On January 9, CalRecycle announced that they have withdrawn the SB 54 Single Use Packaging Regulations from the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) to incorporate additional amendments.
SB 54 (Allen) of 2022 requires manufacturers of single use packaging and food service ware to take responsibility for the management and recycling of the products they introduce into the stream of commerce. CalRecycle was required to determine which categories of covered materials are recyclable and compostable and SB 54 requires all local jurisdictions to include those materials identified by CalRecycle in their collection and recycling/composting programs (unless they receive an exemption or extension from CalRecycle). Those 19 counties with fewer than 70,000 residents (and cities within those counties) may exempt themselves from this requirement.
RCRC and other stakeholders expressed serious concerns with the final version of SB 54 regulations that were submitted to OAL. RCRC expressed concerns that that the regulations could improperly limit the universe of costs for which local governments can seek cost recovery and could impair the production and use of compost. RCRC also voiced objections to the proposed dispute resolution framework and categorical exclusions exempting a wide variety of food and agricultural commodity packaging.
While it is not clear what changes CalRecycle will make to the regulations, it is anticipated that they will include modifications to the exclusions for food and agricultural commodity packaging. CalRecycle will conduct another 15-day comment period for the public to provide input on these amendments, but noted that the statutory deadlines will remain unchanged.
For more information, contact RCRC Senior Policy Consultant, John Kennedy.