Bill Text: CA AB1699 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Waste management: synthetic plastic microbeads.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-08-28 - Ordered to inactive file at the request of Senator Jackson. [AB1699 Detail]

Download: California-2013-AB1699-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 1699	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 12, 2014
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 22, 2014
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 28, 2014

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Bloom
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Nestande and Stone)

                        FEBRUARY 13, 2014

   An act to add Chapter 5.9 (commencing with Section 42360) to Part
3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, relating to waste
management.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   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,
  2018,  a person in the course of doing business,
as defined, from selling or offering for promotional purposes in this
state any personal care product containing microplastic, as
specified. The bill would  provide an exception to the above
provision for  exempt from this prohibition  the
sale or promotional offer of a product containing less than 1 part
per million (ppm) by weight of microplastic, as provided.
   The bill would make a violator liable for 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 provided. The bill would require the civil penalties
collected in an action brought pursuant to the act to be retained by
the office of the Attorney General or local official who 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:

  SECTION 1.  Chapter 5.9 (commencing with Section 42360) is added to
Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, to read:
      CHAPTER 5.9.  MICROPLASTIC NUISANCE PREVENTION LAW


   42360.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
   (a) Plastic does not biodegrade like other organic materials, but,
upon exposure to the  elements   elements,
 photodegrades into smaller  pieces  
pieces,  causing land and water pollution that is virtually
impossible to remediate.
   (b) Plastic pollution is the dominant type of anthropogenic debris
found throughout the marine environment.
   (c) Plastic pollution is an environmental and human health hazard
and a public nuisance.
   (d) Consumer personal care products such as facial scrubs, soaps,
and toothpaste increasingly contain thousands of microplastic
particles, ranging from 50 to 500 microns, which are flushed down
drains as part of their intended use.
   (e) Microplastics in personal care products are not recoverable
through ordinary wastewater treatment and so are released into the
environment.
   (f) Microplastics of the size found in  cleaning and
 personal care products are ingested by marine organisms.
   (g) Microplastics attract other pollutants commonly present in the
environment, many of which are recognized to have serious
deleterious impacts on human health or the environment, including
DDT, DDE, PCBs, and flame-retardants.
   (h) Microplastics have been found in surface waters within the
United States, as well as in fish, marine mammals, and reptiles, and
in the digestive and circulatory systems of mussels and worms.
   (i) PAHs, PCBs, and PBDEs from plastic transfer to fish tissue
during digestion and bioaccumulate, resulting in liver damage.
   (j) Fish that humans consume have been found to ingest
microplastics.
   (k) There are many biodegradable, natural alternatives to
microplastics that are economically feasible, as evidenced by their
current use in some consumer personal care products.
   42361.  As used in this chapter, the following terms have the
following meanings: 
   (a) "Department" means the Department of Resources Recycling and
Recovery.  
   (b) 
    (a)  "Microplastic" means any plastic size 5 millimeter
or less in all dimensions. 
   (c) 
    (b)  "Person" means an individual, trust, firm, joint
stock company, corporation, company, partnership, limited liability
company, and association. 
   (d) 
    (c)  "Personal care products" means mixtures and
solutions used for bathing and facial or body cleaning, including,
but not limited to, hand and body soap, exfoliates, shampoos,
toothpastes, and scrubs. 
   (e) 
    (d)  "Person in the course of doing business" does not
include any person employing fewer than 10 employees in his or her
business; any city, county, or district or any department or agency
thereof or the state or any department or agency thereof or the
federal government or any department or agency thereof; or any entity
in its operation of a public water system. 
   (f) 
    (e)  "Plastic" means a synthetic material made from
linking monomers through a chemical reaction to create a polymer
chain that can be molded or extruded at high heat into various forms.
Plastics can be made from many organic substances, including
petroleum and natural gas.
   42362.  On or after January 1,  2016,   2018,
 a person in the course of doing business shall not sell or
offer for promotional purposes in this state any personal care
products containing microplastic.
   42363.  Section 42362 shall not apply to any person in the course
of doing business that sells or offers for promotional purposes a
personal care product containing microplastic in less than 1 part per
million (ppm) by weight.
   42364.  (a) A person who violates or threatens to violate Section
42362 may be enjoined in any court of competent jurisdiction.
   (b) (1) A person who violates Section 42362 is liable for a civil
penalty not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per
day for each violation in addition to any other penalty established
by law. That civil penalty may be assessed and recovered in a civil
action brought in any court of competent jurisdiction.
   (2) In assessing the amount of a civil penalty for a violation of
this chapter, the court shall consider all of the following:
   (A) The nature and extent of the violation.
   (B) The number of, and severity of, the violations.
   (C) The economic effect of the penalty on the person.
   (D) Whether the person took good faith measures to comply with
this chapter and the time these measures were taken.
   (E) The deterrent effect that the imposition of the penalty would
have on both the person and the regulated community as a whole.
   (F) Any other factor that justice may require.
   (c) Actions pursuant to this section may be brought by the
Attorney General in the name of the people of the state, by a
district attorney, by a city attorney of a city having a population
in excess of 750,000 persons, or, with the consent of the district
attorney, by a city prosecutor in a city or city and county having a
full-time city prosecutor.
   42367.  The civil penalties collected pursuant to Section 42364
shall be retained by the office of the city attorney, city
prosecutor, district attorney, or Attorney General, whichever office
brought the action.
   42368.  This chapter does not alter or diminish any legal
obligation otherwise required in common law or by statute or
regulation, and this chapter does not create or enlarge any defense
in any action to enforce the legal obligation. Penalties and
sanctions imposed under this chapter shall be in addition to any
penalties or sanctions otherwise prescribed by law.