household batteries were classified in California as Universal
Waste and banned from solid waste landfills because they are
harmful to our planet. That's good news for the environment.
However, it can be difficult for consumers to find a place to
recycle used batteries. To manage this toxic waste, local
governments and taxpayers pay up to $2,700 per ton, which this
amounts to tens of millions of dollars each year."
"Battery manufacturers have no incentive to be concerned about
how much it costs taxpayers to properly and safely dispose of
their products. Stewardship will ensure that the cost for end
of life management is included in the product price, not a
burden to the general taxpayers or garbage ratepayers."
2)Product stewardship as an alternative to prescriptive
regulations . Expanded Producer Responsibility (EPR), or
product stewardship, is a strategy to "close the loop" by
placing primary responsibility for life cycle management of
waste products on producers. In September 2007, the
California Integrated Waste Management Board adopted an EPR
framework as an overall policy priority and committed to seek
statutory authority. Prior to adopting the EPR framework,
CIWMB conducted a stakeholder workshop on EPR. The framework
was adopted by CIWMB in a public board meeting, which included
comments from stakeholders and the public.
3)Batteries as toxic waste . According to the Department of
Toxic Substance Control (DTSC), most household-type batteries,
including rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries, silver button
batteries, mercury batteries, alkaline batteries and other
batteries that exhibit a characteristic of a hazardous waste,
are regulated as a universal waste and are banned from solid
waste landfills.
4)Batteries going to landfills . According to DRRR, a relatively
small portion of household batteries sold in the state are
properly disposed. In 2008-09, about 2,000 tons of batteries
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were collected through local government hazardous waste
programs, whereas over 19,000 tons were improperly disposed of
in landfills.
5)Related legislation:
a) AB 283 (Chesbro, 2009) creates the California Product
Stewardship Act of 2009, which requires the Integrated
Waste Management Board to administer an Extended Producer
Responsibility program of product stewardship. The bill
was held in Assembly Appropriations Committee.
b) AB 1343 (Huffman, 2009) requires manufacturers of
architectural paint to develop and implement stewardship
programs to manage post-consumer paint. The bill passed
the Assembly with a vote of 48-29 and is currently in the
Senate Appropriations Committee.
c) AB 2176 (Blumenfield, 2010) enacts the California
Lighting Toxics Reduction and Jobs in Recycling Act, which
establishes a producer responsibility program for
mercury-containing lamps and a fee program for inefficient
lamps. The bill was held in Assembly Appropriations
Committee.
d) AB 2139 (Chesbro, 2010) establishes the California
Product Stewardship Act, which creates a Product
Stewardship Program of extended producer responsibility and
identifies three products subject to the
act--home-generated sharps, pesticides and nonrefillable
propane cylinders. AB 2139 failed passage on the Assembly
Floor.
e) AB 2398 (John A. P?rez, 2010) creates a product
stewardship program for carpet manufactures. The bill is
awaiting consideration by the Senate Appropriations
Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
AkkuSer
Alameda County Waste Management
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Association of Bay Area Governments
California Association of Environmental Health Administrators
California League of Conservation Voters
California Product Stewardship Council
California Professional Firefighters
California Resource Recovery Association
California Retailers Association
California State Association of Counties
Californians Against Waste
Castro Valley Sanitary District
Center for Environmental Health
Central Contra Costa Sanitary District
Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority
City and County of San Francisco
City of Burbank
City of Encinitas
City of Indian wells
City of Needles
City of Palo Alto
City of Riverside
City of Sacramento
City of San Joaquin
City of Santa Cruz
City of Santa Monica
City of Torrance
City of Ventura
Clean Water Action
Coalition for Clean Air
County of Los Angeles
County of Marin
County of Napa
County of Sacramento
County of San Bernardino
County of Santa Clara
County of Siskiyou
County of Tuolumne
Del Note Solid Waste Authority
Environment California
Humboldt Waste Management Authority
Kinsbursky Brothers
Marin County Hazardous and Solid Waste Management Joint Powers
Authority
Marin Sanitary Service
Napa Recycling & Waste Services
Natural Resource Defense Council
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Planning and Conservation League
Raw Materials Company Inc.
Recology
Regional Council of Rural Counties
Republic
Sierra Club
Solid Waste Association of North America
Sonoma County Waste Management Agency
Opposition
Advanced Medical Technology Association
California Chamber of Commerce
California Manufacturers and Technology Association
Cal-Tax
Consumer Specialty Products Association
Grocery Manufacturers of America
National Electrical Manufacturers Association
PhRMA
TechAmerica
Analysis Prepared by : Bob Fredenburg /E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965