BILL NUMBER: AB 2670 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 28, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Committee on Natural Resources (Assembly Members
Chesbro (Chair), Brownley, Dickinson, Halderman, Huffman, Monning,
and Skinner)
MARCH 5, 2012
An act to amend Sections 41770, 42301, 42649.1,
and 42649.3 of , and to repeal Section 41751 of,
the Public Resources Code, relating to solid waste.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2670, as amended, Committee on Natural Resources. Solid waste
plans: recycling.
(1) The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989
requires each city, county, city and county, and regional agency, to
develop an integrated waste management plan containing specified
components, including a source reduction and recycling element. The
countywide or regional plan is required to be reviewed, revised, and
submitted to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery every
5 years. The revision is required to use a waste disposal
characterization method developed by the department. The county plan
is also required to include a summary of certain waste management
problems facing the county.
This bill would repeal these requirements regarding the review,
revision, and submission of the plan, the use of a waste disposal
characterization method, and the inclusion of the summary.
(2) The act
(1) The California Integrated Waste
Management Act of 1989 requires rigid plastic packaging
containers that are sold or offered for sale in this state to meet,
on average, one of specified criteria and defines terms for purposes
of those requirements. One of those criteria that a rigid plastic
packaging container may meet to satisfy this requirement is that the
container be source reduced. The act provides for the enforcement of
these requirements by the department and provides that an entity
making a false certification pursuant to those requirements is
subject to a violation for fraud.
This bill would revise the definitions of the various terms used
in the those requirements, including revising the definition of the
term "source reduced" to impose new requirements, thereby imposing a
state-mandated local program by changing the definition of a crime.
(3)
(2) The act requires a business, which is defined as a
commercial or public entity, that generates more than 4 cubic yards
of commercial solid waste per week or is a multifamily residential
dwelling of 5 units or more, to arrange for recycling services.
Existing law also requires jurisdictions to implement a commercial
solid waste recycling program meeting specified elements. Existing
law defines the term "commercial solid waste" by reference to a
specified regulation.
This bill would instead define commercial solid waste in statute
to include all types of solid waste generated by a store, office, or
other commercial or public entity source, including a business or a
multifamily dwelling of 5 or more units, thereby imposing a
state-mandated local program by imposing new requirements upon local
jurisdictions.
(4)
(3) The California Constitution requires the state to
reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs
mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for
making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for specified reasons.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 41751 of the Public
Resources Code is repealed.
SEC. 2. Section 41770 of the Public Resources
Code is amended to read:
41770. The board may review and revise its regulations governing
the contents of revised source reduction and recycling elements to
reduce duplications in one or more components of these revised
elements.
SEC. 3. SECTION 1. Section 42301 of
the Public Resources Code is amended to read:
42301. For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions
apply:
(a) "Container manufacturer" means a company or a successor
company that manufactures and sells any rigid plastic packaging
container subject to this chapter to a manufacturer that sells or
offers for sale in this state any product packaged in that container.
(b) "Curbside collection program" means a recycling program that
collects materials set out by households for collection at the curb
at intervals not less than every two weeks. "Curbside collection
program" does not include redemption centers, buyback locations,
drop-off programs, material recovery facilities, or plastic recovery
facilities.
(c) "Refillable package" means a rigid plastic packaging container
that is routinely returned to and refilled by the product
manufacturer or its agent at least five times with the original
product contained by the rigid plastic packaging containers.
(d) "Reusable package" means a rigid plastic packaging container
that is routinely reused by consumers at least five times to store
the original product contained by the package.
(e) "Manufacturer" means the producer or generator of a product
that is sold or offered for sale in the state and that is stored
inside of a rigid plastic packaging container.
(f) "Rigid plastic packaging container" means a plastic packaging
container having a relatively inflexible finite shape or form, with a
minimum capacity of eight fluid ounces or its equivalent volume and
a maximum capacity of five fluid gallons or its equivalent volume,
that is capable of maintaining its shape while holding other
products, including, but not limited to, bottles, cartons, and other
receptacles, for sale or distribution in the state.
(g) (1) "Postconsumer material" means a material that would
otherwise be destined for solid waste disposal, having completed its
intended end use and product lifecycle.
(2) Except as provided in paragraph (3), postconsumer material
does not include materials and byproducts generated from, and
commonly reused within, an original manufacturing and fabrication
process.
(3) "Postconsumer material" includes finished plastic packaging
that has been rejected by a container or product manufacturer, and
that would be commonly disposed of, if the department determines the
material is later used in a process that is other than an original
manufacturing and fabrication process.
(h) "Recycled" means a product or material that has been reused in
the production of another product and has been diverted from
disposal in a landfill.
(i) "Recycling rate" means the proportion, as measured by weight,
volume, or number, of a rigid plastic packaging container sold or
offered for sale in the state that is being recycled in a given
calendar year, that is one of the following:
(1) A particular type of rigid plastic packaging container, such
as a milk jug, soft drink container, or detergent bottle.
(2) A product-associated rigid plastic packaging container.
(3) A single resin type, as specified in Section 18015, of rigid
plastic packaging container, notwithstanding the exemption of that
container from this chapter pursuant to subdivision (b), (c), or (d)
of Section 42340.
(j) (1) "Source reduced container" means a rigid plastic container
for which the container weight per unit or number of product uses
has been reduced by 10 percent when compared with one of the
following:
(A) The rigid plastic packaging container used for the product by
the manufacturer on January 1, 1995.
(B) The rigid plastic packaging container used for that product
by the product manufacturer over the course of the first full year of
commerce in this state.
(C) A rigid plastic packaging container used in commerce in this
state during the same year for similar products in similar rigid
plastic packaging containers by the product manufacturer whose
containers have not been considered source reduced, or a particular
type of rigid plastic packaging container that is used to hold a
similar product by other product manufacturers, as determined by the
department, whose containers have not been considered source reduced.
(2) A rigid plastic packaging container is not a source reduced
container for the purposes of this chapter if the reduction was
achieved by any of the following:
(A) Substituting a different material type for a material that
previously constituted the principal material of the container.
(B) Increasing a container's weight per unit or number of product
uses after January 1, 1991.
(C) Packaging changes that adversely affect the potential for the
rigid plastic packaging container to be recycled or to be made of
postconsumer material.
(k) "Product-associated rigid plastic packaging container" means a
brand-specific, rigid plastic packaging container line that may have
one or more sizes, shapes, or designs and that is used in
conjunction with a particular generic product line.
( l ) "PETE" means polyethylene terephthalate as
specified in subdivision (a) of Section 18015.
(m) "HDPE" means high-density polyethylene.
SEC. 4. SEC. 2. Section 42649.1 of
the Public Resources Code is amended to read:
42649.1. For purposes of this chapter, the following shall apply:
(a) "Business" means a commercial or public entity, including, but
not limited to, a firm, partnership, proprietorship, joint stock
company, corporation, or association that is organized as a
for-profit or nonprofit entity, or a multifamily residential
dwelling.
(b) "Commercial solid waste" includes all types of solid waste
generated by a store, office, or other commercial or public entity
source, including a business or a multifamily dwelling of five or
more units.
(c) "Commercial waste generator" means a business subject to
subdivision (a) of Section 42649.2.
(d) "Self-hauler" means a business that hauls its own waste rather
than contracting for that service.
SEC. 5. SEC. 3. Section 42649.3 of
the Public Resources Code is amended to read:
42649.3. (a) On and after July 1, 2012, each jurisdiction shall
implement a commercial solid waste recycling program appropriate for
that jurisdiction designed to divert commercial solid waste from
businesses subject to Section 42649.2, whether or not the
jurisdiction has met the requirements of Section 41780.
(b) If a jurisdiction already has a commercial solid waste
recycling program as one of its diversion elements that meets the
requirements of this section, it shall not be required to implement a
new or expanded commercial solid waste recycling program.
(c) The commercial solid waste recycling program shall be directed
at a commercial waste generator, as defined in subdivision (c) of
Section 42649.1, and may include, but is not limited to, any of the
following:
(1) Implementing a mandatory commercial solid waste recycling
policy or ordinance.
(2) Requiring a mandatory commercial solid waste recycling program
through a franchise contract or agreement.
(3) Requiring all commercial solid waste to go through either a
source separated or mixed processing system that diverts material
from disposal.
(d) The commercial solid waste recycling program shall include
education, outreach to, and monitoring of, businesses. A jurisdiction
shall notify a business if the business is not in compliance with
Section 42649.2.
(e) The commercial solid waste recycling program may include
enforcement provisions that are consistent with a jurisdiction's
authority, including a structure for fines and penalties.
(f) The commercial solid waste recycling program may include
certification requirements for self-haulers.
(g) The department shall review a jurisdiction's compliance with
this section as part of the department's review required by Section
41825. Each jurisdiction shall report the progress achieved in
implementing its commercial recycling program, including education,
outreach, identification, and monitoring, and if applicable,
enforcement efforts, by providing updates in the annual report
required by Section 41821.
(h) The department may also review whether a jurisdiction is in
compliance with this section at any time that the department receives
information that a jurisdiction has not implemented, or is not
making a good faith effort to implement, a commercial recycling
program.
(i) During its review pursuant to subdivision (g) or (h), the
department shall determine whether each jurisdiction has made a good
faith effort to implement its selected commercial recycling program.
For purposes of this section, "good faith effort" means all
reasonable and feasible efforts by a jurisdiction to implement its
commercial recycling program. During its review, the department may
include, but is not limited to, the following factors in its
evaluation of a jurisdiction's good faith effort:
(1) The extent to which businesses have complied with Section
42649.2, including information on the amount of disposal that is
being diverted from the businesses, if available, and on the number
of businesses that are subscribing to service.
(2) The recovery rate of the commercial waste from the material
recovery facilities that are utilized by the businesses, all
information, methods, and calculations, and any additional
performance data, as requested by the department from the material
recovery facilities pursuant to Section 18809.4 of Title 14 of the
California Code of Regulations.
(3) The extent to which the jurisdiction is conducting education
and outreach to businesses.
(4) The extent to which the jurisdiction is monitoring businesses,
and notifying those businesses that are out of compliance.
(5) The availability of markets for collected recyclables.
(6) Budgetary constraints.
(7) In the case of a rural jurisdiction, the effects of small
geographic size, low population density, or distance to markets.
SEC. 6. SEC. 4. No reimbursement is
required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution because a local agency or school district has
the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments
sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by
this act or because costs that may be incurred by a local agency or
school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime
or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the
penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime
within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.