Sept 9 - Polystyrene Phase out On Hold Until 2012
California legislation to phase out the use of foamed polystyrene--SB 568 (Lowenthal), was placed on the inactive file today by Senator Lowenthal, who felt there were insufficient votes to pass off the Assembly floor.
What does this mean? In short, SB 568 is not dead.
The California State Legislature runs on a two-year cycle, with 2011 being the first year of the current session. Today is the last day of session before the interim recess, but inactive bills can be taken up after the session reconvenes next January in the same location that the bills were last placed, without having to start over as a new bill.
For SB 568, this means that the bill does not have to go through the policy or fiscal committees of each house again. Next year, it will need to pass the Assembly floor and get concurrence in the Senate (which already passed the bill this year but has to agree with the Assembly amendments) before going to the Governor’s Desk.
It was an uphill battle against the plastics industry, which shelled out hundreds of thousands of dollars to lobby against SB 568. But advocates for SB 568 hope to use the interim to gather more support countering the opposition.
Find out more on our website, or read this Waste & Recycling News article.
You can help by checking our website for updates on this bill, responding to our action alerts for support, and asking your friends and family members to do the same. Please friend us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.