Consumerism

Consumerism Legislation

Consumerism Legislation

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SB 200 (Florez-D) Food safety
Requires establishments that slaughter cattle and that are subject to existing state and federal inspections to install video surveillance for certain activities and requires the Department of Public Health to notify appropriate local health officers and environmental health directors within 24 hours after receiving information that a meat or poultry supplier, distributor, broker, or processor has sold meat or poultry related products that meet the criteria for a federal recall, and to inform the public.
(Died in Senate Agriculture Committee)

SB 201* (Florez-D) Fresh Raw Milk Program
Provides alternative requirements for dairy farms that produce and process guaranteed raw milk or Grade A raw milk to be sold to the consumer, and states that dairy farms choosing to comply with the alternative requirements do not have to comply with existing requirements.
Vetoed

SB 237 (Dutton-R) Contractors: mechanics' liens
Requires a contractor who records a lien claim, as specified, and who fails to perform specified acts within 90 days of recording the claim, to execute and record a release of the lien within 15 days of the date the lien became null and void.
(Died in Senate Judiciary Committee)

SB 358 (Maldonado-R) Field crops: leafy greens: foodborne illness
Makes findings regarding the importance of the leafy green industry and appropriates $2 million to the University of California's Division of Agriculture to fund cooperative food safety advisors and to conduct food safety research.
(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

SB 509 (Simitian-D) Toxics Information Clearinghouse
Requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control to establish a Toxics Information Clearinghouse, as specified, and defines terms relating to a Green Chemistry program to be administered by the department.
Chapter 560, Statutes of 2008

SB 596 (Harman-R) Computerized payment systems: antisniffer protection
Requires a computerized payment system sold as new in this state to include antisniffer protection, as defined, that protects data traveling through the system and any directions necessary for use of the antisniffer protection. Provides that if any of the provisions contained in this bill or their applications are held invalid, the invalidity will not affect other provisions.
(Died in Senate Judiciary Committee)

SB 623 (Wiggins-D) Gasoline: price disclosure
Requires each retail dispenser used to dispense motor fuel to provide adequate notice to consumers of price differentials or discounts in accordance with regulations adopted by the Department of Food and Agriculture, Division of Measurement Standards.
Vetoed

SB 634 (Wiggins-D) Food labeling: olive oil
Clarifies the definition of olive oil, repeals current licensure provisions, conforms olive oil definitions, grades and labeling requirements to international standards, authorizes the addition of vitamin E to specified olive oil, permits a consumer to re-use a clean olive oil container, can, or drum, and makes legislative findings and declarations.
Chapter 694, Statutes of 2008
A similar bill was AB 2824 (Berryhill-R), Chapter 695, Statutes of 2008.

SB 1121 (Migden-D) Food labeling: cloned animals
Requires food manufacturers and producers to label and identify any food containing products from a cloned animal.
(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

SB 1230 (Maldonado-R) Detergents: phosphorus
Prohibits, commencing 7/1/10, the use, sale, manufacture, or distribution for sale of any cleaning agent, if that product contains more than .5% phosphorous by weight, except as specified.
Vetoed

SB 1252 (Padilla-D) Vehicles: dealers: consumer protection
Caps, at 10% of the collected fees, the amount of money that the Department of Motor Vehicles may deduct from the Consumer Recovery Fund to offset its costs in fee collection and processing.
(Died on Assembly Floor)

SB 1257 (Machado-D) Consumer rebates
Governs consumer rebates. Among other things, (1) specifies the information a consumer could be required to provide in order to redeem a rebate, (2) requires companies to provide consumers a toll-free telephone number or web site in order to check the status of a rebate, (3) requires a company that offers a rebate to allow a minimum of 45 days from the date a consumer purchases a product for the consumer to submit a rebate request, (4) exempts specified utilities and rebates for $10 or less from the bill, and (5) defines the terms "consumer rebate" and "company" for the purposes of the bill.
Vetoed

SB 1310 (Negrete McLeod-D) Outdoor advertising
Allows a percentage of nonconforming advertising displays located along landscaped freeways to be converted into digital message centers, according to specified conditions. Sunsets 1/1/12.
(Failed passage in Assembly Transportation and Housing Committee)

SB 1313 (Corbett-D) Product safety: perfluorinated compounds
Prohibits, on or after 1/1/10, the manufacture, sale, or distribution of any food contact substance that contains perfluorinated compounds, as defined, in any concentration exceeding 10 parts per billion.
Vetoed

SB 1420 (Padilla-D) Food facilities: nutritional information
Requires, by 1/1/11, every food facility in this state that operates under common ownership or control with at least 19 other food facilities with the same name that sell substantially the same menu items, or operates as a franchised outlet of a parent company with at least 19 other franchises with the same name that sell substantially the same menu items, to disclose to consumers specified nutritional information for all standard menu items.
Chapter 600, Statutes of 2008
A similar bill was AB 2572 (Parra-D) which died in Senate Appropriations Committee.

SB 1499 (Scott-D) Metallic balloons
Adds new warning requirements to the sale of balloons constructed of electrically conductive material, and filled with a gas lighter than air.
Vetoed

SB 1575 (Florez-D) Consumer product recalls
Establishes the Consumer Product Recall Protection and Enforcement Act to be overseen by the Department of Toxic Substances Control. Prohibits a person from manufacturing, producing, selling, offering for sale or distribution, or keeping for sale or distribution within California, or introducing into this state, any consumer product subject to a recall, as defined, if that person knows that the product is subject to a recall. Persons who violate this Act are guilty of a misdemeanor and liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $2,500 per violation.
(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

SB 1614 (Oropeza-D) Rental car companies: disclosures
Requires rental car companies to provide to their out-of-state customers a list that summarizes up to 10 of California's traffic laws, as specified, when the renter presents an out-of-state driver's license or upon the renter's request.
(Died in Senate Transportation Committee)

SB 1712 (Migden-D) Adulterated cosmetics
Requires a manufacturer of lipstick sold in this state to provide to the Department of Public Health evidence that the lipstick contains no more than an unavoidable trace of lead.
(Failed passage in Senate Health Committee)

SB 1713 (Migden-D) Food containers: toxin-free
Enacts the Toxin-Free Toddlers and Babies Act which prohibits the manufacture, sale, or distribution in commerce of any bottle, cup, or other container that contains bisphenol A, at a level above 0.1 parts per billion, if the container is designed or intended to be filled with any liquid, food, or beverage primarily for consumption by infants or children three years of age or younger.
(Failed passage on Assembly Floor)

SJR 32 (Padilla-D) Aviation consumer protection
Calls upon the Congress of the United States to approve the federal Aviation Investment and Modernization Act of 2007 and the federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2007, in order to secure airline passenger rights.
Resolution Chapter 69, Statutes of 2008

AB 93 (Garcia-R) Food facilities: trans fat: study
Requires the Secretary of the Health and Human Services Agency, in coordination with other organizations and state agencies, to prepare and provide to the Legislature a study to determine the benefits to the public health of eliminating saturated and artificial trans fat from food facilities.
(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 97 (Mendoza-D) Food facilities: trans fats
Prohibits storing, distributing, serving, or using any food, oil, shortening, or margarine containing artificial trans fat in the preparation of any food within a food facility, effective 1/1/10 or 1/1/11, depending on the food product. Exempts food sold or served in a manufacturer's original, sealed package. Exempts food provided by public elementary, middle, junior high or high school cafeterias.
Chapter 207, Statutes of 2008

AB 254 (Gaines-R) Vehicles: total loss salvage vehicles
Includes within the definition of "total loss salvage vehicle" one that has been damaged as the result of a flood to the extent that the owner, leasing company, financial institution, or insurance company that insured or is responsible for repair of the vehicle, considers it uneconomical to repair the vehicle and, because of this, the vehicle is not repaired by or for the person who owned the vehicle at the time of the event resulting in damage.
(Died in Assembly Transportation Committee)

AB 372 (Salas-D) Consumer credit reports: security freezes
Amends the Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act to (1) provide that a consumer credit reporting agency may, except as specified, charge a fee of no more than $5 to a consumer 65 years of age or older and no more than $10 to other consumers for each security freeze request, removal of the freeze, temporary lift of the freeze for a period of time, or temporary lift of a freeze for a specific party, (2) require a consumer credit reporting agency to place a security freeze on a consumer's credit report no later than three (versus five) business days after receiving a request, and (3) allow a consumer to place a security freeze on his/her credit report by making a written request by regular (versus certified) mail to a consumer credit reporting agency.
Chapter 151, Statutes of 2008

AB 512 (Lieber-D) Contracts: translation
Requires supervised financial organizations, as defined, who negotiate any material term of a contract or agreement, in one of five listed foreign languages, to provide either an approved disclosure form or a translated copy of the contract or agreement to the borrower, as specified. Subjects violators of this section to specified penalties for failure to comply. Gives aggrieved borrowers certain rights to rescind contracts.
(Died in Senate Banking, Finance and Insurance Committee)

AB 588 (De Leon-D) Credit history: public utilities
Permits privately and publicly owned utilities to release a customer's service payment history to a financial institution upon express written consent of the customer, and if a customer revokes consent, requires the utilities to comply with the revocation within a reasonable period of time, not to exceed 60 days.
(Died in Senate Judiciary Committee)

AB 595 (Dymally-D) Cosmetics: misbranding
Permits the Department of Public Health to require cosmetic product manufacturers that do not comply with voluntary federal reporting programs to provide the department with a full listing of their product's ingredients.
(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

AB 706 (Leno-D) Fire retardants: toxic effects
Enacts the Crystal Golden-Jefferson Safety and Fire Prevention Act. Directs the Department of Toxic Substances Control to establish an alternatives assessment process to assess the chemicals used to meet the fire safety standards of the Bureau of Home Furnishings, as specified.
(Failed passage on Assembly Floor)

AB 814 (Hayashi-D) Consumer Sales Security Act
Enacts the Consumer Sales Security Act requiring the Office of Privacy Protection to develop an identity theft prevention program for businesses and retailers that will educate them on security methods and procedures to better protect the personal information and financial data of their customers.
(Died in Assembly Business and Professions Committee)

AB 891 (De La Torre-D) Consumer protection: telecommunications
Enacts the Truth in Telecommunications Act which requires, among other things, a contract or agreement for telecommunications services to be provided in the language in which the contract was negotiated, and requires the contract to clearly and conspicuously disclose key rates, terms, and conditions of service to be provided or product to be purchased.
(Died on Senate Inactive File)

AB 1100* (Ruskin-D) Gasoline containers: labeling
Carves out an exemption, for certain gasoline containers designed to vent pressure when subjected to fire or high temperatures, from existing child-proof cap requirements provided such safety cans contain a prominently displayed label with the words "NOT CHILDPROOF."
Chapter 5, Statutes of 2008

AB 1122 (Duvall-R) Consumer credit: public instruction
Requires the Department of Education to develop and make available to school districts information regarding the consumer credit system, including history, the manner of obtaining credit, the proper use of credit, and understanding credit reports, as specified.
(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 1313 (Charles Calderon-D) Credit cards: cancellations
Exempts the issuer of a "private label" credit card, under certain circumstances, from the existing requirement that credit card issuers must provide consumers with 30-day prior notice before canceling a credit card.
(Died in Assembly Judiciary Committee)

AB 1407 (Lieu-D) Airports: information disclosure
Requires certain airports (airports serving over one million passengers annually) to publish on their web sites information about airport and airline operations.
(Died in Assembly Judiciary Committee)

AB 1549 (Aghazarian-R) Product liability: civil actions
Provides that an action for death or injury caused by a defective product must be brought within 10 years of the date of first sale, lease, or delivery for use or consumption, as specified.
(Died in Assembly Judiciary Committee)

AB 1570 (Mendoza-D) Retail sales: credit applications
Requires a retailer that offers a limited-term special price, sale, or interest rate on any purchase to extend that promotional offer by one business day, under specified circumstances.
(Died in Assembly Banking and Finance Committee)

AB 1608 (Solorio-D) Fast food restaurants: billboard advertising
Prohibits advertising of any fast food product on any outdoor billboard within 1,500 feet of any public or private elementary school, middle school, high school, or public playground.
(Died in Assembly Governmental Organization Committee)

AB 1860 (Huffman-D) Unsafe products: recall or warning
Enacts the Product Recall Safety and Protection Act, prohibits the manufacture, remanufacture, retrofit, distribution, or sale of a product that is unsafe knowing that the product is unsafe.
Chapter 569, Statutes of 2008

AB 1866 (Mendoza-D) Retail service contracts
Requires retailers that sell service contracts to do one of the following during the period that the service contract is in effect: (1) maintain contract information that includes a description of the terms and conditions of the service contract and provide that information to the purchaser upon request, or (2) obtain a copy of the service contract and provide that copy to the requester within 10 business days after receiving the request.
Vetoed

AB 1939 (DeSaulnier-D) Vehicles: dealers: document preparation charges
Increases the amount a vehicle dealer may charge a vehicle lessee for document preparation by $10 to $55. Increases the amount of the required surety bond for vehicle dealers from $50,000 to $100,000.
(Died in Senate Transportation and Housing Committee)

AB 2021 (Fuentes-D) Credit cards: personal information
Provides that an entity that accepts credit cards for the transaction of business via Internet, telephone or mail may use personal information, as defined, for the purpose of fraud detection or prevention.
(Died in Senate Judiciary Committee)

AB 2059 (Nunez-D) Do-not-call list
Protects consumers from unknowingly waiving their rights under federal and state do-not-call laws by requiring clear and conspicuous disclosures on lead cards or other forms of marketing devices used to obtain a consumer's express written permission to be solicited by telephone, despite being registered on the "do-not-call" list.
Chapter 738, Statutes of 2008

AB 2079 (Emmerson-R) Food: labeling
Deems food to be misbranded if the labeling does not conform to federal food allergen labeling requirements and eliminates a licensing requirement for persons engaged in the manufacturing, packaging, and distribution of olive oil.
Chapter 73, Statutes of 2008

AB 2106 (Hayashi-D) Cosmetic safety
Prohibits a person from manufacturing, selling, or distributing in commerce any cosmetic that contains any of nine specified ingredients.
Vetoed

AB 2116 (Portantino-D) Vehicle disclosure
Provides that a notice sent to a defaulting vehicle buyer must include specified information relating to reinstatement of a motor vehicle's sales contract after the vehicle has been repossessed for nonpayment.
(Died in Senate Judiciary Committee)

AB 2136 (Mendoza-D) Advertising: prepaid calling cards
Enacts additional standards and disclosure requirements relating to the advertising and sale of prepaid calling cards and prepaid calling services.
Chapter 739, Statutes of 2008

AB 2142 (Swanson-D) Airport rental cars: agreements
Authorizes the temporary collection of a customer facility charge on airport car rental customers at the Oakland International Airport.
Chapter 228, Statutes of 2008

AB 2186 (Salas-D) Bottled drinking water: label disclosure
Requires the information displayed on bottled drinking water to include the identity of the source from which the water was last obtained prior to being bottled.
(Died in Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee)

AB 2253 (Torrico-D) Food labels: free range
Requires the Department of Food and Agriculture, before 1/1/10, to develop criteria for the use of the claim "California Certified Free Range" for poultry products, as specified. Authorizes poultry and poultry products that comply with those criteria to bear the words, or be held out as, "California Certified Free Range" before being offered for sale.
(Died in Assembly Agriculture Committee)

AB 2273 (Fuentes-D) Nonrepairable vehicles
Establishes an alternative process by which the Department of Motor Vehicles issues a nonrepairable vehicle certificate to an insurance company for a total loss salvage vehicle when the insurance company is unable to obtain the vehicle's certificate of ownership from the vehicle owner.
Chapter 97, Statutes of 2008

AB 2339 (Solorio-D) Advertising displays: sport arenas
Permits certain publicly-owned sports arenas located along landscaped freeways to advertise any products, goods, or services sold by persons on the premise, as specified.
Chapter 493, Statutes of 2008

AB 2436 (Emmerson-R) Recreational vehicles: dealer agreements
Provides that a recreational vehicle manufacturer, distributor, or dealer cannot sell a new recreational vehicle in California without a signed, written dealer agreement.
Chapter 743, Statutes of 2008

AB 2479* (Hancock-D) Bottled water: labeling requirements
Corrects a drafting error contained in SB 220 (Corbett), Chapter 575, Statutes of 2007, related to the labeling requirements for bottled water. Clarifies the requirement for the statement on a water bottle include the terms "water quality" and "information" rather than "water quality information."
Vetoed

AB 2538 (Ruskin-D) Carbon Labeling Act of 2008
Requires the Air Resources Board to report to the Legislature on the feasibility, cost-effectiveness, and potential design of carbon labels that estimate the amount of greenhouse gas emissions associated with individual consumer products.
(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 2540* (Mendoza-D) Mobile food facilities
Establishes a single operating site mobile food facility as a new category of mobile food facilities regulated under the California Retail Food Code, and imposes various requirements on these facilities, revises various standards applicable to mobile food facilities and satellite food facilities, with respect to water storage, contamination prevention, and construction standards.
Vetoed

AB 2690 (Krekorian-D) Product liability actions
Declares that a manufacturer of a prescription pharmaceutical product that advertises directly to consumers shall not be relieved of a duty to warn customers of risks and side effects of the product solely because the product was prescribed to a patient by a physician.
(Died on Assembly Inactive File)

AB 2694 (Ma-D) Children's product safety
Prohibits, on or after 1/1/12, the manufacture, sale or exchange, as specified, of any product intended for use by, or for the care of, a child 12 years old or younger if the product, or any part of it, is a lead-bearing substance. Defines a "lead-bearing substance" as any substance that has a lead content of more than 100 parts per million by total weight.
(Died in Senate Health Committee)

AB 2824 (Berryhill-R) Food labeling: olive oil
Revises the definition of extra virgin olive oil as it is proposed to be added by SB 634 (Wiggins) to be effective only if both bills are chaptered and this bill is chaptered last.
Chapter 695, Statutes of 2008
A similar bill is SB 634 (Wiggins-D), Chapter 694, Statutes of 2008.

AB 2825 (Carter-D) Automotive repair: crash parts
Authorizes a customer to receive copies of invoices from the distributor, dealer or manufacturer for all crash parts installed for which the customer is charged in excess of $50, requires the written estimate and the final invoice to include a notice stating that installing parts other than those described on the estimate without the customer's prior approval is unlawful, requires copies of crash part invoices, if requested by the consumer, to be attached to the final invoice, and becomes effective 1/1/10.
Vetoed

AB 2918 (Lieber-D) Consumer credit reports: usage
Prohibits, except as specified, the user of a consumer credit report from procuring a consumer credit report for employment purposes unless the information in the report is either substantially job related, as defined, or required by law to be disclosed to, or obtained by, the user of the report.
Vetoed

AB 2950 (Huffman-D) Advertising: commercial e-mail messages
Revises the law on messages by (1) defining header information, (2) providing that venue is appropriate in any county in which the recipient of the commercial e-mail message resides, (3) allowing a district attorney or a city attorney to bring an action under California's spam law, and allowing the district attorney or city attorney, if the prevailing plaintiff, to recover reasonable attorney's fees and costs, (4) specifying a three-year statute of limitations, and (5) codifying the intent of the Legislature that the section, which prohibits falsity and deceptions in commercial e-mail messages, shall operate within the exception to federal preemption to the full extent permitted by the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003.
Vetoed

AB 2957 (Swanson-D) Product safety: contaminated toys
Requires the Department of Public Health to post on its web site the name and a short description of any toy that is contaminated with any toxic substance or that is coated with paints and lacquers that contain compounds of lead in any amount.
(Died in Assembly Health Committee)

AB 2988* (Emmerson-R) Outdoor Advertising Act
Exempts specified signs from the prohibition against placing billboards along landscaped freeways.
(Failed passage on Senate Floor)

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