SB1010 - Hazardous waste: major appliances: recycling.

Amended IN Assembly June 11, 2026 Amended IN Senate March 25, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Senate Bill No. 1010 Introduced by Senator Ashby February 10, 2026 An act to add Chapter 13.2 (commencing with Section 42670) to Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, relating to solid waste. amend Sections 25211.3 and 25211.4 of, to add Sections 25211.6 and 25211.7 to, and to repeal and add Section 25213 of, the Health and Safety Code, relating to hazardous waste. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1010, as amended, Ashby. Solid waste: Refrigerant Stewardship and Recovery Act. Hazardous waste: major appliances: recycling. Under existing law, the Department of Toxic Substances Control is required to implement and enforce certain laws related to the recycling of major appliances, as defined. Existing law prohibits a person, other than a certified appliance recycler, as defined, from removing materials that require special handling from a major appliance. Existing law requires a person, including, but not limited to, a certified appliance recycler, who transports, delivers, or sells discarded major appliances to a scrap recycling facility, as defined, to retain onsite records demonstrating compliance with certain laws related to the recycling of major appliances, as provided. A violation of the hazardous waste control laws is a crime. This bill would require a person, including, but not limited to, a certified appliance recycler, who transports, delivers, or sells discarded major appliances to a scrap recycling facility to also provide those documents to the department, as specified. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires a person wishing to operate as a certified appliance recycler to submit an initial or renewal application to the department, under penalty of perjury. Existing law requires the application to include, among other things, a description of the ability of the applicant to properly remove and manage all materials that require special handling. Existing law requires the department to review an application for completeness and, upon a determination that the application is complete and meets the requirements of certain laws related to the recycling of major appliances, to issue a numbered certificate to the applicant. Existing law requires the applicable certified unified program agency (CUPA), as soon as practicable after receiving the application and certification from the department, to inspect the certified appliance recycler’s facility, as provided. This bill would require the application to also include a description of the applicant’s facility and registration with the CUPA, as specified. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the department to review the application, visit the applicant’s facility, and, upon determination that the application is complete and meets the requirements of certain laws related to the recycling of major appliances and applicable laws regarding hazardous waste, issue a numbered certificate to the applicant. The bill would require the CUPA to inspect the certified appliance recycler’s facility as soon as practicable, but no later than 6 months after the issuance of the certificate. By creating a new requirement on a CUPA, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize the department to impose a charge on an applicant for initial certification and on a certified appliance recycler for renewal to cover the department’s reasonable and actual regulatory costs for implementing certain laws relating to the recycling of major appliances, including, but not limited to, the adoption of regulations, as specified. This bill would require a scrap recycling facility to only accept an appliance from a certified appliance recycler or a person otherwise authorized to transport, deliver, or sell discarded major appliances. The bill would require a scrap recycling facility to document each appliance received and to confirm, under penalty of perjury, that materials that require special handling have been removed from the appliance. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the department to develop a statewide list of appliance recyclers, used appliance dealers, solid waste facilities, metal scrapyards, and others who may remove, or do business with those who remove, from major appliances, materials that require special handling, as specified. Existing law requires the department to transmit a copy of the Appliance Recycling Guide, published by the California Integrated Waste Management Board, and certain other materials and information, to waste generators and enforcement officers, as provided. This bill would repeal those provisions and instead require the department to post on its internet website a list of certified appliance recyclers and the number of appliances processed by certified appliance recyclers and accepted by scrap recycling facilities, as specified. 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, generally regulates the disposal, management, and recycling of solid waste. The act establishes stewardship programs for various products, including, among others, carpet, mattresses, and pharmaceutical and sharps waste. This bill would enact a stewardship program known as the Refrigerant Stewardship and Recovery Act, which would require a producer of certain household appliances containing refrigerants, known as “covered products,” to form and join a producer responsibility organization, or PRO. The bill would require the PRO to be approved by the department pursuant to the requirements of the bill, as provided. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations to implement the program no later than January 1, 2029. The bill would require the PRO to submit to the department, for approval or disapproval, a complete plan for the collection, transportation, consolidation, dismantling, refrigerant recovery, recycling, reclamation, destruction, and the safe and proper management of covered products in the state. Upon approval of a plan, the bill would make a producer subject to specified civil penalties, unless the producer is a participant in a PRO and all covered products are accounted for in the plan. The bill would require the PRO to review the plan at least every 5 years after approval. The bill would also require a PRO to submit an annual report to the department, as provided. The bill would require all reports and records provided to the department to be provided under penalty of perjury. By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would restrict public access to certain information collected for the purpose of administering the program. This bill would require the department to post on its internet website a list of producers that are in compliance with the requirements of the program. The bill would require PROs to pay fees to the department, not to exceed the department’s actual and reasonable regulatory costs to implement and enforce the act. The bill would establish the Refrigerant Stewardship Recovery Fund in the State Treasury for the deposit of all moneys received from PROs and would make the moneys in the fund available to the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of the program. The bill would also authorize the department to impose administrative civil penalties for a violation of the program’s requirements, not to exceed $10,000 per day, or not to exceed $50,000 per day for an intentional or knowing violation, as specified. The bill would create the Refrigerant Stewardship Recovery Penalty Account in the fund for the deposit of penalties, which would be available for expenditure upon appropriation by the Legislature, as specified. 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. 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 25211.3 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 25211.3. (a) A certified appliance recycler, and any person who is not a certified appliance recycler who is subject to subdivision (b) of Section 25211.2, shall retain onsite records demonstrating compliance with applicable requirements of this article and Section 42175 of the Public Resources Code. The records shall be retained for three years and shall be made available for inspection, upon the request of a representative of the department or a CUPA. The records shall be retained, after that three-year period, during the course of an unresolved enforcement action or as requested by the department or CUPA. The records shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following information: (a) (1) The amount, by volume or weight or both weight, or both, of each material that required special handling. (b) (2) The method used by the appliance recycler to recycle, dispose of, or otherwise manage each material that required special handling, including the name and address of the facility to which each material was sent. (c) (3) The number and types of appliances from which materials that require special handling are removed each year. (d) (4) The reports required pursuant to subdivision (c) (d) of Section 25211.2. (b) A certified appliance recycler, and any person who is not a certified appliance recycler who is subject to subdivision (b) of Section 25211.2, shall provide the information described in subdivision (a) to the department in a form and manner prescribed by the department for purposes of implementing Section 25213. SEC. 2. Section 25211.4 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 25211.4. (a) On and after January 1, 2008, a A person wishing to operate as a certified appliance recycler, except a person having a certification issued before January 1, 2008, until that certification expires, recycler shall submit an initial or a renewal application to the department and obtain or renew certification from the department pursuant to this section. The department shall make available on its Internet Web site internet website an application for certification as a certified appliance recycler that requires all of the following: (1) The business name under which the appliance recycler operates, the telephone number, the physical address and mailing address, if different, and the business owner’s name, address, and telephone number. (2) A hazardous waste generator identification number issued by the department pursuant to this chapter. (3) A statement indicating that the applicant has either filed an application for a stormwater permit or is not required to obtain a stormwater permit. (4) A statement indicating that the applicant has either filed a hazardous materials business plan or is not required to file the plan. (5) The tax identification number assigned by the Franchise Tax Board. (6) A copy of a business license and any conditional use permits issued by the appropriate city or county. (7) A description of the ability of the applicant to properly remove and manage all materials that require special handling, including, but not limited to, a technical description of how each material requiring special handling will be removed and a description of how each material requiring special handling will be managed by the applicant consistent with applicable laws. (8) A description of the applicant’s facility, including, but not limited to, how and where the material requiring special handling will be stored and managed onsite. (8) (9) Any other information that the department may determine to be necessary to carry out this article. (10) Registering with the CUPA, if there is one in the applicant’s jurisdiction. (b) A person wishing to operate as a certified appliance recycler shall submit to the department, under penalty of perjury, the information required pursuant to subdivision (a). The department shall review the application for completeness application, visit the applicant’s facility, and, upon determining that the application is complete and meets the requirements of this section, chapter, as applicable, and this article, shall issue a numbered certificate to the applicant. The department shall notify an applicant whose application fails to meet the requirements for certification of the reason why the department denied the certification. The department may revoke or suspend a certification issued pursuant to this section, in accordance with the procedures specified in Sections 25186.1 and 25186.2, for any of the grounds specified in Section 25186. (c) The certificate issued by the department shall include the issuance date and the expiration date, which shall be three years after the issuance date. A person whose certification has expired, and who has not applied for and obtained a new current certification, is no longer a certified appliance recycler and may no longer operate as a certified appliance recycler. (d) Upon issuance of a certificate, the department shall transmit the application and certification of the certified appliance recycler to the certified uniform program agency CUPA in whose jurisdiction the person is located, which shall, as soon as is practicable, but no later than six months after issuance of the certificate, inspect the certified appliance recycling recycler’s facility to determine whether the recycler is capable of properly removing and managing materials that require special handling from major applianc [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]