BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1401
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 30, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 1401 (Simitian) - As Amended: April 21, 2010
Policy Committee: Natural
ResourcesVote:7-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill makes clarifying and technical changes to AB 8X 7
(Committee on Budget), Chapter 5, Statutes of 2010, which made
several changes to the bottle bill program to address a program
funding shortfall. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires that status reports on the Beverage Container
Recycling Fund (BCRF) include fund balances and be posted on
the Web site of the Department of Resources Recycling and
Recovery (Calrecycle).
2)Adjusts the timeline for the notifications and actions
required after Calrecycle review of BCRF status.
1)Makes technical and conforming changes.
FISCAL EFFECT
No state costs.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The author intends this bill to facilitate
Calrecycles' implementation of AB 8X 7 by making technical and
clarifying changes to provisions of AB 8X 7.
2)Beverage Container Recycling-Too Good For the Bottle, Too Good
for the Can . The Division of Recycling (DOR) of Calrecycle
administers the Beverage Container Recycling Program, commonly
referred to as the bottle bill program. This program was
created more than 20 years ago by Chapter 1290, Statutes of
SB 1401
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1986 (AB 2020, Margolin). The program encourages the voluntary
recycling of most beverage containers by guaranteeing a
minimum payment (the "California Redemption Value" (CRV)) for
each container returned to a certified recycler. Beverage
containers are subject to the CRV based on both the content of
the container (the beverage type, such as water or sports
drinks) and the container material (such as glass or plastic).
Several years ago, the fund into which CRV deposits are
made-the Beverage Container Recycling Fund-had fund balances
that exceeded the yearly cost of the bottle bill program by
tens of millions of dollars. This is because Californians
recycled beverage containers at a rate well below 80%-the rate
at which payments into the fund would equal payments out of
the fund. Much of the excess funds went to pay for programs
to support recycling. In addition, the excess fund balance
was repeatedly loaned, first to the General Fund and then to
the Air Pollution Control Fund to pay for implementation of
the state's greenhouse gas emissions reduction efforts.
More recently, recycling rates have increased well above 80%.
At the same time, purchases of beverage containers subject to
the CRV have declined. As a result, the BCRF is unable to
support the programs intended to facilitate recycling. In
response, the Legislature passed AB 8X 7 (Budget Committee) in
March, which provides a one-time influx of $100 million
dollars and temporarily suspends multiple grant programs.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081