State senator defends California’s landmark plastic pollution law against multi-state lawsuit

By The Malibu Times · Mon Jul 27 2026

State Sen. Ben Allen is defending California’s landmark plastic packaging law after a coalition of 17 state attorneys general and a national business association filed a federal lawsuit challenging the measure’s constitutionality.

The lawsuit, filed June 22 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, seeks to block implementation of Senate Bill 54, the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, arguing the law places unconstitutional burdens on interstate commerce and unfairly regulates businesses operating beyond California’s borders.

Allen, who authored the legislation, issued a strong response on June 25, calling the lawsuit an attack on California’s authority to protect residents from the environmental and financial costs of plastic pollution.

“For decades, producers have been able to shift costs onto ratepayers and escape accountability for flooding our planet and waste infrastructure with unsustainable levels of plastic pollution,” Allen said. “This lawsuit against our landmark bipartisan law that finally holds them accountable challenges California’s right to protect residents from rising waste disposal costs and a growing public health crisis.”

He continued, “While these states may not share our commitment to reducing the millions of tons of plastic entering our waste system, polluting our waterways, and leaching into our bodies, California remains committed to holding producers accountable for this harmful and expensive waste they create. Rather than forcing taxpayers and ratepayers to shoulder these costs, we are ensuring companies that profit from this mass pollution help pay for its cleanup. We will continue to defend our own authority to protect consumers, reduce pollution, and prioritize families over billion-dollar corporations by ensuring the responsible parties are addressing the waste they generate.”

Signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in June 2022, SB 54 is considered the nation's most comprehensive extended producer responsibility (EPR) law for packaging. Rather than placing the burden of recycling and disposal on local governments and taxpayers, the law requires manufacturers and producers of single-use packaging and plastic food service ware to finance the collection, recycling, and disposal of their products.

The legislation establishes ambitious statewide goals, including reducing single-use plastic packaging and foodware by 25% by 2032, requiring all covered packaging to be recyclable or compostable by that same year, and steadily increasing plastic recycling rates to 65% by 2032. It also creates a Producer Responsibility Organization to oversee compliance, invest in recycling infrastructure, and administer a California Plastic Pollution Mitigation Fund that will provide $500 million annually for 10 years to support environmental restoration and projects benefiting disadvantaged communities.

Supporters say the law will significantly reduce plastic waste entering landfills, waterways, and the environment while lowering long-term waste management costs borne by California residents.

The legal challenge, however, argues that California has exceeded its authority.

Led by Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers, the coalition includes attorneys general from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia. The National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors joined the lawsuit as the sole business plaintiff.

According to the complaint, SB 54 violates the Dormant Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution by discriminating against interstate commerce, improperly regulating conduct occurring outside California, and imposing fees that plaintiffs contend are unfairly apportioned among businesses operating nationwide.

The lawsuit follows a similar legal challenge in Oregon, where the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors previously secured a preliminary injunction preventing enforcement of that state's EPR law against its members while litigation proceeds.

California officials have indicated they intend to vigorously defend SB 54, maintaining that the law represents a bipartisan effort to ensure producers — not taxpayers — bear responsibility for the environmental impacts of the packaging they place into the marketplace.

Allen said the lawsuit ultimately seeks to undermine California's longstanding authority to enact environmental protections that address pollution and public health concerns.

The outcome of the case could have implications well beyond California, as other states consider or implement similar producer responsibility laws aimed at reducing packaging waste and shifting recycling costs from local governments to manufacturers. Legal experts say the case may help determine how far states can go in regulating packaging and requiring companies to fund recycling and waste-reduction programs across the United States.