Bill textExcludes aseptics and pouches under 7 oz.
Two bills introduced in 2009 proposed changes to California's existing bottle bill. The first stalled out in early summer, but the second passed the House and Senate before being vetoed by the governor.
| Bill Number and Name | Senate Bill 55 Bill text |
|---|---|
| Primary Sponsor | Corbett |
| Containers Covered | Adds 16-oz and larger containers of vegetable juice. Eliminates the requirement that containers be made of certain materials. Excludes aseptics and pouches under 7 oz. |
| Handling Fees | The bill would include provisions for determining a supplemental processing payment, based on the volume of redeemed containers, which would be paid to processors and ultimately to recyclers. |
| Bill Number and Name | Senate Bill 402 Bill text |
|---|---|
| Primary Sponsor | Wolk |
| Beverages Covered | Adds soy and grain drinks and vegetable juices of any size |
| Containers Covered | Adds aseptics, gabletops and pouches |
| Amount of Deposit | Increased to ten cents on beverages between 20 and 24 ounces |
| Handling Fees |
In addition to the changes regarding vegetable juice and container types, this bill also specifies changes to the administrative aspects of the deposit system.
The current law requires reporting of redemption rates for various categories of beverage; the new bill eliminates that requirement.
The government is required to pay cities and counties a certain amount of money from the state fund to finance waste reduction programs. The bill would increase this amount.
After several amendments, the bill was stripped down to only the parts having to do with reporting of redemption rates.
SB 402 would strengthen California's Bottle Bill and balance the Bottle Bill Fund by ending program exemptions and decreasing the 10 cent CRV threshold to 20 ounces from 24 ounces, ending the exemption given to non-bottle-and-can beverage containers, and other measures.
According to Californians Against Waste, the bill offers a number of benefits to California:
California's successful Beverage Container Recycling Program is under threat by significant cuts to core recycling programs, such as payments for supermarket-based recycling, payments for curbside recycling and payments to conservation corps recycling. Due to the imbalance, the Department of Conservation was forced to: cut $131 million in funding for local governments, local conservation corps, curbside recycling, recycling market development and other performance-based incentives for recycling; and Increase beverage industry ‘processing fee’ costs by roughly $75 million. Additionally, some 600 California grocery stores are currently unserved by recycling centers, and without relief, they will be obligated to take containers inside their stores.
SB 402 will bring the Beverage Container Recycling Fund back into balance while strengthening recycling. Specifically, SB 402 will:
- Expand the scope of beverage containers covered by the program to include all container types for existing beverages, regardless of size or material type.
- Accelerate the timeframe for beverage distributors to make CRV payments from 90 to 60 days in order to better align with CRV ‘pay-out’ timeframe (20 days).
- Move the existing 10 cent CRV threshold from containers 24 ounces and larger to containers 20 ounces and larger.
- Reduce, suspend and eliminate non-core program expenditures by $36 million.
- Maintain essential funding for ‘core program’ expenditures
In addition to the changes in covered beverages and container types, administrative changes that will have little effect on the general public are also part of the bill. They include the following:
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed Senate Bill 402 on October 11, citing numerous issues, including hardship on consumers and the fact that many of the container types to be added are not recyclable, concluding that the bill was not a good long-term solution to the problems facing California's deposit system.
To alleviate some of the problems, the governor ordered that one of the provisions of the bill be put into effect, requiring distributors to make payments into the Beverage Container Recycling Fund every two months.
January 15, 2009: Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.
January 29, 2009: Referred to Committee on Environmental Quality
April 22, 2009: Read second time. Amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
May 11, 2009: Hearing scheduled
May 13, 2009: Amended to remove provisions that would add juice beverages
May 20, 2009: Amended
May 28, 2009: Passed 3rd reading in Senate. Sent to Assembly
Jun 18, 2009: Sent to Committee on Natural Resources
July 7, 2009: Re-referred to Committee on Appropriations.
February 25, 2009: Introduced and referred To Com. on RLS. for assignment.
March 12, 2009: Referred To Coms. on REV. & TAX. and RLS
April 28, 2009: Amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS.
May 7, 2009: Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
May 28, 2009: Passed committee, Read second time.
June 1, 2009: Passed Senate and send To Assembly.
June 22, 2009: Referred to Assembly Com. on REV. & TAX.
July 7, 2009: Re-referred to Com. on APPR
August 31, 2009: Passed committee, Read second time.
Sept. 4, 2009: Read third time. Amended. Re-referred to Com. On NAT. RES.
September 11, 2009: Passed Assembly and referred to Senate. Passed Senate.
October 11, 2009: Vetoed by governor
Californians Against Waste
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Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-443-5422