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Natural Resources Committee advances package of bills on microplastics, wildfire staffing, carpets, surf reserves and veterans cemetery
Summary
The California Assembly Natural Resources Committee met to consider 21 measures, advancing a group of bills including a proposed microplastics restriction (AB 823), a proposal to maintain CAL FIRE staffing year‑round (AB 252), reforms to the carpet recycling program (AB 80), a new voluntary process to recognize surf reserves (AB 452), and a narrow CEQA exemption for a Southern California veterans cemetery (AB 571).
The California Assembly Natural Resources Committee met in a hearing that moved 21 measures and advanced several substantive policy proposals to their next committees, with lengthy public testimony and cross‑bench discussion on health, wildfire response, recycling and public access to coastal and conserved lands.
Microplastics and consumer products (AB 823) Assemblymember Berner introduced AB 823 to narrow the sale of intentionally added plastic microbeads in some personal care and cleaning products, with phased deadlines in the bill text. The author said the measure targets particles that wastewater treatment cannot reliably remove and framed the change as a public‑health and environmental justice priority, listing proposed effective dates in the bill for phases of the ban. Supporters including researchers and environmental groups urged the committee to move the policy forward; industry representatives said the bill’s language created ambiguity (particularly subdivision (c) in the printed bill) about which polymer functions would be captured and warned that substitutes do not yet exist for many formulations.
Assemblymember Berner described the public‑health stakes: “Microplastics have been found in the lungs and the bloodstream, placental tissue, breast milk, and even the brain,” and urged members to act. Industry witnesses asked the committee to narrow or clarify the text to avoid unintended product withdrawals and to align any exemptions with international standards so producers can innovate toward biodegradable or soluble alternatives.
Carpet recycling reforms (AB 80) Assemblymember Aguiar‑Curry opened the hearing on AB 80, a follow‑up to AB 863 (2023), describing the bill as an update to California’s carpet recycling program. The bill would require CalRecycle to finalize regulations from last year’s law by January 2026, expand collection sites, strengthen back‑stamping and ingredient reporting, and improve governance of the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE). Cosponsors and…
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