CAW Recycling Advocate - Vol. 2 No. 6

Rick Best (rgbest@ix.netcom.com)
Fri, 22 Jan 1999 17:13:13 -0500


CAW Recycling Advocate
May 9, 1997 Volume 2. Number 6.
For More Information: Call Rick Best, Californians Against Waste - (916)
443-5422
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ACTION ALERT! Senate Hearing to Consider DOC-Sponsored Bill to Repeal The
Bottle Bill

Senate Bill 1157 (Maddy) has been scheduled for hearing in the Senate
Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday, May 13. SB 1157 is Not a Spot
Bill! In its current form, SB 1157 would completely repeal California's
Beverage Container Recycling Program effective January 1, 1999.

The measure, which is sponsored by the Department of Conservation, would
replace the existing statute with legislative intent language calling for a
new program.

CAW believes that the Department will attempt to describe this measure as a
"work-in-progress" that should be allowed to move forward. However, the
passage of this measure would signal that the Senate Natural Resources
Committee is prepared to abandon the existing program.

It is imperative that local government representatives, recyclers, curbside
providers and environmental groups communicate opposition to this measure.

Opposition letters should be sent to all members of the Senate Natural
Resources Committee:

Senator ________
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814

Committee Member Senator's Staff FAX # Phone #
Sen. Tom Hayden (Chair) Michael Endicott 324-4823 445-1353
Sen. DeDe Alpert Mike Robson 327-2188 445-3952
Sen. Maurice Johannessen Forrest Sprague 445-3353
Sen. Pat Johnston Ross Sargent 445-2407
Sen. Tim Leslie Derek Naten 445-5788
Sen. Dick Monteith Audra Hartmann 445-0773 445-1392
Sen. Jack O'Connell Kellie Smith 445-5405
Sen. Byron Sher Kip Lipper 323-4529 445-6747
Sen. Mike Thompson Ruth Coleman 323-6958 445-3375

Letters need to be faxed to Senator Hayden, chair of the committee, by
Friday A.M. in order to be included in the Committee Analysis. A copy of
the letter should also be faxed to CAW at 916-443-3912.

Labeling Bill Needs Votes in Appropriations

Assembly Bill 362 (Bowen), a bill to reintroduce California's Truth in
Environmental Advertising Law, was short several votes in an Assembly
Appropriations Committee vote on Wednesday. The bill received eight votes,
but needed eleven to be passed out of committee. The bill was granted
reconsideration and can be taken up for a vote again later in the month.

The bill would reintroduce the Truth in Environmental Advertising Law that
was signed into law in 1990, but was repealed in 1995. The law sets
specific standards for labeling a product as recycled, ozone-friendly,
biodegradable, or photodegradable.

During the hearing, Assembly Member Bowen took an amendment to eliminate
the 10% postconsumer requirement for "recycled" and instead require any
manufacturer to disclose the amount of postconsumer material in any product
labeled as "recycled" even if it has no postconsumer material.

The bill should pick up enough votes on reconsideration. Several members
failed to vote on the bill, including four Democrats: Joe Baca, Tony
Cardenas, Mike Machado and Lou Papan. Helen Thomson, a Democrat
representing the City of Davis, cast a no vote on the bill. Thomson's vote
was suprising considering she is a new member with strong environmental
endorsements.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Letters and phone calls are needed to those members
asking them to suppport the bill when it is taken up for reconsideration:

Committee Member Member's Staff FAX # Phone #
Joe Baca Ben Firschein 324-6980 445-7454
Tony Cardenas Jose Cornejo 324-6860 445-1616
Mike Machado Jody Fujji 327-3519 445-7931
Lou Papan Lynn Lorber 445-8020
Helen Thomson Craig Reynolds 327-9667 445-8368

Bottle Bill Expansion Awaits Appropriations Hearing

Assembly Bill 1512 (Shelley) passed Assembly Natural Resources Committee on
April 21st and is now awaiting a hearing in Assembly Appropriations Committee.
The bill would expand the Bottle Bill program to include all non-carbonated
soft drinks, such as sports drinks, juices, waters, coffees and teas. The
bill would implement recommendations made in the 1989 DOC study and is
nearly identical to a similar expansion recently announced in British
Columbia.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Letters of support should be sent to the Assembly
Appropriations Committee. For a sample letter, list of committee members
or more information E-mail or call Mark Murray at: cawmark@tomatoweb.com
(916) 443-5422.

Address your letter to:
Assembly Member Carole Migden
Chair, Assembly Appropriations Committee
State Capitol, Room 2114
Sacramento, CA 95814
Please fax a copy of your letter to CAW at (916) 443-3912.

Workshop Reveals Significant Opposition and No Support for DOC Bottle Bill
Recommendations

On May 6, the Department of Conservation hosted a workshop on proposed
recommendations for scaling back California's Beverage Container Recycling
Program.

The workshop follows the release last month of a DOC study by the NewPoint
Group. Following a presentation of the studies recommendations by the
NewPoint Group, the Department listened to comments from a variety of
recycling stakeholders.

Several individuals were critical of the recommendations which include
elimination of processing fees. No one made comments in support of the
recommendations, although none of the several dozen representatives of the
beverage industry made any comments.

For an analysis the the study's recommendations, contact CAW. Written
comments on the study should be sent to the Department of Conservation.

State Facility Recycling Bill Vote Postponed

Assembly Bill 705 (Strom-Martin), a bill to require state agencies to
comply with the 25% and 50% diversion requirements and to expand the
state's recycled product procurement program, was sent to the Assembly
Appropriations Committee suspense file on Wednesday and will be considered
later on in May.

Any bills with a fiscal impact over $150,000 are sent to the suspense file
and are considered during the last Appropriations Committee hearing in May.

Despite strong support from local governments, recyclers, and
environmentalists, AB 705 faces an uphill battle with the recent opposition
from the Department of Finance. The Department estimated costs to the
Waste Board of $825,000 for providing technical assistance to state
agencies, developing its own integrated waste management program and
revising a couple of procurement documents. These costs were based on an
analysis prepared by the Waste Board Legislative Office.

CAW lobbyist Rick Best criticized the Department's estimates during the
hearing: "The Waste Board already provides technical assistance to state
offices under the Governor's Executive Order. And of all state agencies,
the Waste Board - the agency responsible for implementing AB 939 - should
have the least trouble developing its own integrated waste management
program."

Although the bill passed the Assembly Consumer Protection Committee (11-1)
and Natural Resources Committee (11-0) with strong bipartisan support, CAW
doesn't want to take any chances. Letters of support should be sent to the
committee members urging them to take the bill off suspense and pass it out
of committee.

On a separate note, the bill was amended to address several issues:
* Expand the definition of state agencies to include community colleges
and the CSU system. Due to constitutional issues, the UC system can only
be "encouraged" to participate.
* Extend the deadline for having a program to 1/1/99
* Extend the deadline for 25% diversion to 1/1/2000.
* Eliminate the requirement to conduct a waste audit.
Further amendments may be considered at a later date.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Letters of support should be sent to the Assembly
Approriations Committeee. In the letter, you should urge that the bill be
taken off suspense and passed out of committee. In your letter, you might
focus on how the failure of state agencies to implement programs and comply
with the diversion requirements creates a hardship for local governments.

Address your letter to:
Assembly Member Carole Migden
Chair, Assembly Appropriations Committee
State Capitol, Room 2114
Sacramento, CA 95814
Please fax a copy of your letter to CAW at (916) 443-3912.

Garbage Burning Bill Made 2-Year Bill

Senate Bill 878 (Karnette), a bill to allow diversion credit for
incineration, was pulled from the Senate Environmental Quality Committee
agenda and made a 2-year bill.

The bill resurrected the garbage burning issue from last year. AB 2706
(Cannella) would have rewritten AB 939 to allow garbage to count towards
the diversion reqiurements. SB 878 was a somewhat more limited approach,
but still granted diversion credit for the disposal of garbage at the three
existing incinerators. CAW and others objected to the fact that the bill
would undermine the integrity of AB 939.

In response to strong opposition from enviromentalists and recyclers,
including Forward, Inc. and the California Refuse Removal Council, the
author decided to postpone any action on the bill until next year, and
pursue an administrative resolution through the Waste Board.

Trash Bag Bill Moves Forward

Senate Bill 698 (Rainey), a bill to weaken the state's trash bag minimum
content law, passed out of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee.

The bill would allow manufacturers to demonstrate compliance with the
minimum content law by "counting" use of recycled content throughout their
nationwide operations. CAW objected to the bill because it allows
compliance with a state requirement through the use of recycled content
outside California. A national bag manufacturer which sold only 10% of its
bags in California, could comply with the law by only using 3% recycled
content nationally instead of the existing 30% minum content requirement
for bags sold in California.

First Brands Corporation, sponsors of the bill, argued that manufacturers
then would be able to voluntarily use more recycled content in their bags.
Senator Byron Sher, Chair of the committee, made an amendment which would
make the industry's proposal a three-year pilot program and would then
return to the existing 30% minimum content requirement unless reauthorized
by the Legisalture.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Although Sher's amendment limits the bill's impact by
putting a sunset on the industry's proposal, the bill still sets a bad
precedent and substantially weakens the current recycled content requirements.

Please send an oppose letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee where
the bill will be heard next:
Senator Patrick Johnston
Chair, Senate Appropriations Committee
State Capitol, Room 2206
Sacramento, CA 95814

Other Recycling-Related Bills Move Forward

Aside from the priority legislation already mentioned, a number of other
bills are also moving forward:
* AB 117 (Escutia) restricts the operation of concrete recycling facilites
and requires the Board to complete their processing of slotting these
facilities in their tiered permitting structure. The bill moves on to
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
* AB 375 (Firestone) attempts to eliminate the State's stockpile of used
tires by raising the fee on tires and using that money to reimburse end
users (recyclers, cement kilns and the MELP facility). The bill would also
establish standards for the use of rubberized asphalt by CALTRANS and would
strengthen enforcement against illegal tire piles. The bill moves on to
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
* AB 847 (Wayne) would transfer existing provisions relating to removal of
hazardous materials from the Public Resources Code (used by the Waste
Board) to the Health and Safety Code (used by DTSC to enforce hazardous
waste laws). The bill is on the Assembly Floor.
* AB 1169 (Shelley) requires state environmental and resources agencies,
including the Waste Board to post their agendas and information packet on
the Internet. The bill moves on to Assembly Appropriations Committee and
is scheduled for 5/21/97.
* SB 436 (Sher) would require the Board and DOC to submit a report
identifying duplication and overlap between the agencies. The bill moves
on to Senate Appropriations Committee and is recommended for consent.
* SB 675 (Costa) would extend the sunset on the existing provision which
transfers authority over odor issues from the Air Board to the LEAs. The
bill moves on to Senate Appropriations Committee.
* SB 716 (Alpert) would eliminate the sunset for the Pacific Beach Mobile
Recycling Program. The bill is on the Senate Floor.
* SB 1066 (Sher) is sponsored by the League of Cities and would assist
local governments through market development efforts and changes to the AB
939 enforcement procedures. The bill has no known opposition and moves on
to Senate Appropriations Committee.
* SB 1179 (Polanco) would restrict the ability of local governments to
require solid waste handlers to indemnify the local government against AB
939 penalties. The bill moves on to Senate Appropriations Committee.
* SB 1330 (Lockyer) would establish a grant program for cleanup of
illegally dumped solid waste. The bill moves on to Senate Appropriations
Committee.

WRAP Award Applications Available

If you know of a local business that reduces, reuses and recycled
non-hazardous waste, encourage them to apply for the Waste Reduction Awards
Program (WRAP). Applications are due June 30, 1997, and winners will be
announced in September. Call Josh Meyer or Brad Norton of the Local
Government Commission at (916) 448-1198.