Amended in Senate January 4, 2016

Amended in Senate March 25, 2015

Senate Bill No. 47

Introduced by Senator Hill

December 17, 2014

begin delete An act to add Article 3 (commencing with Section 115810) to Chapter 4 of Part 10 of Division 104 of, and to repeal Section 115812 of, the Health and Safety Code, and to amend Sections 42872 and 42873 of the Public Resources Code, relating to environmental health. end delete begin insert An act to add and repeal Article 3 (commencing with Section 115810) of Chapter 4 of Part 10 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to environmental health. end insert

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 47, as amended, Hill. Environmental health: begin delete synthetic end delete begin insert artificial end insert turf.

begin insert

Existing law regulates certain behavior related to recreational activities and public safety, including, among other things, playgrounds and wooden playground equipment.

end insert begin insert

The bill would, until January 1, 2020, require a public or private school or local government, before installing, contracting for the installation of, or soliciting bids for a new artificial turf field containing crumb rubber infill, as defined, within the boundaries of a public or private school, or public recreational park to do certain things, including gathering information from companies that offer artificial turf products that do not use crumb rubber infill.

end insert begin delete

Existing law regulates certain behavior related to recreational activities and public safety, including, among other things, playgrounds and wooden playground equipment.

end delete begin delete

This bill would require the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, by July 1, 2017, in consultation with the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, the State Department of Public Health, and the Department of Toxic Substances Control, to prepare and provide to the Legislature and post on the office’s Internet Web site a study analyzing synthetic turf, as defined, for potential adverse health impacts. The bill would require the study to include certain information, including a hazard analysis of exposure to the chemicals that may be found in synthetic turf, as provided. The bill would prohibit a public or private school or local government, until January 1, 2018, from installing, or contracting for the installation of, a new field or playground surface made from synthetic turf within the boundaries of a public or private school or public recreational park, unless 3 specified conditions are met, including that the public or private school or local government has obtained at least one estimate from a company that does not use crumb rubber in its turf field and playground products, as provided.

end delete begin delete

The California Tire Recycling Act (act) requires a person who purchases a new tire to pay a California tire fee, for deposit in the California Tire Recycling Management Fund, for expenditure by the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for programs related to the disposal of waste tires including the awarding of grants. The act specifies that the activities eligible for funding include the manufacture of specified products made from used tires.

end delete begin delete

The bill would include the above study as one of the acceptable activities eligible for this funding. The bill would also authorize the awarding of grants to businesses that produce crumb rubber from waste tires for purposes of helping the businesses find alternative markets other than fields and playgrounds for their products. The bill would prohibit the awarding under this program of grants, subsidies, rebates, loans, or any other types of funding to businesses or other enterprises, to public or private schools, or to local governments for purposes of offsetting the cost of manufacturing or installing synthetic turf.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete yes end delete begin insert no end insert . State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Article 3 (commencing with Section 115810) is
added to Chapter 4 of Part 10 of Division 104 of the end insert begin insert Health and
Safety Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

begin insert

 

Article begin insert 3. end insert   The Consideration of Alternatives for Artificial Turf
Infill Act of 2016

 

begin insert 115810. end insert   

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) Thousands of schools, parks, and local governments have
installed artificial turf fields throughout the state. It has allowed
them to use fields year round, save water, and save money, among
other benefits.

(b) Not all artificial turf fields are made from the same
materials. While most artificial turf fields use less expensive crumb
rubber infill from groundup used car and truck tires, many
companies now offer artificial turf infill alternatives made from
coconut fibers, rice husks, cork, sand, or virgin crumb rubber.
Organic alternative infills can help reduce synthetic turf field
temperatures on hot days by as much as 30 degrees compared to
crumb rubber infill from used tires.

(c) The average artificial turf field uses approximately 20,000
groundup used tires to make crumb rubber infill. Tires contain
many chemicals including, but not limited to: 4-t-octylphenol,
acetone, arsenic, barium, benzene, benzothiazole, butylated
hydroxyanisole, cadmium, carbon black, chloroethane, chromium,
latex, lead, manganese, mercury, methyl ethyl ketone, methyl
isobutyl ketone, n-hexadecane, naphthalene, nickel, nylon, phenol,
phthalates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and zinc.

(d) In 2008, then Attorney General Jerry Brown sued the
nation’s largest makers and installers of artificial turf fields for
excessive lead levels after testing by the Center for Environmental
Health found high concentrations of lead in their products.

(e) In 2009, the Los Angeles Unified School District banned
turf fields containing infill from waste tire crumb rubber and
instead chose alternative infills for their artificial turf fields.

(f) In 2010, then Attorney General Jerry Brown settled the case
with the nation’s largest makers and installers of artificial turf
fields requiring them to reformulate their products to reduce lead
levels and established the nation’s first enforceable standards
applicable to lead in artificial turf.

(g) The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment’s
2010 study on used tire crumb rubber in artificial turf fields
reviewed chemical concentrations in the air above the fields and
found that eight chemicals appear on the California Proposition
65 list of chemicals known to the state to cause cancer. Exposure
via inhalation to five of these chemicals (benzene, formaldehyde,
naphthalene, nitromethane, and styrene) gave increased lifetime
cancer risks that exceeded one in one million. According to the
study, the highest risk was from nitromethane, which could cause
about nine cancer cases in a hypothetical population of one million
soccer players. The study also found that two additional identified
chemicals (toluene and benzene) appear on the California
Proposition 65 list as developmental/reproductive poisons.

(h) At least 10 studies since 2007, including those by the United
States Consumer Product Safety Commission and the United States
Environmental Protection Agency, have found potentially harmful
lead levels in turf fibers and in rubber crumbs.

(i) A 2011 study titled, “An Evaluation of Potential Exposures
to Lead and Other Metals as the Result of Aerosolized Particulate
Matter from Artificial Turf Playing Fields” concluded that artificial
turf can deteriorate to form dust containing lead at levels that may
pose a risk to children.

(j) A 2012 study published in the scientific journal Chemosphere
titled, “Hazardous organic chemicals in rubber recycled tire
playgrounds and pavers”, showed the high content of toxic
chemicals in these recycled materials and found that “uses of
recycled rubber tires, especially those targeting play areas and
other facilities for children, should be a matter of regulatory
concern.”

(k) The Swedish Chemicals Agency found that waste tire crumb
rubber contains several particularly hazardous substances and
recommended that rubber granules from waste tires not be used
in artificial turf.

(l) In 2013, The United States Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) posted a disclaimer on the only limited study on tire crumb
risk it had ever conducted. The EPA press release summarizing
the study has been stamped with a notice that it was “outdated”
and a new link has been appended to a statement stressing the
need for “future studies” to enable “more comprehensive
conclusions.”

(m) On May 19, 2015, the chair of the United States Consumer
Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Elliot Kaye, testified before
the United States Congress that he no longer stands behind a 2008
statement from the commission that crumb rubber is safe to play
on. His testimony described new federal studies underway. The
CPSC also ordered an enforcement review of marketing of artificial
turf products for children because the commission found lead levels
in artificial sports fields above statutory limits in children’s
products.

(n) A June 2015, study conducted at Yale University by
Environment and Human Health, Inc., an organization of
physicians and public health professionals, found that crumb
rubber infill from used tires contain at least 96 chemicals. Of the
96 chemicals detected, a little under one-half had no toxicity
assessments done on them for their health effects. Of the one-half
that had toxicity assessments, 20 percent were probable
carcinogens and 40 percent were irritants. The carcinogens found
were 2-Mercaptobenzothiazole, 9,10-Dimethylanthracene,
Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, Fluoranthene, Heptadecane,
2-mercaptobenzothiazole, Phenol, 4-(1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl)-,
Phenanthrene Carcinogen - polycyclicaromatic hydrocarbons,
Phthalimide, Pyrene, 1-methyl-, Tetratriacontane, Pyrene, and
Carbon Black. Of the irritants found, 24 percent were respiratory
irritants, some causing asthma symptoms, 37 percent were skin
irritants, and 27 percent were eye irritants.

(o) In June 2015, The Department of Resources Recycling and
Recovery in collaboration with the Office of Environmental Health
Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) agreed to spend nearly three million
dollars ($3,000,000) to conduct a three-year study of potential
health effects associated with the use of recycled waste tires in
playground and artificial turf products. Making use of the toxicity
criteria, monitoring data, and exposure pattern analysis results
obtained in the study, OEHHA will conduct an assessment of
potential health impacts associated with use of artificial turf and
playground mats.

(p) While the public awaits the results of the OEHHA study and
other studies being conducted at the national level and around the
country, it is in the public’s best interest, especially from a
children’s health perspective, that schools and local governments
consider the various infill options when choosing to install artificial
turf fields.

begin insert 115810.1. end insert   

For purposes of this article, “crumb rubber infill”
means any composition material that contains recycled crumb
rubber from waste tires and is used to cover or surface an artificial
turf field.

begin insert 115810.2. end insert   

(a) Before a public or private school or local
government may install, contract for the installation of, or solicit
bids for a new artificial turf field containing crumb rubber infill
within the boundaries of a public or private school or public
recreational park, the public or private school or local government
shall do all of the following:

(1) (A) Gather information from companies that offer artificial
turf products that do not use crumb rubber infill.

(B) For purposes of this paragraph, information shall include,
but not be limited to, information obtained from discussions with
at least one company that offers artificial turf products that do not
contain crumb rubber infill.

(2) Consider the use of material that does not contain crumb
rubber infill in its artificial turf field project based on the
information gathered pursuant to paragraph (1).

(3) Hold a public meeting that includes as a properly noticed
agenda item a discussion of the installation of crumb rubber infill,
with an opportunity for public comment. Members of the public
wishing to make a comment during the public meeting shall be
permitted to do so consistent with the established comment
procedure for the meeting.

(b) Subdivision (a) shall not apply to any installation of an
artificial turf field containing crumb rubber infill that commenced,
or any contract for such an installation entered into, prior to
January 1, 2017.

(c) Subdivision (a) shall not apply to any maintenance that is
needed on an artificial turf field containing crumb rubber infill in
existence as of January 1, 2017, or that is installed consistent with
subdivision (b).

begin insert 115810.3. end insert   

This article shall remain in effect only until January
1, 2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or extends
that date.

end insert

begin delete

  

SECTION 1.  

Article 3 (commencing with Section 115810) is
added to Chapter 4 of Part 10 of Division 104 of the Health and
Safety Code, to read:

 

Article 3.  The Children’s Safe Playground and Turf Field Act
of 2015

 

115810.  

For purposes of this article, “synthetic turf” means
any composition material that contains recycled crumb rubber
from waste tires and is used to cover or surface a field or
playground.

115811.  

(a) By July 1, 2017, the Office of Environmental
Health Hazard Assessment, in consultation with the Department
of Resources Recycling and Recovery, the State Department of
Public Health, and the Department of Toxic Substances Control,
shall prepare and provide to the Legislature and post on the office’s
Internet Web site a study analyzing synthetic turf for potential
adverse health impacts.

(b) The study shall include all of the following:

(1) A hazard analysis of exposure to the chemicals that may be
found in synthetic turf, such as 4-t-octylphenol, acetone, arsenic,
barium, benzene, benzothiazole, butylated hydroxyanisole,
cadmium, carbon black, chloroethane, chromium, lead, manganese,
matex, mercury, methyl ethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone,
n-hexadecane, naphthalene, nickel, nylon, phenol, phthalates,
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and zinc.

(2) An analysis that considers the varying exposure activities,
environments, duration of play, ages of different populations who
play on synthetic turf, and exposure pathways, including whether
chemicals found in tires have negative impacts on human health
when used in indoor and outdoor fields and parks with various
weather exposures and potentially ingested by children or coming
in contact with children’s bodies.

(3) Biomonitoring or other exposure monitoring of children or
adults exposed to synthetic turf to be used to assess their exposure
to chemicals found in the synthetic turf, to the extent feasible, to
determine potential health impacts on children and other age
groups.

(4) An examination of the potential for fields and playgrounds
containing synthetic turf to cause adverse health impacts, including,
but not limited to, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, testicular cancer,
prostate cancer, sarcoma cancer, and leukemia. This examination
shall include people who have developed these health impacts and
played on fields and playgrounds containing used tires, including,
but not limited to, soccer goalies.

(5) An examination of the health impacts associated with
synthetic turf fields and playgrounds of varying age.

(6) An evaluation of the differences in the manufacturing of
synthetic turf and different turf, field, and playground products,
including those that do not use recycled tires, and how these
differences may affect health impacts. The evaluation shall include,
but not be limited to, the types and age of tires used, the tire
processing, and the type of plasticizer, backing material, adhesives,
and plastic blades of artificial grass used to make the final synthetic
turf product.

(7) An evaluation of the differences, in terms of health impacts,
between fields and playgrounds covered with synthetic turf and
nonsynthetic turf, including, but not limited to, fields made from
coconut fibers, rice husks, cork, sand, and used shoes.

(8) A review of current research on the health impacts of
synthetic turf done by authoritative bodies from around the country
and the world.

(9) Research to fill any data gaps, such as those data gaps
identified by the report prepared by the Office of Environmental
Health Hazard Assessment on behalf of the Department of
Resources Recycling and Recovery titled “Safety Study of
Artificial Turf Containing Crumb Rubber Infill Made From
Recycled Tires: Measurements of Chemicals and Particulates in
the Air, Bacteria in the Turf, and Skin Abrasions Caused by
Contact with the Surface.”

(10) An examination of the health impacts of exposures to many
low level volatile organic compounds and polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons found in synthetic turf fields and playgrounds.

(11) An analysis that compares the temperatures on synthetic
turf, nonwaste tire turf, and grass turf during the high-temperature
periods in the summer. This analysis shall include a health impact
analysis including, but not limited to, heat stress, heat illness, and
other heat-related health issues.

(c) A representative sample of synthetic turf fields and
playgrounds around the state shall be analyzed for purposes of the
study.

(d) (1) A study submitted to the Legislature pursuant to
subdivision (a) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795
of the Government Code.

(2) The requirement for submitting a study to the Legislature
imposed pursuant to subdivision (a) is inoperative on July 1, 2021,
pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.

115812.  

(a) (1) A public or private school or local government
shall not install, or contract for the installation of, a new field or
playground surface made from synthetic turf within the boundaries
of a public or private school or public recreational park unless the
following three conditions are met:

(A) The bid specification of the public or private school or local
government for the turf field or playground surface includes at
least one option that does not use crumb rubber from waste tires.

(B) The public or private school or local government has
obtained at least one estimate from a company that does not use
crumb rubber from waste tires in its turf field and playground
products.

(C) The public or private school or local government has held
a public meeting regarding the installation of synthetic turf with
an opportunity for public comment.

(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any installation of a field
or playground surface made from synthetic turf that commenced,
or any contract for such installation entered into, prior to January
1, 2016.

(3) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any maintenance that is
needed on a synthetic turf field or playground in existence as of
January 1, 2016.

(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2018,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2018, deletes or extends that date.

SEC. 2.  

Section 42872 of the Public Resources Code is
amended to read:

42872.  

(a) The tire recycling program may include, but is not
limited to, the following:

(1) The awarding of grants, subsidies, rebates, and loans to
businesses or other enterprises, and public entities, involved in
activities and applications that result in reduced landfill disposal
of used whole tires and reduced illegal disposal or stockpiling of
used whole tires.

(2) The awarding of grants for research aimed at developing
technologies or improving current activities and applications that
result in reduced landfill disposal of used whole tires.

(3) The awarding of grants or loans for the evaluation, planning,
design, improvement, and implementation of alternative used tire
recycling programs in this state.

(4) The awarding of grants, subsidies, rebates, or loans to
businesses that shred used tires for purposes of recycling.

(5) Development and implementation of an information and
education program, including seminars and conferences, aimed at
promoting alternatives to the landfill disposal of used whole tires.

(6) The awarding of grants or loans to tire shredding programs
at authorized landfills, solid waste transfer stations, or dedicated
tire shredding facilities, including the direct purchase of shredders
or financing of shredder contracts.

(7) Development and implementation of a waste tire incentive
payment program to promote increased demand for waste tires
recycled in this state and to promote higher valued products.

(8) The awarding of grants to businesses that produce crumb
rubber from waste tires for purposes of helping the business to
find alternative markets other than fields and playgrounds for their
products.

(b) The tire recycling program shall not include the awarding
of grants, subsidies, rebates, loans, or any other types of funding
to businesses or other enterprises, to public or private schools, or
to local governments for purposes of offsetting the cost of
manufacturing or installing synthetic turf as that term is defined
in Section 115810 of the Health and Safety Code.

SEC. 3.  

Section 42873 of the Public Resources Code is
amended to read:

42873.  

(a) Activities eligible for funding under this article,
that reduce, or that are designed to reduce or promote the reduction
of, landfill disposal of used whole tires, may include the following:

(1) Polymer treatment.

(2) Rubber reclaiming and crumb rubber production.

(3) Retreading.

(4) Shredding.

(5) The manufacture of products made from used tires,
including, but not limited to, all of the following:

(A) Rubberized asphalt, asphalt rubber, modified binders, and
chip seals.

(B) Playground equipment.

(C) Crash barriers.

(D) Erosion control materials.

(E) Nonslip floor and track surfacing.

(F) Oil spill recovery equipment.

(G) Roofing adhesives.

(H) Tire-derived aggregate applications, including lightweight
fill and vibration mitigation.

(I) Molded products.

(J) Products using recycling rubber and other materials, such
as plastic.

(K) Paint and coatings.

(6) Other environmentally safe applications or treatments
determined to be appropriate by the department.

(7) A study to analyze synthetic turf for potential adverse health
impacts, pursuant to Section 115811 of the Health and Safety Code.

(b) (1) The department shall not expend funds for an activity
that provides support or research for the incineration of tires. For
the purposes of this article, incineration of tires, includes, but is
not limited to, fuel feed system development, fuel sizing analysis,
and capacity and production optimization.

(2) Paragraph (1) does not affect the permitting or regulation
of facilities that engage in the incineration of tires.

end delete