BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 298
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
2011-2012 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 298
AUTHOR: Brownley
AMENDED: June 18, 2012
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE: July 2, 2012
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Randy Pestor
SUBJECT : BAGS
SUMMARY :
Existing law , under the At-Store Recycling Program (Public
Resources Code �42250 et seq.) (part of the California
Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989):
1) Requires operators of stores, defined as supermarkets and
stores over 10,000 square feet that includes a pharmacy, to
establish an at-store recycling program. Under the program:
a) Plastic bags provided by the store must include a
label encouraging customers to return the bag to the
store for recycling.
b) Clearly labeled and easily accessible recycling bins
for plastic bags must be provided.
c) All plastic bags collected must be recycled in a
manner consistent with the local jurisdiction's recycling
plan.
d) The store must maintain records relating to the
program for at least three years and must make the
records available to the local jurisdiction or the
Department of Resources Recovery and Recycling (DRRR or
CalRecycle) upon request.
e) The operator of the store must make reusable bags
available to customers.
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2) Requires plastic carryout bag manufacturers to develop
educational materials to encourage reducing and recycling of
plastic carryout bags and make those materials available to
stores.
3) Preempts local governments from requiring stores that meet
these provisions from implementing separate plastic carryout
bag recycling programs, additional auditing or reporting
requirements, or from imposing plastic carryout bag fees
upon a store.
4) Authorizes a city, county, or the state to levy fines for
stores in violation of this law.
5) Sunsets the above provisions on January 1, 2013.
This bill enacts the Single-use Carryout Bags Law under the
California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 that:
1) Defines terms used in the bill, including:
a) "Recycled paper bag" as a paper carryout bag that
contains a minimum of 40% postconsumer recycled content
(except certain smaller bags may contain at least 20%
postconsumer content); is accepted for recycling in
curbside programs in a majority of households that have
access to curbside recycling programs; is compostable;
and has printed on the bag the name of the manufacturer,
the location where manufactured, and the minimum
percentage of post-consumer content. (�42280(c)).
b) "Reusable grocery bag" before June 30, 2015, means a
bag made of cloth or other machine washable fabric with
handles, or durable plastic bag with handles that is at
least 2.25 mils thick and designed for multiple uses.
After July 1, 2015, is a bag designed and manufactured
for at least 125 uses, machine washable or made from a
material that can be cleaned and disinfected, and
contains certain information on a tag attached to the
bag. After July 1, 2016, is also a plastic bag with at
least 20% postconsumer material designed for at least 125
uses, and meets certain requirements. (��42280(d) and
42287).
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c) "Single-use carryout bag" as a bag made of plastic,
paper, or other material that is provided by a store to a
customer at the point-of-sale and that is not a reusable
grocery bag. Single-use carryout bag does not include a
bag provided at a pharmacy to a customer purchasing
prescription medication or a nonhandled bag used to
protect a purchased item from damaging or contaminating
other purchased items when placed in a recycled paper bag
or reusable grocery bag. (�42280(f)).
d) "Store" as either a full-line self-service retail
store with gross annual sales of $2 million or more that
sells certain food items; a store with at least 10,000
square feet that generates sales or use taxes and
includes a licensed pharmacy; or a convenience food
store, foodmart, or other entity engaged in the retail
sale of a limited line of goods that generally includes
milk, bread, soda, and snack foods. (�42280(g)).
2) Prohibits a store, on and after January 1, 2014, from
providing a single-use carryout bag (i.e., paper, plastic,
or other material) to a customer at the point-of-sale.
(�42281(b)(1)).
3) Authorizes a store, on and after January 1, 2014, to provide
a reusable grocery bag (i.e., cloth or durable plastic) to a
customer, which may be made available for purchase.
(�42281(b)(2)).
4) Authorizes a store to make a recyclable paper bag (i.e.,
paper with minimum percentage of postconsumer material)
available for purchase at the point of sale. (�42281(e)).
5) Authorizes a store to make a compostable bag (i.e., meeting
certain compostable and other requirements) available for
purchase. (�42281(f)).
6) Requires a store to provide a customer participating in the
California Special Supplemental Food Program for Women,
Infants, and Children with a reusable grocer bag or recycled
paper bag at no cost. (�42281(d)).
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7) Provides phasing of certain bag requirements between January
1, 2014, and July 1, 2015; and requires a convenience food
store and foodmart to comply with the above bag requirements
by July 1, 2015. (��42281(b) and 42282).
8) Requires a store, except for a convenience food store or
foodmart, to provide for collection of plastic bags, which
applies to a store that is prohibited from providing
single-use carryout bags to its customers. (�42283).
9) Sets requirements for DRRR to certify reusable grocery bags
that: a) require a reusable grocery bag producer to submit
a certification to DRRR by January 1, 2015, and every two
years thereafter; b) require a producer to submit a fee to
DRRR with each certification to cover DRRR certificate
costs; c) require DRRR to publish a list on its Internet
website by July 1, 2015, regarding certain reusable grocery
bag information; c) provide for DRRR audits and inspections
of a producer; d) authorize DRRR to test any reusable bag;
e) authorize DRRR to enter into an agreement with other
states that conduct inspections to provide enforcement of
these requirements; f) set civil penalties for violating
these requirements; g) require DRRR to deposit all
certification fees into the Reusable Bag Account created in
the Integrated Waste Management Fund to be expended by DRRR,
upon appropriation by the Legislature, to assist DRRR with
implementing these certification-related requirements; and
h) require penalties to be deposited into a Penalty
Subaccount created in the Reusable Bag Account for these
same purposes upon appropriation by the Legislature.
(�42288).
10)Requires DRRR to submit a report to the Legislature by
January 1, 2016, regarding the effectiveness of the Law and
recommendations for statutory changes to increase
effectiveness of the Law, which must include certain matters
(e.g., compilation of state cleanup data to evaluate
pollution reduction, number and types of violations). This
report requirement sunsets January 1, 2017. (�42289)
11)Authorizes a city, county, city and county, or the state to
impose civil liability of $500 for the first violation of
the Law, $1,000 for the second violation, and $2,000 for the
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third and subsequent violations. These penalties do not
apply to the above certification procedures. Collected
penalties must be paid to whichever office brought the
action and penalties. (�42289.5).
COMMENTS :
1) Purpose of Bill . According to the author, "California
taxpayers spend approximately $25 million annually to
collect and bury the 19 billion plastic bags used every
year. Unfortunately, these bags are rarely recycled; the
California Integrated Waste Management Board estimated that
less than 5% of all single use plastic bags in the state are
actually recycled. Instead, local agencies spend millions
more to dispose of plastic bags and clean up discarded
plastic bags - for example, in 1994, the annual cost to
clean the 31 miles of beaches along Los Angeles County was
over $4 million, much of it due to plastic bags."
The author notes that "In recent years many cities and counties
have seen the benefits of passing single bag ordinances and
47 cities and counties have done just that. With the
passage of the City of Los Angeles bag ordinance last month
33% of Californians are currently under a single use bag
ordinance. However, those ordinances differ enough that
there is a need for an overarching statewide policy on
single use bags. AB 298 will do just that by prohibit�ing]
grocery stores and convenience stores (as defined) from
providing single use carryout bag to a customer after 2014
and 2015 respectively. In lieu of single use bags stores
must make reusable bags and 40% postconsumer paper bags
available for purchase by the customer."
2) Background . Plastic bags and plastic film together
represent 2.2% of the waste stream, and every year
California taxpayers spend $25 million disposing of the 19
billion plastic bags used annually. Although plastic
represents a relatively small fraction of the overall waste
stream in California, plastic waste is the predominate form
of marine debris. Plastics are estimated to compose 60-80%
of all marine debris and 90% of all floating debris.
According to the California Coastal Commission, the primary
source of marine debris is urban runoff, of which
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lightweight plastic bags and plastic film are particularly
susceptible. Due to the interplay of ocean currents, marine
debris preferentially accumulates in certain areas
throughout the ocean. The North Pacific Central Gyre is the
ultimate destination for much of the marine debris
originating from the California coast. A study by the
Algalita Marine Research Foundation found an average of more
than 300,000 plastic pieces per square mile of the Gyre and
that the mass of plastic was six times greater than
zooplankton floating on the water's surface.
Most plastic marine debris exists as small plastic particles
due to excessive UV radiation exposure and subsequent
photo-degradation. These plastic pieces are ingested by
aquatic organisms and have already negatively affected over
250 animal species worldwide. In addition, hydrophobic
chemicals present in the ocean in trace amounts (e.g., from
contaminated runoff and oil and chemical spills) have an
affinity for, and can bind to, plastic particles and may
also enter and accumulate in the food chain through the same
mechanism.
3) Local bag responses . Many cities and counties throughout
California have adopted ordinances banning plastic bags
including San Francisco, San Jose, Long Beach, Los Angeles
County, Santa Clara County, Alameda County and others. Most
of these local governments also require stores to charge a
fee for a paper carryout bag, and a few have banned both
single-use plastic and paper carryout bags. The desire for
statewide uniformity in 2010 led the California Grocers
Association to support AB 1998 (Brownley) which would have
banned plastic carryout bags and placed a fee on paper bags.
4) No corresponding litter and pollution program funded by
fees . AB 298 does not provide a funding mechanism to deal
with litter and pollution, as well as stormwater, sewer and
water treatment facility problems associated with bag
debris. Instead, AB 298 authorizes a store to make a
recycled paper bag available for purchase at the point of
sale. Some previous legislation included fees to be placed
on bags to directly address those problems. AB 298, like AB
1998 (Brownley) of 2010, does not establish a funding
mechanism for these programs.
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Should there be fees on bags to address single-use bag
problems?
5) Bags may be needed . AB 298 prohibits a store from providing
a single-use bag to a customer after January 1, 2014, and
authorizes - but does not require - reusable grocery bags to
be available for purchase. Under these circumstances, there
may be no bags available for a customer.
A store should be required, rather than authorized, to make
reusable grocery bags available for purchase by a customer.
6) Related legislation . AB 2058 (Levine) of 2007 would have
prohibited the free dispensing of carryout plastic bags by a
store to its customers, unless the store can demonstrate to
the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB)
that 70% of the plastic bags it dispensed had been diverted
from the waste stream. AB 2058 was held in Senate
Appropriations Committee.
SB 531 (DeSaulnier) of 2009 would have required manufacturers
of plastic carryout bags to consult with various entities,
including the CIWMB, when developing specified educational
materials to encourage the reduced use or recycling of those
bags, and authorized the CIWMB to modify those materials. SB
531 was held in Assembly Natural Resources Committee without
further action.
AB 68 (Brownley) of 2009 and AB 87 (Davis) of 2009 both would
have required a 25-cent fee on the distribution of
single-use carryout bags. Both bills were held in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 2138 (Chesbro) of 2010 would have established recycling and
composting requirements for take-out food packaging,
including bags. AB 2138 was held on the Assembly
Appropriations Committee suspense file.
AB 1998 (Brownley) of 2010 would have repealed the at-store
recycling program and instead prohibited stores from
providing a single-use plastic carryout bag to a customer
and required stores to provide reusable bags for purchase or
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recycled paper bags for a fee. AB 1998 failed in the Senate
on August 31, 2010 (14-21).
SB 915 (Calderon) of 2011 sets plastic bag reduction and
recycled content goals. A hearing in the Senate
Environmental Quality Committee was canceled at the request
of the author.
AB 1834 (Brownley) of 2012 defines reusable bags and is on the
Senate Floor.
SB 1106 (Strickland) of 2012 prohibits the manufacture,
distribution, and sale of reusable bags without a warning
label that both specifies the need for reusable bags to be
cleaned and disinfected between uses and outlines the health
risks associated with not cleaning or disinfecting reusable
bags between uses. SB 1106 failed in the Senate
Environmental Quality Committee April 23, 2012 (2-5).
SOURCE : Californians Against Waste, Environment
California, Heal the Bay
SUPPORT : Azul, California Coastkeeper Alliance,
Canyonland Conservation Fund, City and County of
San Francisco Department of the Environment,
Clean Water Action, Earthwise Bag Company, Inc.,
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Los
Angeles County Solid Waste Management
Committee/Integrated Waste Management Task
Force, Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors,
Save Our Shores, Seventh Generation Advisors,
Surfrider Foundation
OPPOSITION : None on file.