After years of wrangling on a comprehensive bill to reduce single-use plastic packaging in California, the State Legislature approved SB 54 (Allen) this week and Governor Newsom signed it on June 30.
With agreement on SB 54 spanning across the political spectrum, the long-anticipated bill was approved by a vote of 67-2 in the Assembly and 29-0 in the State Senate this week and Governor Newsom quickly signed the bill.
SB 54 is aimed at placing responsibility for the cost of the reduction of single-use plastic packaging on producers of that packaging.
This measure is far from perfect, and it presents challenges for our members. However, Ag Council’s team continued their advocacy and remained in discussions with the bill author’s office over the course of multiple years to influence the outcome and ensure the final measure addressed key issues such as food safety, an exemption for on-farm packaging, confidentiality of data, and other core provisions.
As a result of these and other provisions, Ag Council had a neutral position on SB 54. To read the letter expressing Ag Council’s position, also signed by other advocacy groups, please click the Learn More link below. In addition, an overview of the provisions in SB 54 is available HERE.
November ballot initiative status
As part of the agreement on SB 54, proponents of a ballot initiative regarding single-use plastic packaging officially withdrew it from the November ballot.
The ballot initiative was not supported by Ag Council and others in the agriculture and business community as it gave unconstrained authority to state regulators, allowing types of packaging to be banned, and was estimated to cost billions more annually than SB 54. Click HERE to learn more about Ag Council’s position.