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Rules Committee unanimously forwards Zoe Heller to Senate floor; questions focus on SB 54 timelines and wildfire debris work
Summary
The Senate Rules Committee voted 5-0 to send Zoe Hellers nomination as CalRecycle director to the full Senate. Committee members discussed SB 54 implementation timelines, guidance documents, a budget change proposal for propane cylinder recycling, and CalRecycles wildfire debris removal experience.
Zoe Heller, Governor Newsoms nominee to lead the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), won unanimous committee support to advance to the Senate floor after the Senate Rules Committee voted 5-0 on May 7.
Heller summarized her eight years at CalRecycle and outlined near-term regulatory milestones to implement SB 54, Californias packaging- and plastic-pollution law. She told the committee the agency will finalize draft SB 54 regulations and host a public workshop by May 27, submit a revised economic-impact assessment by June, and aims to complete the Office of Administrative Law process so the regulations can be implemented by the final quarter of the year, pending OAL review.
Heller said the department recently adopted regulations and has issued guidance documents in past rollouts (notably for AB 1383, the organics diversion law). She described planned guidance on "covered material categories" to clarify which packages fall under which regulatory buckets and said CalRecycle will coordinate closely with implementing entities such as the Circular Action Alliance.
On other items, Heller described a budget change proposal to fund one senior environmental scientist and a contract to study the landscape for single-use propane cylinders sold in California and to identify processing and infrastructure needs. On wildfire and disaster response, she said CalRecycle has conducted debris removal on nearly 22,000 properties since it began mission assignments, and described efforts to prioritize recycling of metal, concrete and usable wood during debris operations.
Heller provided preliminary figures on statewide recycling performance, saying early 2024 data put Californias recycling rate at about 42 percent and that the agency is developing a broader zero-waste plan to harmonize systems and increase that rate.
Committee members pressed Heller on how the agency will adhere to both the letter and spirit of SB 54 while looking for cost reductions and implementable rules. Heller said the department is "staying within the four corners of statute" and reviewing regulatory components such as refill and reuse provisions with a focus on cost and implementability.
Public comment at the hearing included a long list of environment, industry and local-government organizations expressing support for Hellers confirmation and the departments SB 54 implementation work; speakers included Jennifer Fearing of Ocean Conservancy and Rachel Maki Wagner of Circular Action Alliance.
A motion by the vice chair to move Hellers nomination to the Senate floor carried on a unanimous roll call: Pro Tem Maguire, Senators Grove, Gonzales, Jones and Laird voted aye.
The nomination now moves to the full Senate for further consideration.
Votes at a glance: Zoe Heller nomination to be CalRecycle director — motion to forward to the Senate floor carried 5-0 (Maguire: aye; Grove: aye; Gonzales: aye; Jones: aye; Laird: aye).
