BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 178
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
2011-2012 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 178
AUTHOR: Simitian
AMENDED: March 14, 2011
FISCAL: Yes HEARING
DATE:March 21, 2011
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:
Rachel Machi Wagoner
SUBJECT : HAZARDOUS MATERIALS: GREEN CHEMISTRY
SUMMARY :
Existing Law:
1) Requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC)
to adopt regulations to: a) establish a process to identify
and prioritize chemicals or chemical ingredients in
products that may be considered a "chemical of concern;" b)
establish a process for evaluating chemicals of concern in
products, and their potential alternatives, in order to
determine how best to limit exposure or to reduce the level
of hazard posed by a chemical of concern, as specified and
c) establish a process that includes an evaluation of the
availability of potential alternatives and potential
hazards posed by alternatives, as well as an evaluation of
critical exposure pathways.
2) Establishes the Green Ribbon Science panel to advise DTSC
on green chemistry.
3) Requires DTSC to establish a Toxics Information
Clearinghouse for the collection, maintenance, and
distribution of specific chemical hazard traits and
environmental and toxicological end-point data. The bill
also requires the Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment to evaluate and specify the hazard traits and
environmental and toxicological end-points and any other
relevant data that are to be included in the clearinghouse.
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This bill clarifies the role of the Green Ribbon Science Panel
and expressly states the panel the ability to conduct subgroup
meetings to discuss and report on specific topics on green
chemistry.
COMMENTS :
1) Purpose. It was the intent of the Legislature, in passing
SB 509 (Simitian, Chapter 560, Statutes of 2008) and AB
1879 (Feuer, Chapter 559, Statutes of 2008), to build an
effective, comprehensive and transparent chemical policy by
which chemicals and chemically-formulated products are
evaluated and regulated and to encourage innovation and
growth in this industry towards a cleaner, healthier and
more environmentally-sustainable market for California. AB
1879 provided for the creation of the Green Chemistry
Science Panel to advise the DTSC on the implementation of
California's Green Chemistry Initiative. SB 178 simply
clarifies the advisory role of the Green Ribbon Science
Panel in the development and implementation of the Green
Chemistry Regulations by expressly stating the panel's
authority to conduct subgroup meetings to consider specific
priority topics.
2) Green Chemistry in California . The federal Toxic
Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA) authorizes the United
States Environmental Protection Agency to require
reporting, recordkeeping and testing requirements, and set
restrictions relating to chemical substances and/or
mixtures. Certain substances are generally excluded from
TSCA, including, among others, food, drugs, cosmetics and
pesticides. For more than a decade, California has
struggled to fill in the gaps in TSCA chemical policy. The
Legislature has considered nearly a hundred bills proposing
chemical bans and broader chemical policies for California,
heard testimony from "battling scientists" and was
interested in developing a broader, more comprehensive
approach to chemicals policy.
In 2003, the Senate Environmental Quality Committee and the
Assembly committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic
Materials commissioned a report from the University of
California, Berkeley to investigate the current legal and
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regulatory structure for chemical substance and report on
how a California chemicals policy could address
environmental and health concerns about chemical toxicity,
build a long-term capacity to improve the design and use of
chemicals, and understand the implications of European
policy on the California chemical market.
In 2006, the U.C. Berkeley authors presented the
commissioned report, Green Chemistry in California: A
Framework for Leadership in Chemicals Policy and Innovation
and made a connection between weaknesses in federal policy,
namely TSCA, and the health and environmental damage
happening in California. The report broadly summarized
their findings into what they called the "three gaps".
a) Data Gap: There is a lack of information on which
chemicals are safe, which are toxic, and what chemicals
are in products. The lack of access to chemical data
creates an unequal marketplace. California businesses
cannot choose and make safer products and respond to
consumer demand without ingredient disclosure and
safety testing.
b) Safety Gap: Government agencies do not have the
legal tools or information to prioritize chemical
hazards. Under TSCA only five chemicals out of 83,000
have been banned since 1976. The California
Legislature has frequently addressed this problem by
approving individual chemical bans. Chemical bans come
before the Legislature because there are very few other
mechanisms in place at the federal or state level that
can remove harmful chemicals from the marketplace.
c) Technology Gap: There is an absence of regulatory
incentives, market motivation which stems from the data
gap, and educational emphasis on green chemistry
methodologies and technologies. In order to build a
substantial green chemistry infrastructure, a
coincident investment and commitment must be made to
strengthen industrial and academic research and
development.
In 2007, the California Environmental Protection Agency
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launched California's Green Chemistry Initiative within DTSC.
The California Green Chemistry Initiative Final Report
released in December 2008 included the following six policy
recommendations for implementing this comprehensive program in
order to foster a new era in the design of a new consumer
products economy - inventing, manufacturing and using
toxic-free, sustainable products.
a) Expand Pollution Prevention and product stewardship
programs to more business sectors to focus on prevention
rather than simple source reduction or waste controls.
b) Develop Green Chemistry Workforce Education and
Training, Research and Development and Technology
Transfer through new and existing educational program and
public/private partnerships.
c) Create an Online Product Ingredient Network to
disclose chemical ingredients for products sold in
California, while protecting trade secrets.
d) Create an Online Toxics Clearinghouse, an online
database providing data on chemical, toxicity and hazard
traits to the market place and public.
e) Accelerate the Quest for Safer Products, creating a
systematic, science-based process to evaluate chemicals
of concern and identify safer alternatives to ensure
product safety.
f) Move Toward a Cradle-to-Cradle Economy to leverage
market forces to produce products that are
"benign-by-design" in part by establishing a California
Green Products Registry to develop green metrics and
tools for a range of consumer products and encourage
their use by businesses.
Assembly Bill 1879 (Feuer) and Senate Bill 509 (Simitian)
together implemented two key pieces of California's Green
Chemistry Initiative: 1) requiring DTSC to adopt regulations
for the identification and prioritization and evaluation of
chemicals or chemical ingredients in products that may be
considered a "chemical of concern" and their potential
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alternatives; and 2) requiring DTSC and the Office of
Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to establish a Toxics
Information Clearinghouse for the collection, maintenance, and
distribution of specific chemical hazard traits and
environmental and toxicological end-point data and evaluate
and specify the hazard traits and environmental and
toxicological end-points and any other relevant data that are
to be included in the clearinghouse.
DTSC released three versions of draft regulations implementing
the requirements of AB 1879 in 2010. Because of concerns
raised from stakeholders at the end of the year, California
Environmental Protection Agency Secretary Adams held the
regulations from moving forward pending further input from the
Green Ribbon Science Panel and development by DTSC. SB 178
simply provides clarification about the role of the panel.
SOURCE : Senator Simitian
SUPPORT : Breast Cancer Fund
Environmental Working Group
OPPOSITION : None on File