I. Introduction
In the 1967 film The Graduate, Mr. Maguire says to Benjamin: “There is a great future in cleaning up microplastics.” That’s not exactly correct, but if the movie were remade today, it might be. [1]
The State of California and the United Nations certainly envision that future. Late last month, California adopted a first-in-the-nation strategy to address microplastics in the environment. Shortly thereafter, on March 2, 2022, the United Nations Environment Assembly adopted a resolution setting up a path to a global treaty to end plastic pollution. And, after adopting the world’s first regulatory definition of “microplastics in drinking water” in 2020, California anticipates additional action addressing microplastics in drinking water as early as this month.
With California often leading the way in environmental regulation, interested parties throughout the country (and the world) may want to follow these developments closely.
II. The Microplastics Problem
As defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, “microplastics” are “extremely small pieces of plastic debris in the environment resulting from the disposal and breakdown of consumer products and industrial waste.”
Microplastics fall into two general categories: primary microplastics manufactured at a small size (e.g., preproduction plastic pellets used in manufacturing or microbeads in personal care products) or secondary microplastics that result from the breakdown of larger plastics. California Ocean Protection Council. (February 2022). Statewide Microplastics Strategy (Strategy) at p. 4.
Worldwide, an estimated 11 million metric tons of plastic enter the ocean each year; under the status quo, this amount may triple by 2040. Id. (citing to 2020 studies).
Microplastics are not only a marine pollution problem. Microplastics have been found nearly everywhere scientists have looked, from pristine mountain streams to agricultural soil, and within human placenta, stool samples, and lung tissue. Id. (citing to 2019 and 2021 studies).
III. Potential Solutions
a. California Ocean Protection Council
In 2018, the California governor signed into law two microplastics bills: Senate Bill (S.B.) 1263 and S.B. 1422. Pursuant to S.B. 1263, the California Ocean Protection Council (Council) approved the first comprehensive microplastics strategy in the nation: Statewide Microplastics Strategy: Understanding and Addressing Impacts to Protect Coastal and Ocean Health (Strategy). [2]
According to the Council:
The Strategy outlines a two-track approach to comprehensively manage microplastics in California. The first track … outlines immediate, “no regrets” actions and multi-benefit solutions to reduce and manage microplastic pollution, while the second track … outlines a comprehensive research strategy to enhance the scientific foundation for microplastic monitoring, source identification, risk assessment, and development of management solutions. [3]
Solutions identified in first track include:
- Pollution Prevention: Eliminate plastic waste at the source (products or materials from which microplastics originate).
- Pathway Interventions: Intervene within specific pathways (stormwater runoff, wastewater, aerial deposition) that mobilize microplastics into California waters.
- Outreach and Education: Engage and inform the public and industries of microplastic sources, impacts, and solutions.
The comprehensive research strategy outlined in the second track includes:
- Monitoring: Standardize a statewide monitoring approach. Understand and identify trends of microplastic pollution statewide.
- Risk Thresholds and Assessment: Improve understanding of impacts to aquatic life and human health.
- Sources and Pathways Prioritization: Identify and prioritize future management solutions based on local data.
- Evaluating New Solutions: Develop and implement future pollution prevention and pathway intervention solutions.
Notably, the Strategy is not regulatory; the state has not mandated action to reduce microplastics in the environment. However, it does call on California to pursue additional product and material prohibitions to further curb the generation of plastic waste. The Strategy also identifies specific sectors that should be investigated, including vehicle tires, textiles, single-use foodware and packaging, agriculture, and fisheries and aquaculture.
b. United Nations
Just one week after California adopted the Strategy, the United Nations Environment Assembly adopted a resolution to end plastic pollution and forge an international legally binding agreement by 2024. Representatives from 175 nations, including the United States, agreed to begin negotiating a broad treaty that would not only aim to improve recycling and clean up the world’s plastic waste, but also encompass curbs on plastics production itself. Among other things, the agreement must address the full life cycle of plastics, from production to disposal, recycling, and reuse.
A timetable for negotiating the treaty is to be discussed during the first half of 2022.
c. California State Water Resources Control Board
Meanwhile, the California State Water Resources Control Board (State Board) continues its work addressing microplastics in drinking water as required by S.B. 1422. [4] As discussed in our previous blog post, the State Board in 2020 became the first regulatory agency in the world to specifically define “Microplastics in Drinking Water.” Since then, it has been working on a standardized analytical method for microplastics in drinking water, evaluating the health effects of microplastics to inform consideration of issuing a health-based guidance level for microplastics in drinking water, and adopting requirements for four years of testing and reporting of microplastics in drinking water. [5]
As noted above, the State Board anticipates adopting resolutions or otherwise acting on these S.B. 1422 mandates as soon as this month.
IV. Conclusion
Mr. Maguire was right in 1967: there was a great future in plastics. It is everywhere, important to our lives in ways too numerous to count. But most would agree plastic waste – perhaps especially microplastics – presents challenges that society will need to address, and regulators aim to do so through new regulations. Time will tell whether, in a sequel, the future will be in cleaning up microplastics. California and the United Nations appear to think so.
[1] What he actually said in the Mike Nichols film starring Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin was “Plastics. … There is a great future in plastics.”
[2] The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a consensus national report to Congress in December 2021. The report concludes plastic waste in the United States is ubiquitous and increasing, with the United States having generated more plastic waste as of 2016 than any other country, exceeding that of all European Union member states combined. The report could form the basis of a national microplastics strategy. See National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2021. Reckoning with the U.S. Role in Global Ocean Plastic Waste. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
[3] S.B. 1263 requires that the Strategy include, but not be limited to: 1) a prioritized research plan; 2) standardized methods for sampling, detecting, characterizing, and monitoring microplastics; 3) an investigation of the sources, pathways, and impacts of microplastics on coastal and marine ecosystems; 4) a risk assessment framework based on the best available science on the exposure of microplastics to organisms; 5) research on pathway interventions; 6) an evaluation of source reduction and product stewardship techniques; and 7) policy recommendations.
[4] S.B. 1422 required the State Board, on or before July 1, 2020, to adopt a definition of microplastics in drinking water, and on or before July 1, 2021, to: (i) adopt a standard methodology to be used in the testing of drinking water for microplastics; (ii) adopt requirements for four years of testing and reporting of microplastics in drinking water, including public disclosure of those results; (iii) if appropriate, consider issuing a notification level or other guidance to aid consumer interpretations of the results of the required testing; and (iv) accredit qualified laboratories in California to analyze microplastics. The State Board met the first deadline, but not the second.
[5] It also released, in November 2021, a draft Microplastics In Drinking Water Policy Handbook.
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- PIP
- Pipe Manufacturing
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- Pipelines
- PIPES
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- Point Source
- Point Source Discharge
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- Policy Statement
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- Polyalkyl
- Polyfluoroalkyl
- Port of Los Angeles
- Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act
- Potentially Responsible Party
- POTW
- PRA
- Practical Law
- Precedent
- Preconstruction Authorizations
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- PRP
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- PURPA
- Quality Assurance Plan
- R-Project Transmission Line
- Racing Vehicles
- RAGAGEP
- Railroad Commission
- Railroad Commission of Texas
- Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC)
- Rapanos
- RBI
- RCRA
- RCRA Subtitle D
- REACH
- Reasonable Progress Plans
- RECLAIM
- Reconsideration
- RECs
- Redevelopment
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- Reform
- Reforma Energética
- Regional Clean Air Incentives Market
- Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs
- Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)
- Regional Haze
- Regional Water Quality Control Boards
- Registration Evaluation Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals
- Regulation
- Regulation S-K
- Regulation S-X
- Regulations
- Regulatory
- Regulatory Agenda
- Regulatory Freeze
- Regulatory Guidance
- Regulatory Programs
- Regulatory Reform
- Regulatory Review
- Reliability
- Reliability Safety Valve
- Remediation
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- Renewables
- Renewals
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- Rescind
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- Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
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- Rule 14a-8(i)(7)
- Rule 65(c)
- Rulemaking
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- Sacred Sites
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- Safe Drinking Water Act
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- SASB
- SaskPower’s Boundary Dam Unit 3
- SB 1371
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- Scope
- Scope 1
- Scope 2
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- Scott Pruitt
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- SEC
- Section 10
- Section 104 Request
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- Section 179B(b)
- Section 208 Request
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- Section 4
- Section 401
- Section 404
- Section 408
- Section 45Q
- Section 5
- Section 6(b)
- Securities Act
- Securities and Exchange Commission
- Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
- Securities Law
- Seismicity
- Seminole Rock
- Senate
- Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
- Senator Lamar Alexander
- SEP
- SEPs
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- Shareholder Lawsuits
- Shutdown
- Sierra Club
- Significant Figures
- Significant Guidance
- Significant New Use Rule
- SIP
- Smelter
- SNUR
- Social
- Social Media
- Solar
- Solid Waste
- South China Sea
- South Coast Air Quality Management District
- SPCC
- Species
- Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Rule
- SSB 5135
- SSM SIP Call
- Stabilization Clause
- Standing
- Standing Rock Sioux
- Stare Decisis
- State
- State Administrative Appeals
- State Air Pollution Control Board
- State Constitutions
- State Environmental Quality Review Act
- State Implementation Plan
- State Law
- State Water Resources Control Board
- States
- Statute of Limitations
- Statutory Authority
- Statutory Interpretation
- Stormwater
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- Subrogation
- sulfur dioxide
- Sunset Review
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- Supply Chain
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- Surface Mining Act
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- Susan Bodine
- Sustainability
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- SWDA
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- SWRCB
- Tailings Storage Facility
- Take
- Take Prohibition
- Takings
- Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
- Tax
- Tax Credits
- Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
- Tax Reform
- Taxonomy Regulation
- TCEQ
- TCI
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- TERP
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- TRI
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- Tribes
- Trump
- Trump Administration
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- TWDB
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- Ultimate Net Loss
- UNCLOS
- Underground Injection Wells
- Underground Storage Tank
- UNFCCC
- Unified Agenda
- United Airlines
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- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
- Urgenda
- US Army Corps of Engineers
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- US Customs and Border Protection
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- US Environmental Protection Agency
- US Fish and Wildlife Service
- US FWS
- US SAFETY Act
- US Securities and Exchange Commission
- US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
- US Supreme Court
- USACE
- USDA
- USDOT
- USFWS
- USMCA
- Utilities
- utility
- vapor intrusion
- Vapor Recovery Units
- VCP
- venting
- Veto
- Village of Old Mill Creek. v. Star
- Vineyard Wind
- Virginia Clean Economy Act
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- vision of Corporation Finance
- VOCs
- Volatile Organic Compounds
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- Waiver
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- Washington
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- Waste Discharge Identification Number
- Waste Electrical and Electric Equipment
- Waste Permitting
- Wasted Food
- Wastewater
- Wastewater Treatment
- Water
- Water Quality Certification
- Water Quality Criteria
- Water Regulation
- Water Reuse
- Water Supply and Management
- Water Systems
- Waterfront
- Waters
- Waters of the United States
- WDID
- WEA
- WEEE
- Well Blowout
- Well Control Rule
- WET Tests
- Wetlands
- Whole Effluent Testing
- Wholesale Electricity
- WildEarth Guardians
- Wildfire
- Wind
- Wind Energy
- Wind Energy Area
- wind farms
- Winning on Reducing Food Waste Initiative
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- Withdrawal or Reinstatement
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- WQBELs
- WQC
- Wyoming
- Zero Emissions
- Zero-Emissions Vehicle Initiative
- Zinke
Authors
- Yaniel Abreu
- Elizabeth E. Aldridge
- Walter J. Andrews
- John J. Beardsworth, Jr.
- Nancy B. Beck, PhD, DABT
- Jordan L. Bernstein
- Timothy E. Biller
- George Borovas
- Lawrence J. Bracken II
- Shannon S. Broome
- Karma B. Brown
- Samuel L. Brown
- F. William Brownell
- Courtney Cochran Butler
- Julia J. Casciotti
- Michelle G. Chan
- E. Carter Chandler Clements
- Abigail Contreras
- Benjamin Y. Cooper IV
- Christopher J. Cunio
- Alexandra B. Cunningham
- Andrea DeField
- Meredith Doswell
- Douglas L. Dua
- Deidre G. Duncan
- Frederick R. Eames
- Clare Ellis
- Latosha M. Ellis
- Susan S. Failla
- Geoffrey B. Fehling
- Andrea Field
- Hannah Flint
- Steven C. Friend
- Kevin E. Gaunt
- Andrew G. Geyer
- Erin Grisby
- Elisabeth R. Gunther
- Steven M. Haas
- Alexandra Hamilton
- Patrick Jamieson
- Kevin W. Jones
- Dan J. Jordanger
- Ryan T. Ketchum
- Sami M. Khan
- Jonathan H. Kim
- Scott H. Kimpel
- Charles H. Knauss
- Garrett Kral
- J. Pierce Lamberson
- Lucinda Minton Langworthy
- Jaclyn E. Lee
- Matthew Z. Leopold
- Charlotte Leszinske
- Brian R. Levey
- Michael S. Levine
- Elbert Lin
- Eric R. Link
- Nash E. Long
- David S. Lowman, Jr.
- Phyllis H. Marcus
- Jeffrey N. Martin
- Lorelie S. Masters
- Patrick M. McDermott
- Kerry L. McGrath
- Robert J. McNamara
- Michael J. Messonnier, Jr.
- Jennifer MikoLevine
- Todd S. Mikolop
- Angela Morrison
- Michael J. Mueller
- Eric J. Murdock
- Ted J. Murphy
- William L. Newton
- Henry V. Nickel
- Paul T. Nyffeler, PhD
- Peter K. O’Brien
- G. Michael O’Leary
- Evangeline C. Paschal
- Kate Perkins
- Shemin V. Proctor
- Shawn Patrick Regan
- Myles F. Reynolds
- Doris Rodríguez
- Brent A. Rosser
- Christian Rudloff
- Rachel Saltzman
- Arthur E. Schmalz
- Penny A. Shamblin
- Michael R. Shebelskie
- George P. Sibley, III
- Joseph C. Stanko
- Martin P. Stratte
- Javaneh S. Tarter
- Thomas W. Taylor
- Patricia Tiller
- Linda Trees
- Andrew J. Turner
- Emily Burkhardt Vicente
- Gregory R. Wall
- Thomas R. Waskom
- Malcolm C. Weiss
- Michelle-Ann C. Williams
- Susan F. Wiltsie