CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 2761

Introduced by Assembly Members Hart and Lowenthal
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Luz Rivas)

February 15, 2024

An act to add Chapter 3.1 (commencing with Section 42090) to Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, relating to public health.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2761, as introduced, Hart. Product safety: plastic packaging: Reducing Toxics in Packaging Act.
Existing law prohibits any person from distributing, selling, or offering for sale in the state any food packaging that contains regulated perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), as defined, and requires a manufacturer to use the least toxic alternative when replacing regulated PFAS in food packaging to comply with this requirement. Existing law similarly prohibits, beginning July 1, 2025, a person from manufacturing, distributing, selling, or offering for sale in the state any new, not previously owned, textile articles that contain regulated PFAS, except as specified.
This bill would enact the Reducing Toxics in Packaging Act, which would prohibit, beginning January 1, 2026, a person from manufacturing, selling, offering for sale, or distributing in the state plastic packaging that contains certain chemicals, as specified. The bill would exclude from that prohibition packaging used for certain medical, drug, and federally regulated products. The bill would authorize the imposition of a civil penalty for a violation of that prohibition, as specified.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 Chapter 3.1 (commencing with Section 42090) is added to Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, to read:
CHAPTER  3.1. Reducing Toxics in Packaging Act

42090.
 (a) This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the Reducing Toxics in Packaging Act.
(b) For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Packaging” has the same meaning as in Section 42041.
(2) “Regulated perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS” has the same meaning as in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 109000 of the Health and Safety Code.
(c) Commencing January 1, 2026, no person shall manufacture, sell, offer for sale, or distribute in the state plastic packaging that contains any of the following:
(1) Regulated perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS.
(2) Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), inclusive of polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC).
(d) Notwithstanding any other law, the prohibition in subdivision (c) does not apply to either of the following:
(1) Packaging used for any of the following products:
(A) Medical products and products defined as devices or prescription drugs, as specified in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. Secs. 321(g), 321(h), and 353(b)(1)).
(B) Drugs that are used for animal medicines, including, but not limited to, parasiticide products for animals.
(C) Products intended for animals that are regulated as animal drugs, biologics, parasiticides, medical devices, or diagnostics used to treat, or be administered to, animals under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. Sec. 301 et seq.), the federal Virus-Serum-Toxin Act (21 U.S.C. Sec. 151 et seq.), or the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. Sec. 136 et seq.).
(2) Packaging used to contain products regulated by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. Sec. 136 et seq.).

42091.
 (a) A city, a county, or the state may impose civil liability in the amount of five hundred dollars ($500) for the first violation of this chapter, one thousand dollars ($1,000) for the second violation, and two thousand dollars ($2,000) for the third and any subsequent violation.
(b) Any civil penalties collected pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be paid to the office of the city attorney, city prosecutor, district attorney, or Attorney General, whichever office brought the action. The penalties collected pursuant to this section by the Attorney General may be expended by the Attorney General, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to enforce this chapter.
(c) The remedies provided by this section are not exclusive and are in addition to the remedies that may be available pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 17200) of Part 2 of Division 7 of the Business and Professions Code.
(d) The costs incurred by a state agency in carrying out this chapter shall be recoverable by the Attorney General, upon the request of the agency, from the liable person or persons.