What it does not reach
On this page10
Only three products
The definition of a personal care product for this purpose "shall include only shampoo, hair conditioner, and bath soap". Body lotion, mouthwash, shower cap and sewing kit are outside it.
Only plastic
A "small plastic bottle" is a plastic bottle or container. Glass, metal and other materials are not reached by the definition however small they are.
Only under six ounces
Less than a 6-ounce capacity. A bottle at six ounces or more is outside the definition even in plastic, even nonreusable, even containing shampoo.
Only nonreusable
"Intended to be nonreusable by the end user". A container designed and presented for reuse is a different object, and that is the lever most open to interpretation.
And only in the guest areas named
A sleeping room, a space within it, or a shared bathroom. A product sold at a front desk or in a gift shop is not being provided to a guest in those spaces.
Which is five levers, not one
Most of the industry responded by installing dispensers, which is one answer. It is not the only one the text permits, and the next section takes each lever in turn.
Precision matters more than cleverness here
Each of these is a line in a statute rather than a loophole. Building a product on a reading of one of them means being able to show the reading, which is a reason to be conservative.
And other states may draw the lines differently
A product designed against the California definitions is not automatically compliant in New York or Illinois. For a national supplier the safest design satisfies the strictest.
So read it as five tests, all of which have to be met
Plastic, under six ounces, nonreusable, one of three named products, and provided in a guest room or shared bathroom. Fail any one of those and the ban does not apply to the article in front of you.