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

California Assembly Bill 1699 (Prior Session Legislation)

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

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

BILL NUMBER: AB 1699	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

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

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Bloom
   (  Coauthor:   Assembly Member 
 Nestande   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, a person in the
course of doing business, as defined, from selling or offering for
promotional purposes in this state any  cleaning product,
personal care product, or both   personal care product
 containing microplastic, as specified. The bill would provide
an exception to the above provision for 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.  
   The bill would require the Department of Resources Recycling and
Recovery to administer and implement these provisions and would
authorize the department to adopt and modify regulations as necessary
to further the purposes of this act.  
   The bill would establish the Plastic Pollution Fund in the State
Treasury. The bill would authorize the department to expend the
funds, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to implement and
administer the act by, among other things, providing grants to local
governments or other entities. The bill would require 50% of all
civil penalties collected pursuant to the act, and any interest
earned on the money in the fund, to be deposited into the fund. The
bill would require 50% of all civil penalties collected in an action
pursuant to the act to be paid to 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 photodegrades into smaller 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) "Cleaning products, personal care products, or both" means
mixtures and solutions used for bathing and cleaning, including, but
not limited to, hand and body soap, exfoliates, shampoos,
toothpastes, and scrubs.  
   (c) 
    (b)  "Microplastic" means any plastic size 5 millimeter
or less in all dimensions. 
   (d) 
    (c)  "Person" means an individual, trust, firm, joint
stock company, corporation, company, partnership, limited liability
company, and association. 
   (d) "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) "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) "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, a person in the course of
doing business shall not sell or offer for promotional purposes in
this state any  cleaning products,  personal care
 products, or both   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
 cleaning product,  personal care  product,
or both   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. 
   42365.  The department shall administer and implement this
chapter. The department may adopt and modify regulations as necessary
to implement and further the purposes of this chapter. 

   42366.  (a) The Plastic Pollution Fund is hereby established in
the State Treasury. The department may expend the funds in the
Plastic Pollution Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to
implement and administer this chapter by directly expending those
funds, by transferring those funds to other state agencies, or by
providing grants to local governments or other entities deemed
eligible by the department, including, but not limited to,
nongovernmental organizations and the California Conservation Corps.
   (b) In addition to any other moneys that may be deposited in the
Plastic Pollution Fund, all of the following amounts shall be
deposited in the fund:
   (1) Fifty percent of all civil penalties collected pursuant to
Section 42364.
   (2) Any interest earned upon the money deposited into the Plastic
Pollution Fund. 
   42367.   Fifty percent of all   The 
civil penalties collected pursuant to Section 42364 shall be 
paid to   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  nothing in  this chapter 
shall   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.