California releases revised draft of SB 54 EPR regulations: Key changes and next steps

California moved closer to implementing its ambitious extended producer responsibility (EPR) law when the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) recently released revised draft regulations under Senate Bill 54 (SB 54), the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act.

These revisions, released on May 20, 2025, follow Governor Gavin Newsom’s decision in March to scrap the first draft due to concerns over costs for businesses and consumers. The new draft aims to improve operational readiness, clarify obligations, and encourage innovation, while preserving the legislation’s core intent.

Notably, it introduces streamlined compliance pathways, clearer definitions of producer obligations, simplified fee structures, and expanded exemption periods – changes that directly address industry concerns about administrative burden, regulatory certainty, and flexibility in meeting SB 54’s ambitious requirements.

Like EPR laws elsewhere, SB 54 seeks to make producers responsible for the operational and financial burdens associated with waste from their “covered products,” defined as single-use packaging and plastic food service ware. Between now and 2032, the law requires industry to slash the amount of waste from covered products and to boost the rates of recyclable, compostable, and reusable packaging.

To administer these changes and the various fees and other mandates under SB 54, the legislature required producers to create and join a producer responsibility organization (PRO). As in all the other EPR states in the US so far, the PRO in California is the Circular Action Alliance (CAA), a nonprofit group established by consumer-good and retail companies.

In the new draft regulations, CalRecycle establishes the framework for producer registration, data reporting, supply chain transparency, and funding of recycling and waste management systems. The revisions aim to streamline compliance and clarify requirements for producers, recyclers, and other stakeholders.

Key regulatory changes

• Clarified definitions and obligations: Updated definitions clarify which entities are obligated producers and distinguish between food service ware (eg, utensils) and packaging, which reduces ambiguity in compliance requirements for different kinds of covered materials.
  
  
• Reporting and timing: The draft would change the deadline for PRO registration and initial data submissions from July 1, 2025 to within 30 days after the rules become effective. This is separate from the August 31, 2025 producer data reporting deadline set by CAA. The draft also shifts from monthly to annual reporting to reduce administrative burdens and provide time to develop higher quality data. Various other reporting deadlines are updated as well, including for determining whether packaging components add only “de minimis weight or volume” and are thus outside the definition of “packaging.”
  
  
• Simplified fee schedule: The regulations simplify the “eco-modulated fee schedule.” “Eco-modulation” varies fees based on design choices that improve recyclability for the first two years of the program. The simplified schedule relies on broad categories of material rather than the granular environmental performance factors prescribed by the prior draft.
  
  
• Extended exemption periods: PROs or independent producers can request exemptions for materials that present “unique challenges” for compliance and require additional time for research and development, technical adaptation, or other justifiable reasons. The prior draft set the minimum duration for such exemptions at one year. The new draft makes the default duration two years, which can be extended up to five years and renewed as needed. These changes address industry feedback and would give CalRecycle and industry stakeholders flexibility to respond to evolving technological, economic, and market conditions.
  
  
• Reuse and refill container provisions: Exemptions for reusable and refillable containers have dropped the prior version’s prescriptive requirements regarding durability and washability. The revised language responds to industry feedback and aims to encourage innovation and broaden opportunities for reusable and refillable packaging solutions.
  
  
• Material tracking and source reduction: The previous draft required PROs and independent producers to perform randomized material tracking as part of their compliance and reporting obligations. The new regulations instead focus on robust recordkeeping and transparency through other means, such as requiring that records of all contracts and agreements with end markets and intermediate supply chain entities be maintained and available for inspection by CalRecycle upon request.
  
  
• Multiple PROs: The draft no longer details procedures for establishing additional PROs. CalRecycle is authorized to approve additional PROs starting in 2031 and is deferring the issue for future rulemaking.
  
  
• Advanced recycling: While the 2024 draft regulations mandated independently peer-reviewed scientific studies and panel reviews to demonstrate that non-mechanical recycling technologies did not generate significant hazardous waste, the new draft integrates these requirements into the broader responsible end market criteria. Now, the facility seeking approval for an advanced recycling technology under SB 54 is required to provide operational data, demonstrate compliance with international standards, and show that hazardous waste generated does not pose a substantial risk to health or the environment. The new approach, which some environmental and community groups oppose, is intended to be less prescriptive and emphasize ongoing annual reporting and continuous justification, which offers more flexibility while maintaining oversight.

Key takeaways

CalRecycle hosted a public workshop on May 27, 2025 to collect stakeholder feedback on the revised draft regulations. The SB 54 Advisory Board also met on May 30, 2025 to review and provide feedback on the draft, and stakeholders provided input in person and online. Finally, written comments may be submitted by June 3, 2025, using CalRecycle’s public comment online form.

The revised SB 54 draft regulations reflect CalRecycle’s efforts to balance regulatory clarity, operational feasibility, and innovation in packaging alternatives. With the formal rulemaking process set to begin following public comments, continued engagement from producers and stakeholders will be vital in shaping the final regulatory framework.

The draft regulations impose a host of changes affecting compliance implications. AKD Partners’s Plastics practice is engaged with stakeholders across the industry and has supported stakeholders in every packaging EPR program enacted to date. For additional information, please contact any of the authors.