BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1933
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
2011-2012 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 1933
AUTHOR: Gordon
AMENDED: As Introduced
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE: May 14, 2012
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Peter Cowan
SUBJECT : BEVERAGE CONTAINERS: ENFORCEMENT
SUMMARY :
Existing law , under the California Beverage Container
Recycling and Litter Reduction Act (the Act):
1)Establishes refund value and redemption payments for
beverage containers and requires a distributor to pay a
redemption payment for every beverage container sold or
offered for sale in the state to the Department of Resources
Recycling and Recovery (DRRR), which is required to deposit
those payments into the California Beverage Container
Recycling Fund (Fund). The money in the Fund is
continuously appropriated for the payment of refund values
and processing fees. (Public Resources Code �14500 et
seq.).
2)Authorizes funding for specified purposes to increase
beverage container recycling, including payments to cities
and counties. (�14581).
3)Requires any person importing more than 100 pounds of
aluminum, bimetal, or plastic beverage container material,
or 1000 pounds of glass beverage container material, into
California to report the material to DRRR and to provide an
opportunity for inspection. (�14596).
This bill :
1) Reduces the threshold for reporting the imported beverage
container material from 100 pounds to 25 pounds for
aluminum, bimetal or plastic beverage container material,
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and from 1000 pounds to 250 pounds for glass beverage
container material.
2) Requires that any person required to report the importation
of beverage container material to DRRR additionally provide
documentation of the source and destination of the
material.
COMMENTS :
1) Purpose . According to the author "California's bottle and
can recycling law has been found to be the most cost
effective program of its kind in the country, and no
recycling policy or program in the state is achieving
better results. However, the very incentives that have
spurred high rates of recycling have also inspired
entrepreneurial criminals?�AB 1933] will help create
deterrents on importers trying to illegally redeem out of
state beverage containers in California by creating a paper
trail and requiring documentation of the source and
destination of the material."
2) Background on the Act . The Act is designed to provide
consumers with a financial incentive for recycling and to
make recycling convenient to consumers. The centerpiece of
the Act is the California Redemption Value (CRV).
Consumers pay a deposit, the CRV, on each beverage
container they purchase. Retailers collect the CRV from
consumers when they buy beverages. The dealer retains a
small percentage of the deposit for administration and
remits the remainder to the distributor, who also retains a
small portion for administration before remitting the
balance to DRRR. When consumers return their empty
beverage containers to a recycler (or donate them to a
curbside or other program), the deposit is paid back as a
refund.
3) Container fraud . The extent of illegal redemption of
out-of-state containers is unknown. However, in 2010, 31
people were arrested in an enforcement action involving the
Department of Justice and DRRR. Three separate fraud rings
coordinated the importation of millions of cans and bottles
from Arizona and Nevada for redemption of the CRV.
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According to the Attorney General, the rings stole more
than $3.5 million. Neither Arizona nor Nevada has beverage
container redemption programs.
In the summer of 2011, DRRR, in coordination with the
California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA),
initiated a "no-cost" pilot program to survey and document
vehicles importing out-of-state beverage container material
into California through all 16 CDFA Border Protection
Stations. During the first 60 calendar days of the pilot
program, the information gathered indicated that over 2,500
vehicles (including 378 rental trucks filled to capacity)
imported out-of-state beverage container material through
these stations. Based on the survey data referenced above,
DRRR states that a conservative estimate of fraud exposure
to the Fund is $7 million annually.
AB 1933 would reduce the redemption value of beverage
container material that could be imported into California
without notifying DRRR from a maximum of approximately $150
to a maximum of less than $50.
4) Support concerns . According to the California Grocers
Association, AB 1933 will reduce fraud which will increase
stability in the Fund, helping recyclers stay in business.
SOURCE : Californians Against Waste
SUPPORT : California Grocers Association
OPPOSITION : None on file.