A California legislative panel advanced a bill on 30 June to centralize metal shredder regulations with a single agency while not classifying metal shredding sites as hazardous waste facilities.
The bill would make the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) the central regulatory authority over metal shredding facilities and force metal shredders to get a permit with the agency. And, importantly, metal shredding facilities would not be classified as hazardous waste sites under the bill.
An environmental committee in California's lower house approved the bill on 30 June, sending it to the appropriations panel. The full state assembly would have to approve it before it reaches the governor's desk.
Metal shredders and California regulators have tussled for years over DTSC's hazardous waste authority at shredding facilities.
The state's largest shredders, including SA Recycling, Sims Metal, Radius Recycling, and American Iron & Metal, support the bill because it clarifies the current regulations and largely excludes shredding facilities from hazardous waste laws.
A handful of smaller shredders voiced opposition to the bill at a hearing on 30 June because it would put in place another layer of regulation that they view as more suited toward mega-shredders at coastal export yards.
Environmental groups, including the Natural Resource Defense Council, opposed the bill because they said it would exempt shredders from hazardous waste laws and put looser standards into place.
A key point of contention is the disposal of a waste byproduct of shredding. Larger shredders that can process automobiles tend to treat their shredder byproduct with chemicals before disposing of it. DTSC has scrutinized the proper chemical treatment and disposal of that waste in the past.
Smaller shredders, which recycle substantially less scrap, do not shred autos and typically process cleaner metal. They containerize their shredder residue and ship it to disposal sites.
The governor vetoed a similar bill last year because it lacked "clear definitions regarding the materials processed at these facilities, including what ‘hazardous waste' requirements are applicable," he wrote in the veto note. The current version of the bill attempts to clarify that discrepancy.
"There is no state in the nation that utilizes hazardous waste as the standard from which they regulate metal shredders," bill author Sen. Anna Caballero (D) said. "This will be the highest standard anywhere in the country."
