Proposed Senate Bill Addresses Marine Flare Disposal Issue in California

Marine flare disposal is a subject that raises its fiery head on an annual, perhaps even biannual, basis. Looking back over our archives, we can see that we publish at least one story each year about marine flare collection events in various locations around the Bay Area. Events that are infrequent and often inconveniently timed or located.

Recently we were alerted to a new senate bill introduced to the California Legislature by Senator Catherine Blakespear, representing Senate District 38 in western San Diego and Orange counties — SB 1066: The Marine Flare Producer Responsibility Act. The intention is to create a program whereby marine flares are collected and disposed of in a safe and proper manner, free and convenient to the consumer.

Having read the PDF of the bill introduced by Senator Blakespear on February 12, our takeaways are as follows:

The producer responsibility program would be overseen by the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC). The bill would require any producer, importer, wholesaler or retailer (depending on who is where in the chain) of a covered product in the state of California to register with a Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO), which would manage the collection and disposal of the covered product. In this bill, “covered product” is defined as “a pyrotechnic device that produces a brilliant light or a plume of colorful smoke as a visual distress signal on marine vessels to attract attention and pinpoint a boater’s location in an emergency.” In ordinary terms, a marine flare.

The PRO would be required to “develop and implement a producer responsibility plan for the collection, transportation, and the safe and proper management of covered products.” The plan would need to include accounting for funding of the program and several contingencies. That plan then needs to be registered with and approved by the DTSC.

The information we read suggests the PRO would be “an organization that is exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986…” — so, a charitable organization of some sort.

Next, the collections would be convenient and free to the consumer: “… shall include permanent collections sites and may include temporary collections sites.”

It’s starting to sound pretty good, right?

The Marine Flare Producer Responsibility Act, sponsored by the National Stewardship Action Council (NSAC), is said to be “a first of its kind in the US.”

The NSAC writes on its website: “’Boaters love the water and want to protect it from pollution,’ Sen. Blakespear said. ‘Properly disposing of unwanted marine flares, which can contain toxic perchlorate and expire approximately every three years, should be as convenient as it is to purchase them. SB 1066 establishes a way to do that.’”

The website then quotes Courtney Scott, Household Hazardous Waste Program Manager for Zero Waste Sonoma. “Historically, the costs to manage unwanted marine flares have been socialized by every ratepayer, whether they own and operate a boat or not.

“In 2023, it cost an estimated $185 to properly dispose of one unwanted marine flare, which can be purchased new for approximately $13.”

As we understand, the PRO will need to source that $185 from the producer, importer or distributor of the $13 product — who, again, needs to be properly registered with the PRO. The PRO can also apply for funding through other sources, but any money the PRO collects will need to pay for not only the flare disposals, but also the collections, and all the costs incurred by its association with, and obeisance to, the DTSC guidelines, and all the DTSC’s costs in overseeing the program.

Are you thinking what we’re thinking? How long before the cost of flares skyrockets? That said, we do applaud those who put their heads together to look for a solution to the decades-long problem of marine flare disposal.

Just to be clear, nothing is going to happen overnight. The bill has yet to be passed, and then there will be the obligatory several years of lead time before the bill comes into force, and then the times allowed for the creation of the necessary organizational infrastructure.

If anyone is interested in reading the bill in its current form, you can find it here.

Thanks very much to our friend Bob Adams for bringing this to our attention.