AB 792 — Recycling: plastic containers: minimum recycled content and labeling.

Summary

(1) Existing law, the California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act, requires every beverage container sold or offered for sale in this state to have a minimum refund value. Under the act, the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery is required to calculate a processing fee for each beverage container with a specified scrap value, which is required to be paid by beverage manufacturers for each beverage container sold or transferred to a distributor or dealer. The department is required to calculate the processing fee in a specified manner so that the actual processing fee generally equals 65% of the processing payment that the department is required to pay to processors if the scrap value of the container having a refund value pursuant to the act is less than the cost of recycling. Existing law provides that a violation of the act or a regulation adopted pursuant to the act is a crime. This bill, on and after January 1, 2021, would require the total number of plastic beverage containers filled with a beverage by a beverage manufacturer, as specified, to contain, on average, specified amounts of postconsumer recycled plastic content per year pursuant to a tiered plan that would require the total number of plastic beverage containers to contain, on average, no less than 50% postconsumer recycled plastic content per year on and after January 1, 2030, except as specified. The bill would impose civil penalties, in specified amounts, on a beverage manufacturer for a violation of these requirements, except as specified. The bill would authorize the department to enforce these provisions and would authorize the department to conduct audits and investigations of a beverage manufacturer for the purpose of ensuring compliance. The bill would exempt from the California Public Records Act information resulting from those audits and investigations. The bill would require penalties collected to be deposited in the Recycling Enhancement Penalty Account, which the bill would create. The bill would require moneys in the Recycling Enhancement Penalty Account to be expended upon appropriation for the sole purpose of supporting the recycling, infrastructure, collection, and processing of plastic beverage containers in this state. The bill would require the department to contract with a research university for a specified study and would authorize the department to allocate moneys from the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund, upon appropriation, for the study. The bill would require the study to be completed by May 1, 2025. The bill would prohibit a city, county, or other local government jurisdiction from adopting an ordinance regulating the minimum recycled plastic content requirements for plastic beverage containers. Because a violation of these provisions would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) The act requires the department to pay a market development payment to a reclaimer, as defined, for empty plastic beverage containers that have been collected for recycling in the state, and that the reclaimer washes and processes into flake, pellet, sheet, or any other form that is then usable as input for the manufacture of new plastic products, as defined, by product manufacturers in the state. The act also requires the department to pay a market development payment to a product manufacturer, as defined, for plastic flake, pellet, sheet, or any other form of plastic purchased from a reclaimer and used by that product manufacturer to manufacture a plastic product in the state. The act makes these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2022. This bill, for when the department is determining which entity to make a market development payment to, would require the department to prioritize allocations that increase the collection, production, procurement, and usage of beverage-grade recycling plastic in beverage containers, as specified. (3) Existing law requires a manufacturer of a beverage sold in a plastic beverage container subject to the California Redemption Value, as specified, to annually report to the department the amount of virgin plastic and postconsumer recycled plastic used by the manufacturer for plastic beverage containers subject to the California Redemption Value for sale in the state in the previous calendar year. This bill would require, beginning March 1, 2020, and annually thereafter, a plastic material reclaimer to report to the department, under penalty of perjury, the number of empty plastic beverage containers, as specified, that the plastic material reclaimer has collected and sold in the previous calendar year. The bill also would require, beginning March 1, 2020, and annually thereafter, a manufacturer of postconsumer recycled plastic to report to the department, under penalty of perjury, the amount in pounds of "food-grade" flake, pellet, sheet, fines, or other forms that were sold in the previous calendar year and their capacity to produce "food-grade" material, as specified. By requiring that the information be submitted under penalty of perjury, this bill would expand the crime of perjury and impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the department to post on its internet website, beginning July 1, 2020, a specified summary annually, and, beginning September 1, 2020, a specified analysis biennially. (4) Existing law requires all rigid plastic bottles and rigid plastic containers sold in the state to be labeled with a code indicating the resin used to produce the rigid plastic bottle or rigid plastic container. This bill would specify that the above labeling requirement does not apply to rigid plastic containers or rigid plastic bottles that are medical devices, medical products that are required to be sterile, prescription medicine, and packaging used for those products. (5) Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. 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. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Bill Text

• Enrolled 09/20/19 - Enrolled Current pdf September 20, 2019
• Amended 09/10/19 - Amended Senate pdf September 10, 2019
• Amended 09/06/19 - Amended Senate pdf September 06, 2019
• Amended 08/30/19 - Amended Senate pdf August 30, 2019
• Amended 07/05/19 - Amended Senate pdf July 05, 2019
• Amended 06/20/19 - Amended Senate pdf June 20, 2019
• Amended 05/17/19 - Amended Assembly pdf May 17, 2019
• Amended 04/11/19 - Amended Assembly pdf April 11, 2019
• Amended 03/21/19 - Amended Assembly pdf March 21, 2019
• Introduced 02/20/19 - Introduced pdf February 20, 2019
• AB792 View text html

Action History

1. January 21, 2020

   Consideration of Governor's veto stricken from file.

2. October 12, 2019

   Vetoed by Governor.

3. September 26, 2019

   Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.

4. September 14, 2019

   Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 60. Noes 12. Page 3610.).

5. September 14, 2019

   In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.

6. September 13, 2019

   Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 31. Noes 7. Page 2947.).

7. September 11, 2019

   Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

8. September 10, 2019

   Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

9. September 09, 2019

   Joint Rule 61 suspended. (Ayes 29. Noes 7. Page 2690.)

10. September 09, 2019

    Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

11. September 06, 2019

    Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

12. September 03, 2019

    Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

13. August 30, 2019

    Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading.

14. August 30, 2019

    From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 1.) (August 30).

15. August 12, 2019

    In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file.

16. July 05, 2019

    Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

17. July 03, 2019

    From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 1.) (July 3).

18. June 20, 2019

    From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on EQ.

19. June 06, 2019

    Referred to Com. on EQ.

20. May 24, 2019

    In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.

21. May 23, 2019

    Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 50. Noes 15. Page 1876.)

22. May 20, 2019

    Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

23. May 17, 2019

    Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading.

24. May 17, 2019

    From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 13. Noes 4.) (May 16).

25. May 01, 2019

    In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.

26. April 22, 2019

    Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

27. April 11, 2019

    Read second time and amended.

28. April 10, 2019

    From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 8. Noes 1.) (April 8).

29. March 25, 2019

    Re-referred to Com. on NAT. RES.

30. March 21, 2019

    From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on NAT. RES. Read second time and amended.

31. March 21, 2019

    Referred to Com. on NAT. RES.

32. February 21, 2019

    From printer. May be heard in committee March 23.

33. February 20, 2019

    Read first time. To print.

Sponsors

• Ting · Primary
• Jacqui Irwin · Cosponsor
• Skinner · Cosponsor
• Scott D. Wiener · Cosponsor
• Mark Stone · Cosponsor

Votes

Subjects