CALIFORNIA - The California legislature is moving forward with legislation that would subject its citizens to the laws of the European Union with regard to electronic waste. California Senate Bill 2202, which passed the Senate by the surprisingly narrow margin of 31-30 earlier this month, will use the EU-created Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directives as the basis for restricting the sale of products that contain certain hazardous materials and the producer-directed recycling of certain electronic waste.

The bill passed after being amended to extend the compliance date to 2010 and to specify that in the event of differing EU interpretations of the directives, the UK interpretation would be the one used by California.

The California General Assembly is considering legislation (AB 32) that would implement several of the recommendations of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Climate Action Team with regard to restricting greenhouse gases in the state. Of particular concern to ARI is language restricting the use of HFCs in the state. The bill is in the committee stage, and is expected to be amended.

For more information, contact Francis Dietz at fdietz@ari.org.

Publication date: 07/03/2006