AB2245 - Lubricants waste: packaging: producer responsibility.

Amended IN Assembly April 22, 2026 Amended IN Assembly April 07, 2026 Amended IN Assembly March 23, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 2245 Introduced by Assembly Member Michelle Rodriguez February 19, 2026 An act to amend Sections 42041 and 42051.1 of, and to add Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 48695) to Part 7 of Division 30 of, the Public Resources Code, relating to solid waste. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2245, as amended, Michelle Rodriguez. Lubricants waste: packaging: producer responsibility. (1) Under existing law, as part of the hazardous waste control laws, the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) generally regulates the management and handling of hazardous waste and hazardous materials. Existing law authorizes a public agency, as defined, to operate a household hazardous waste collection facility under permit from DTSC. The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, which is administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), requires a city and a county to prepare and submit to CalRecycle a countywide integrated waste management plan. The act requires the plan to include a household hazardous waste element that identifies a program in each city and county for the safe collection, recycling, treatment, and disposal of hazardous wastes that are generated by households. The California Oil Recycling Enhancement Act, administered by CalRecycle, establishes a used oil recycling program to promote and develop alternatives to illegal disposal of used oil. The act imposes a charge for every gallon of lubricating oil sold or transferred in the state, or imported into the state for use in the state, as specified. This bill would create a producer responsibility program for lubricants waste that is not covered by the act, and packaging associated with lubricant products, and would require a producer responsibility organization (PRO) to provide a convenient collection and management system for covered products at no cost to residents. The bill would create 2 categories of covered product, covered liquid product and covered packaging product. The bill would define “covered liquid product” to mean a petroleum-based automotive product and other related products, as specified. The bill would define “covered packaging product” to mean primary packaging and containers designed and intended to hold a covered liquid product and other similar packaging, as specified. The bill would require a producer of a covered product to register with the PRO, which would be required to develop and implement a producer responsibility plan for the collection and the safe and proper management of covered products. The bill would require CalRecycle, in coordination with DTSC, to adopt regulations to implement the program with an effective date no earlier than January 1, 2029. This bill would require the PRO, within 12 months of the effective date of the regulations, to submit a product responsibility plan to CalRecycle. The bill would require the plan to include specified elements, including a funding mechanism that provides sufficient funding to carry out the plan. The bill would require, within 6 months of receipt of the plan, CalRecycle, in collaboration with DTSC, to approve, approve in part, or disapprove the plan, as specified. The bill would require CalRecycle to notify the PRO of its decision. If CalRecycle does not approve the plan in full, then the bill would require CalRecycle to specify the reasons for disapproval or identify the portions of the partially approved plan that do not comply with the program, as applicable. The bill would require the PRO to submit a revised plan if its plan is not fully approved. This bill would require the PRO to implement its plan within 90 days of approval. The bill would require the plan to be fully funded in a manner that equitably distributes the plan’s costs among participant producers, as specified. The bill would require the plan to describe how the producer responsibility organization will consult with and mutually agree upon terms and amounts to reimburse local jurisdictions for the proportional costs associated with collecting and managing covered products pursuant to these provisions. The bill would also require the plan to include a description of how the producer responsibility organization will contract with haulers to transport covered products from the collection facilities to recycling facilities or disposal, and how the producer responsibility organization will contract with recyclers. This bill would require the PRO to prepare and submit to CalRecycle an annual report describing the activities carried out pursuant to the plan. The bill would require the PRO to retain specified documents, annually audit its accounting books, and make documents available to CalRecycle for review, as specified. The bill would require all reports and records provided to CalRecycle pursuant to the program to be provided under the penalty of perjury. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require a participant producer, through the PRO, to pay CalRecycle, on an unspecified schedule, an annual administrative charge, as determined by CalRecycle and DTSC. The bill would require the charge be set at an amount that is adequate to cover CalRecycle’s and DTSC’s actual and reasonable costs of administering and enforcing the program. The bill would provide for the imposition of administrative civil penalties on producers and other specified persons who violate the program. The bill would establish the Lubricant Waste and Packaging Producer Responsibility Fund in the State Treasury and would require the administrative charges collected by CalRecycle to be deposited into that fund for expenditure by CalRecycle, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to cover CalRecycle’s cost to implement and enforce the program. The bill would also establish the Lubricant Waste and Packaging Penalty Account in the Lubricant Waste and Packaging Producer Responsibility Fund and would require that the civil penalties collected by CalRecycle pursuant to the program be deposited into that account, for expenditure by CalRecycle, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for activities related to the collection and recycling of covered products, grants for related purposes, and the administration and enforcement of the program. (2) Existing law, the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, establishes a producer responsibility program designed to ensure that producers of single-use packaging and food service ware covered by that program take responsibility for the costs associated with the end-of-life management of that material and ensure that the material is recyclable or compostable. The act requires producers, either individually or through participation in a producer responsibility organization, to have an approved plan that, among other things, describe how the producer or organization will comply with the act. This bill would exempt a covered packaging product from the act. (3) Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. (4) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Section 42041 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 42041. For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply: (a) “Advisory board” means the producer responsibility advisory board established pursuant to Section 42070. (b) “Bulk or large format packaging” means packaging for a large amount of a product in a large packaging, thereby offsetting the need for multiple smaller packaging units for the same amount of product. (c) “California circular economy administrative fee” means the fee imposed by the department pursuant to Section 42053.5. (d) “Concentrate” or “concentration” means reducing the amount of packaging needed for a product by reformulating the product to allow for smaller quantities of the product to be used for the same purpose as the previous, larger quantity. (e) (1) “Covered material” means both of the following: (A) Single-use packaging that is routinely recycled, disposed of, or discarded after its contents have been used or unpackaged, and typically not refilled or otherwise reused by the producer. (B) Plastic single-use food service ware, including, but not limited to, plastic-coated paper or plastic-coated paperboard, paper or paperboard with plastic intentionally added during the manufacturing process, and multilayer flexible material. For purposes of this subparagraph, “single-use food service ware” includes both of the following: (i) Trays, plates, bowls, clamshells, lids, cups, utensils, stirrers, hinged or lidded containers, and straws. (ii) Wraps or wrappers and bags used in the packaging of food offered for sale or provided to customers by food service establishments. (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), “covered material” does not include any of the following: (A) Packaging used for any of the following products: (i) 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)). (ii) Drugs that are used for animal medicines, including, but not limited to, parasiticide products for animals. (iii) Products intended for animals that are regulated as animal drugs, biologics, parasiticides, medical devices, or diagnostics used to treat, or 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.). (iv) Infant formula, as defined in Section 321(z) of Title 21 of the United States Code. (v) Medical food, as defined in Section 360ee(b)(3) of Title 21 of the United States Code. (vi) Fortified oral nutritional supplements used for persons who require supplemental or sole source nutrition to meet nutritional needs due to special dietary needs directly related to cancer, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, malnutrition, or failure to thrive, as those terms are defined by the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, or other medical conditions as determined by the department. (B) Packaging used to contain products regulated by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. Sec. 136 et seq.). (C) Plastic packaging containers that are used to contain and ship products that are classified for transportation as dangerous goods or hazardous materials under Part 178 (commencing with Section 178.0) of Subchapter C of Chapter I of Subtitle B of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations. (D) Packaging used to contain hazardous or flammable products classified by the 2012 federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration Hazard Communication Standard (29 C.F.R. 1910.1200). (E) Beverage containers subject to the California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act (Division 12.1 (commencing with Section 14500)). (F) Packaging used for the long-term protection or storage of a product that has a lifespan of not less than five years, as determined by the department. (G) Packaging associated with paint products, as defined in Section 48701. (H) A covered packaging product, as defined by Section 48695.04. (I) (i) Covered material for which the producer demonstrates to the department that the covered material meets all of the following criteria: (I) The covered material is not collected through a residential recycling collection service. (II) The covered material does not undergo separation from other materials at a commingled recycling processing facility. (III) The covered material is recycled at a responsible end market. (IV) Until January 1, 2027, the producer annually demonstrates to the department that the material has had a recycling rate of 65 percent for three consecutive years. On and after January 1, 2027, the producer demonstrates to the department that the material has had a recycling rate at or over 70 percent annually, as demonstrated to the department every two years. (ii) If only a portion of the covered material sold in or into the state by a producer meets the criteria of clause (i), only the portion of the covered material that meets the criteria of clause (i) is exempt from this chapter and any portion that does not meet the criteria is a covered material for purposes of this chapter. (f) “Covered material category” means a category that includes covered material of a similar type and form, as determined by the department. (g) “Curbside collection” means a program that includes the collection of material, including, but not limited to, covered materials, by a local jurisdiction or recycling or composting service provider under contract with a local jurisdiction. (h) “Department” means the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery. (i) “Disadvantaged community” means an area identified by the California Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code or an area identified as a disadvantaged unincorporated community pursuant to Section 65302.10 of the Government Code. (j) “Eliminate” or “elimination,” with respect to source reduction, means the removal of a plastic component from a covered material without replacing that component with a nonplastic component. (k) “Expanded polystyrene” means blown polystyrene and expanded or extruded foams that are thermoplastic petrochemical materials utilizing a styrene monomer and processed by any technique or techniques, including, but not limited to, fusion of polymer spheres (expandable bead polystyrene), injection molding, foam molding, and extrusion-blow molding (extruded foam polystyrene). (l) “Lightweighting” means reducing the weight or amount of material used in a specific packaging or food service ware without functionally changing the packaging or food service ware. “Lightweighting” does not include changes that result in a recyclable or compostable covered material becoming nonrecyclable or noncompostable or less likely to be recycled or composted. (m) “Local jurisdiction” [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]