Author: Editor

NCRA July Legislative Update

By Doug Brooms, ZWAC Co-Chair, 7/15/2022

Please visit the NCRA 2022 Legislative Advocacy page for additional information. Comments, recommendations and questions are welcome and appreciated.

Clean Seas Lobby Coalition Priority Bills
NCRA has been included, among many other organizations, as a signatory to support letters for the following 7 Bills that are still active. Most of these Bills reside in the Appropriations Committee in the alternate House.

AB 1817 Product safety: textile articles: perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
AB 1857 Solid waste. (Incinerators Diversion Credit Removal)
AB 2026 Recycling: plastic packaging and carryout bags
AB 2247 PFAS Disclosures in Cosmetics
AB 2638 School facilities: drinking water: water bottle filling stations. SB 1013 Atkins D  Beverage container recycling: reports: electronic submittal: wine and distilled spirits. (Revised)  CAW letter sign-on
SB 1255 Single-use products waste reduction: Dishwasher Grant Program for Waste Reduction in K–12 Schools and Community Colleges.

CalRecycle Priority Bills
The following are 12 Bills, selected from CalRecycle’s list of Priority Bills, for which NCRA has submitted letters of support to designated legislative committees. Most of these Bills reside in the Appropriations Committee in the alternate House.

Note: Bills currently also supported by Californians Against Waste (CAW) are designated with (*)
AB 649 Bennett D  Calrecycle: Office of Environmental Justice and Tribal Relations.
AB 661 Bennett D  Recycling: materials. Minimum recycled content.
AB 1001 Garcia, Cristina D  Environment: Mitigation measures for air and water quality impacts: Environmental justice.
AB 1067 Ting D  Beverage containers. In-lieu Study.  *
AB 1985 Rivas, Robert  D  Organic waste: list: available products.
AB 2048 Santiago D  Franchise agreements: Database.
AB 2208 Kalra D Fluorescent lamps: sale and distribution: prohibition * (new)
AB 2419 Bryan D  Environmental justice: Federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: Justice 40 Oversight Committee.
AB 2440 Irwin D  Battery and Battery-Embedded Product Recycling and Fire Risk Reduction Act of 2022.
AB 2779 Irwin D  Beverage containers: Wine and distilled spirits.  *
SB 1046 Eggman D  Solid waste: Pre-checkout bags.  *
SB 1215 (Newman) E-Waste Recycling Program Expansion (Group support letter)

The following 8 additional CalRecycle Priority Bills, previously proposed as viable candidates for NCRA support, are in need of further assessments:
AB 923 Ramos D  Government-to-Government Consultation Act: state-tribal consultation.
AB 1740 Muratsuchi D  Catalytic converters.
AB 2374 Bauer-Kahan D Crimes against public health and safety: Illegal dumping. (Recent)
AB 2784 Ting D  Thermoform plastic containers: Postconsumer recycled plastic.  *
SB 1075 Skinner D  Green hydrogen: Emissions of greenhouse gases.
SB 1136 Portantino D California Environmental Quality Act: Expedited environmental review: Climate change regulations (Recent)
SB 1187 Kamlager D  Fabric recycling: Pilot project.
SB 1206 Skinner D Hydrofluorocarbon gases: Sale or distribution. (Recent)  *

Again, comments, recommendations and questions are welcome and appreciated.

Thanks for considering.

Farewell Despina

By Tracie Onstad Bills, Executive Director, California Resource Recovery Association, 6/6/2022

Despina Kreatsoulas, CRRA Director of Events and past Director of Administration, passed away Saturday, June 4, 2022 after battling terminal cancer. This is an incredible loss for CRRA, for her family and for the many others with whom she shared her passion for life.

Despina was incredibly proud of her Greek heritage. Each year she would travel to Greece, often twice a year for a week or two, while she worked full-time for CRRA. I think we can all say that she did not miss a beat. For the CRRA community, Despina’s competence, persistence and caring were evident each day. She uniquely and effectively helped make CRRA the strong, vibrant organization that it is today.

Despina was also co-founder of Politismos Museum of Greek History, an on-line museum that also hosts pop-up exhibits, lectures and children’s programs. In lieu of flowers, the family humbly requests a memorial donation to:

The Politismos Museum of Greek History
c/o The Hellenic Museum of Michigan
67 E. Kirby St.
Detroit, MI 48202

NCRA Bills Support May Update

By Doug Brooms, ZWAC Co-Chair
The NCRA Advocacy Webpage “2022 Legislation” has been updated, as of 5/08/22. As a member of the Clean Seas Lobby Coalition, NCRA is a signatory to support letters for least 12 Bills.

Among CalRecycle’s Priority Bills, at least 18 Bills are no longer listed and presumed inactive. Another 7 Bills have been deemed as insufficient interest to NCRA. That leaves some 21 Assembly Bills and 19 Senate Bills remaining of potential interest to NCRA, mostly for support. Some are still scheduled for committee hearings, but most have been placed in the respective Appropriations Committee Suspense File. The Senate Appropriations Suspense File Hearing date is 5/19/22, and likely the same as for the Assembly Suspense File Hearing.

For a concise description of the Appropriations Committee deliberations, here is one of 12 paragraphs taken from Indivisible’s 2019 The California Legislature 101:

Appropriations committee: After passing policy committee, bills go the Appropriations Committee which analyze the fiscal impact of the bill. All bills which have a fiscal note of more than $150,000 in the Assembly and $50,000 in the Senate (this is most bills) are referred to something known as the Appropriations Suspense File. Once bills go the suspense file, legislators lobby the chair of the Appropriations Committee to take their bills “off suspense.” This process is secretive with no public visibility. In the suspenseful suspense file hearing, all the chosen bills are pulled off suspense, voted on, and passed. The others are left on the suspense file to die.

A more elucidating 2021 article is Understanding How A California Bill Dies Without Public Debate (thanks Valerie).

The number of CalRecycle Priority Bills that will be taken off of Suspense and allowed to advance, likely will be of a smaller more manageable number from which to finally select candidates for NCRA support. As always, anyone is welcome to share recommendations and to assist with drafting position letters. Thanks for considering.

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