Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

LAW WITHOUT
                                                                  GOVERNOR'S            CHAPTER
                                                                  SIGNATURE
                                                                                             517
                                                                 MARCH 5, 2024         PUBLIC LAW
                                  STATE OF MAINE
                                          _____
                          IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
                       TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FOUR
                                          _____
                                  S.P. 665 - L.D. 1660
     An Act to Ensure Proper Regulation of Chemical Plastic Processing
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
    Sec. 1. 38 MRSA §1303-C, sub-§2-C is enacted to read:
    2-C. Chemical plastic processing. "Chemical plastic processing" means the
processing of plastic waste using chemical or molecular methods into basic raw materials,
feedstock chemicals, fuel for combustion, waxes or lubricants. "Chemical plastic
processing" does not include plastic-to-plastic recycling.
    Sec. 2. 38 MRSA §1303-C, sub-§19-D is enacted to read:
    19-D. Plastic. "Plastic" means a synthetic material made from linking monomers
through a chemical reaction to create a polymer chain, including material derived from
either petroleum or a biologically based polymer, such as corn or other plant sources.
    Sec. 3. 38 MRSA §1303-C, sub-§19-E is enacted to read:
    19-E. Plastic-to-plastic recycling. "Plastic-to-plastic recycling" means the
production from plastic waste of new plastic material, designed to be used as industrial
feedstock in place of raw material for the manufacture of new products made of or
containing plastic, by processing the plastic waste in a manner that, in producing the new
plastic material:
    A. Retains the chemical structure of the plastic waste; or
    B. Deconstructs the plastic waste into molecular precursors or intermediates and then
    reconstitutes the precursors or intermediates into plastic polymers using methods that
    result exclusively in the production of new plastic material.
"Plastic-to-plastic recycling" does not include chemical plastic processing.
    Sec. 4. 38 MRSA §1303-C, sub-§32-A, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 583, §1, is
amended to read:
    32-A. Solid waste processing facility. "Solid waste processing facility" means a land
area, structure, equipment, machine, device, system or combination thereof, other than an
incineration facility, that is operated to reduce the volume or change the chemical or
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physical characteristics of solid waste. "Solid waste processing facility" includes but is not
limited to a facility that processes plastic waste through chemical plastic processing and a
facility that employs shredding, baling, mechanical and magnetic separation or composting
or other stabilization technique to reduce or otherwise change the nature of solid waste.
    Sec. 5. 38 MRSA §1310-N, sub-§5-A, ¶B, as amended by PL 2023, c. 283, §1, is
further amended by amending subparagraph (2) to read:
        (2) A solid waste processing facility that generates residue requiring disposal shall
        recycle or process into fuel for combustion through methods other than chemical
        plastic processing all waste accepted at the facility to the maximum extent
        practicable, but in no case at a rate less than 50%. For purposes of this subsection,
        "recycle" includes does not include chemical plastic processing and does include,
        but is not limited to, plastic-to-plastic recycling; the reuse of waste generated
        within the State as defined in section 1303‑C, subsection 40‑A, paragraph C; the
        recovery of metals from waste; the use of waste or waste-derived product as
        material substitutes in construction; and the use of waste as boiler fuel substitutes.
        At least 50% of the waste that a solid waste processing facility characterizes as
        recycled under this subparagraph must have been reused or recycled by the facility
        through methods other than placement of the waste in a solid waste landfill, except
        that a solid waste processing facility that was in operation during calendar year
        2018, that accepts exclusively construction and demolition debris and that accepted
        more than 200,000 tons of such debris in calendar year 2018 shall:
            (a) Reuse or recycle at least 15% of such debris through methods other than
            placement in a solid waste landfill by July 1, 2024;
            (b) Reuse or recycle at least 20% of such debris through methods other than
            placement in a solid waste landfill by July 1, 2025;
            (c) Reuse or recycle at least 30% of such debris through methods other than
            placement in a solid waste landfill by July 1, 2026;
            (d) Reuse or recycle at least 40% of such debris through methods other than
            placement in a solid waste landfill by July 1, 2027; and
            (e) Reuse or recycle at least 50% of such debris through methods other than
            placement in a solid waste landfill by July 1, 2028.
    Sec. 6. 38 MRSA §1310-N, sub-§5-A, as amended by PL 2023, c. 283, §1, is
further amended by enacting at the end a new first blocked paragraph to read:
For the purposes of this subsection, a solid waste processing facility that processes plastic
waste through chemical plastic processing is deemed to generate residue requiring disposal.
    Sec. 7. 38 MRSA §1310-Y, first ¶, as amended by PL 2001, c. 575, §1, is further
amended to read:
    An owner or operator of a solid waste processing facility that processes plastic waste
through chemical plastic processing that is licensed under section 1310-N or of a solid
waste disposal facility that is licensed under section 1310‑N shall provide the department
assurance of its financial ability to satisfy the estimated cost of corrective action for known
releases from the facility and its financial capacity to satisfy the estimated cost of closure
and postclosure care and maintenance at the facility for a period of at least 30 years after
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closure. The board may adopt rules that increase or decrease that postclosure care period,
as long as those rules are consistent with applicable federal rules. The department may
consider the use of more than one acceptable form of financial assurance per facility to
satisfy the financial assurance requirement of this section. This section applies to all
privately owned solid waste disposal facilities licensed by the department, including
facilities licensed by the department before June 16, 1993, and to all solid waste processing
facilities that process plastic waste through chemical plastic processing. This section does
not apply to a municipally owned or operated solid waste disposal facility that accepts
exclusively special waste, construction and demolition debris, land-clearing debris or any
combination of those types of waste or to a municipally owned or operated solid waste
disposal facility licensed before June 16, 1993.
    Sec. 8. 38 MRSA §1310-Y, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1993, c. 378, §9, is amended
to read:
    2. Report. An owner or operator of a solid waste processing facility that processes
plastic waste through chemical plastic processing or of a solid waste disposal facility shall
annually prepare a report containing a sworn statement providing the year-end balance of
any escrow, trust or reserve account established under this section. That report must be
submitted to the commissioner by March 31st of each year or such other date as the
commissioner may designate.
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Statutes affected: 
Bill Text LD 1660, SP 665: 38.1303
Bill Text ACTPUB , Chapter 517: 38.1303, 38.1310