BILL NUMBER: SB 568 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 23, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 14, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Lowenthal
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Wieckowski)
FEBRUARY 17, 2011
An act to add Chapter 6.6 (commencing with Section 42391) to Part
3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, relating to recycling.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 568, as amended, Lowenthal. Recycling: polystyrene food
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 prohibit a food vendor, on and after January 1,
2014, from dispensing prepared food to a customer in a polystyrene
foam food container and would define related terms. The bill would
provide that a food vendor that is a school district is not required
to comply with the bill's requirements until July 1, 2015 , and
would allow a food vendor that is a school district to
dispense prepared food to a customer in a polystyrene foam food
container after that date if the governing board of the school
district elects to adopt a policy to implement a verifiable recycling
program for polystyrene foam food containers. The bill would also
allow a food vendor to dispense prepared food to a customer in a
polystyrene foam food container after January 1, 2014, in a city or
county if the city or county elects to adopt an ordinance
establishing a specified recycling program for polystyrene foam food
containers .
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 6.6 (commencing with Section 42391) is added to
Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, to read:
CHAPTER 6.6. POLYSTYRENE FOAM FOOD CONTAINERS
42391. For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms have
the following meanings:
(a) "Customer" means a person obtaining prepared food from a food
vendor.
(b) (1) "Polystyrene foam food container" means a container made
of thermoplastic petrochemical material utilizing the styrene
monomer, that meets all of the following conditions:
(A) Polystyrene is the sole resin used to produce the rigid
plastic packaging container.
(B) The container is required to be labeled with a "6" pursuant to
subdivision (a) of Section 18015.
(C) The container is used, or is intended to be used, to hold
prepared food.
(2) A polystyrene foam food container may be processed by a number
of techniques, including, but not limited to, fusion of polymer
spheres or expandable bead polystyrene.
(3) Polystyrene foam may also be referred to as Styrofoam(T), a
Dow Chemical Company trademarked form of polystyrene foam insulation.
(4) A polystyrene foam food container includes, but is not limited
to, a cup, bowl, plate, tray, or clamshell container that is
intended for single use.
(c) (1) "Food vendor" means a food facility, as defined in Section
113789 of the Health and Safety Code, including, but not limited to,
a restaurant or retail food and beverage vendor located or operating
within the state.
(2) A food vendor also includes, but is not limited to, an
itinerant restaurant, pushcart, vehicular food vendors, a caterer, a
cafeteria, a store, a shop, a sales outlet, or other establishment,
including a grocery store or a delicatessen.
(3) A food vendor does not include a correctional facility,
including, but not limited to, a state prison, county jail, facility
of the Division of Juvenile Justice, county- or city-operated
juvenile facility, including juvenile halls, camps, or schools, or
other state or local correctional institution.
(d) "Prepared food" means food, as defined in Section 109935 of
the Health and Safety Code, including a beverage, that is served,
packaged, cooked, chopped, sliced, mixed, brewed, frozen, squeezed,
or otherwise prepared for consumption. Prepared food includes
"ready-to-eat food," as defined in Section 113881 of the Health and
Safety Code.
(1) "Prepared food" does not include raw, butchered meats, fish,
or poultry that is sold from a butcher case or a similar retail
appliance.
(2) "Prepared food" may be eaten either on or off the premises,
and includes takeout food.
(e) "Recycled" means the product or material is reused in the
production of another product and is diverted from disposal in a
landfill.
42392. (a) Except as
provided in subdivision (b) Sections 42393
and 42394 , on and after January 1, 2014, a food vendor shall
not dispense prepared food to a customer in a polystyrene foam food
container.
(b)
42393. (a) A food vendor that is
a school district, as defined in Section 80 of the Education Code,
is not required to comply with subdivision (a) until July 1,
2015. Section 42392 until July 1, 2015.
(b) On and after July 1, 2015, a food vendor that is a school
district may dispense prepared food to a customer in a polystyrene
foam food container if the governing board of the school district
elects to adopt a policy to implement a verifiable recycling program
for polystyrene foam food containers where there is a reasonable
likelihood that at least 60 percent of the polystyrene foam food
containers purchased annually by that school district will be
recycled.
42394. On and after January 1, 2014, a food vendor may dispense
prepared food to a customer in a polystyrene foam food container in a
city or county if either of the following apply:
(a) The city elects to adopt an ordinance establishing a recycling
program for polystyrene foam food containers for which the city
makes a finding, by a majority vote of the city council at a public
hearing, that, based on empirical data, there is a reasonable
likelihood that at least 60 percent of the polystyrene foam food
containers generated annually in the city will be recycled by that
program.
(b) The county elects to adopt an ordinance establishing a
recycling program for polystyrene foam food containers for which the
county makes a finding, by a majority vote of the board of
supervisors at a public hearing, that, based on empirical data, there
is a reasonable likelihood that at least 60 percent of the
polystyrene foam food containers generated annually in the county
will be recycled by that program.
42393. 42395. This chapter does not
preempt the authority of a county, city, or city and county to adopt
and enforce additional single-use takeout food packaging ordinances,
regulations, or policies that are more restrictive than the
applicable standards required by this chapter.
42394. 42396. The provisions of
this chapter are severable. If any provision of this chapter or its
application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other
provisions or applications that can be given effect without the
invalid provision or application.