CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 2648

Introduced by Assembly Member Bennett
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Friedman and Luz Rivas)

February 14, 2024

An act to add Section 12405 to the Public Contract Code, relating to public contracts.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2648, as introduced, Bennett. Environmentally preferable purchasing: single-use plastic bottles.
Existing law generally governs the state procurement of materials, supplies, equipment, and services. Existing law also provides various procedures and requirements pertaining to the purchase of recycled items by the state, including minimum content requirements for recycled plastic products. Existing law requires the Department of General Services, in consultation with specified parties, to provide state agencies with information and assistance regarding environmentally preferable purchasing, including, but not limited to, the promotion of environmentally preferable purchasing and the development and implementation of a strategy to increase environmentally preferable purchasing.
This bill would, with certain exceptions, prohibit state agencies from entering into or renewing a contract, on or after January 1, 2025, to purchase single-use plastic bottles, as defined, for internal use or resale. The bill would require state agencies to submit a report, on or before January 1, 2026, to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, confirming its compliance with these requirements. The bill would define a state agency for these purposes to include various agencies, including the California State University, and would request that the University of California comply with its provisions.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) California is in the midst of a plastic pollution crisis. Every year, about 11,000,000 metric tons of plastic waste enter the ocean from coastal nations. New scientific research estimates that under the current trajectory, plastic production will double by 2030.
(b) Plastic bottles are among the top 10 mostly commonly found plastic items on beaches. Every hour, Americans use 3,000,000 plastic water bottles. Californians used more than 12,000,000,000 plastic beverage bottles in 2017, about 70 percent of which were not recycled.
(c) The production of plastic bottles relies on fossil fuels. The production, consumption, and end-of-life management of single-use plastic bottles, typically used for only a few minutes before being discarded, have significant environmental impacts, including substantial greenhouse gas emissions, litter, marine pollution, environmental contamination, increased cancer risk to production employees, harm to wildlife, the depletion of precious natural resources, decrease of biodiversity, and the generation of hard-to-manage waste.
(d) Micro and nanoplastics are released from plastic bottles. Microplastics have been found within human lungs, livers, spleens, and kidneys, in the placentas of newborn babies, and in breast milk.
(e) Prioritizing reduction and reuse of packaging can provide significant economic, environmental, and social benefits and is consistent with the Integrated Waste management hierarchy that places “Reduce” and “Reuse” above “Recycling” and disposal.
(f) The availability of innovative services, systems, and businesses that deliver products in unpackaged or reusable formats is increasingly creating new opportunities for local business entrepreneurship and economic development. Recycling and reusing create between nine and 30 times more jobs than disposing of waste in landfills and incinerators.
(g) Public access to water refill stations supports personal efforts to avoid disposable plastic bottles by using reusable bottles and helps people save money.

SEC. 2.

 Section 12405 is added to the Public Contract Code, immediately following Section 12404, to read:

12405.
 (a) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (4), a state agency shall not enter into or renew a contract to purchase single-use plastic bottles for internal use or resale.
(2) The Legislature encourages every state agency to install and maintain at least one, or maintain at least one existing, water bottle refill station located to ensure maximum access by all visitors and to allow visitors to bring their own reusable beverage bottle for use at water bottle refill stations.
(3) A state agency shall take appropriate steps to replace the use of single-use plastic bottles with nonplastic, recyclable alternatives, including, but not limited to, aluminum cans, glass bottles, water fountains, or water bottle refill stations for reusable or refillable water containers.
(4) A state agency may enter into or renew a contract to purchase single-use plastic bottles only when reasonably necessary to protect the general health, safety, and welfare in preparing for or responding to a declaration of emergency.
(b) On or before January 1, 2026, a state agency shall submit a report to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee confirming its compliance with this section.
(c) This section applies only to contracts entered into or renewed on or after January 1, 2025.
(d) This section does not limit the duties of a state agency under a collective bargaining agreement entered into or renewed before January 1, 2025.
(e) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Plastic” has the same meaning as in subdivision (t) of Section 42041 of the Public Resources Code.
(2) “Reusable” has the same meaning as in subdivision (af) of Section 42041 of the Public Resources Code.
(3) “Single-use plastic bottle” means a beverage in a sealed plastic bottle or plastic-coated carton with a capacity of 21 fluid ounces or less.
(4) “State agency” has the same meaning as set forth in subdivision (m) of Section 12200, and shall include the California State University.
(5) “Water bottle refill station” means a bottle filler that dispenses potable drinking water downward that complies with Section 116875 of the Health and Safety Code, applicable standards under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-336; 42 U.S.C. 12101, et seq.), and accessibility requirements applicable to drinking fountains under the California Building Standards Code.
(f) The University of California is hereby requested to comply with this section.