July 9, 2019 the Honorable Anthony Portantino Chair, Senate
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July 9, 2019 The Honorable Anthony Portantino Chair, Senate Appropriations Committee State Capitol, Room 3086 Sacramento, CA 95814 RE: Assembly Bill 1080 (Gonzalez) – SUPPORT IF AMENDED As Amended July 5, 2019 Dear Senator Portantino: On behalf of the Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC), I am writing with respect to Assembly Bill 1080, authored by Assembly Member Lorena Gonzalez, which, among other things, requires manufacturers to source, reduce, and recycle single- use packaging and products sold in California. While we are strongly supportive of what the bill seeks to accomplish, we believe some amendments are vital to avoid costly burdens on local governments. RCRC is an association of thirty-six rural California counties, and the RCRC Board of Directors is comprised of elected supervisors from each of those member counties. California is in the process of implementing SB 1383 (Lara, Chapter 395, 2016), which establishes ambitious goals to reduce landfill disposal of organic waste 75 percent below 2014 levels by 2025. CalRecycle’s far-reaching SB 1383 regulation could cost as much as $20 billion to implement and poses many challenges for local governments. Considering the massive costs local governments will soon face with SB 1383 implementation, it is vital to avoid imposing additional costly requirements on local jurisdictions. Previous versions of AB 1080 appropriately placed compliance obligations on manufacturers and retailers who produce and sell single-use products; however, the June 20 amendments significantly broaden CalRecycle’s regulatory authority to impose a host of regulatory requirements on local governments. To avoid these burdens, we respectfully suggest amending proposed Public Resources Code Section 42042 as follows: 1215 K Street, Suite 1650, Sacramento, CA 95814 | www.rcrcnet.org | 916.447.4806 | Fax: 916.448.3154 ALPINE AMADOR BUTTE CALAVERAS COLUSA DEL NORTE EL DORADO GLENN HUMBOLDT IMPERIAL INYO LAKE LASSEN MADERA MARIPOSA MENDOCINO MERCED MODOC MONO NAPA NEVADA PLACER PLUMAS SAN BENITO SAN LUIS OBISPO SHASTA SIERRA SISKIYOU SONOMA SUTTER TEHAMA TRINITY TULARE TUOLUMNE YOLO YUBA The Honorable Anthony Portantino Assembly Bill 1080 July 9, 2019 Page 2 (a)(3) Require covered entities to Aachieve a 75-percent reduction by 2030 of the waste generated from single-use packaging and priority single use plastic products offered for sale or sold in the state through source reduction, recycling, or composting. (4) Regulations adopted by the department pursuant to this section shall not impose any requirements on local jurisdictions or regional agencies. Alternatively, amendments could strike the broad regulatory authority proposed in 42042(a)(3) and establish a state policy goal to source reduce, recycle, or compost 75 percent of the waste generated from single-use packaging and priority single use plastic products by 2030. This alternative is built upon the existing state policy goal to source reduce, recycle, or compost 75% of solid waste as found in Public Resources Code Section 41780.01. This could be accomplished as follows: 42041 (m)(1) To further the purposes of Section 41780.01, the Legislature hereby declares that it is the policy goal of the state that not less than 75 percent of the waste generated from single-use packaging and priority single use plastic products offered for sale or sold in the state be source reduced, recycled, or composted by the year 2030. (2) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the department shall not establish or enforce a diversion rate on a city or county that is greater than the 50 percent diversion rate established pursuant to Section 41780. 42042 (a) (3) Achieve a 75-percent reduction by 2030 of the waste generated from single-use packaging and priority single use plastic products offered for sale or sold in the state through source reduction, recycling, or composting. For many years, roughly one-third of the materials annually collected for recycling in California were exported overseas for processing and manufacturing into new products. In 2017, China accounted for 55 percent of the recyclable exports California shipped overseas. China’s new National Sword policy, which bans the importation of a number of recyclable commodities and imposes strict contamination limits, is having a significant impact on California’s solid waste and recycling systems. Products that Californians long- assumed were easily recyclable are now piling-up with nowhere to go. India’s recent announcement that it will ban scrap plastic imports will further exacerbate these market challenges. Furthermore, physical similarities between resin types make it difficult to properly sort some high-value plastic products that are otherwise recyclable, thereby increasing the risk of feedstock contamination and making it harder and more expensive to recycle. AB 1080 helps to alleviate these market challenges by increasing the recyclability and compostability of single-use packaging and products while also establishing aggressive targets for their source reduction and recycling. The Honorable Anthony Portantino Assembly Bill 1080 July 9, 2019 Page 3 RCRC supports AB 1080 as part of a larger response to National Sword that must include significant additional investments in infrastructure. We are particularly supportive of several specific provisions that seek to increase the recyclability of single-use packaging and products, increase in-state recycling, and establish labeling requirements for those products that pose a contamination risk or cost burden on the state’s recycling efforts. We believe AB 1080 could be significantly improved with a few refinements to clarify the types of single-use packaging and products covered, perhaps by specifying a few product types that should not be included. These exempt products should include those used for sanitary purposes that are not suitable for recycling or composting, including garbage bags, diapers, feminine hygiene products, etc. Based on our experience with SB 1383 implementation, RCRC believes AB 1080 is an important component of what must be a broader response to achieving such ambitious single-use packaging and product reduction and recycling goals. We believe that the Legislature should also help ensure that there is adequate infrastructure to deal with the materials, demand for the end-product, and funding to achieve those goals. RCRC respectfully requests your ‘Aye’ vote in your Committee if the bill is amended as outlined above. If you should have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected] or (916) 447-4806. Sincerely, JOHN KENNEDY Legislative Advocate cc: The Honorable Lorena Gonzalez, Member of the State Assembly The Honorable Tasha Boerner Horvath, Member of the State Assembly The Honorable Benjamin Allen, Member of the State Senate The Honorable Nancy Skinner, Member of the State Senate The Honorable Bob Wieckowski, Member of the State Senate The Honorable Henry Stern, Member of the State Senate The Honorable Scott Wiener, Member of the State Senate The Honorable Kevin McCarty, Member of the State Assembly The Honorable Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Member of the State Assembly The Honorable Anthony Portantino Assembly Bill 1080 July 9, 2019 Page 4 The Honorable Laura Friedman, Member of the State Assembly The Honorable Phil Ting, Member of the State Assembly The Honorable Ian Calderon, Member of the State Assembly Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee Consultant, Senate Appropriations Committee .