Bill Text: CA AB19 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Greenhouse gas emissions: consumer product labeling.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2009-08-27 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB19 Detail]
Download: California-2009-AB19-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 19 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 4, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Ruskin
DECEMBER 1, 2008
An act to add Division 27.5 (commencing with Section 44570) to the
Health and Safety Code, relating to product labeling.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 19, as amended, Ruskin. Greenhouse gas emissions: consumer
product labeling.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the
State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with
monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases
that cause global warming in order to reduce emissions of greenhouse
gases.
This bill would enact the Carbon Labeling Act of 2009. The act
would require the state board to develop and implement a program for
the voluntary assessment, verification, and standardized labeling of
the carbon footprint, as defined, of consumer products sold in this
state.
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. Division 27.5 (commencing with Section 44570) is added
to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
DIVISION 27.5. The Carbon Labeling Act of 2009
CHAPTER 1. TITLE
44570. This division shall be known, and may be cited as, the
Carbon Labeling Act of 2009.
CHAPTER 2. FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS
44571. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Global warming poses a serious threat to the economic
well-being, public health, natural resources, and the environment of
California.
(b) The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division
25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) provides a regulatory framework
to establish and enforce greenhouse gas emission reductions.
(c) Consumer choice can play a significant role in helping
California meet its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, but
only if consumers have usable and reliable information about the
greenhouse gas emissions resulting from their product choices.
(d) It has been estimated that household consumption of consumer
goods in the United States accounts for emissions of more than 15
metric tons of greenhouse gas equivalents, or about one-third of
total household emissions, per year.
(e) There are numerous attempts throughout the world to provide
product information to consumers, any of which are not regulated.
(f) The state should identify the best approach to standardizing
product labeling to help businesses and to provide accurate
information to consumers.
(g) The methodological and technical challenges of measuring
greenhouse gas emissions are already being addressed by researchers
in California and across the world. Converting these measurement
methods into a viable, practical greenhouse gas emission label
involves crafting a compromise solution that is both accurate and
precise, as well as feasible for producers to implement.
(h) The development of a voluntary carbon or greenhouse gas
emissions labeling program for consumer products can harness the
power of the marketplace to create incentives for manufacturers to
innovate and compete to reduce the carbon footprint of their
products.
CHAPTER 3. DEFINITIONS
44572. As used in this division the following terms have the
following meanings:
(a) "Carbon footprint" means the total amount of emissions of
greenhouse gas gases , as defined in
Section 38505, that occur as a result of a consumer
product's life cycle , or as determined by the state board
to best implement this division .
(b) "State board" means the State Air Resources Board.
(c) "Life cycle" includes a consumer product's emissions
boundaries such as raw material extraction, production, processing or
manufacturing, transportation, distribution, storing, consumer use,
and disposal.
CHAPTER 4. CARBON LABELING PROGRAM
44574. (a) The
(a) (1) In
furtherance of the goals and objectives of the California Global
Warming Solutions Act of 2006, the state board shall develop
and implement a program for the voluntary assessment, verification,
and labeling of the carbon footprint of consumer products sold in
this state. In order to create As part of
this program, the state board shall establish standard
methodologies adopt protocols for assessing,
verifying, and labeling the carbon footprint of a consumer
product. The state board shall only include a product category in a
standard if it determines that it is feasible and practical to do so.
The state board may choose to adopt a methodology for a single
product category before expanding the scope of the adopted standard
to other product categories. footprint of a consumer
product in order to provide a consumer with the information necessary
to reliably compare greenhouse gas emissions of different consumer
products within or across a product category.
(2) The state board shall only develop a protocol if it determines
that it is feasible and practical to do so.
(3) In determining which protocols to develop, the state board may
use the following criteria:
(A) The total life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of a consumer
product or consumer product category.
(B) The emissions impact of a consumer product category in
California.
(C) The size or growth of the consumer product market.
(b) The program shall do both of the following:
(1) Allow a consumer product manufacturer or distributor
, on a voluntary basis, to determine the carbon footprint of
the consume r product by applying the
criteria and standards protocol developed by the
state board, and to include that information on the consumer
product, product packaging, and
Internet Web site, product manual, or product advertising,
consistent with the labeling standards developed by the state board.
(2) Develop a standardized, easily understandable, label that
communicates to consumers relevant information about the carbon
footprint of a consumer product. The label may
shall only be issued to a company that meets , and
continues to meet for the life of a label, all of the
obligations of the adopted standard protocol
for measuring a product's carbon footprint. The state
board may specify a maximum life of a label in order to
capture potential changes in emissions associated with evolving
supply chains, technology, or other considerations.
(c) The state board may use data from outside sources to develop
the standards required to be created by subdivision (a)
protocols , including the use of existing models
and labels other carbon labeling standards
. In order to minimize costs for manufacturers or
distributors, the state board shall consider aligning any
protocols with other carbon labeling standards. The state board
may consult with academics and research institutions,
representatives of consumer product manufacturers, consumer groups,
and environmental groups, and conduct public hearings and workshops,
to inform the development of the standards
protocols required to be established pursuant to subdivision
(a).
(d) (1) The state board shall determine the appropriate boundaries
in determining and assessing the carbon footprint of a consumer
product, which may include raw material extraction, production
processing or manufacturing, transportation, distribution, consumer
use, and disposal. The state board may vary these boundaries by
product category.
(2) The state board may develop a hybrid life cycle analysis
methodology standard by relying on company measurements of energy
use, other greenhouse gas emission sources, and national averages, or
other available information for determining the carbon footprint.
(d) (1) The state board shall determine the appropriate life cycle
boundaries in determining and assessing the carbon footprint of a
consumer product. Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the state board
may vary these boundaries, or exclude a boundary, by product category
as it deems reasonable and necessary, but shall strive to ensure
consistency and comparability between consumer product categories.
(2) The state board may develop a carbon footprint protocol that
is based on a combination of life cycle assessment methodologies by
relying on company measurements of energy use, fuel consumption, and
other direct contributions to greenhouse gas emissions, and secondary
or noncompany specific sources of greenhouse gas emissions for
consumer product inputs or raw materials provided by company
suppliers.
(e) If the state board determines that feasible measurement
methodologies are not sufficiently accurate to allow for direct
comparisons of the carbon footprint of two like products within a
product category, the state board may elect to develop
standards consumer product category, the state board
may develop protocols for communicating any or all
of the following:
(1) The average greenhouse gas emissions in a consumer
product category in order to allow consumers to compare across
categories.
(2) Whether a consumer product has a lower carbon
footprint than the average comparable consumer product
available in that category.
(3) A specific carbon footprint score that delineates the range of
error produced by the methodology protocols
.
44575. The state board may adopt standardized criteria for
third-party verification of the carbon footprint of a consumer
product, if the state board determines that this kind of verification
is necessary, or the state board may develop an alternative means of
ensuring compliance with the labeling standards created
protocols adopted pursuant to this chapter.
44576. The state board may contract for cost-effective services
necessary to implement this chapter.
44577. 44576. Consumer product
manufacturers that label their products in accordance with this
chapter shall be responsible for all costs related to the review and
validation of carbon label information required by the state board.
The state board may charge an application fee to participating
consumer product manufacturers to pay the costs of the program
established pursuant to this chapter.
