BILL ANALYSIS
SB1454
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Date of Hearing: August 4, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 1454 (DeSaulnier) - As Amended: June 22, 2010
Policy Committee: Natural
ResourcesVote:6-0
Judiciary 7-3
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill expands to all plastic consumer products existing
restrictions on the sale of certain plastic products labeled as
"compostable" or "marine biodegradable" and makes other label
restrictions. Specifically, this bill:
1)Repeals existing, separate prohibitions on the sale of plastic
bags and food containers, respectively, labeled as
"compostable" or "marine biodegradable" unless the product
meets applicable American Society for Testing and Materials
(ASTM) standard specification for the term, and applies those
prohibitions to the sale of any plastic consumer product.
2)Prohibits the sale of a plastic consumer product labeled with
the following: "biodegradable;" "degradable;" "decomposable;"
any term that implies the product will breakdown, fragment or
decompose; or a qualified claim, such as "home biodegradable."
3)Exempts a person from the prohibition described under 2),
above, if the Department for Resources Recycling and Recovery
(Calrecycle) adopts a standard for the term or qualified claim
more stringent than ASTM's standard specification for
"compostable" or "marine biodegradable" and the product meets
that standard.
4)Authorizes Calrecycle to review a standard for the prohibited
terms newly adopted by ASTM and any other organization and to
advise the Legislature concerning the standard.
5)Authorizes a local government or the state to impose civil
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penalties for violation of the bill's provisions, as follows:
$500/day for first offence; $1,000/day for second offense;
$2,000 for subsequent offenses.
6)Directs the Attorney General (AG) to collect penalties for
state actions and authorizes the AG, upon appropriation, to
use penalty revenues to enforce the bill's provisions
7)Declares state agency costs associated with implementation of
this bill to be recoverable by the AG from liable parties.
8)Requires a manufacturer or supplier to provide a person, upon
request, easily understandable and scientifically accurate
documentation of compliance with the provisions of this bill.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Minor, absorbable ongoing costs to Calrecycle to review
standards. (Integrated Waste Management Fund (IWMF).)
2)Potential minor, absorbable ongoing costs to Calrecycle to
adopt standards and make recommendations to the Legislature.
(IWMF.)
3)Potential ongoing costs to Calrecycle of an unknown amount,
but possibly in the tens of thousands of dollars annually, to
enforce and oversee implementation of the bill's provisions.
(IWMA.) (The bill does not require enforcement or oversight
by Calrecycle. The department, based on its experience with
implementation of past legislation-AB 2449, Levine (Chapter
845, Statutes of 2006)-that similarly had no enforcement or
oversight provisions of the Integrated Waste Management Board
(the department's predecessor), anticipates pressure to
oversee and enforce the bill's implementation, nonetheless.
4)Likely ongoing costs to the AG of an unknown amount to enforce
the provisions of this bill. (GF.)
5)Likely ongoing revenue of an unknown amount from imposition of
civil penalties. (GF.)
COMMENTS
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1)Rationale . The author describes many products currently sold
in California as being labeled with end-of-life claims, such
as "compostable" and "biodegradable," even though those
products do not meet, not are they required to meet,
scientific standards for the meaning of those terms. The
author notes that consumers buy products that, because of the
product's labeling, they mistakenly believe are less harmful
to the environment or that may be placed in compost bins or
similar "green" waste containers. The author describes the
consequences as contamination of the waste stream, added waste
management costs, and the placement of many plastic products
in the landfill contrary to consumer expectations. The author
contends this bill will treat similar products similarly by
extending existing prohibitions against the mislabeling of
plastic bags and food packaging to all plastic consumer
products. The result, the author argues, will be
scientifically accurate product labels, consumer education,
proper disposal of plastic products, and reduced waste
management costs.
2)Background .
a) Regulation of Use of End-of-Life Labels . Current law
includes two, separate provisions concerning the placement
of end-of-life management claims on plastic bags and food
and beverage containers, respectively. For each these
categories of products, statute prohibits the sale of a
product labeled as "compostable" or "marine biodegradable"
unless the bag or food or beverage container meets
standards for those terms as specified by the ASTM.
Statute also prohibits the sale of any of these categories
of products labeled "biodegradable," "degradable,"
"decomposable" or any form of those terms.
The rationale behind regulation of use such of end-of-life
labels is that, unless tied to a scientific standard-such
as ASTM's standard specification-these terms are vague and
lead to consumer confusion and improper disposal.
Consumers may choose to purchase products with these labels
because they assume they will be composted, will not
accumulate in a landfill, or will, in some way, be disposed
of in an environmentally benign way. Because many of these
products, despite their label, are not truly compostable,
or only degrade under certain conditions not typically
found in a compost facility, many compost operators remove
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all plastic products, regardless of label, from their
compostable materials. In the end, most products end up in
a landfill where degradation is intentionally slow,
regardless of product labels.
b) American Society for Testing and Materials . ASTM
describes itself as "one of the largest voluntary standards
development organizations in the world-a trusted source for
technical standards for materials, products, systems, and
services?that guides design, manufacturing and trade in the
global economy."
3)Related Legislation . SB 228, DeSaulnier, requires compostable
plastic bag manufacturers, effective July 1, 2011, to ensure
that such bags are readily identifiable and distinguishable
from other plastic bags by specified visual indicators. The
bill is pending before this committee.
4)Support . This bill is supported by the City and County of San
Francisco, which operates a curbside compost collection
program, among organizations.
5)Opposition . The only registered opposition to this bill is
Green Genius, a company that makes plastic trash bags that
biodegrade under typical landfill conditions, which the
company describes as desirable.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081