A recently introduced bill in the California assembly would prohibit retailers from selling single-use, plastic beverage containers with caps that are not tethered to or contiguously affixed to the container, effective January 1, 2020. The new requirement would be added to Part 3 of Division 30 of California’s Public Resources Code, which relates to recycling.

The bill, AB-319, was introduced on February 6, 2017, by Assembly Member Mark Stone (D-Monterey Bay), who is Co-chair of the California Environmental Legislative Caucus.

In related news, California’s state-wide plastic bag ban—originally passed and signed by Governor Edmund G "Jerry" Brown Jr. on September 30, 2014—became effective a few months ago after Californians voted on a Veto Referendum on the ban. The law was originally scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2015, but its implementation was suspended in February 2015 when the referendum qualified for the state ballot. The Veto Referendum, also known as Proposition 67, passed on November 8, 2016, with 52% of voters supporting the legislation to ban single-use plastic bags.