Disposable, battery-embedded vapor inhalation device: prohibition.

(1) Existing law regulates the manufacture, sale, and disposal of various single-use products, including single-use foodware accessories and condiments and single-use carryout bags. Existing law prohibits a store from, among other things, providing, distributing, or selling a carryout bag at the point of sale, except as specified. Existing law defines terms for these purposes. This bill would prohibit, beginning January 1, 2027, a person from importing or manufacturing for sale in this state a new or refurbished disposable, battery-embedded vapor inhalation device, and, beginning January 1, 2028, a person from selling, distributing, or offering for sale a new or refurbished disposable, battery-embedded vapor inhalation device in this state. The bill would define a "disposable, battery-embedded vapor inhalation device" to mean a vaporization device that contains nicotine but not cannabis or a cannabis product, as defined, and that is not designed or intended to be reused, as specified. Existing law authorizes a city, county, city and county, or the state, to impose civil liability on a person or entity that knowingly violated, or reasonably should have known that it violated, provisions relating to the above-described carryout bag prohibition in specified fine amounts, including $1,000 per day for the first violation. Existing law requires any civil penalties collected to be paid to whichever office brought the action, as specified, and authorizes the Attorney General to expend any penalties it collects, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to enforce those provisions. This bill would authorize a city, a county, a city and county, or the state, to enforce the above-described disposable, battery-embedded vapor inhalation device prohibition and to impose civil liability on a person or entity in violation of the prohibition in specified fine amounts, including $500 for the first violation. The bill would require any civil penalties collected to be paid to whichever office brought the action, as specified, and would authorize the Attorney General to expended any penalties it collects, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to enforce these provisions. The bill would specify that any remedies provided pursuant to these provisions are not exclusive and are in addition to the remedies that may be available pursuant to specified provisions relating to unfair competition. The bill would make any person who violates the above-described disposable battery-embedded vapor inhalation device prohibition guilty of an infraction punishable by a fine of not more than $500. By expanding the scope of an infraction, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law, the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Licensing Act of 2003, provides for the licensure and regulation of manufacturers, importers, distributors, wholesalers, and retailers of cigarettes and tobacco products by the State Board of Equalization. Existing law requires every person desiring to engage in the sale of cigarettes or tobacco products as, among other things, a wholesaler to file with the board an application for a license, as specified. Existing law authorizes the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration to suspend or revoke a license described above, as specified, of any importer or any manufacturer that has failed to comply with specified provisions relating to monthly reporting of distributors and wholesale costs. This bill would authorize the department to revoke or suspend any license to engage in the sale of cigarettes or tobacco products, as defined, of any person with a license who is in violation of the above-described prohibition for a disposable, battery-embedded vapor inhalation device containing a tobacco product. The bill would specify that any penalty described above is in addition to the other penalties authorized by the bill. The bill would require costs incurred by a state agency in carrying out these provisions to be recoverable by the Attorney General, upon the request of the agency, from the liable person or persons. The bill would make its provisions severable. (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.