AB 1604

AB1604:v95#DOCUMENT

Bill Start

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 1604

An act to add Chapter 12.3 (commencing with Section 108943) to Part 3 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to product safety.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1604, as amended, Stefani. Product safety: proofs of purchase: intentionally added bisphenols.

Existing law prohibits a person from manufacturing, selling, or distributing in commerce any juvenile’s feeding product or juvenile’s sucking or teething product, as defined, that contains any form of bisphenol, as defined, at a detectable level above the practical quantitation limit, as determined by the Department of Toxic Substances Control, except as provided.

This bill would prohibit, on and after January 1, 2028, a person from manufacturing, distributing, or offering for sale a paper proof of purchase containing intentionally added bisphenol A, as defined, and, on and after January 1, 2029, containing any intentionally added bisphenols, as defined. The bill would specify that a violation would be punishable by a civil authorize the department to enforce a violation of those provisions by considering, on a case-by-case basis, the enforcement mechanism and an administrative penalty not to exceed $5,000 for a first violation, and not to exceed $10,000 for each subsequent violation. The bill would require all penalties collected pursuant to this bill to be deposited into the Toxic Substances Control Account, to be available for expenditure by the Department of Toxic Substances Control department upon appropriation by the Legislature, as specified. The bill would authorize the department, the Attorney General, a county counsel, a district attorney, or a city attorney to enforce these provisions and would entitle a prevailing plaintiff who establishes a violation of these provisions to an award of reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. The bill would require a manufacturer to use the least toxic alternative when replacing any form of bisphenol in a paper proof of purchase product. The bill would also prohibit a manufacturer from replacing any form of bisphenol pursuant to these provisions with chemicals a chemical known to cause cancer or reproductive harm, or with any chemical identified by the department as a Candidate Chemical, as specified.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) Paper receipts generate 334,000,000 pounds of waste and over 5,000,000,000 pounds of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of more than 471,000 cars on the road, and most paper receipts contain chemicals that contaminate other recyclable paper materials.

(b) The Ecology Center has found that 80 percent of paper receipts are coated with bisphenol A (BPA) or bisphenol S (BPS) chemicals.

(c) A definitive and growing body of scientific research has shown bisphenols disrupt our hormones and are linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, fertility problems, obesity, diabetes, and cancer, including breast and prostate cancer.

(d) The BPA or BPS on receipts can enter peoples’ bodies simply through touch, which poses a major risk to retail workers, who have 30 percent more BPA or BPS found in their bodies than others who do not have regular contact with receipts, according to the Environmental Working Group and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

(e) The State of Connecticut banned the use of receipt paper containing BPA in 2011, the State of Illinois banned receipt paper containing BPA in 2019, the State of Washington banned all bisphenols in thermal paper as of 2026, and the European Union restricted the use of BPA in thermal paper beginning in 2020 and is also investigating similar restrictions on the use of BPS.

SEC. 2.

Chapter 12.3 (commencing with Section 108943) is added to Part 3 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:

CHAPTER 12.3. Proof of Purchase

108943.

For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:

(a) “Bisphenol” means a chemical with two phenol rings connected by a single linker atom. The linker atom and phenol rings may have additional substituents.

(b)(1)“Business” means a person that accepts payment through cash, credit, or debit transactions.

(2)“Business” does not include either of the following:

(A)A health care provider, as defined in Section 123105.

(B)An entity organized as a nonprofit institution that has annual gross sales receipts of less than two million dollars ($2,000,000).

(c)“Consumer” means a person who purchases, and does not offer for resale, food, alcohol, other tangible personal property, or services.

(d)

(b) “Department” means the Department of Toxic Substances Control.

(e)

(c) “Intentionally added bisphenol A” means bisphenol A (CAS no. 80-05-7) that a manufacturer has intentionally added to a product and that has a functional or technical effect in the product, including bisphenol A that is an intentional breakdown product of an added chemical that also has a functional or technical effect in the product.

(f)

(d) “Intentionally added bisphenols” means bisphenols that a manufacturer has intentionally added to a product and that have a functional or technical effect in the product, including bisphenols that are intentional breakdown products of an added chemical that also have a functional or technical effect in the product.

(g)

(e) “Manufacturer” means the person that makes the paper for the paper proof of purchase using raw materials, machinery, or both.

(h)

(f) “Person” means any individual, firm, association, organization, partnership, limited liability company, business trust, corporation, or company.

(i)

(g) “Proof of purchase” means a receipt for the retail sale of food, alcohol, or other tangible personal property, or for the provision of services, provided at the point of sale.

108943.1.

(a) (1) On and after January 1, 2028, no person shall manufacture, distribute, sell, or offer for sale a paper proof of purchase that contains intentionally added bisphenol A.

(2) On and after January 1, 2029, no person shall manufacture, distribute, sell, or offer for sale a paper proof of purchase that contains intentionally added bisphenols.

(b) The department may adopt regulations to implement, interpret, or make specific this chapter.

(c) The department shall post any substantiated violation or final enforcement action of this chapter on the department’s internet website.

(d) The department shall deposit all penalties collected pursuant to this chapter into the Toxic Substances Control Account for the department to use upon appropriation by the Legislature to enforce this chapter.

(e) (1)The department, the Attorney General, a district attorney, a county counsel, or a city attorney department may enforce this section. A violation shall be punishable by a civil penalty section and may consider, on a case-by-case basis, the enforcement mechanism and the amount of any administrative penalty to be imposed, not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) for a first violation, and not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each subsequent violation. In determining the amount of an administrative penalty, the department shall consider the following factors:

(2)A prevailing plaintiff who establishes a violation of this chapter shall be entitled to an award of reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.

(1) The nature and severity of the violation.(2) The good or bad faith of the person in violation.(3) The history of prior violations, if any.(4) Evidence that the violation was willful.(5) The extent that the person has cooperated with the department.

108943.2.

(a) A manufacturer shall use the least toxic alternative when replacing any form of bisphenol in a paper proof of purchase product in accordance with this chapter.

(b) A manufacturer shall not replace any form of bisphenol pursuant to this chapter with chemicals a chemical classified by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as carcinogenic to humans, likely to be carcinogenic to humans, or for which there is suggestive evidence of carcinogenic potential, or identified by the state to cause cancer as listed in the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Chapter 6.6 (commencing with Section 25249.5) of Division 20) list of chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity.

(c) A manufacturer shall not replace any form of bisphenol pursuant to this chapter with a reproductive toxicants toxicant that cause causes birth defects, reproductive harm, or developmental harm as identified by the United States Environmental Protection Agency or listed in the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Chapter 6.6 (commencing with Section 25249.5) of Division 20) list of chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity.

(d) A manufacturer shall not replace any form of bisphenol pursuant to this chapter with any chemical identified by the Department of Toxic Substances Control department as a Candidate Chemical pursuant to Section 69502.2 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.

108943.3.

The duties and obligations imposed by this act are cumulative with any other duties or obligations imposed under other law and law, shall not be construed to relieve any party from any duties or obligations imposed under other law law, and do not limit any rights or remedies under existing law.