BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 567
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Date of Hearing: July 13, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 567 (DeSaulnier) - As Amended: April 11, 2011
Policy Committee: Natural
ResourcesVote:6-3
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill expands to all plastic consumer products existing
restrictions on the sale of certain plastic products labeled as
"compostable" or "marine biodegradable" and makes other label
restrictions. The author has agreed to amendments that clarify
the existing standards for specified terms to which the
Department of Recycling and Resources Recovery (Calrecyle) is to
compare revised or new standards for those terms. (Summary
continued below.)
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Minor, absorbable ongoing costs to Calrecycle to review
standards. (Integrated Waste Management Fund (IWMF).)
2)Potential minor, absorbable ongoing costs to Calrecycle to
adopt standards and make recommendations to the Legislature.
(IWMF.)
3)Potential ongoing costs to Calrecycle of an unknown amount,
but possibly in the tens of thousands of dollars annually, to
enforce and oversee implementation of the bill's provisions.
(IWMA.)
(The bill does not require enforcement or oversight by
Calrecycle. The department, based on its experience with
implementation of past legislation-AB 2449, Levine (Chapter
845, Statutes of 2006)-that similarly required no enforcement
or oversight of the Integrated Waste Management Board (the
department's predecessor), anticipates pressure to oversee and
enforce the bill's implementation, nonetheless.)
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4)Unknown ongoing GF costs, likely not significant, to the
Attorney General (AG) to enforce the provisions of this bill.
(GF.)
5)Unknown ongoing revenue from imposition of civil penalties.
(GF.)
SUMMARY (continued)
Specifically, this bill:
1)Repeals existing, separate prohibitions on the sale of plastic
bags and food containers, respectively, labeled as
"compostable" or "marine biodegradable."
2)Prohibits the sale of a plastic product labeled as
"compostable" or "marine biodegradable" unless the product
meets the applicable ASTM standard specification for the term
or a standard adopted by the Calrecycle.
3)Requires Calrecycle to review a revision of an ASTM standard
specification for the following materials: (a) compostable
plastics, (b) nonfloating biodegradable plastics in the marine
environment or (c) biodegradable plastics used as coatings on
paper and other compostable substrates.
4)Directs Calrecycle to adopt a revised ASTM standard for the
above-mentioned materials only if Calrecycle determines the
revised standard is more protective of public health, public
safety and the environment and is consistent with state
policies.
5)Authorizes Calrecycle to adopt a standard for the
above-mentioned materials, or qualifications to those
materials, such as "home compostable," that differs from an
ASTM standard if certain conditions are met.
6)Authorizes Calrecycle to review a new standard developed by
ASTM or any other organization for the labels "compostable" or
"marine degradable" and to make recommendations to the
Legislature if Calrecycle determines the new standard to be
more protective of public health, public safety and the
environment and consistent with state policies.
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7)Prohibits the sale of a plastic consumer product labeled with
the following: "biodegradable;" "degradable;" "decomposable;"
any term that implies the product will breakdown, fragment or
decompose; or a qualified claim, such as "home biodegradable."
8)Authorizes a local government or the state to impose civil
penalties for violation of the bill's provisions, as follows:
$500/day for first offence; $1,000/day for second offense;
$2,000 for subsequent offenses.
9)Directs the AG to collect penalties for state actions and
authorizes the AG, upon appropriation, to use penalty revenues
to enforce the bill's provisions
10)Declares state agency costs associated with implementation of
this bill to be recoverable by the AG from liable parties.
11)Requires a manufacturer or supplier to provide a person, upon
request and within 90 days of the request, easily
understandable and scientifically accurate documentation of
compliance with the provisions of this bill.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The author notes many products currently sold in
California are labeled with end-of-life claims, such as
"compostable" and "biodegradable," even though those products
do not meet, nor are they required to meet, scientific
standards for the meaning of those terms. The author notes
that consumers buy products that, because of the product's
labeling, they mistakenly believe are less harmful to the
environment or may be placed in compost bins or similar
"green" waste containers. The author contends the
consequences of such erroneous labeling are contamination of
the waste stream, added waste management costs, and the
placement of many plastic products in landfills. This bill
will extend existing prohibitions against the mislabeling of
plastic bags and food packaging to all plastic consumer
products. The result, the author argues, will be
scientifically accurate product labels, consumer education,
proper disposal of plastic products, and reduced waste
management costs.
2)Background .
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a) Regulation of Use of End-of-Life Labels . Current law
includes two separate provisions concerning the placement
of end-of-life management claims on plastic bags and food
and beverage containers. For each these categories of
products, statute prohibits the sale of a product labeled
as "compostable" or "marine biodegradable" unless the bag
or food or beverage container meets standards for those
terms as specified by the ASTM. Statute also prohibits the
sale of any of these categories of products labeled
"biodegradable," "degradable," "decomposable" or any form
of those terms.
The rationale behind regulation of use such of end-of-life
labels is that, unless tied to a scientific standard-such
as ASTM's standard specification-these terms are vague and
lead to consumer confusion and improper disposal.
Consumers may choose to purchase products with these labels
because they assume they will be composted, will not
accumulate in a landfill, or will, in some way, be disposed
of in an environmentally benign way. Because many of these
products, despite their label, are not truly compostable,
or only degrade under certain conditions not typically
found in a compost facility, many compost operators remove
all plastic products, regardless of label, from their
compostable materials. In the end, most products end up in
a landfill where degradation is intentionally slow,
regardless of product labels.
b) American Society for Testing and Materials . ASTM
describes itself as "one of the largest voluntary standards
development organizations in the world-a trusted source for
technical standards for materials, products, systems, and
services?that guides design, manufacturing and trade in the
global economy."
3)Related Legislation . This bill is similar to SB 1454
(DeSaulnier, 2010), which passed the Assembly 42-28 and the
Senate 24-7 but was vetoed by the governor, citing unforeseen
consequences.
4)Support . This bill is supported by the American Chemistry
Council and Californians Against Waste, among others.
5)There is no formal opposition registered against this bill .
SB 567
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Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081