Solid waste: gas cylinders: stewardship program.

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 establish a stewardship program for gas cylinder products, as defined, and would authorize producers of those products to establish one more producer stewardship organizations for that purpose. The bill would require each producer or producer stewardship organization to submit a gas cylinder stewardship plan to the department that details, among other things, convenient and accessible opportunities for the recovery of gas cylinders used by consumers. The bill would prohibit gas cylinder producers that are not participating in a department-approved stewardship plan from supplying, selling, or offering for sale gas cylinders in the state. The bill would impose recordkeeping and reporting requirements on producers and producer stewardship organizations with department-approved stewardship plans and would require those producers to pay all administrative and operational costs associated with establishing and implementing the stewardship plan in which it participates, including the cost of collection, transportation, recycling, and the safe and proper management of recovered gas cylinders. The bill would require the department to set, review, and revise necessary convenience and performance standards and ensure appropriate data metrics for the gas cylinder stewardship program.