BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  SB 1219
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 8, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                 SB 1219 (Wolk) - As Introduced:  February 23, 2012 

          Policy Committee:                             Natural 
          ResourcesVote:6-3

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill extends, until January 1, 2020, the At-Store Recycling 
          Program for plastic bags and repeals the preemption that 
          prohibits local governments from implementing separate plastic 
          bag recycling programs, additional auditing or reporting 
          requirements, or from imposing a fee on plastic bags.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Negligible state costs, if any.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  .  The author intends this bill to extend the 
            statutory requirement that supermarkets provide plastic bag 
            recycling services onsite, which the author describes as 
            moderately successful, while removing prohibitions on 
            potential local efforts to collect and recycle plastic bags, 
            which the author believes may be more successful.

           2)Background.   Current law, since 2006, requires stores, defined 
            as supermarkets and stores over 10,000 square feet that 
            include a pharmacy, to establish an at-store recycling program 
            for plastic carryout bags.  The law also prevents local 
            governments from requiring stores that are complying with the 
            recycling program to implement separate bag recycling 
            programs, additional auditing or reporting requirements, or 
            imposing a bag fee.   The program sunsets as of January 1, 
            2013. 

            According to the Department of Resources Recycling and 








                                                                  SB 1219
                                                                  Page  2

            Recovery (Calrecycle), the rate of plastic bag recycling has 
            ranged between 2% and 3% over the life of the program.

          3)This bill is supported by the Regional Council of Rural 
            Counties, which supports allowing local governments to try 
            innovative methods of encouraging plastic bag collection and 
            recycling, methods that may be more successful than the 
            existing and limited state program.

           4)Opposition.   This bill is opposed by the California Grocers 
            Association, which contends the program should be extended in 
            its entirety, including the preemptions against local plastic 
            bag recycling programs.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081