How It All Turned Out: A Recap on California’s 2023-24 Legislative Session for the Outdoor Industry

Big news out of the California Governor’s Office over the weekend but none of it was surprising. As of yesterday, Governor Newsom has concluded his signatures and vetos and we can now conclude the 2023-24 Legislative Session. As we have seen over the last few years, the legislation facing the industry was immense and diverse ranging from textile sustainability to trail funding to equitable access to the public lands. While not everything was perfect, we had our successes in securing amendments in bills that impacted the industry, lost out on funding an Office of Outdoor Recreation and Equitable Access and a Trails Conservancy in the climate bond, made new connections, deepened other relationships, and had a couple bills cross the finish line that will have a positive impact on the future of the outdoors. We look forward to building upon this year with you during the 2024-25 Legislative Session, but first, here is our recap.

In January, we started off the session with high vibes, riding off the optimism of our sponsored tent manufacturing bill (AB 247 authored by Bauer-Kahan) going into effect on January 1st. With active policy on PFAS and Textile Extended Producer Respnsiblity, we decided not to sponsor a bill this session in order to focus on the amendment process. By the time our March Policy Committee meeting took place, we were tracking 21 bills. 8 of these bills were marked a priority for our organization and we showed up in April for our 7th Annual Sacramento Summit to advocate.

Bills We Supported:

AB 1567 – Climate Bond (Garcia) – Senate Version SB 867 Signed by Governor – Proposition 4 on November Ballot
The Climate Bond is on the ballot in November 2024 under Proposition 4 and we are amongst the large number of stakeholders involved in the Yes on Prop 4 campaign. The Climate Bond passed under the Senate version of the bill, SB 867 authored by Senator Ben Allen. It is once-in-a-generation climate bond known as the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024. We were hoping the Assembly version of the bill would pass because it had funding in the bill for an Office of Outdoor Recreation and Equitable Access and a Trails Conservancy. However, the Senate version is what made it on to the ballot after negotiations. You can endorse the Yes on Prop 4 campaign at this link here.

Funding includes:
▪️ $3.8 billion For Safe Drinking Water, Drought, Flood, and Water Resilience.
▪️ $1.5 billion for Wildfire and Forest Resilience.
▪️ $1.2 billion for Sea-Level Rise and Coastal Resilience.
▪️ $450 million for Extreme Heat Mitigation.
▪️ $1.2 billion for Protecting Biodiversity and Promoting Natural Solutions.
▪️ $300 million for Climate Resilient Farms, Ranches and Working Lands.
▪️ $700 million for Parks and Outdoor Access.
▪️ $850 million for Cleaner Air through Reliable Clean Energy Solution.
▪️ $100 million for Trail Funding.

SB 620 – Low Impact Camping (McGuire) – Died in Assembly
Unfortunately this bill suffered the backlash of political drama and never made it to an Assembly Floor vote in late August. This was a major upset and disappointment as it had nothing to do with the actual policy. Outdoor recreation hit a record high in 2021 with more than 19 million Californians getting outside. California’s outdoor recreation economy – one of the state’s largest economic drivers – is worth an estimated $54 billion. However, nearly half of all campers report difficulty finding available campsites.
SB 620 would have created additional access to camping by streamline the permitting process for small, more affordable low impact campsites. Low impact camping would have helped California meet its goals to provide affordable access to the outdoors, conserve land and biodiversity, expand rural economies, and supplement incomes for farmers and ranchers. SB 620 would have ushered in greater and more affordable access to the outdoors and expanded camping opportunities.

AB 2038 – State parks: outdoor equity programs (Quirk-Silva) – Vetoed by Governor
This bill was sponsored by our member Outdoor Outreach and would have provided that use of a state park by an eligible entity to provide outdoor equity programs shall be considered an allowable public use of a unit of the state park system, and would require the department or an entity managing a unit of the state park system to treat this use in the same manner as general public use of the state park. The bill would, for planning purposes, require the eligible entity to notify the department or an entity managing the unit of the state park system at least 15 calendar days in advance of the planned activity and communicate any consequential changes to the planned activity or location before the start of the outdoor equity program.
Likely vetoed because AB 1150 passed last year allowing for State Parks to create community access agreements and State Parks likely wanted to keep some control over this type of access instead of it being declared as “public access.”

AB 2939 – Parks: counties and cities: interpretive services (Rendon) – Signed by Governor
This bill was sponsored by our member Outdoor Outreach. It builds off of AB 1150 from last session, which granted State Parks the ability to enter into community access agreements with non-profit organizations and tribal nations. Instead of paying a fee every time an organization wants to host an event or program at a State Park or State Beach, there could be an on-going agreement with a one-time fee. AB 2939 extends this policy to City and County Parks as long as the event is 30 people or less.

AB 3147 – California Trails Conservancy Program (Garcia) – Died in Assembly
This bill was contingent on AB 1567 passing out of the first house and died because of it. This bill would have established the California Trails Conservancy Program under the California Natural Resources Agency. The bill would have requirde the program to have specified purposes, including promoting enhanced and expanded environmentally sound greenways and trail networks. If the agency determines that it would benefit these purposes, the bill would have authorizde the agency to establish an ad hoc working group with specified members, including a representative from the Department of Parks and Recreation. This bill would have also made its provisions operative contingent on Section 2 of Assembly Bill 1567 of the 2023–24 Regular Session taking effect on or before January 1, 2025.

Bills We Advocated For Change On:

AB 347 – PFAS Regulations Follow-up (Ting) – Signed by Governor
AB 347 is a follow-up to AB 1817 (PFAS ban in textiles) and we asked for Assemblymember Ting to add textiles to the covered product for AB 347. Assemblymember Ting granted that amendment and the phase out of PFAS will now be overseen by the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC). We hope this will minimize private litigation, although it will not fully prevent it.

Amendment Successes:
▪️ With the regulations for PFAS in textiles fastly approaching per AB 1817 (2022), we successfully advocated for AB 347 to be amended to include textiles. The bill did not originally include textiles and AB 1817 would have remained an orphan code with no agency overseeing the phase out of textiles without this amendment.
▪️ Testing requirement was removed.

Highlights of AB 347:
▪️ Requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control, on or before January 1, 2029, to adopt regulations for the enforcement of those prohibitions on the use of PFAS.
▪️ Requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control, on and after July 1, 2030, to enforce and ensure compliance with provisions and regulations.
▪️ Requires manufacturers of these products, on or before July 1, 2029, to register with DTSC, to pay a registration fee to the department, and to provide a statement of compliance certifying compliance with the applicable prohibitions on the use of PFAS to the department. – Note: We were unsuccessful at getting this language taken out but mandatory testing was taken out and replaced with the next bullet.
▪️ Authorizes DTSC to test products and to rely on third-party testing to determine compliance with prohibitions on the use of PFAS.
▪️ Requires DTSC to issue a notice of violation for a product in violation of the prohibitions on the use of PFAS.
▪️ Authorizes DTSC to assess an administrative penalty for a violation of these prohibitions and would authorize the department to seek an injunction to restrain a person or entity from violating these prohibitions.
▪️ Requires DTSC, on or before July 1, 2033, to submit a report to the Legislature regarding its compliance and enforcement activities performed pursuant to these provisions.

SB 707 – Textile Extended Producer Responsibility (Newman) – Signed by Governor
For SB 707, we feel that a lot of victories took place in this bill over the last year and a half. Although Senator Newman and California Product Stewardship Council (sponsor organization) did not accept our full language for amendments, they did work with us on every ask and we were able to amend the bill into creating a potential program that will work better for the industry rather than the original language. We were able to help secure language for multiple amendments in the bill, listed below.

Amendments Successes:
▪️ Needs assessment added.
▪️ Discount for current repair/rewear programs.
▪️ Chemical management plan.
▪️ Online marketplace loophole.
▪️ Dates pushed back for enactment.
▪️ We were added to California Product Stewardship Council’s Statewide Textile Recovery Advisory Committee (STRAC) last fall and will continue to stay engaged in the process if the Governor signs the bill.

Highlights of SB 707:
▪️ Enacts a stewardship program known as the Responsible Textile Recovery Act of 2024, which will require a producer of apparel or textile articles to form and join a producer responsibility organization or PRO.
▪️Requires CalRecycle to adopt regulations to implement the program no earlier than July 1, 2028.
▪️Upon approval of a plan, or commencing July 1, 2030, whichever is earlier, the bill will make a producer subject to specified civil penalties, unless the producer is a participant of a PRO and all apparel and textiles are accounted for in the plan.

SB 1280 – Waste management: propane cylinders: reusable or refillable (Laird) – Signed by Governor
Governor Newsom has signed SB 1280. 1-lb single use propane cylinders will no longer be allowed to be sold in California starting January 1, 2028. This only applies to the 1-lb single-use propane cylinders like Coleman branded canisters, not isobutane. The alternative is reusable propane canisters like our member Little Kamper. California Outdoor Recreation Partnership stayed neutral on this bill throughout the legislative process as our preference was to support a gas cannister extended producer responsibility (EPR) bill, which was SB 560. SB 560 included an EPR plan for other gas cylinders such as isobutane and helium. SB 560 died in Senate Appropriations.

Overall, we value the way that our membership showed up this year to advocate for issues on behalf of the industry. After all, our mission is to power a voice for the outdoor recreation industry to shape policy, support investments, and engage an inclusive community of outdoor participants in California around the benefits of outdoor recreation. Every session, we make progress on that shared goal and that is thanks to all of you.

California is home to the nation’s largest active outdoor industry economy, contributing $73.8 billion in economic spending annually and 567,636 direct jobs, while supporting active lifestyles, community health and wellness, and a shared love for California’s majestic outdoors. The California Outdoor Recreation Partnership (CORP) represents the collective interests of member organizations and programs within California, focused on politics, policy direction and funding in support of the active outdoor recreation industry. CORP educates legislators about the role that our industry plays in improving economic opportunity, community health and welcoming a diversity of outdoor enthusiasts across our great state.