BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 549|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 549
Author: Carter (D) and Wieckowski (D)
Amended: 8/23/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 5-1, 5/14/12
AYES: Simitian, Hancock, Kehoe, Lowenthal, Pavley
NOES: Blakeslee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Strickland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/19/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Recycling: electronic waste
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill modifies the Electronic Waste
Recycling Act of 2003 (E-Waste Act) fraud prevention and
audit functions within the Department of Resources
Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle).
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/23/12 (1) strike the
duplicative requirement that a person challenging the
denial or adjustment of a payment of a fee on covered
electronic waste (CEW) must file an administrative appeal;
and (2) add a requirement that the administrative hearing
required under existing law be before the CalRecycle
Director or his/her designee who will issue a written
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decision stating the factual and legal basis for the
decision.
ANALYSIS : Existing law, the E-Waste Act, requires a
retailer selling a covered electronic device in this state
to collect a CEW recycling fee from the consumer, as
specified. These fees are deposited in the Electronic
Waste Recovery and Recycling Account, and CalRecycle is
continuously appropriated the money in the account to,
among other things, make electronic waste recovery payments
and recycling payments.
CalRecycle is authorized to make these payments only if
certain conditions are met. CalRecycle is required to make
these payments to an authorized collector or CEW recycler
upon receipt of a completed and verified invoice submitted
to CalRecycle in the form and manner determined by
CalRecycle.
This bill:
1. Clarifies that CalRecycle shall not pay an electronic
waste recycling payment or recovery payment for CEW
generated outside of the state and subsequently brought
into the state.
2. Requires CalRecycle to establish documentation
requirements for demonstrating that CEW was generated in
California and eligible for payment.
3. Requires CalRecycle to pay a CEW collector or recycler
upon completion of its review of a payment claim for 90
days or less. CalRecycle may examine a payment claim to
validate its completeness, accuracy, truthfulness, and
compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
4. Permits CalRecycle to conduct a selective audit of
authorized collectors, covered CEW recyclers, or
manufacturers to determine whether recovery or recycling
payments are being paid by CalRecycle according to the
requirements of the E-Waste Act.
5. Provides a person challenging a revocation, denial of
application renewal, application denial, denial or
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adjustment of an electronic waste recovery payment, or
denial or adjustment of an electronic waste recycling
payment, shall exhaust administrative remedies by filing
an administrative appeal with CalRecycle no later than
30 calendar days from the date of CalRecycle's action,
consistent with the regulations adopted pursuant to the
E-Waste Act.
6. States that CalRecycle must provide a hearing to
consider the appeal and subsequently to issue a written
decision stating the factual and legal basis for the
decision.
7. Specifies that these changes to the E-Waste Act do not
affect administrative or legal enforcement actions filed
or pending before January 1, 2013, and must not prevent
administrative enforcement action taken before that
date.
Comments
Need for this bill . According to the author:
Currently the Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003 does
not explicitly state that CalRecycle has any authority,
let alone authority to review documentation or deny
payment for non-compliance.
AB 549 seeks to clarify CalRecycle's authority by overtly
stating that authority, as well as their right to review
the required documentation before payment is released and
the right to deny payment should non-compliance be
detected.
Furthermore, the Act does not clearly state that sources
of covered electronic waste must be from California. AB
549 clarifies the issue by specifically stating that
covered electronic waste must be from California.
Oversight Hearing . On February 28, 2011, the Assembly
Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee and the
Assembly Natural Resources Committees held a joint
oversight hearing on the State regulation and management of
electronic waste materials (E-waste). The hearing reviewed
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the current E-waste program operated by the State which
provides incentives for the collection and recycling of
E-waste including the toxic components of modern
electronics. One of the issues raised by the hearing
testimony was the need to insure that fraudulent claims
were identified quickly and identified the need for
stronger enforcement of existing data reporting
requirements.
Related Legislation
AB 583 (Knight) transfers responsibility and personnel from
the State Department of Toxics Substance Control (DTSC) to
the CalRecycle for investigation and enforcement of the
E-Waste Act. The bill died in the Assembly Environmental
Safety and Toxic Materials Committee.
AB 960 (Bonnie Lowenthal) revises the requirements imposed
on exportation to additionally include a person who exports
electronic waste or a previously used electronic device and
would also include, in the provision, an export intended
for reuse and repeals the existing exemption for
exportation of component parts that are reused or recycled
and would instead require DTSC to adopt regulations
exempting materials or component parts of electronic waste
or previously used electronic devices. The bill is in the
Senate Appropriations Committee.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/21/12) (Unable to reverify at time
of writing)
Californians Against Waste
Silicon Valley Leadership Group
Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/19/11
AYES: Achadjian, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
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Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove,
Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger
Hern�ndez, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones,
Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor,
Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande,
Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel P�rez,
Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson,
Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada,
John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, Gorell
DLW:k 8/24/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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