title
Agency-supported Legislation Update
end
Requested Action(s)
recommendation
This item is for informational purposes only. No further action is required.
body
Financial Impact:
None.
Background Information:
Below is a list of bills the Agency has supported and where they currently stand.
AB 762 (Irwin and Wilson) - Disposable (single-use) Vape Ban
This bill would ban the sale of disposable (single-use) vapes in California to address toxic waste and fire hazards from lithium-ion batteries. The bill was amended to be a two-year bill and recently passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee on January 22, 2026 with an 11-4 vote. The bill passed the Assembly with a vote of 46-15 on January 29, 2026, and is now headed to the Senate.
SB 501 (Allen) - Responsible Battery Recycling Act of 2022: covered batteries
This bill was amended to no longer apply to all household hazardous waste (HHW) and instead to fix an issue with another law, the Responsible Battery Recycling Act of 2022. That law excluded batteries weighing over 5 kilograms or 300 watt-hours from the definition of a covered battery. The bill would remove the exclusions from the definition of a covered battery for a primary battery and a rechargeable battery and categorize all covered batteries as either a small format battery or a medium format battery. This bill would instead require the stewardship plan to describe how the producer or stewardship organization will provide a certain number of collection sites for small format batteries and medium format batteries, as specified. The bill recently passed the Senate Appropriations Committee on January 22, 2026 with a 5-2 vote and ordered to a third reading. Staff will continue to monitor the progress of this bill.
AB 998 (Hadwick) - Household Hazardous Waste: vape pens
This bill was amended in July to evaluate opportunities to increase safety and convenience related to the management and disposal of vape pens confiscated from students by a school. The bill was then referred to the Suspense File in August and has not been re-introduced this legislative session.