See complete information below.
OPEN SPACE / BIKING
AB 889 (Jones D) Open-space preservation: Bushy Lake and Urban American River Parkway.
Current Text: Chaptered: 10/11/2009 Location: 10/11/2009-A. CHAPTERED Summary: Would declare instead that the County of Sacramento and the City of Sacramento have adopted by resolutions, and the City of Rancho Cordova has endorsed by resolution, the American River Parkway Plan, a 29-mile open-space greenbelt in the American River flood plain. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Notes 1: Codifies County ARPP. Some examples of the 2008 ARPP policies include increased aquatic and terrestrial habitats, preservation of the lower American River's scenic recreation value, and improved bicycle and pedestrian paths that visually harmonize with their surroundings. The 2008 ARPP was developed over six years and reflects comprehensive stakeholder group participation, including state, local, and federal agencies, members of the public, and advocacy organizations.
RECYCLING
AB 747 (Emmerson R) School facilities: recycling programs.
Current Text: Amended: 5/5/2009
Summary: Would authorize and encourage school districts and campuses of the University of California, California State University , and California Community Colleges also to establish and maintain a paper recycling program and a beverage container recycling program in those areas.
Notes 1: This bill encourages school districts and higher education institutions to establish beverage container recycling programs.
AB 983 (Skinner D) Recycling: California redemption value containers. Current Text: Amended: 9/9/2009
Summary: Would as of April 1, 2010, revise the term beverage to include vegetable, fruit, nut, grain, or soy drinks or juices or non-carbonated drinks that contain any percentage of those drinks or juices, and would delete the requirement that a vegetable, drink, subject to the act, be sold in a container of 6 ounces or less. The bill would delete the exclusion from the term b everage, for a product that is not
sold in the above-specified types of containers. The bill would dditionally exclude from the definition a beverage in a flexible foil, plastic pouch, or aseptic container delivering 7 or less fluid ounces. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Notes 1: This bill would, as of April 1, 2010, revise the term beverage to include vegetable, fruit, nut, grain, or soy drinks or juices or noncarbonated drinks that contain any percentage of those drinks or juices, and would delete the requirement that a vegetable, drink,
subject to the act, be sold in a container of 16 ounces or less. The bill would delete the exclusion from the term beverage, for a product that is not sold in the above-specified types of containers. The bill would additionally exclude from the definition a beverage in a flexible foil, plastic pouch, or aseptic container delivering 7 or less fluid ounces.
AB 1329 (Brownley D) Waste management.
Current Text: Amended: 9/4/2009
Summary: Would delay the operative date of the changes made by Chapter 21 of the Statutes of
2009 to January 1, 2011. This bill contains other existing laws.
Notes 1:
SB 402 (Wolk D) Recycling: California redemption value.
Current Text: Vetoed: 10/11/2009 . VETOED
Summary: Would as of July 1, 2010, revise the term beverage to include vegetable, fruit, nut, grain,
or soy drinks or juices or noncarbonated drinks that contain any percentage of those drinks or juices,
and would delete the requirement that a vegetable, drink, subject to the act, be sold in a container of
16 ounces or less. The bill would delete the exclusion from the term beverage, for a product that is not
sold in the above-specified types of containers. The bill would additionally exclude from the definition a
beverage in a flexible foil, plastic pouch, or aseptic container delivering 7 or less fluid ounces. This bill
contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Notes 1: Duplicate bill.
SB 497 (Correa D) School recycling programs. Current Text: Amended: 5/4/2009 pdf html
Location: 1/22/2010-S. DEAD
Summary: Would express findings and declarations of the Legislature with respect to the potential
Single Use Containers
Notes 1: Duplicate bill.
SB 497 (Correa D) School recycling programs. Current Text: Amended: 5/4/2009
Location: 1/22/2010-S. DEAD
Summary: Would express findings and declarations of the Legislature with respect to the potential
benefits of school recycling programs. The bill would, until January 1, 2012, require each school district
to establish a beverage container recycling program at each school campus and public office of that
school district, but only to the extent that the district does not incur costs. Under the bill, a school
district would be authorized to choose whether to operate its own beverage container recycling
program, to contact its local Community Conservation Corps or another recycler to collect the
beverage containers, to provide a beverage container collection program as a fundraising activity for
the school district, or to continue a recycling program in existence on January 1, 2010 . Because the
bill would impose new duties on school districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local program.
This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Notes 1: Duplicate bill.
SB 531 (DeSaulnier D) Solid waste: at-store recycling program. Current Text: Amended: 4/29/2009
Location: 7/2/2010-A. DEAD
Summary: Would require that in developing the educational materials for use on and after July 1,
2011, the manufacturer consult with specified entities. The bill would authorize the board to modify
and require the board to approve those educational materials by January 1, 2012 . The bill would also
set minimum requirements for information to be included in the educational materials, including, but
not limited to, information regarding the requirements for compliance with the program, an Internet
Web site with a training program for store personnel and customers on implementing the program,
and materials and resources for stores for education of consumers at point of sale. This bill contains
other existing laws.
Notes 1: Requires creation of educational materials for at-store recycling.
SB 1454 (DeSaulnier D) Recycling: plastic products. Current Text: Amended: 6/22/2010
Location: 6/29/2010-A. APPR.
Calendar: 8/4/2010 9 a.m. - State Capitol, Room 4202 ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS, FUENTES, Chair
Summary: Would repeal those prohibitions and would instead prohibit the sale of a plastic product,
as defined, labeled as "compostable" or "marine degradable" unless it meets those ASTM standard
specifications or a standard adopted by the department , or unless the plastic product is labeled with
a qualified claim for which the department has adopted a standard, and the plastic product meets that
standard . The bill would prohibit the sale of a plastic product that is labeled as "biodegradable,"
"degradable," "decomposable," or as otherwise specified. The bill would provide for the imposition of a
civil penalty for a violation of those prohibitions. This bill contains other related provisions.
Notes 1: Duplicate bill.
SINGLE USE CONTAINERS
AB 283 (Chesbro D) Solid waste: extended producer responsibility program. Current Text: Amended: 4/23/2009
Location: 1/22/2010-A. DEAD
Summary: Would create the California Product Stewardship Act of 2009 and would require the board
to administer the program. The bill would require the board to adopt regulations by July 1, 2011, in
order to implement the program to provide environmentally sound product stewardship protocols that
encourage producers to research alternatives during the product design and packaging phases to
foster cradle-to-cradle producer responsibility and reduce the end-of-life environmental impacts of the
product. This bill contains other related provisions.
AB 925 (Saldana D) Recycling: single-use plastic beverage container caps. Current Text: Amended: 6/30/2009
Location: 9/8/2009-S. INACTIVE FILE
Summary: Would define terms and would prohibit a retailer, on and after January 1, 2012, from
selling or offering for sale a single-use plastic beverage container with a cap that is not tethered to or
contiguously affixed to the beverage container.
AB 993 (Fletcher R) Solid waste: rigid plastic containers. Current Text: Introduced: 2/27/2009
Location: 1/22/2010-A. DEAD
Summary: Existing law requires rigid plastic packaging containers sold or offered for sale in this state
to meet specified criteria, including, but not limited to, that the container be made from 25%
postconsumer material. This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to that provision.
AB 1998 (Brownley D) Solid waste: single-use carryout bags. Current Text: Amended: 7/15/2010 pdf html
Location: 7/15/2010-S. APPR.
Summary: Would repeal those at-store recycling program requirements on January 1, 2012 , and
would instead, on and after January 1, 2012, prohibit certain types of stores, as defined, from providing a single-use carryout bag to a customer. The bill would, on and after July 1, 2013, prohibit
Solid Waste/Compost
Current Text: Amended: 7/15/2010 Location: 7/15/2010-S. APPR.
Summary: Would repeal those at-store recycling program requirements on January 1, 2012 , and
would instead, on and after January 1, 2012, prohibit certain types of stores, as defined, from
providing a single-use carryout bag to a customer. The bill would, on and after July 1, 2013, prohibit
convenience food stores, foodmarts, and certain specified stores from providing a single-use carryout
bag to a customer. The bill would require both types of stores, as of January 1, 2011, to make
reusable bags available for purchase and would allow certain stores to provide reusable bags to
customers at no cost. The bill would require a store, on and after July 1, 2013, to only provide
reusable bags, as defined, and would require a store, as of January 1, 2011, to make available for
sale recycled paper bags at a reasonable cost, but not less than $0.05. The bill would exempt the sale
of specified bags by certain stores from the above prohibition and requirements . The bill would,
beginning January 1, 2013, require a reusable bag manufacturer to obtain a biennial certification from
the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery by submitting a certification fee and a
certification that its reusable bag meets specified requirements. The bill would specify administrative
civil penalties for a person that violates the above requirements. The bill would require the
department to deposit the certification fees into the Reusable Bag Account, which would be
established by the bill in the Integrated Waste Management Fund, and to deposit the penalties and
fines collected into the Penalty Subaccount, which would be established by the bill in the account. The
bill would provide that moneys in the account and the subaccount be expended by the department,
upon appropriation by the Legislature, to implement the above requirements. This bill contains other
related provisions.
AB 2138 (Chesbro D) Product management: single-use recyclable packaging containers. Current Text: Amended: 4/14/2010 Location: 6/4/2010-A. DEAD
Summary: Would enact the Plastic Ocean Pollution Reduction, Recycling, and Composting Act and
would prohibit a food provider, after July 1, 2011, but not after July 1, 2013, from distributing a
disposable food service packaging or a single-use carryout bag, as defined, unless the packaging or
bag meets the criteria for either compostable packaging or recyclable packaging. The bill would
prohibit a food provider, on and after July 1, 2013, from distributing a disposable food service
packaging or a single-use carryout bag to a consumer, unless the department determines the
packaging or bag is recovered for composting or recovered for recycling at a rate of 25 percent or
more.
SB 228 (DeSaulnier D) Plastic bags: compostable plastic bags. Current Text: Amended: 6/21/2010
Location: 6/29/2010-A. APPR.
Calendar: 8/4/2010 9 a.m. - State Capitol, Room 4202 SPECIAL ORDER OF BUSINESS AT 10 A.M.
ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS, FUENTES, Chair
Summary: Would require, beginning July 1, 2011, a manufacturer of a compostable plastic bag
meeting those standards to ensure that the compostable plastic bag is "readily and easily
identifiable," as the bill would define that term, from other plastic bags. The bill would prohibit a
compostable plastic bag sold in the state from displaying a chasing arrow resin identification code or
recycling type of symbol in any form.
Notes 1: According to the author, “The use of compostable bags is increasing, leading local
governments to establish organics separation and composting. Currently, there is no way to visibly tell
the difference between compostable, marine degradable, and [conventional] plastic bags.” The author
notes that conventional bags get into the compost stream and contaminate the compost leading to
higher processing costs. “This bill seeks to remedy this by requiring bags that meet the compostable
and marine degradable standards as set in current law . . . to be readily and easily identifiable for the
purposes of separating these bags from [conventional] plastic bags in the recycling and composting
streams.”
SB 803 (DeSaulnier D) Solid waste: plastic waste: polyvinyl chloride clamshell packaging. Current Text: Amended: 4/2/2009 pdf html
Location: 1/15/2010-S. DEAD
Summary: Would require the board, by January 1, 2011, to develop regulations, after consultation
with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) clamshell packaging manufacturers, product manufacturers, retailers, and
the environmental community, that would reduce the volume of hard-to-recycle PVC clamshell
packaging, as defined, by 50%.
Notes 1: This bill would require the board, by January 1, 2011, to develop
regulations, after consultation with polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
clamshell packaging manufacturers, product manufacturers, retailers,
and the environmental community, that would reduce the volume of
hard-to-recycle PVC clamshell packaging, as defined, by 50%.
SOLID WASTE / COMPOST
AB 222 (Adams R) Solid waste: definitions. Current Text: Amended: 7/15/2010
Location: 7/15/2010-S. APPR.
Calendar: 8/5/2010 #56 SENATE ASSEMBLY BILLS-SECOND READING FILE
Summary: Would repeal the term "gasification." The bill would revise and recast the definition of
"transformation" to exclude from that definition, among other things, anaerobic digestion, as defined,
Current Text: Amended: 7/15/2010 pdf html
Location: 7/15/2010-S. APPR.
Calendar: 8/5/2010 #56 SENATE ASSEMBLY BILLS-SECOND READING FILE
Summary: Would repeal the term "gasification." The bill would revise and recast the definition of
"transformation" to exclude from that definition, among other things, anaerobic digestion, as defined,
and to include in that definition solid waste conversion at a biorefinery , as defined. The bill would
revise the definition of "solid waste" remove "gasification" from that definition.
Notes 1: According to the authors, the purpose of this bill is to encourage the production of low-cost
biofuels and green power by converting municipal solid waste into a fuel source that can be used to
produce renewable electricity. The authors and supporters believe these goals can be achieved by
permitting solid waste conversion facilities that convert municipal solid waste into electricity to count
toward a utility's RPS and by creating incentives for local governments to fuel the conversion facilities
with solid waste fuel stocks.
AB 478 (Chesbro D) Greenhouse gas emissions: recycling and waste management. Current Text: Amended: 7/16/2009
Location: 7/16/2009-S. APPR.
Summary: Would require the California Integrated Waste Management Board , in consultation with
the State Air Resources Board and the State Water Resources Control Board, to adopt rules and
regulations relating to recycling and solid waste management to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
and would subject violators of these rules and regulations to civil and criminal penalties . This bill
contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
AB 479 (Chesbro D) Solid waste: diversion. Current Text: Amended: 8/17/2009
Location: 8/27/2009-S. APPR. SUSPENSE FILE
Summary: Would require the board, on January 1, 2020, and annually thereafter, to ensure that 75%
of all solid waste generated is source reduced, recycled, and composted. The bill would prohibit the
board from imposing any enforceable requirements against a local agency or a solid waste enterprise
or that includes aspects of solid waste handling that are of local concern to implement this 75%
diversion level. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
AB 737 (Chesbro D) Solid waste: diversion. Current Text: Amended: 6/2/2010 Location: 6/2/2010-S. APPR.
Summary: Would require the department , on January 1, 2020, and annually thereafter, to ensure
that 75% of all solid waste generated is source reduced, recycled, or composted. The bill would
prohibit the department from imposing any enforceable requirements against a local agency or a solid
waste enterprise or that includes aspects of solid waste handling that are of local concern to
implement this 75% diversion level. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
AB 903 (Chesbro D) Solid waste: compostable plastic bags. Current Text: Amended: 8/17/2009
Location: 8/27/2009-S. APPR. SUSPENSE FILE
Summary: Would require, beginning July 1, 2010, a manufacturer of a compostable plastic bag
meeting those standards to ensure that the compostable plastic bag is readily and easily identifiable
from other plastic bags. The bill would define "readily and easily identifiable," to include a compostable
plastic bag labeled with a boardapproved certification logo and that meets other labeling
requirements. The bill would prohibit a compostable plastic bag sold in the state from displaying a
chasing arrow resin identification code or recycling type of symbol in any form. The bill would require
the manufacturers or suppliers of compostable plastic bags to submit a yearly report to the board
containing certain information, subject those manufacturers or suppliers to audit by the board, and
require the board to refer a false or misleading certification or other information reported by those
manufacturers or suppliers to the Attorney General for prosecution.
SB 25 (Padilla D) Solid waste: rendering. Current Text: Amended: 6/21/2010
Location: 7/2/2010-A. DEAD
Summary: Would for purposes of the act, provide that "renderer" does not include a person
operating a solid waste facility licensed by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery that
hauls, handles, or processes mammalian, poultry, or fish tissue from the food service industry, grocery
stores, or residential food scrap collection, or as part of a research composting operation, as specified.
The bill would similarly provide that "rendering" does not include recycling, processing, or conversion
by a solid waste facility licensed by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery of
mammalian, poultry, or fish tissue from the food service industry, grocery stores, or residential food
scrap collection, or as part of a research composting operation, as specified.
Notes 1: According to the sponsor, regulations currently proposed by CDFA would require solid waste
facilities (including existing facilities), specifically composting facilities and anaerobic digesters, to be
regulated by CDFA if they accept animal tissue even though they are already permitted by DRRR.
Supporters state that these regulations are not only unnecessary, but inappropriate for these types
of facilities and are "potentially contradictory to some of the health and safety requirements of the
agency that has primary oversight responsibility." Additionally, the regulations require solid waste
haulers transporting mixed solid waste or organic material that may include food waste to permitted
Water
facilities (including existing facilities), specifically composting facilities and anaerobic digesters, to be
regulated by CDFA if they accept animal tissue even though they are already permitted by DRRR.
Supporters state that these regulations are not only unnecessary, but inappropriate for these types
of facilities and are "potentially contradictory to some of the health and safety requirements of the
agency that has primary oversight responsibility." Additionally, the regulations require solid waste
haulers transporting mixed solid waste or organic material that may include food waste to permitted
solid waste facilities to register with CDFA. This has created a climate of regulatory uncertainty for
these facilities, which will hinder their expansion.
SB 390 (Kehoe D) Solid waste: recycling market development. Current Text: Amended: 4/26/2010
Location: 6/30/2010-A. APPR. SUSPENSE FILE
Summary: Would define the term "department" for purposes of the act. This bill contains other
related provisions and other existing laws.
Notes 1: According to the author, continuation of the RMDZ Program will allow further funding of
businesses located in RMDZs that increase diversion of nonhazardous solid waste from California
landfills and that promote market demand for secondary and postconsumer materials.
WATER
AB 49 (Feuer D) Water conservation: urban and agricultural water management planning.
Current Text: Amended: 9/9/2009 Location: 1/27/2010-A. INACTIVE FILE
Summary: Would require the state to achieve a 20% reduction in urban per capita water use in
California by December 31, 2020. The state would be required to make incremental progress towards
this goal by reducing per capita water use by at least 10% on or before December 31, 2015. The bill
would require each urban retail water supplier to develop urban water use targets and an interim
urban water use target, in accordance with specified requirements. The bill would require agricultural
water suppliers to implement efficient water management practices. The bill would require the
department, in consultation with other state agencies, to develop a single standardized water use
reporting form. The bill, with certain exceptions, would condition eligibility for certain water
management grants or loans to urban water suppliers, beginning July 1, 2016, and agricultural water
suppliers, beginning July 1, 2013, on the implementation of water conservation requirements
established by the bill. The bill would repeal on July 1, 2016, an existing requirement that conditions
eligibility for certain water management grants or loans to an urban water supplier on the
implementation of certain water demand management measures. This bill contains other related
provisions and other existing laws.
AB 969 (Calderon, Charles D) Recycled water. Current Text: Introduced: 2/26/2009
Location: 1/15/2010-A. DEAD
Summary: Would repeal the report and task force requirements. The bill would change the statewide
goal for recycled water to an unspecified number of acre-feet of water per year by the year 2020. The
bill also would make changes to findings and declarations under the act.
AB 1408 (Krekorian D) Subdivisions: Water Demand Mitigation Fund. Current Text: Amended: 4/30/2009 pdf html
Location: 1/22/2010-A. DEAD
Summary: Would require the legislative body of a city or county or the advisory agency, to the extent
that it is authorized by local ordinance to approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove the tentative
map, to include as a condition in any tentative map that includes a subdivision a requirement that the
subdivision have a sufficient water supply available or that sufficient water supplies will be made
available through a Water Demand Mitigation Fund, as defined, held by the public water system. The
bill would require the amount of funding needed for voluntary participation by the subdivision
applicant in the Water Demand Mitigation Fund to be based on offsetting at least 100 percent of the
projected water demand associated with the subdivision, as determined by the public water system.
The bill would authorize the public water supplier to collect fees necessary to provide additional
analysis of extraordinary water conservation measures. The bill also would require the public water
system to expend all funds in the Water Demand Mitigation Fund on water conservation measures
that will offset at least 100 percent of the projected demand associated with the subdivision, as
specified. By adding to the duties of public water system officials, this bill would impose a statemandated
local program. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Notes 1: Creates a mitigation fund that allows developers to go forward with project with commitment
that funds will offset water needs/costs. Pro-developer bill.
AB 1834 (Solorio D) Rainwater Capture Act of 2010. Current Text: Amended: 7/15/2010 pdf html
Location: 7/15/2010-S. APPR.
Summary: Would enact the Rainwater Capture Act of 2010, which would authorize a landowner to
install, maintain, and operate, on the landowner's property, a rainwater capture system meeting
specified requirements. The bill would require the state board to initiate a stakeholder process to
develop recommendations for policies for state and local agencies to encourage and facilitate the
voluntary installation and use of rainwater capture systems, as defined, for specified nonpotable uses,
and capture of stormwater by public agencies. The bill would require the state board to publish those
recommendations on its Internet Web site by December 31, 2011. The bill would require the state
board, if the stakeholder process results in recommendations for building standards, to submit those
recommendations to the California Building Standards Commission and the Department of Housing
develop recommendations for policies for state and local agencies to encourage and facilitate the
voluntary installation and use of rainwater capture systems, as defined, for specified nonpotable uses,
and capture of stormwater by public agencies. The bill would require the state board to publish those
recommendations on its Internet Web site by December 31, 2011. The bill would require the state
board, if the stakeholder process results in recommendations for building standards, to submit those
recommendations to the California Building Standards Commission and the Department of Housing
and Community Development by December 31, 2011, and would require the commission and the
department to consider the recommendations for building standards for adoption in a specified update
of the California Building Standards Code by July 1, 2013. This bill contains other related provisions
and other existing laws.
Notes 1: Requires development of rainwater capture regulations.
AB 2422 (Berryhill, Tom R) Urban water demand management: model water efficient landscape
ordinance: scientific panel. Current Text: Introduced: 2/19/2010 pdf html
Location: 4/23/2010-A. DEAD
Summary: Would require the department, on or before July 1, 2011, to convene an expert scientific
panel to review, and provide recommendations for, updates to the model water efficient landscape
ordinance and proposed rules, regulations, and guidelines relating to urban residential water demand
management. The bill would prescribe the membership of the panel and requirements for the panel's
review and recommendation functions. The bill would require the department to submit specified
proposed updates, rules, regulations, and guidelines to the panel and to consider the panel's findings
and recommendations and take specified actions based on those findings and recommendations. The
bill would authorize the department to reimburse members of the panel for expenses incurred
pursuant to these provisions upon the appropriation of funds by the Legislature for that purpose. This
bill contains other existing laws.
AB 2679 (Eng D) Public buildings: energy and water: consumption reductions. Current Text: Amended: 4/28/2010 pdf html
Location: 6/4/2010-A. DEAD
Summary: Would require all public buildings, as defined to be state public buildings , to conform to a
10 -year compliance schedule to achieve reductions in energy and water consumption and to maintain
specified water and energy reduction levels on and after January 1, 2025 . The bill would require all
newly constructed public buildings to have net zero energy consumption or be grid neutral on and
after January 1, 2030. The bill would require, on or before January 1, 2013, each public entity
operating a public building to provide to the Department of General Services a certified onsite
assessment of the facility's energy and water consumption levels. The bill would require applicable
public entities to adopt and implement processes outlined in the Green Building Action Plan and to
ensure that these processes are consistent with other efficiency measures outlined in existing law.
The bill would impose a reporting requirement on the Department of General Services with respect to
the attainment of the energy consumption and water use reduction targets.
SB 518 (Lowenthal D) Building standards: graywater. Current Text: Amended: 6/21/2010 pdf html
Location: 7/1/2010-A. CONSENT CALENDAR
Calendar: 8/5/2010 #154 ASSEMBLY CONSENT CALENDAR-SECOND LEGISLATIVE DAY SENATE
MEASURES
Summary: Would require the commission, as a part of the next triennial edition of the California
Building Standards Code adopted after January 1, 2011, to adopt building standards for the
construction, installation, and alteration of graywater systems for indoor and outdoor uses in
nonresidential occupancies, in accordance with prescribed requirements. The bill would terminate the
authority of the Department of Water Resources to adopt standards for graywater systems in
nonresidential occupancies upon adoption of the standards by the commission. This bill contains other
existing laws.
SB 1107 (Kehoe D) Water quality: interceptor and trap grease. Current Text: Amended: 5/24/2010
Location: 6/16/2010-A. AGRI.
Summary: Would require the state board, on or before January 1, 2012, to develop, adopt, and
implement regulations, that include specified requirements, for a manifest system to track the
transportation of interceptor and trap grease. The bill would require the state board to impose a fee
sufficient to cover the costs of implementing the act. The bill would require the state board to deposit
all revenues from the fee in the Interceptor and Trap Grease Manifest Fund, which the bill would
establish. The bill would authorize the board to expend moneys in the fund to implement the act,
subject to appropriation for that purpose. The bill would define "interceptor and trap grease" to mean
grease that is principally derived from food preparation, processing, or waste, and that is removed
from a grease trap or grease interceptor. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing
laws.
Notes 1: Interceptor and trap grease, also referred to as "brown grease," is a by-product of food
preparation and can be generated by restaurants, caterers, food processors, and homeowners.
Brown grease, coming from food and kitchen waste, is commonly washed down sinks, dishwashers or
floor drains; it consists of FOG and can be collected in grease traps along with water and solids. These
products are collected by registered haulers and disposed through a variety of methods - rendering
plants, recycling or biofuel centers, landfills and publicly owned treatment works (POTW). Brown
grease differs from “yellow grease,” which is inedible and unadulterated spent FOG removed from a
food service establishments. The major source of yellow grease comes from deep frying. Yellow grease
Total Measures: 30
Total Tracking Forms: 30
Brown grease, coming from food and kitchen waste, is commonly washed down sinks, dishwashers or
floor drains; it consists of FOG and can be collected in grease traps along with water and solids. These
products are collected by registered haulers and disposed through a variety of methods - rendering
plants, recycling or biofuel centers, landfills and publicly owned treatment works (POTW). Brown
grease differs from “yellow grease,” which is inedible and unadulterated spent FOG removed from a
food service establishments. The major source of yellow grease comes from deep frying. Yellow grease
is a marketable commodity and is typically recycled as an animal feed additive; for fatty acids and
glycerol to create surfactants, plastics, resins, textiles and cosmetics; to make soap and lubricants;
and, to create biodiesel fuel for vehicles. Brown grease has no such marketability.
According to the Author, because this material is often hauled across multiple jurisdictions with little or
no oversight, it has become increasingly difficult to track how and where it is disposed. Further,
because of inadequate tracking and enforcement, grease trap haulers may be illegally dumping it back
into our sewer systems. This threatens our bays, beaches and waterways. California communities are
continuously threatened by sewage system overflows caused by grease. According to a May 2009
SWRCB report, since 2006, 19% of all sanitation overflows were caused by grease deposition. Further,
the California District Attorneys Association issued a report in 2004 that states between 2001 and the
issuance of the report, 15 counties reported prosecuting 27 grease hauler's and that brown grease is
a major problem because it threatens our natural resources, our health, and the cost of its
remediation dissipates precious tax dollars. Since those prosecutions, few others have followed. |
