Unsafe products: disposal: penalties.

Existing law, the Product Recall Safety and Protection Act, provides for the establishment and enforcement of various product safety standards for consumer products, and prohibits a commercial dealer, manufacturer, importer, distributor, wholesaler, or retailer from placing into the stream of commerce a product that is unsafe, knowing that the product is unsafe. For purposes of the act, a manufacturer is any person who makes, and places into the stream of commerce, a product. This bill would instead state that a manufacturer is a person who manufactures a product and who owns or is the licensee of the brand or trademark under which the product is sold, as specified. Under the act, a manufacturer is required to provide for the safe return or appropriate disposal of an unsafe product at no cost to the end consumer or retailer in a manner that is in compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and ordinances. This bill would instead require the safe return or appropriate disposal of the unsafe product to be at no cost to the end consumer, a recycling center, a municipal facility that accepts the product for recycling or disposal, a retailer that sells the product, a permitted solid waste facility, a household hazardous waste collection facility, and a thrift retail store. Existing law provides that any violation of the act is subject to a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per occurrence, up to a maximum of $20,000. This bill would instead authorize the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery to administratively impose an administrative penalty on a person in violation of the act of $2,500 per day or $5,000 per day if the violation is intentional or knowing, as specified. The bill would require the department to establish through regulations a process by which the penalties will be assessed, including an informal hearing, as specified. The bill would create the Product Recall Penalty Account in the State Treasury and would require the department to deposit the penalties collected into the account. The bill would require moneys in the account, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be available for expenditure by the department for certain purposes. The bill would authorize the department to refer enforcement to the Department of Toxic Substances Control for unsafe products identified as hazardous waste, and would create the Hazardous Product Recall Penalty Account in the State Treasury. The bill would require moneys in the account, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be available for expenditure by the Department of Toxic Substances Control for certain purposes.