California Solid Waste Legislation

Latest Laws: Legislation Taking Effect in 2009

This page provides summaries of bills of interest to the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) taking effect in 2009 and the date they take effect. You may access a listing of all California solid waste law chaptered during the two-year session of 2007-2008 from CalRecycle's history page. Visit CalRecycle's Current Solid Waste Priority Bills page for a status of bills being proposed during the current 2009-2010 legislative session.

CalRecycle also maintains a rulemaking archive of the latest regulations approved by the Office of Administrative Law (OAL). Regulations under development (which may relate to some of the following statutes) can be found on the rulemaking site.

Statutes of 2008

AB 1846 (Adams)--Inedible Kitchen Grease (effective 1/1/09)--This bill exempts transporters of inedible kitchen grease who transport inedible kitchen grease for their own personal, noncommercial use as an alternative fuel, from paying 75 percent of the $300 transporter fee, as specified. (Chapter 321)

AB 1972 (DeSaulnier)--Solid Waste: Plastic Bags: Food and Beverage Containers (effective 1/1/09)--This bill modifies two chapters in current law: one on biodegradable and compostable plastic bags and one on plastic food and beverage containers. In both programs, the sale of an item labeled "compostable" or "marine degradable" is prohibited, unless the item meets specific American Society for Testing and Materials Standard Specifications, or in some cases, a standard adopted by CalRecycle. (Chapter 436)

AB 2071 (Karnette)--Plastic Bags: Plastic Food and Beverage Containers: Enforcement (effective 1/1/09)--This bill establishes penalties for failure to comply with labeling requirements for compostable, biodegradable, and degradable plastic bags and plastic food and beverage containers sold in California. (Chapter 570)

AB 2245 (Soto)--Illegal Dumping Enforcement Officers: Use of Batons (effective 1/1/09)--This bill allows illegal dumping enforcement officers to carry batons if the individual has satisfactorily completed a course of instruction, certified by the Department of Consumer Affairs, in the carrying and use of a club or baton. (Chapter 96)

AB 2347 (Ruskin)--Mercury-Added Thermostats: Collection Program (effective 1/1/09)--This bill enacts the Mercury Thermostat Collection Act of 2008 and requires a manufacturer who sold mercury-added thermostats before January 1, 2006, to establish and maintain a collection and recycling program for out-of-service mercury-added thermostats. (Chapter 572)

AB 2679 (Ruskin)--Solid Waste: Enforcement: Local Agencies (effective 1/1/09)--This bill makes numerous changes to strengthen and streamline the enforcement provisions under the California Integrated Waste Management Act, including, repealing the automatic stay of an enforcement order, establishing civil and criminal penalties for specific violations of the Integrated Waste Management Act, and authorizing CalRecycle to take any enforcement action currently available to LEAs under certain circumstances. (Chapter 500)

AB 3025 (Lieber)--Solid Waste: Polystyrene Loose-fill Packaging (effective 1/1/09)--This bill prohibits, after January 1, 2012, a wholesaler or manufacturer from selling, or offering to sell expanded polystyrene (EPS) loose-fill packaging material ("packaging peanuts") in California, unless it meets requirements to contain specified amounts of recycled material. Ultimately, the bill requires EPS loose-fill packaging to be comprised of 100 percent recycled material by January 1, 2017. (Chapter 471)

SB 1016 (Wiggins)--Diversion: Alternative Compliance System (effective 1/1/09)--This bill moves CalRecycle from the existing solid waste diversion accounting system to a per capita disposal based system. The bill also revises the reporting and review process so that jurisdictions determined to be in compliance with the 50 percent diversion requirement would be subject to a review every four years, while those not in compliance would continue to be reviewed every two years. (Chapter 343)

SB 1277 (Maldonado)--Synthetic Turf (effective 1/1/09)--This bill requires, on or before September 1, 2010, CalRecycle, in consultation with the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) and the State Department of Public Health, to prepare a study on the effects of synthetic turf and natural turf on the environment and the public health. (Chapter 398)

SB 1473 (Calderon)--Building Standards (effective 1/1/09)--This bill requires the BSC to adopt, approve, codify, update, and publish green building standards for any occupancy for which no state agency has the authority or expertise to propose those standards. In addition, this bill directs local governments to collect a fee of $4 per $100K in valuation from building permit applicants to fund the development, adoption, publication, and educational efforts for green building standards. (Chapter 719)

SB 1781 (Committee on Environmental Quality)--Environmental Quality: Solid Waste Management: Used and Waste Tires: Ballast Water Management (effective 1/1/09)--As it relates to CalRecycle, this bill clarifies several portions of the waste and used tire hauler statutes, resulting in more efficient and cost-effective enforcement of those requirements. (Chapter 696)