BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1019
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 26, 2011

              ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND CONSUMER 
                                     PROTECTION
                                 Mary Hayashi, Chair
                AB 1019 (John A. Pérez) - As Amended:  April 14, 2011
           
          SUBJECT  :   Solid waste: carpet stewardship.

           SUMMARY  :   Establishes January 1, 2014, as the date by which the 
          Department of General Services (DGS) must take steps to recycle 
          postconsumer carpet removed from buildings owned or leased by 
          the state.  

           EXISTING LAW  : 

          1)Requires, on or before January 1, 2014, the Department of 
            Resources Recycling and Recovery (DRRR) and DGS to complete a 
            study that examines the standard for carpet purchases by the 
            state and recommend to the Governor and the Legislature any 
            appropriate changes to that standard.  

          2)Requires DGS, to the extent feasible and within existing 
            resources, to take appropriate steps, including revising 
            relevant procurement rules, to ensure that postconsumer carpet 
            that is removed from state buildings be recycled whenever 
            possible. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   Unknown 

           COMMENTS  :   

           Purpose of this bill  .  According to the author's office, 
          "Discarded carpets are a major heavy contributor to landfill 
          mass.  They are heavy, bulky, and costly to manage as waste.  
          These costs are often borne by local governments.  Postconsumer 
          carpet also can be used to make a variety of secondary products, 
          including carpet pads, carpet backing, carpet fiber, plastics, 
          and engineered material.  The state is a major generator of 
          discarded carpet.  This bill will ensure that by January 1, 
          2014, DGS will manage discarded carpet from state buildings 
          consistent with AB 2398 (John A. Perez), Chapter 681, Statutes 
          of 2010."

           Background  .  AB 2398 established a statewide product stewardship 








                                                                  AB 1019
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          program that required California carpet manufacturers to prepare 
          a carpet stewardship plan that maximizes the diversion of 
          postconsumer carpet, or carpet no longer used for its 
          manufactured purpose, from landfills and encourages the 
          recycling of waste carpet into secondary products.  When 
          consumers install new carpets, the carpet installers will 
          remove, and recycle or dispose of, the old carpet.  AB 2398 
          required DGS to take appropriate steps to ensure that carpets 
          removed from state buildings are managed consistently with 
          statutes relating to carpet recycling, but did not set a date by 
          which DGS should meet that requirement.  This bill requires DGS 
          to take appropriate action by January 1, 2014. 

          According to DRRR's 2008 Statewide Waste Characterization Study, 
          an estimated 1.3 million tons of carpet are annually disposed in 
          California landfills, comprising 3.2% of all solid waste.  
          According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, 
          barriers to effective recycling include the lack of an 
          established infrastructure to collect and process waste carpet, 
          especially from residential sources.  

           Support  .  According to the City and County of San Francisco 
          (S.F.), "Last year, the Legislature approved AB 2398 to reduce 
          the amount of carpet that ends up in landfills by emphasizing 
          the recycling of waste carpeting into new products.  This will 
          result in the creation of new jobs and will also lessen the need 
          to create costly additional landfill space.  ÝThis bill] directs 
          DGS to apply these principles to carpet that is removed from 
          state buildings.  S.F. has adopted goals of 75% landfill 
          diversion by 2010 and zero waste by 2020.  Since there are large 
          state buildings in S.F., Ýthis bill] will provide assistance to 
          S.F. in meeting its long-term diversion goals.  This bill will 
          also bring down solid waste disposal costs for all cities and 
          counties."
           
          Previous Legislation  .  AB 2398 (John A. Pérez), Chapter 681, 
          Statutes of 2010,  established a statewide product stewardship 
          program that required state carpet manufacturers to prepare a 
          carpet stewardship plan that maximizes the diversion of 
          postconsumer carpet from landfills and encourages the recycling 
          of waste carpet into secondary products.  

           Double-Referred  .  This bill is double-referred to Assembly 
          Natural Resources Committee.









                                                                  AB 1019
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           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          City and County of San Francisco 

           Opposition 
           
          None on file. 
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Joanna Gin / B.,P. & C.P. / (916) 
          319-3301