2008 State Legislation

Congratulations, CPSC and Associates! Every bill position we took was adopted!

Approved

• AB 2347, Ruskin - Recycling Mercury Thermostats: SUPPORT

  AB2347 establishes a shared responsibility program for recycling of mercury thermostats and relieves pressure on cash-strapped local governments. This bill takes an extended producer responsibility approach for establishing effective mercury recycling collection programs, allows Californians to return waste thermostats to retail locations that sell new ones, establishes convenient collection sites for contractors, and requires companies that produce thermostats to fund the recycling program.

  • AB 2347 Fact sheet 8/20/08
  • How they voted 8/20/08
    
  • California Retailers Association urges Governor to sign AB2347 9/10/08
  • Sierra Club Hails Thermostat Recycling Law AB2347 as Model 10/20/08
  • DTSC Lauds New Mercury Thermostat Recycling Law 10/20/08
  • AB2347 press conference, Palo Alto Water Treatment Facility 10/20/08
  • CPSC Announces a New Law to Provide Free Mercury Thermostat Recycling 10/21/08
    

• AB 1879, Feuer & Huffman - Green Chemistry Program: SUPPORT

  
  

• Green Chemistry Bill Becomes Law 9/29/08
  
• Watch Governor's video statement on Green Chemistry
• AB 1879, Green Chemistry/Product Take-Back, Bill Text 8/20/08
  
• Sierra Club Supports AB 1879 8/18/08
  
• CPSC - Strong Support for AB 1879 8/18/08
  
  
• AB 1860, Huffman - Recalled Products: SUPPORT

Remember the "toxic lunch box" debacle? A state agency purchased thousands of lunch boxes to promote healthy school lunches, but found out the imported items had been screen printed with lead paint. The lunch boxes had already been distributed in many California communities and had to be collected and disposed of as hazardous waste. This bill would protect consumers when a product is recalled. It will require retailers to remove dangerous products from store shelves. It creates a system to protect consumers past the point of sale, prohibits the sale of recalled products, imposes fines against those who sell recalled products, requires recalled products to be either retrofitted or properly disposed of, and establishes a notification system for past and present consumers.


• AB 1109, Huffman - CA Lighting Efficiency and Toxics Reduction Act

  AB1109, California's Lighting Efficiency and Toxics Reduction Act, called for a stakeholder task force to develop recommendations for the collection and recycling of spent fluorescent bulbs in California. Read the full report below:
  

  • Taskforce releases AB1109 Report 9/1/08
  • CPSC support letter 3/30/07
  • Huffman Fact Sheet For legislative updates, go to Californians Against Waste

Vetoed

• AB 501, Swanson - Pre-filled Sharps: SUPPORT IF AMENDED

  This bill has been vetoed by the Governor! In a statement released September 29th, 2008, the Governor states

"While I support the safe and proper disposal of home-generated sharps waste, this bill only applies to the disposal of prefilled injection devices......This problem requires a solution that must be shared among all the stakeholders, not just the manufacturers of one type of device."

In his press release, the Governor pointed out that AB501 is not inclusive of all types of Sharps, requires the consumer to request the manufacturer to take back the product, and provides options to the manufacturers that will likely reduce the efficacy of the bill. Further, he stated that AB501 does not make clear who will bear the burden of cost.


• Read the full press release
  
• More about the bill in the bill's analysis .