SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The California/Nevada/Arizona Automotive Wholesalers’ Association (CAWA) and the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA) announced late last week that SB 346, a bill that sought to limit the copper content in brake pads, has stalled in the California legislature. The bill now becomes a two-year bill, meaning no further action will be taken on the bill this legislative session.

SB 346 was introduced into the California Legislature by Sen. Kehoe (D-San Diego) in early 2009. Sponsored by Sustainable Conservation (SusCon), SB 346 sought to limit copper content in brake pads to .5 percent by 2021 and then to .05 percent by 2032. In addition, the bill required at least a $1 fee on each axle pad set sold, which would be collected by retailers and repair shops with no guarantee that the fee would not increase. Lastly the bill sought to impose penalties upwards of $10,000 per for non-compliance violation.

This announcement comes on the heels of CAWA and AAIA’s recent change of position from "support if amended" to "oppose." Upon communicating this change of position to the bill’s sponsor, CAWA learned that the bill would be held over, essentially dead for this legislative session and will be eligible for reconsideration next year.

“We believe the CAWA Board’s opposition was instrumental in SusCon shelving the bill for this year,” said Rodney Pierini, CAWA president and CEO. “CAWA’s legislative team has been working closely with SusCon for over a year trying to work out some objections we had to the bill including unrealistic and unsustainable timelines; refusal to cap the fee at $1; and CAWA’s concern over the point of fee collection at the retailer and installer level. Because we were unable to work out these major concerns and we could see no path toward resolution, the CAWA Board recently changed its position from ‘support if amended’ to ‘oppose’ as we could no longer support the bill as drafted. ”