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SB-705 Solid waste: expanded polystyrene food service containers.(2017-2018)

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Date Published: 05/26/2017 09:00 PM
SB705:v96#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Senate  May 26, 2017
Amended  IN  Senate  April 26, 2017
Amended  IN  Senate  April 05, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 705


Introduced by Senator Allen
(Coauthors: Senators Hill and Stern)

February 17, 2017


An act to add Chapter 6.8 (commencing with Section 42398) to Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, relating to solid waste.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 705, as amended, Allen. Solid waste: expanded polystyrene food service containers.
Existing law requires all rigid plastic bottles and rigid plastic containers sold in the state to be labeled with a code that indicates the resin used to produce the rigid plastic bottle or rigid plastic container. The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, requires every rigid plastic packaging container, as defined, sold or offered for sale in this state to generally meet one of specified criteria.
This bill would enact the Ocean Pollution Reduction Act of 2017, which 2017. The bill would prohibit a food provider, vendor, as defined, that is subject to specified federal requirements for the posting of calories and nutrients imposed upon restaurants and other retail food establishments, on and after January 1, 2020, from dispensing prepared food to a customer in an expanded polystyrene food service container. The bill would prohibit all food vendors from dispensing prepared food to a customer in an expanded polystyrene food service container on and after January 1, 2022. The bill would authorize a city or county to grant a food vendor an exemption from these prohibitions, as specified, upon request of the food vendor, if the food vendor demonstrates to the satisfaction of the city or county that compliance with the prohibition would impose an undue economic hardship, as defined. The bill would authorize a city, a county, a city and county, or the state to impose civil liability on a person or entity that knowingly violates that prohibition, or reasonably should have known that it was violating that prohibition, in the amount of $1,000 per day for the first violation, $2,000 per day for the second 2nd violation, and $5,000 per day for the third 3rd and subsequent violations. The bill would require any civil penalties collected to be paid to the office that brought the action and would authorize these penalties, if collected by the Attorney General, to be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to enforce that prohibition. The bill would require the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery to develop an Internet Web page with information on how to comply with, and how to file a complaint for a violation of, that prohibition. The act would also define related terms.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 Chapter 6.8 (commencing with Section 42398) is added to Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, to read:
CHAPTER  6.8. Ocean Pollution Reduction Act of 2017

42398.
 This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the Ocean Pollution Reduction Act of 2017.

42398.1.
 For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms have the following meanings:
(a) “Expanded polystyrene food service container” means a single-use rigid container made primarily of expanded polystyrene and used in the restaurant and food service industry for serving or transporting prepared, ready-to-consume food or beverages, including, but not limited to, plates, cups, bowls, trays, and hinged containers. “Expanded polystyrene food service container” does not include packaging for unprepared foods.
(b) “Food provider” vendor” means an establishment that provides prepared food for public consumption on or off its premises and includes, but is not limited to, a store, shop, sales outlet, restaurant, grocery store, supermarket, delicatessen, catering truck or vehicle, any other person who provides prepared food, and any organization, group, or individual that regularly provides food as a part of its services. “Food vendor” does not include any of the following:
(1) A facility run by the State Department of State Hospitals.
(2) A state or local correctional facility or institution, including, but not limited to, a state prison, county jail, facility of the Division of Juvenile Justice, or county- or city-operated juvenile detention facility, including a juvenile hall, camp, or school.
(3) A school campus, as defined in Section 49430 of the Education Code.
(c) “Prepared food” means a food or beverage prepared for consumption on or off a food provider’s vendor’s premises, using any cooking or food preparation technique. “Prepared food” does not include raw or uncooked meat, fish, or eggs provided for consumption without further food preparation.
(d) “Undue economic hardship” means a situation in which a food vendor has no reasonable alternative to the expanded polystyrene food service containers in use by that food vendor and compliance with subdivision (a) of Section 42398.2 would cause significant economic hardship to that food vendor.

42398.2.
 (a) (1) On and after January 1, 2020, a food provider vendor subject to Section 343(q)(5)(H) of Title 21 of the United States Code or to Section 114094 of the Health and Safety Code, as it read on January 1, 2017, shall not dispense prepared food to a customer in an expanded polystyrene food service container.
(2) On and after January 1, 2022, a food vendor shall not dispense prepared food to a customer in an expanded polystyrene food service container.
(b) The Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery shall develop an Internet Web page with information on how to comply with subdivision (a) and how to file a complaint for a violation of subdivision (a).
(c) (1) A food vendor may request from the city or county in which the food vendor is located an exemption from subdivision (a). The city or county may grant the exemption if the food vendor demonstrates to the satisfaction of the city or county that compliance with subdivision (a) would impose an undue economic hardship on the food vendor. A city or county may exempt a food vendor pursuant to this subdivision from subdivision (a) until January 1, 2023, or not more than one year from the date of the demonstration, whichever date is later.
(2) A food vendor granted an exemption pursuant to paragraph (1) may reapply to the city or county before the expiration of the exemption. The city or county may grant additional exemptions from subdivision (a) not to exceed one year each if the food vendor demonstrates at the time of application to the satisfaction of the city or county a continued undue economic hardship.

42398.3.
 (a) A city, a county, a city and county, or the state may impose civil liability on a person or entity that knowingly violates subdivision (a) of Section 42398.2, or reasonably should have known that it was violating subdivision (a) of Section 42398.2, in the amount of one thousand dollars ($1,000) per day for the first violation, two thousand dollars ($2,000) per day for the second violation, and five thousand dollars ($5,000) per day for the third and subsequent violations.
(b) Any civil penalties collected pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be paid to the office of the city attorney, city prosecutor, district attorney, or Attorney General that brought the action. The penalties collected pursuant to this section by the Attorney General may be expended by the Attorney General, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to enforce subdivision (a) of Section 42398.2.

42398.4.
 This chapter does not preempt the authority of a county, city, or city and county to adopt and enforce additional single-use take-out food packaging ordinances, regulations, or policies that are more restrictive than the applicable standards required by this chapter.