Betty Karnette Contact e-mail: Tell her this is a bad idea!!!
Assemblymember.karnette@assembly.ca.gov
By Michael Gardner
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
5:09 p.m. February 24, 2005
SACRAMENTO – A South Bay lawmaker has proposed a $7 fee on every new bicycle sold in California to promote a statewide recycling and reuse program. Buyers would receive $3 back when they turned their bikes into a certified recycler or community group that refurbishes and reuses the popular mode of transportation. "Our landfills are jammed. Why not recycle parts of bicycles?" said Assemblywoman Betty Karnette, a Long Beach Democrat who represents parts of the Harbor Area. "We can put bikes together and sell them cheaply or give them to people who can't afford bikes." Karnette's proposal is not unprecedented. For years California has charged a deposit on cans and bottles to fund recycling programs. More recently, California has started collecting $6 to $10 on every new television and computer monitor sold to offset disposal costs.
Nevertheless, the legislation has sparked a debate in the bicycling community over whether the fee would lead to more users by providing affordable bikes or if higher prices would hurt independent dealers who actively promote cycling through rides and education. In Oakland, the Cycles of Change nonprofit works with schools to offer bicycle safety and maintenance programs for 800 students. Those who complete the course can take home a bike. "It would be very helpful," said Maya Carson, the program's co-director. "It would mean we could continue in the future and keep up with demand." Demand also is booming at an innovative bicycle lending program in Arcata, home to Humboldt
State University. Residents check-out bicycles much like books. For a refundable $20 deposit, they can use the bike for six months. "It's a simple way to get people to use bicycles," said Bill Burton, who oversees the Arcata Library Bike project. But not all bicycling enthusiasts eagerly embrace the idea of paying $7 more when they are ready for a new one. "Any time you add a fee to a new product it's almost like an additional tax. Taxes for consumers are unfriendly, to say the least," said Brian Cox, a vice president of Jax Bicycle Center, a five-store chain in Southern California. Cox said there may be better alternatives that the biking community could explore with Karnette since her goals – reducing landfill waste, encouraging more riders and helping those who cannot afford a new bike – are laudable.
Justin Fanslau, a lobbyist for the California Bicycle Coalition, said cyclists and retailers would be more interested in participating in voluntary recycling and reuse programs. "I would imagine folks who purchase bikes in their own community, if given the option,would want to benefit their community," Fanslau said. Fred Clements, executive director of a Costa Mesa-based national coalition of specialty bicycle dealers, worries that higher fees would drive away business. "A $7 charge would be difficult for them to handle," he said. "There's not a lot of profit. It's a business of passion."
Clements said lawmakers could find better targets for a redemption program. "There are things thrown away that seem to be more onerous than bicycles," he said. "Bicycle riding should be encouraged – not discouraged."
Clements and the others are not convinced bicycles are dumped in landfills in large numbers. Many are turned over to charities, resold at yard sales or just gather dust in garages, they said. The higher-end models "are not disposable products. These are lifetime products," Clements said. Californians buy between 3 million and 4 million bicycles a year. Most pay under $100 at discount department stores, according to industry figures. The legislation, AB 1103, leaves it up to the Integrated Waste Management Board to implement the program, including tracking sales of bicycles that qualify for a refund. California landfills take in an estimated 250,000 bicycles a year, Karnette estimated. "We're going to have to do something," she said. "This is a beginning."