A plastics pellet and powder coatings containment bill supported by the American Chemistry Council in Arlington, Va., will go into effect in California on Jan. 1, 2009.
The law will require companies to employ housekeeping requirements that approximate the best management principles of Operation Clean Sweep, a voluntary program of ACC and the Washington-based Society of the Plastics Industry Inc.
The legislation, passed by the state Assembly and Senate earlier this year, was signed in law Oct. 14 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The pellets and plastic powdered coatings, a source of storm sewer and marine debris, have been a target of state environmental officials. ACC had not supported pellet cleanup bills in past legislative sessions.
Specifically, companies would have to install 1 millimeter mesh screens on all onsite storm discharge drains, use capture devices at transfer valves when unloading pellets from hopper cars or transferring pellets, have vacuums or vacuum systems available to employees handling pellets and to use rupture-proof containers to store or ship pellets.