Plastic Pollution Coalition, a non-profit environmental group, has spent months targeting approximately 3000 plastic product manufacturers in California in an effort to prohibit the sale of plastic products containing microbeads. The advocates of the bill maintain that pre-production microbeads pollute California waterways in violation of the federal Clean Water Act. In a victory for the Plastic Pollution Coalition, the California State Senate recently voted 24-14 to advance the bill prohibiting sales of pre-production plastic products, with the goal of implementing the ban by 2020.
California is situated to be a leader in this area of environmental regulation. To date, it is the only state with a law addressing the sale of pre-production plastic products. The microbeads that environmentalists oppose consist of tiny polyethylene microspheres, which are typically found in personal care items such as toothpaste and facial washes. Because of their miniscule size, they are not properly disposed of by water filtration systems. Thus, these particles flow freely into rivers and ocean waters, and are thereafter consumed by living organisms.
The Clean Water Act compels industrial facilities to meet the storm water pollution management criteria of the state in which it conducts its business. This requirement allows state water boards to monitor facilities for depositing pollutants in public waters. The Clean Water Act prohibits certain emissions of storm water containing pollutants without a permit. More than 100 plastic producing manufacturers in California have received or will be notified shortly of their breach of storm water permit requirements. Some of these manufacturers have been cited for allowing microbeads to enter into waterways, while others will be notified of their failure to register for permits in the first place.
Contact Shane Coons at 949-333-0900 or visit his website at www.ShaneCoonsLaw.com to find out more about the practice.