Newsom signs California law banning sales of single-use, battery-powered vapes

California will ban the sale of single-use, battery-powered vapes to fight plastic pollution under a law signed Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Vapes, sometimes called electronic cigarettes, are battery-operated devices that contain aerosolized nicotine or cannabis, often with flavorings and other chemicals. Refillable and disposable options are sold.

The ban targets single-use e-cigarettes, making it illegal to manufacture or import new or refurbished battery-embedded vapor devices starting Jan. 1, 2027. It also bans retail sales starting Jan. 1, 2028.

The measure allows local governments or the state to fine people $500 for their first violation of the ban, $1,000 for their second infringement and $2,000 for subsequent offenses.

It specifically tackles disposable e-cigarettes that contain tobacco. It won’t include vaping devices containing cannabis.

Experts say part of the appeal of disposable vapes is that they are often more easily accessible and cheaper than refillable devices. The devices are so prevalent they often end up in landfills where their batteries can create a fire hazard or on the ground where they can leak toxic chemicals, including lead and lithium.

Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, who authored the bill, said it will help prevent battery acid from single-use vapes from leaching into lands and waterways.

Nearly 500,000 disposable vapes are discarded each day in the United States, according to the California Public Interest Research Group, or CalPIRG, a consumer advocacy group that supported the bill.

The California Grocers Association argued against a similar 2022 proposal, saying that it could lead to increased tobacco smuggling.

Arkan Somo, who co-founded the Neighborhood Market Association, a group of California small businesses, said the new bill would burden family-owned shops that sell tobacco products.

“If we’re going to take the environment as an excuse to keep banning these products, where is that going to stop?” Somo said. “They’re really putting California at a huge disadvantage.”