Bill Text: CA SB665 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

California Senate Bill 665

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

Bill Title: Plastic waste: single-use plastics alternatives: working group.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2024-01-25 - Veto sustained. [SB665 Detail]

Download: California-2023-SB665-Amended.html

Amended IN Senate May 18, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 665

Introduced by Senator Allen

February 16, 2023

An act to add Chapter 6.3 (commencing with Section 42375) to Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, relating to solid waste.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 665, as amended, Allen. Plastic waste: single-use plastics alternatives: working group.

Existing law establishes the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, which covers certain single-use packaging and plastic single-use food service ware, as provided. As part of its comprehensive statutory scheme, the act requires the producers, as defined, of these covered materials to source reduce plastic covered material, to ensure that covered material offered for sale, distributed, or imported in or into the state on or after January 1, 2032, is recyclable or compostable, and to ensure that plastic covered material offered for sale, distributed, or imported in or into the state meets specified recycling rates.

Existing law vests the California Environmental Protection Agency with authority over various environmental matters and various state agencies, including the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), the State Water Resources Control Board, the Department of Toxic Substances Control, and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. Existing law establishes the Ocean Protection Council to coordinate activities of state agencies that are related to, among other things, assisting CalRecycle’s adoption of regulations to establish a process, and develop criteria, for determining the types of food service packaging that are reusable, recyclable, or compostable.

This bill would require the California Environmental Protection Agency, by January 1, 2025, to establish a working group of the above-referenced state agencies to establish a framework for evaluating novel material types as they are ~~developed~~ developed, in order to inform state policy ~~decisions,~~ decisions designed to create a more sustainable and circular economy, as provided. The bill would require the working group to, among other things, develop recommendations related to novel material types, including the appropriate marketing of the material, the handling of the material at the end of its useful life, and how the material needs to be treated in relation to existing state policies, rules, and regulations.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) In 2022, the California Legislature passed and the Governor signed Senate Bill 54, the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act that requires producers of single-use packaging and single-use plastic food service ware to take responsibility for the end-of-life management of the material they put into the marketplace. Among the requirements of that act is a mandate on producers to reduce the amount of single-use plastic they use by 25 percent by 2032. One pathway to accomplishing this goal is to shift from single-use plastic material to alternatives that are reusable, recyclable, or compostable. Innovative companies are already researching and developing alternative materials that can provide the same functionality as single-use plastics without some or all of negative impacts traditional plastics have on human health and the environment.

(2) Jurisdictions outside of California have also put in place producer mandates aimed to reduce the amount of traditional single-use plastics. Many policies promote or require the use of biodegradable biobased materials as a replacement for nonbiodegradable petroleum-based single-use ~~plastic.~~ plastic and companies are responding by making products like straws, cutlery, and packaging that is designed to break down naturally.

(3) As companies innovate to meet these requirements, the alternatives they produce will have different benefits and ~~impacts.~~ impacts, and may be more costly to produce. Some materials that are more sustainably sourced than traditional fossil fuel-based, nonrenewable plastics, may still result in persistent microplastic ~~plastic~~ particles polluting our waterways. Similarly, new materials that truly break down into natural components may result in higher greenhouse gas emissions, the depletion of nitrogen or phosphorous, use excess water, or degrade habitats through the intensive industrial farming required to grow the necessary feedstocks. Other alternative products may be benign after they break down in the natural environment and leave no microplastics. Those alternative products may contain fewer harmful chemicals, like perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), have fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and result in less deforestation and depletion of natural resources.

(b) To prevent regrettable substitutions as California strives to reduce the use of single-use plastics and phases out the use of fossil fuels, and to provide incentives to companies to innovate and produce environmentally beneficial products, it is necessary, and the intent of the Legislature, to develop a science-based framework to assess the sustainability of a ~~plastic-~~ plastic or plastic-alternative material along its whole life cycle, including formation and risks of microplastics to humans and ecosystems.

SEC. 2.

Chapter 6.3 (commencing with Section 42375) is added to Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, to read:

CHAPTER 6.3. Single-Use Plastic Alternatives Working Group

42375.

(a) By January 1, 2025, the California Environmental Protection Agency shall establish a working group made up of the State Water Resources Control Board, the Department of Toxic Substances Control, the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and the Ocean Protection Council. The working group shall be staffed by the state board and shall establish a framework for evaluating novel material types as they are developed in order to inform policy decisions designed to create a more sustainable and circular economy.

(b) In developing the framework, the working group shall do all of the following:

(1) Ensure the framework can be used as a comparative tool to assess novel material types to determine potential impacts to human health and the ~~environment.~~ environment, and assess the ease with which those material types can be readily recycled, composted, or reused. The framework shall enable an assessment and categorization based on the full life cycle of representative finished products made from those novel material types, including, but not limited to, the material’s ~~source~~ source, production, distribution, and its end-of-life properties. The framework shall enable a comparative analysis of material life cycles, including comparing the life cycle impacts of novel materials to similar life cycles of the same type of finished products made from a variety of materials, including, but not limited to, fossil fuel-based plastic, paper, and, where possible, other natural materials like bamboo, sugar cane, agave, and pasta.

(2) Consider trade-offs between sustainability objectives and risks, including, but not limited to, greenhouse gas emissions, freshwater and energy usage, natural resources depletion, impacts to public health, particularly in low-income and disadvantaged communities, and pollution.

(3) Consult with scientists, academic experts in this sector, industry innovators, environmental advocacy organizations, ~~and~~ environmental justice ~~advocates.~~ advocates, and local agencies responsible for solid waste management, recycling, and composting.

(4) Review existing scientific data, research, and testing methodologies.

(c) The working group shall also develop a set of ~~recommendations to~~ recommendations, including, but not limited to, potential scientific testing standards that could be used for certifying new materials. These recommendations shall inform state policy related to novel material types, including, but not limited to, appropriate marketing of the material, how the material is handled at the end of its useful life, and how the material needs to be treated in relation to existing state policies, rules, and regulations.