BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2371
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 2371 (Mullin)
As Amended April 21, 2014
Majority vote
ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 4-0 LOCAL GOVERNMENT
8-0
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Alejo, Bloom, Gomez, Ting |Ayes:|Achadjian, Levine, |
| | | |Bradford, Gordon, |
| | | |Melendez, Mullin, Rendon, |
| | | |Waldron |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
APPROPRIATIONS 16-0
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, | | |
| |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian | | |
| |Calderon, Campos, Eggman, | | |
| |Gomez, Holden, Jones, | | |
| |Linder, Pan, Quirk, | | |
| |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, | | |
| |Weber | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY : Requires local governments to update the 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,
AB 2371
Page 2
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 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.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee,
this bill would increase one-time costs to CalRecycle of up to
$500,000 to conduct the study and evaluate each jurisdiction's
updated HHWME (Integrated Waste Management Fund).
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
AB 2371
Page 3
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 prepare their
household hazardous waste (HHW) management plans.
"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.
Many common products 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.
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 Household Hazardous Waste
Element (HHWE) specifies how household hazardous wastes generated by
households within the jurisdiction must be collected, treated, and
disposed.
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.
Analysis Prepared by : Bob Fredenburg / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
AB 2371
Page 4
319-3965 FN: 0003669