BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2371
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 8, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Luis Alejo, Chair
AB 2371 (Mullin) - As Introduced: February 21, 2014
SUBJECT : Solid waste: household hazardous waste.
SUMMARY : Requires local governments to update Household
Hazardous Waste Management Element (HHWME) to include
consideration of the convenience of waste collection.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires each city or county, no later than January 1, 2016,
to review their HHWME to determine its effectiveness in the
collection, recycling, treatment, and disposal of household
hazardous waste. The HHWME plan includes the following:
a) An analysis of the extent to which its household
hazardous waste program is convenient to the public;
b) Identification of barriers to the convenient recycling
and disposal of household hazardous waste; and,
c) Identification of feasible methods to overcome those
barriers and increase the convenience for the public to
recycle and dispose of household hazardous waste in a safe
and legal manner.
2)Requires the Department of Resources, Recycling, and Recovery
(CalRecycle) to report to the Legislature by January 1, 2017,
on the effectiveness of the state's household hazardous waste
management system, including, but not limited to, rates of
collection and recycling of household hazardous waste, and to
identifies all of the following:
a) Barriers to increased recycling of household hazardous
waste;
b) Disincentives to the legal disposal of household
hazardous waste;
c) The extent to which methods and programs have been
implemented in the state to reduce disincentives to the
legal disposal of household hazardous waste;
d) The role that convenience for the public plays in
increasing rates of collection and disposal of household
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hazardous waste in a safe and legal manner; and,
e) Recommendations to increase the safe, legal, and
convenient collection and disposal of household hazardous
waste.
3)Requires that CalRecycle review HHWME submitted by local
agencies to insure that the HHW plan will give priority to
those methods that make recycling and disposal of household
hazardous waste convenient for the public.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires cities and counties to prepare, adopt, and submit to
CalRecycle a HHWME plan which identifies a program for the
safe collection, recycling, treatment, and disposal of
hazardous wastes that are generated by households within the
jurisdiction and provides a specific time frame for achieving
these objectives.
2)Requires the CalRecycle and the Department of Toxic Substance
Control to jointly maintain a database of all household
hazardous waste collection events, facilities, and programs
within the state and make that information available to the
public upon request.
3)Requires that each public agency responsible for household
hazardous waste (HHW) management shall ensure the amount of
material (in pounds) collected through their program during
the preceding reporting period (July 1 through June 30) is
reported to CalRecycle by October 1 each year. Additionally,
the Form 303 is specifically intended to fulfill the
countywide integrated waste management plan including the
HHWME reporting requirements.
FISCAL EFFECT : Not known.
COMMENTS :
Need for the bill : According to the author, "According to
several studies, convenience of a waste collection or recycling
program is a very important non-socioeconomic factor in
determining if an individual will recycle/sort materials, how
much they will recycle/sort, and how often they will recycle or
sort household waste. This bill will ensure that this important
variable is considered and prioritized when cities and counties
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prepare their household hazardous waste (HHW) management plans."
Background on HHW management and collection : HHW is hazardous
waste commonly generated by households and includes such
ubiquitous items as batteries, pesticides, electronics,
fluorescent lamps, used oil, solvents, and cleaners. If these
products are handled or disposed of incorrectly, they can pose a
threat to health and safety and the environment. When these
products are discarded, they become "household hazardous waste."
In California, it is illegal to dispose of HHW in the trash,
down the drain, or by abandonment. HHW needs to be disposed of
through a HHW program. While there are many different
approaches to the collection and management of HHW, all are
permitted by DTSC and most are operated by local jurisdictions.
Some private operators operate programs under contract with
local jurisdictions, including curbside and door-to-door
collection.
Types of household hazardous waste : Many common products that
used in daily lives contain potentially hazardous ingredients
and require special care when disposed of. It is illegal to
dispose of hazardous waste in the garbage, down storm drains, or
onto the ground. HHW are a wide range of products including:
lights bulbs, batteries, electronics, fluorescent lamps tubes,
mercury-containing items, electronic devices, acids, oxidizers,
pesticides, paints, solvents and other products that pose an
environmental threat.
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Household Hazardous Waste Management Element (HHWME). Cities
and counties are required to prepare, adopt, and submit to
CalRecycle, a HHWME which identifies a program for the safe
collection, recycling, treatment, and disposal of hazardous
wastes that are generated by households. The HHWE specifies how
household hazardous wastes generated by households within the
jurisdiction must be collected, treated, and disposed.
Each jurisdiction is required to prepare and implement HHWME
plans to source reduce and safely collect, recycle, treat, and
dispose of household hazardous wastes generated within the
jurisdiction and provides a specific time frame for achieving
these objectives.
An adequate HHWE contains an evaluation of the household
hazardous waste program alternatives considered for possible
local implementation. These alternatives can include periodic
community-wide or neighborhood collection, permanent drop-off
sites, mobile waste collection, curbside collection,
load-checking at solid waste facilities, and waste exchange,
reuse and recycling programs. Specificity of the alternatives
discussed is up to the discretion of the local jurisdiction.
However, the evaluation criteria selected by the local
jurisdiction shall be defined and the definition contained in
the context of the component.
Types of HHW collection programs :
1)Permanent Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facilities
(PHHWCFs). PHHWCFs are HHW collection facilities operated by
a public agency on a continuous, regular schedule and housed
in a permanent or semi-permanent structure at a fixed
location. The HHW collected at the PHHWCF can only be stored
at the facility for one year. Wastes are routinely taken for
recycling or disposal, and no wastes are allowed to remain at
the facility for more than one year after the date of
collection. These facilities are authorized under Permit by
Rule (PBR) by the local jurisdiction, according to regulatory
standards adopted by DTSC.
2)Curbside Collection. Curbside HHW collection programs may be
operated by public agencies to collect one or more of the
following types of HHW: used oil and filters, latex paint,
batteries, electronic wastes, and cell phones. Curbside
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collection programs require authorization and are operated
according to the requirements established in the HHW law.
3)Door-to-Door/Residential Collections. Residential
(door-to-door) HHW collection programs are a subset of the HHW
program and are operated by public agencies to collect
household hazardous wastes directly from individual
residences. Business waste, even that generated by a
home-based business, may not be collected by a door-to-door
program. The collected wastes are then transported to an
authorized HHW collection facility. Wastes to be collected by
a door-to-door program must be kept in a secure environment by
the resident and may not be left where there may be access by
the public, such as the sidewalk or curbside.
Convenience standard : The goal of AB 2371 is to recognize that
effective HHW collection programs need to be convenient in order
to be effective. Generally convenience is one of the key
elements in the willingness and ability of consumers to recycle
waste. AB 2371 fails to provide clarity or direction to the
local or state agencies on how to evaluate the acceptability of
the program. To clarify the convenience standard the author may
wish to adopt the following definition of convenience:
"For purposes of this act, 'convenience' means measures to
improve the opportunity for residential consumers to
properly recycle or dispose of household hazardous waste,
including, but not limited to, increased availability or
ease of access to household hazardous waste collection
centers or collection events, the availability of
door-to-door or curbside collection services, and other
measures which will demonstratively increase the amount of
household hazardous waste properly managed as determined by
jurisdictions or CalRecycle pursuant to this act."
Prior Related Legislation :
SB 456 (Huff) - Chapter 602, Statures of 2011, allows HHW
generated in door-to-door collection to be sent to a waste
transfer station.
Double referred : This bill has been double referred to the
Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee and
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the Assembly Local Government Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Waste Management
Opposition
None Received.
Analysis Prepared by : Bob Fredenburg / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965