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OLR Bill Analysis
HB 6502
AN ACT CONCERNING THE USE OF CERTAIN POLYSTYRENE
PRODUCTS, THE AVAILABILITY OF SINGLE -USE STRAWS, THE
RELEASE OF CERTAIN BALLOONS AND THE COMPOSTABLE
NATURE OF SINGLE-USE PRODUCE BAGS.
SUMMARY
This bill:
1. requires the phase out of expanded polystyrene trays in certain
schools;
2. prohibits restaurants and catering businesses from distributing
single-use expanded polystyrene food and beverage containers
to customers, beginning July 1, 2023;
3. prohibits full-service restaurants from providing a customer a
single-use plastic straw unless the customer requests it,
beginning January 1, 2022;
4. prohibits intentional releases of helium balloons, beginning
October 1, 2021; and
5. requires the Department of Energy and Environm ental
Protection (DEEP) commissioner to ask the Connecticut
Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE) to study whether
a compostable single-use produce bag is available for use that
does not adversely affect the environment.
Under the bill, CASE must complete the study and report its
findings to the DEEP commissioner by January 15, 2022. The
commissioner must then review the report and forward it and CASE’s
legislative recommendations, if any, to the Environment Committee by
February 1, 2022. 2021HB-06502-R000209-BA.DOCX
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EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage, except the provision on (1)
helium balloons is effective October 1, 2021; (2) single-use plastic
straws is effective January 1, 2022; and (3) single-use polystyrene
containers is effective July 1, 2023.
§ 1 — EXPANDED POLYSTYRENE TRAYS IN SCHOOLS
The bill:
1. requires each school district, regional school district, regional
vocational technical school, and constituent unit of higher
education to develop a plan by July 1, 2022, to discontinue use
of expanded polystyrene trays;
2. calls for the plans to require (a) discontinuing use of the trays by
July 1, 2023, and (b) preparing to end or amend any purchasing
contracts for the trays by July 1, 2022; and
3. exempts a district or school that stops using these trays before
July 1, 2022, from having to develop a plan.
The “constituent units of higher education” are UConn (all
campuses) and the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (four
state universities, 12 community colleges, and Charter Oak State
College)(CGS § 10a-1).
Under the bill, “expanded polystyrene” means blown polystyrene
and expanded and extruded foams that are thermoplastic
petrochemical materials utilizing a styrene monomer and processed by
any number of techniques, including fusion of polymer spheres and
injection, foam, or extrusion molding.
§ 2 — SINGLE-USE POLYSTYRENE CONT AINERS
Beginning July 1, 2023, the bill bans restaurants and caterers from
providing or distributing single-use expanded polystyrene food and
beverage containers to customers. It exempts from the ban containers
(1) filled and sealed before being received by a restaurant or caterer or
(2) used by a butcher or store to hold raw meat. 2021HB-06502-R000209-BA.DOCX
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Under the bill, a “restaurant” is a space in a suitable and permanent
building that is kept, used, maintained, advertised, and held out to the
public as a place where meals are regularly sold to the public. A
“caterer” is a business involved in (1) selling or distributing food or
drink prepared in bulk in one location for retail service in another
location or (2) preparing and serving food in a venue that is not under
the caterer’s control.
The owner or operator of a restaurant or caterer that violates the ban
must receive a warning for a first violation, $250 fine for a second
violation, $500 fine for a third violation, and $1,000 fine for a
subsequent violation. A restaurant or caterer can only be issued one
violation per day.
Under the bill, a local health department or health district, the
Department of Public Health (DPH), the Department of Consumer
Protection (DCP), or DEEP may enforce the ban. If a local health
department or health district enforces it, then half of the imposed fine
must be remitted to the municipality where the violation occurred.
The bill states that it does not prohibit manufacturing single-use
expanded polystyrene containers in the state or their sale by someone
other than restaurants and caterers.
By February 1, 2024, the DPH, DCP, and DEEP commissioners must
jointly submit a report to the Environment, Public Health, and General
Law committees on the law’s enforcement and the need to establish a
hardship waiver for any restaurant or caterer with a demonstrated
financial hardship directly caused by the law.
§ 3 — SINGLE-USE PLASTIC STRAWS
Beginning January 1, 2022, the bill prohibits a full-service restaurant
owner or operator from providing a customer a single-use plastic
straw unless the customer requests one. However, it allows the owner
or operator to provide a single-use plastic straw to someone with a
disability. The bill specifies that it does not require an owner or
operator who does not otherwise provide these straws to do so. 2021HB-06502-R000209-BA.DOCX
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Under the bill, an owner or operator who violates the bill’s
provisions must be issued a warning for a first or second violation and
a fine for a third or subsequent violation. The fine is $25 for each day of
violation, up to $300 in a year. A municipal or district health
department with jurisdiction over the restaurant may enforce the bill’s
provisions.
The bill states that it does not prevent a municipality from adopting
and implementing an ordinance or rule further restricting a full-service
restaurant from providing customers single-use plastic straws. But the
ordinance or rule cannot prohibit a restaurant from providing a single-
use plastic straw to someone with a disability.
Full-Service Restaurant Defined
Under the bill, a “full-service restaurant” is an establishment that
primarily serves food that may be consumed on site and where an
employee does the following:
1. escorts and seats the customer,
2. takes the customer’s food and beverage order after the customer
is seated,
3. delivers the order and any requested related items to the
customer, and
4. brings the check for the order to the customer’s table.
§ 4 — HELIUM BALLOONS
Beginning October 1, 2021, the bill prohibits knowingly releasing,
organizing the release of, or intentionally causing the release of helium
or lighter-than-air gas balloons into the atmosphere. Current law limits
releases to fewer than 10 balloons within a 24-hour period. A violation
of the ban is an infraction.
§ 5 — SINGLE-USE PRODUCE BAG STUD Y
By September 1, 2021, the bill requires the DEEP commissioner to
accept an application on behalf of a single-use produce bag 2021HB-06502-R000209-BA.DOCX
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manufacturer for a study at the commissioner’s request by CASE. The
study must determine whether a compostable single-use produce bag
is available for use that does not adversely impact the environment. A
“single-use produce bag” is a bag provided by a store to contain meat,
seafood, loose produce, or other unwrapped food items.
Under the bill, the application must (1) require the manufacturer to
disclose the bag’s chemical parts or composition and (2) be in a form
the commissioner prescribes.
The commissioner must ask CASE to perform the study once she
receives the application. CASE may establish a fee for the study, which
the manufacturer must pay through DEEP. After it receives the request
and fee from the commissioner, CASE must begin the study, which
must include:
1. a CASE-appointed study committee to oversee it;
2. a CASE-selected research team with compostable single-use
produce bag expertise to (a) conduct relevant research,
including the bag’s decomposition percentage and duration,
and (b) author a study report; and
3. study committee meetings that allow the applicant, DEEP, and
interested people to obtain information about the study.
The bill requires CASE to complete the study and issue the final
study report to the DEEP commissioner by January 15, 2022. The
commissioner must review the report and forward it and CASE’s
legislative recommendations, if any, to the Environment Committee by
February 1, 2022.
The act exempts from disclosure under the Freedom of Information
Act any study-related information or materials submitted by an
applicant to DEEP or CASE that the applicant indicates at submission
is a trade secret or privileged.
COMMITTEE ACTION 2021HB-06502-R000209-BA.DOCX
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Environment Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 22 Nay 11 (03/12/2021)