CALIFORNIA SETS NATION’S TOUGHEST PLASTICS RULES

Newsom signs bill requiring 25 percent reduction by 2032

Companies selling shampoo, food and other products wrapped in plastic have a decade to cut down on their use of the polluting material if they want their wares on California store shelves.

Legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday aims to significantly reduce single-use plastic packaging in the state and drastically boost recycling rates for what remains. It sets the nation’s most stringent requirements for the use of plastic packaging, with lawmakers saying they hope it sets a precedent for other states to follow.

“We’re ruining the planet and we’ve got to change it,” Sen. Bob Hertzberg, a Democrat, said before voting on the bill.

Under the bill, plastic producers would have to reduce plastics in single-use products 10 percent by 2027, increasing to 25 percent by 2032. That reduction in plastic packaging can be met through a combination of reducing package sizing, switching to a different material or making the product easily reusable or refillable. Also by 2032, plastic would have to be recycled at a rate of 65 percent, a massive jump from today’s rates. It wouldn’t apply to plastic beverage bottles, which have their own recycling rules.

Efforts to limit plastic packaging have failed in the Legislature for years, but the threat of a similar ballot measure going before voters in November prompted business groups to come to the negotiating table. The measure’s three main backers withdrew it from the ballot after the bill passed.

Plastic makers would form their own industry group tasked with developing a plan to meet the requirements, which would need approval from the state’s recycling department. They’ll be required to collect $500 million annually from producers for a fund aimed at cleaning up plastic pollution. Maine, Oregon and Colorado have similar producer responsibility systems.

It does not ban foam food packaging but would require it to be recycled at a rate of 30 percent by 2028, which some supporters said is a de facto ban because the material can’t be recycled.

Separately, Newsom on Thursday signed into law a sweeping energy proposal that puts the state in the business of buying power to ensure there’s enough to go around during heat waves that strain the grid.

California energy officials warned earlier this year that the state risks an energy shortfall equivalent to what it takes to power 1.3 million homes on the summer’s hottest days. Newsom and lawmakers are desperate to avoid a scenario like August 2020, when hundreds of thousands of people temporarily lost power because there wasn’t enough supply to go around.

The legislation centers on creating a “strategic reliability reserve” run by the Department of Water Resources. The water agency has been given that role because it is a major producer and user of power through its dams and operation of the state’s water pumping system. This summer, the department could reimburse utilities if they have to buy extra power and add temporary power generators, including those powered by fossil fuels. Any diesel-powered generators couldn’t be used past 2023.

Beyond that, the water department would be able to build new energy storage and zero-emission generating stations. It could also spend state money buying power from coastal gas-fired plants that are set to close in 2023. The plants were first set to close in 2020. Likewise, the department could keep buying power from the state’s last remaining nuclear plant if it stays open beyond its 2025 closure.

Newsom said in a signing statement that he would direct state agencies to “ensure clean energy resources are prioritized over fossil fuels.”