(a) The department shall convene a Retail Waste Working Group comprised of representatives of large retailers, small retailers, district attorneys, certified unified program agencies, nongovernment organizations, local governments, other relevant state agencies as determined by the department, manufacturers, reverse distributors, and other stakeholders to consider and make findings and recommendations on the following:

(1) Regulatory and statutory requirements that may be considered confusing or may need clarification or specification when applied to the overall management by manufacturer, distributor, supplier, vendor, retail, and reverse logistics facilities of surplus household consumer products, including products that can be considered hazardous waste or pharmaceutical waste once a waste determination is made.

(2) Statutory or regulatory recommendations to facilitate and increase the donation, liquidation, and sale of surplus household consumer products, and waste reduction opportunities for those products, and to clarify waste management requirements to encourage the management of surplus household consumer products by manufacturer, distributor, supplier, vendor, retail, and reverse logistics facilities in a manner that is protective of public health and the environment.

(b) For purposes of this section, “surplus household consumer product” means a household consumer product that cannot or will not be sold to a consumer through that product’s primary market.

(c) By June 1, 2017, the Retail Waste Working Group shall report the findings and recommendations made pursuant to subdivision (a) to the Legislature.

(Added by Stats. 2016, Ch. 771, Sec. 1. (SB 423) Effective January 1, 2017.)