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2020 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATION

2020

​​AB 995, Hazardous Waste. Assembly Member Garcia (D- Downey). SUPPORT. VETOED BY GOV ON 9/29/20.

This bill would create the Board of Environmental Safety in the California Environmental Protection Agency and require the board to conduct no less than 6 public meetings per year. The bill would provide for the duties of the board, which would include, among others, reviewing specified policies, processes, and programs within the hazardous waste control laws; proposing statutory, regulatory, and policy changes; and hearing and deciding appeals of hazardous waste facility permit decisions and establish an office of ombudsperson to receive complaints and suggestions from the public. This bill would require the department to review, at least once every 5 years, the financial assurances required to operate a hazardous waste facility and the cost estimates used to establish the amount of financial assurances required. The bill would require the department, no later than 90 days after receiving an application for a hazardous waste facilities permit, to post on its internet website a timeline with the estimated dates of key milestones in the application review process. This bill would repeal the provision making implementation of the act contingent upon, and limited to, the availability of funding on January 1, 2023.

  • Current Status:

    • This is a two-year bill​.

    • Referred to Senate Floor to be heard on TBD.

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AB 1080, California Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act.  Assembly Members Gonzalez, Calderon, Friedman, and Ting. SUPPORT. FAILED TO PASS.

This bill would enact the California Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act, which establish the policy goal of the state that, by 2030, manufacturers and retailers achieve a 75% reduction of the waste generated from single-use packaging and products offered for sale or sold in the state through source reduction, recycling, or composting.

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AB 1171, Solid waste: food packaging material: local regulation.  Assembly Member Chen (D-Brea). OPPOSE. DIED ON 1/31/20.

This bill would prohibit a city, county, city and county, or other local public agency from requiring a grocery store, as defined, to use a certain type of food packaging for any food sold in the grocery store unless the majority of residential households within the jurisdiction of the local agency have access to a curbside program that accepts the material from which that food packaging is made. The bill would prohibit those local agencies from prohibiting a grocery store from using a certain type of food packaging for any food sold in the grocery store if a majority of residential households within the jurisdiction of the local agency have access to a curbside program that accepts the material from which that food packaging is made. The bill would require a local agency, if it requires a grocery store to use a certain type of food packaging, to identify the type of food packaging using standardized specifications, active at the time of the enactment of the requirement, from an established national or international organization, as provided.

  • CPSC opposes this bill.

  • Current Status:

    • This is a two-year bill.

    • Died on 1/31/20 - Did not get out of the House of origin.

 

AB 1509, Lithium Ion Batteries.  Assembly Member Mullin (D-San Mateo).  CO-SPONSORED BY CPSC, SBWMA, AND CAW. FAILED TO PASS.

This bill would establish the lithium-ion battery recycling program in CalRecycle and would authorize a retailer to achieve the recycling rates for covered battery-embedded products through a take-back program or other specified mechanism.

 

AB 1672, Solid Waste:  premoistened nonwoven disposable wipes.  Assembly Member Bloom (D-Santa Monica). CO-SPONSORED BY CASA AND NSAC. SUPPORT. FAILED TO PASS.

This bill would require, commencing January 1, 2021, except as provided, certain nonwoven disposal products to be labeled clearly and conspicuously to communicate that they should not be flushed, as specified. The bill would prohibit a covered entity, as defined, from making a representation about the flushable attributes, benefits, performance, or efficacy of those nonwoven disposal products, as provided. The bill would establish enforcement provisions, including authorizing a civil penalty not to exceed $2,500 per violation to be imposed on a person who violates the bill’s provisions.

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AB 1952, Microfiber Filters. Assembly Member Stone (D- Santa Cruz). SUPPORT. FAILED TO PASS.

This bill, beginning January 1, 2022, would require all washing machines owned or operated by a state entity, as defined, to include a microfiber filter, and would require state entities to install a microfiber filter on any washing machines owned or operated by the state entity before January 1, 2022. The bill, beginning January 1, 2022, would require every contract entered into, renewed, or extended by a state entity for laundry services to require the washing machines used to contain microfiber filters or to have filters installed on all drain lines, and would require the Department of General Services to adopt regulations for these purposes before January 1, 2022.

  • Current Status:

    • Referred to the Committee on Accountability and Administrative Review on 2/6/20​ to be heard TBD.

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AB 1989, Menstrual Products Right to Know. Assembly Member Garcia (D- Downey). WATCHING. SIGNED INTO LAW 9/29/20.

This bill would require a package or box containing menstrual products that was manufactured for sale or distribution in this state on or after January 1, 2023, to have printed on the label a plain and conspicuous list of all ingredients in the product, by weight. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

  • Current Status:

    • Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 38. Noes 0.).

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AB 2287, Plastic Product Compostability Certification. Assembly Member Eggman (D- Stockton). SIGNED INTO LAW 9/29/20. 

This bill would authorize CalRecycle to issue guidelines for determining whether a plastic product is not compliant with these labeling requirements, and whether a plastic product is designed, pigmented, or advertised in a manner that is misleading to consumers. The bill would authorize the director to adopt a specified standard for biodegradable mulch film plastic and would authorize the sale of commercial agricultural mulch film, as defined, labeled with the term “soil biodegradable” only if the commercial agricultural mulch film meets, and the director adopts, that specified standard. The bill would authorize the Department to adopt regulations for plastic product labeling to ensure that plastic products labeled “compostable,” “home compostable,” or “marine degradable” are clearly distinguishable upon quick inspection by consumers and solid waste processing facilities. The bill would update the name of a specified certification for home compost and the name of the organization that developed that certification and would make other conforming changes.

  • Current Status:

    • Referred to Senate Floor to be heard on TBD.

 

AB 2762, Cosmetics: Safety. Assembly Member Muratsuchi (D- Los Angeles). SUPPORT. SIGNED INTO LAW 9/30/20.

This bill would additionally prescribe that a cosmetic is adulterated if it contains any of several specified intentionally added ingredients or another chemical identified by the department, except under specified circumstances. This bill would specify that it is a violation of the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law to fail to comply with guidelines or instructions issued by the division to implement the act. 

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SB 54, California Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act.  Senator Allen (D-Los Angeles). SUPPORT. FAILED TO PASS.

This bill would enact the California Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act, which establish the policy goal of the state that, by 2030, manufacturers and retailers achieve a 75% reduction of the waste generated from single-use packaging and products offered for sale or sold in the state through source reduction, recycling, or composting.

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SB 312, Cosmetics: right to know. Senator Leyva (D- Chino). SUPPORT. SIGNED INTO LAW 9/30/20.

This bill would, commencing January 1, 2022, require a manufacturer of a cosmetic product sold in the state to disclose to the Division of Environmental and Occupational Disease Control a list of each fragrance ingredient or flavor ingredient that is included on a designated list and a list of each fragrance allergen that is present in the cosmetic product in specified concentrations. The bill would require the division to post on its existing database of cosmetic product information a list of those fragrance ingredients and flavor ingredients in the cosmetic product and its associated health hazards. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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SB 372, Single-use plastic products: extended producer responsibility.  Senator Wieckowski (D-Fremont). DIED ON SENATE FLOOR.

This bill requires distributors of beverage containers to form a stewardship organization to develop and submit a plan and budget for the recovery and recycling of empty beverage containers similar to that described in the Used Mattress Recovery and Recycling Act, and would require a stewardship fee to be paid by distributor members of the organization, to assist in covering the costs of implementing the program, reimburse the department for the department’s costs of enforcement, and face administrative civil penalties for a violation.

 

SB 424, Tobacco products: single-use and multi-use components (Tobacco Waste).  Senator Jackson (D-Santa Barbara).  SPONSORED BY NSAC. SUPPORT. FAILED TO PASS.

This bill would prohibit a person or entity from selling, giving, or furnishing to another person of any age in this state a cigarette utilizing a single-use filter made of any material, an attachable and single-use plastic device meant to facilitate manual manipulation or filtration of a tobacco product, and a single-use electronic cigarette or vaporizer device.  This bill would also prohibit that selling, giving, or furnishing, whether conducted directly or indirectly through an in-person transaction, or by means of any public or private method of shipment or delivery to an address in this state.

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SB 1152, Solar panels: disposal: labeling. Senator Skinner (D-Berkeley). SPONSORING. FAILED TO PASS.

This bill would require, on and after January 1, 2023, a manufacturer of a solar panel sold in California to include a permanently affixed label that provides information necessary to facilitate proper disposal or recycling of the solar panel at the end of its useful life. The bill would require the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and the Public Utilities Commission, to develop regulations implementing that labeling requirement, as provided.

  • Current status:

    • Referred to the Senate Committee on Rules, hearing date TBD.

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SB 1156, Lithium-ion batteries: illegal disposal. Senator Archuleta (D- Los Angeles). SUPPORT. FAILED TO PASS.

This bill would prohibit a person from knowingly disposing of a lithium-ion battery in a container that is intended for the collection of solid waste or recyclable materials, unless the container or receptacle is designated for the collection of batteries for recycling. The bill would require CalRecycle, after January 1, 2022, and in consultation with DTSC, to develop a guidance document relating to the proper handling and disposal of lithium-ion batteries and products that contain lithium-ion batteries. The bill would require the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in consultation with relevant state agencies and stakeholders, to develop a model protocol and training that identifies best practices for the detection, safe handling, and suppression of fires that originate from discarded lithium-ion batteries or products that contain lithium-ion batteries on or in solid waste or recycling collection vehicles, transfer or processing stations, or disposal facilities, as provided. The bill would require a solid waste enterprise, as defined after consulting with the county fire marshal of every county in which the solid waste enterprise conducts solid waste collection operations, to adopt a protocol identifying procedures to follow under those same circumstances. By imposing new duties on county fire marshals, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

General Info

GENERAL INFO

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