BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1326|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1326
Author: Oropeza (D)
Amended: 6/1/10
Vote: 21
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 4-2, 4/5/10
AYES: Simitian, Corbett, Lowenthal, Pavley
NOES: Runner, Strickland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hancock
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-3, 5/27/10
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Corbett, Leno, Price, Wolk, Yee
NOES: Denham, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cox
SUBJECT : California Conservation Corps: local
conservation corps
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill appropriates $25 million from the
E-Waste Account to the California Conservation Corps (CCC)
for the collection and recovery of electronic devices.
ANALYSIS : Existing law, pursuant to the Electronic Waste
Recycling Act, overseen by the Department of Resources
Recycling and Recovery (DRRR) in partnership with the
Department of Toxic Substances Control to collect and
recycle electronic waste.
CONTINUED
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1. Requires retailers selling a covered electronic device,
as defined, to collect a covered electronic waste
recycling fee and those fees are deposited in the
Electronic Waste Recovery and Recycling Account (E-waste
Account) and are continuously appropriated to DRRR for
specified purposes.
2. Authorizes DRRR to adjust the fee in (a) to ensure there
are adequate funds in the E-waste Account for program
implementation.
This bill:
1. Appropriates $15,000,000 from the E-Waste account to the
CCCs for the purposes of making direct grants to certify
local community conservation corps to collect and
recycle covered electronic devices, consistent with the
Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003, and for
activities related to that collection and recycling.
2. Appropriates $10,000,000 from the E-Waste Account to the
CCCs for their efforts to collect and recycle covered
electronic devices.
3. Requires that the funds appropriated above be used to
provide immediate employment for at-risk youth and other
persons who are members of the local community
conservation corps to increase new jobs, employ people
in productive activities and reduce unemployment.
4. Makes related findings and declarations.
Background
California Conservation Corps . The CCCs provides young
people between the ages of 18 and 23 work experience and
educational opportunities. Corps members work on projects
that conserve and improve the environment, such as tree
planting, trail building, and brush clearance. The CCCs
estimates about 4,000 men and women (the equivalent of
about 1,200 full-time positions) participated in the
program during the 2008-09 budget year. Corps members earn
minimum wage and are assigned to work approximately 40
hours per week. On average, corps members stay in the
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program for a little over seven months.
In addition to the CCCs, there are also 12 certified local
conservation corps located in various communities
throughout the state. These local corps perform workforce
development and training activities similar to the CCCs.
Electronic Waste Recycling . Under current law, DRRR
administers a program to manage certain waste electronic
products that contain hazardous materials. A fee is
assessed on the sale of specified electronic devices.
Revenue from this fee is deposited in E-waste Account.
Funds in the E-waste Account are used to provide recovery
and recycling payments to qualified entities to cover the
cost of collecting and recycling electronic devices and
other activities to reduce hazardous substances in
electronic devices and encourage recycling of such devices.
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee analysis
of SB8X 30, currently, revenues exceed expenditures, and
the E-waste Account is projected to have a fund balance of
$137 million at the end of the 2010-11 budget year. (DRRR
is in the process of reviewing the current fee level and
may reduce it in the budget year due to the large fund
balance.)
This bill appropriates $25 million from the E-Waste Account
to the CCCs for the collection and recycling of electronic
devices specified under current law. Of this amount, the
CCC will use $10 million for its own efforts to collect and
recycle electronic devices and the CCCs provides $15
million in grants to local community conservation corps for
projects to collect and recycle electronic devices.
Related Legislation
SB8X 30 (Oropeza), an identical bill, passed the Senate on
March 4, 2010 (23-8 vote). (Died at the Assembly Desk).
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee analysis:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
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Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11
2011-12 Fund
California Conservation $10,000
Special*
Corps electronic waste
recycling
Local conservation corps $15,000
Special*
electronic waste recycling
*Electronic Waste Recovery and Recycling Account,
Integrated Waste
Management Fund.
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/27/10)
California Local Conservation League
OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/27/10)
California Conservation Corps
CalRecycle
Information Technology Industry Council
Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries
TechAmerica
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
this bill tackles two major problems in California - lack
of jobs, and littering. The jobs created by funding this
program will include collecting and recycling waste that
has been littered in our communities. It creates
conservation corps jobs in inner-city and rural areas. The
author's office notes that the Local Conservation Corps
have recycled over 25,000 pounds of e-waste and removed
over 154,000 pounds of litter and debris. This bill
appropriates $25 million to local community conservation
corps and to the CCCs. The author's office points out 92
percent of participants in the Local Conservation Corps are
youth of color; 36 percent are women; and more than 25
percent are single parents. The CCCs is a cost-effective
labor force, working for more than 250 local, state and
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federal agencies each year. Crews tackle more than 900
projects and generate more than $26 million annually for
the Corps. Participation in Conservation Corp programs
reduces arrest rates and leads to greater success in
employment rates upon completion of the program. In
addition, corps members advance their education while in
the program.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The opponents contend that
appropriating $25 million from the Electronic Waste
Recycling Act fund to provide grants to the CCCs is not
good public policy. Currently, any local community
conservation corp may collect or recycle electronic waste
and receive funding from the program as long as the local
corp completes the required application forms and is
approved by CalRecycle and the Department of Toxic
Substance Control. In fact, there is a number of local
corps that already receives funding from this program.
The opponents note that this program is funded by a fee
imposed on all California consumers when purchasing covered
devices which is set at a level specifically intended to
maintain solvency in the fund sufficient for its intended
purpose of making recovery and recycling payment rates.
Establishing a separate grant program that is not based on
a specified performance level, will create a new process
that competes unfairly with the majority of the program
participants from the private sector that provides a
substantial number of green jobs. The opponents contend
that appropriating funds from one account to pay for
another is how California's very successful bottle bill
program went from having a surplus to now being in the
negative, and the opponents believe the same could happen
to the electronic waste program if this bill becomes law.
TSM:do 6/1/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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