MILLBRAE –– A proposed state law could make the “white pages” portion of phone books and the expense of disposing them a thing of the past in California, though a company that makes them says the directories still have a place in the Internet era.

State Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Mateo, announced Thursday morning in front of Millbrae City Hall that he plans to introduce a bill in January that would forbid phone companies from delivering the white pages portion of the phone book to residents unless they ask for it. He said the rule would save millions of dollars in disposal costs and keep acres of trees out of the paper mill.

Phone book publishers say many customers, particularly those without Internet access, rely on the information the directories contain.

“People are turning toward the Internet,” said Millbrae Councilwoman Gina Papan, who came up with the idea and passed it to Yee. “The era of the phone book is nearing an end.”

Phone companies are currently required by state rules to distribute a white pages directory, which contains residential phone listings as well as numbers for government agencies, to all landline subscribers.

The law Yee plans to propose would not affect the “yellow pages,” which contain business listings, Papan said.

Yee and Papan said phone books account for about 660,000 tons of waste and cause 5 million trees to be felled each year. And, in the end, it is

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local governments that foot the $17 million per year cost to recycle or dispose of the directories nationwide, which means a lot of wasted resources for a phone book that people are using less frequently, they said.

AT&T spokesman Gordon Diamond said it is too early to say what impact the proposed rule could have on their business. However, he said a lot of people still rely on the white pages for information. For example, the directory includes international dialing codes. This information is available online, but some people, particularly older subscribers, don’t have access to the Internet.

“People find some value in receiving a directory,” he said. “People still rely on them and find them useful.”

If the bill passes, Papan said there would likely be a hot line that people would call if they still wanted to get the white pages delivered to their home.

Reach Joshua Melvin at 650-348-4335.