AB 1699, as amended, Bloom. Waste management: microplastics.
The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Proposition 65) prohibits any person, in the course of doing business, from knowingly and intentionally exposing any individual to a chemical known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity without giving a specified warning, or from discharging or releasing such a chemical into any source of drinking water, except as specified. Existing law prohibits the sale of expanded polystyrene packaging material by a wholesaler or manufacturer. Existing law prohibits a person from selling a plastic product in this state that is labeled with the term “compostable,” “home compostable,” or “marine degradable” unless, at the time of sale, the plastic product meets the applicable American Society for Testing and Materials standard specification.
This bill would prohibit, after January 1,
2016, a person in the course of doing business, as defined, from selling or offering for promotional purposes in this state any cleaning product, personal care product, or both containing microplastic, as specified. The bill would providebegin delete exceptionsend deletebegin insert an exceptionend insert to the abovebegin delete provision, including an exceptionend deletebegin insert provisionend insert for the salebegin insert or promotional offerend insert of a product containing less than 1 part per million (ppm) by weight of microplastic, as provided.
The bill wouldbegin delete require the imposition ofend deletebegin insert
make a violator liable forend insert a civil penalty not to exceed $2,500 per day for each violation. The bill would authorize the penalty to be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought in any court of competent jurisdiction by the Attorney General or local officials, as providedbegin delete, or a by a person in the public interest, as specifiedend delete.
The bill would require the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery to administer and implement these provisions and would authorize the department to adopt and modify regulations as necessary to further the purposes of this act.
The bill would establish the Plastic Pollution Fund in the State Treasury. The bill would authorize the department to expend the funds, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to implement and administer the act by, among other things, providing
grants to local governments or other entities. The bill would require 50% of all civil penalties collected pursuant to the act, and any interest earned on the money in the fund, to be deposited into the fund. The bill would require 50% of all civil penalties collected in an action pursuant to the act to be paid to the Attorney Generalbegin delete,end deletebegin insert orend insert localbegin delete officials, or to a person acting in the public interest, whichever entityend deletebegin insert official whoend insert brought the action.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Chapter 5.9 (commencing with Section 42360)
2is added to Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, to
3read:
4
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
8(a) Plastic does not biodegrade like other organic materials, but,
9upon exposure to the elements photodegrades into smaller pieces
10causing land and water pollution that is virtually impossible to
11remediate.
12(b) Plastic pollution is the dominant type of anthropogenic debris
13found throughout the marine environment.
P3 1(c) Plastic pollution is an environmental and human health
2hazard and a public nuisance.
3(d) Consumer personal care products such as facial
scrubs,
4soaps, and toothpaste increasingly contain thousands of
5
microplastic particles, ranging frombegin delete 50-500end deletebegin insert 50 to 500end insert microns,
6which are flushed down drains as part of their intended use.
7(e) Microplastics in personal care products are not recoverable
8through ordinary wastewater treatment and so are released into
9the environment.
10(f) Microplastics of the size found in cleaning and personal care
11products are ingested by marine organisms.
12(g) Microplasticsbegin delete are persistent organic compounds thatend delete attract
13other pollutants commonly
present in the environment, many of
14which are recognized to have serious deleterious impacts on human
15health or the environment, including DDT, DDE, PCBs, and
16flame-retardants.
17(h) Microplastics have been found in surface waters within the
18United States, as well as in fish, marine mammals, and reptiles,
19
and in the digestive and circulatory systems of mussels and worms.
20(i) PAHs,begin delete PCBsend deletebegin insert PCBs,end insert and PBDEs from plastic transfer to fish
21tissue during digestion and bioaccumulate, resulting in liver
22damage.
23(j) Fish that humans consume have been found to ingest
24microplastics.
25(k) There are many biodegradable, natural alternatives to
26microplastics that are economically feasiblebegin delete alternatives to , as evidenced by their current use in some consumer
27microplasticsend delete
28personal
care products.
As used in this chapter, the following terms have the
30following meanings:
31(a) “Department” means the Department of Resources Recycling
32and Recovery.
33(b) “Cleaning products, personal care products, or both” means
34mixtures and solutions used for bathing and cleaning, including,
35but not limited to, hand and body soap, exfoliates, shampoos,
36toothpastes, and scrubs.
37(c) “Microplastic” means any plastic size 5 millimeter or less
38in all dimensions.
P4 1(d) “Person” means an individual, trust, firm, joint stock
2company,
corporation, company, partnership, limited liability
3company, and association.
4(e) “Person in the course of doing business” does not include
5any person employing fewer than 10 employees in his or her
6business; any city, county, or district or any department or agency
7thereof or the state or any department or agency thereof or the
8federal government or any department or agency thereof; or any
9entity in its operation of a public water system.
10(f) “Plastic” means a synthetic material made from linking
11monomers through a chemical reaction to create a polymer chain
12that can be molded or extruded at high heat into various forms.
13Plasticsbegin delete are typically made from petroleum, natural gas, or other begin insert
can be made from many organic substances,
14organic substancesend delete
15including petroleum and natural gasend insert.
On or after January 1, 2016, a person in the course of
17doing business shall not sell or offer for promotional purposes in
18this state any cleaning products, personal care products, or both
19containing microplastic.
begin delete(a)end deletebegin delete end deleteSection 42362 shall not apply to any person in the
21course of doing business that sells or offers for promotional
22purposes a cleaning product, personal care product, or both
23containing microplastic in less than 1 part per million (ppm) by
24weight.
25(b) (1) Section 42362 shall not apply to any person in the course
26of doing business if it is shown that an otherwise prohibited
27cleaning product, personal care product, or both is designed for a
28use where it is unlikely that the product will pass or probably will
29pass into any wastewater treatment system or water of the state.
30(2) The department shall adopt regulations as necessary to
31implement this
subdivision.
(a) A person who violates or threatens to violate Section
3342362 may be enjoined in any court of competent jurisdiction.
34(b) (1) A person who violates Section 42362 is liable for a civil
35penalty not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500)
36per day for each violation in addition to any other penalty
37established by law. That civil penalty may be assessed and
38recovered in a civil action brought in any court of competent
39jurisdiction.
P5 1(2) In assessing the amount of a civil penalty for a violation of
2this chapter, the court shall consider all of the following:
3(A) The nature and extent of the violation.
4(B) The number of, and severity of, the violations.
5(C) The economic effect of the penalty on the person.
6(D) Whether the person took good faith measures to comply
7with this chapter and the time these measures were taken.
8(E) The deterrent effect that the imposition of the penalty would
9have on both the person and the regulated community as a whole.
10(F) Any other factor that justice may require.
11(c) Actions pursuant to this section may be brought by
the
12Attorney General in the name of the people of the state, by a district
13attorney, by a city attorney of a city having a population in excess
14of 750,000 persons, or, with the consent of the district attorney,
15by a city prosecutor in a city or city and county having a full-time
16citybegin delete prosecutor, or as provided in subdivision (d)end deletebegin insert prosecutorend insert.
17(d) Actions pursuant to this section may be brought by a person
18in the public interest if both of the following requirements are met:
19(1) The private action is commenced more than 60 days from
20the date that the person has given notice of an alleged violation of
21Section 42362 that is the subject of the private action to the
22Attorney General and the district attorney, city attorney, or
23prosecutor in whose jurisdiction the violation is alleged to have
24occurred, and to the alleged violator.
25(2) Neither the Attorney General, a district attorney, a city
26attorney, nor a prosecutor has commenced and is diligently
27prosecuting an action against the
violation.
28(e) The court, in issuing any final order in any action brought
29pursuant to this section, shall award costs of litigation, including
30reasonable attorney and expert witness fees, to any prevailing or
31substantially prevailing party, unless the court determines the
32award is inappropriate.
The department shall administer and implement this
34chapter. The department may adopt and modify regulations as
35necessary to implement and further the purposes of this chapter.
(a) The Plastic Pollution Fund is hereby established in
37the State Treasury. The department may expend the funds in the
38Plastic Pollution Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to
39implement and administer this chapter by directly expending those
40funds, by transferring those funds to other state agencies, or by
P6 1providing grants to local governments or other entities deemed
2eligible by the department, including, but not limited to,
3nongovernmental organizations and the California Conservation
4Corps.
5(b) In addition to any other moneys that may be deposited in
6the Plastic Pollution Fund, all of the following amounts shall be
7deposited in the fund:
8(1) Fifty percent of all civil penalties collected pursuant to
9Section 42364.
10(2) Any interest earned upon the money deposited into the
11Plastic Pollution Fund.
Fifty percent of all civil penalties collected pursuant to
13Section 42364 shall be paid to the office of the city attorney, city
14prosecutor, district attorney, or Attorney General, whichever office
15brought the begin deleteaction, or in the case of an action brought by a person begin insert action.end insert
16under subdivision (d) of Section 42364, to that person.end delete
This chapter does not alter or diminish any legal
18obligation otherwise required in common law or by statute or
19regulation, and nothing in this chapter shall create or enlarge any
20defense in any action to enforce the legal obligation. Penalties and
21sanctions imposed under this chapter shall be in addition to any
22penalties or sanctions otherwise prescribed by law.
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