Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

SENATE BILL NO. 453
 July 20, 2023, Introduced by Senators MCCANN, CHANG, BAYER and SHINK and referred to
    the Committee on Regulatory Affairs.
      A bill to amend 1976 IL 1, entitled
"A petition to initiate legislation to provide for the use of
returnable containers for soft drinks, soda water, carbonated
natural or mineral water, other nonalcoholic carbonated drink, and
for beer, ale, or other malt drink of whatever alcoholic content,
and for certain other beverage containers; to provide for the use
of unredeemed bottle deposits; to prescribe the powers and duties
of certain state agencies and officials; and to prescribe penalties
and provide remedies,"
by amending the title and sections 1, 2, 2a, 3c, 3e, and 3f (MCL
571, 445.572, 445.572a, 445.573c, 445.573e, and 445.573f), the
title as amended by 1996 PA 384, section 1 as amended by 1989 PA
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     93, section 2 as amended by 1998 PA 473, section 2a as added by
PA 389, section 3c as amended by 2022 PA 198, and sections 3e
     and 3f as added by 1996 PA 384, and by adding section 3g.
                  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
                                  TITLE
       A petition to initiate legislation An act to provide for the
 use collection of deposits on and return of returnable certain
 beverage containers; for soft drinks, soda water, carbonated
 natural or mineral water, other nonalcoholic carbonated drink, and
 for beer, ale, or other malt drink of whatever alcoholic content,
 and for certain other beverage containers; to provide for the use
 return and distribution of unredeemed bottle deposits; deposit
 revenue; to prescribe the powers and duties of certain state
 officers and agencies; and officials; to create funds; and to
 prescribe penalties and provide remedies.
       Sec. 1. As used in this act:
       (a) "Beverage" means a soft drink, any of the following:
       (i) A soda or carbonated or noncarbonated water. , carbonated
 natural or mineral water, or other nonalcoholic carbonated drink;
       (ii) A beer, ale, wine, spirit, or other malt drink of whatever
 alcoholic content. ; or a
       (iii) A mixed wine drink or a mixed spirit drink.
       (iv) A nonalcoholic carbonated or noncarbonated drink in liquid
 form and intended for human consumption, except for plant-based
 milks or dairy-derived products.
       (b) "Beverage container" means an any of the following:
       (i) An airtight metal, glass, paper, or plastic container, or a
 container composed of a combination of these materials, which that,
 at the time of sale, contains 1 gallon or less of a carbonated or
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 alcoholic beverage or more than 0.1 liters but less than 3 liters
 of a noncarbonated and nonalcoholic beverage.
       (ii) An airtight metal, glass, or plastic container that, at
 the time of sale, contains 1 gallon or less of a nonalcoholic
 beverage other than a container composed in whole or in part of
 aluminum and plastic or aluminum and paper in combination if the
 aluminum content represents 10% or less of the unfilled container
 weight and the unfilled container weight is 5% or less of the
 filled container weight.
       (c) "Empty returnable container" means a beverage container
 which that contains nothing except the residue of its original
 contents.
       (d) "Returnable container" means a beverage container upon on
 which a deposit of at least 10 cents has been paid, or is required
 to be paid upon on the removal of the beverage container from the
 sale or consumption area, and for which a refund of at least 10
 cents in cash is payable by every dealer or distributor in this
 state of that beverage in beverage containers, as further provided
 in section 2.
       (e) "Nonreturnable container" means a beverage container upon
 on which no deposit or a deposit of less than 10 cents has been
 paid, or is required to be paid, upon on the removal of the
 beverage container from the sale or consumption area, or for which
 no cash refund or a refund of less than 10 cents is payable by a
 dealer or distributor in this state of that beverage in beverage
 containers, as further provided in section 2.
       (f) "Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation,
 limited liability company, association, or other legal entity.
       (g) "Dealer" means a person who that sells or offers for sale
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 to consumers within this state a beverage in a beverage container,
 including an operator of a vending machine containing a beverage in
 a beverage container.
       (h) "Operator of a vending machine" means equally its owner,
 the person who that refills it, and the owner or lessee of the
 property upon on which it is located.
       (i) "Distributor" means a person, including a manufacturer,
 who that sells beverages in beverage containers to a dealer within
 this state. , and includes a manufacturer who engages in such
 sales.
       (j) "Manufacturer" means a person who that bottles, cans, or
 otherwise places beverages in beverage containers for sale to
 distributors, dealers, or consumers.
       (k) "Within this state" means within the exterior limits of
 the this state, of Michigan, and includes the territory within
 these limits owned by or ceded to the United States of America.
       (l) "Commission" means the Michigan liquor control commission
 created in section 209 of the Michigan liquor control code of 1998,
 1998 PA 58, MCL 436.1209.
       (m) "Sale or consumption area" means the premises within on
 the property of the dealer or of the dealer's lessor where the sale
 is made, within which where beverages in returnable containers may
 be consumed without payment of a deposit, and , upon removing a
 beverage container from which, the customer is required by where a
 consumer may not remove a beverage container without the dealer
 requiring the consumer to pay the a deposit.
       (n) "Nonrefillable container" means a returnable container
 which that is not intended to be refilled for sale by a
 manufacturer.
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       (o) "Mixed wine drink" means a drink or similar product
 marketed as a wine cooler and containing less than 7% alcohol by
 volume, consisting of wine and plain, sparkling, or carbonated
 water and containing any 1 or more of the following:
       (i) Nonalcoholic beverages.
       (ii) Flavoring.
       (iii) Coloring materials.
       (iv) Fruit juices.
       (v) Fruit adjuncts.
       (vi) Sugar.
       (vii) Carbon dioxide.
       (viii) Preservatives.
       (p) "Mixed spirit drink" means a any of the following:
       (i) A drink containing 10% or less alcohol by volume consisting
 of distilled spirits mixed with nonalcoholic beverages or flavoring
 or coloring materials and which that may also contain water, fruit
 juices, fruit adjuncts, sugar, carbon dioxide, or preservatives. ;
 or any spirits based
       (ii) A spirit-based beverage, regardless of the percent of
 alcohol by volume, that is manufactured for sale in a metal
 beverage container.
       (q) "Plant-based milk" means a liquid intended for human
 consumption of which the primary protein source is soy, rice,
 almond, cashew, hazelnut, coconut, or oats, derivatives thereof, or
 any other product intended as a substitute for dairy milk in which
 the protein is derived primarily from plants.
       Sec. 2. (1) A dealer within this state shall not sell, offer
 for sale, or give to a consumer a nonreturnable container or a
 beverage in a nonreturnable container.
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       (2) A Except as provided in subsection (14) for a dealer with
 a store footprint of less than 4,000 square feet, a dealer who that
 regularly sells beverages for consumption off the dealer's premises
 shall provide on the premises, or within 100 yards of the premises
 on which the dealer sells or offers for sale a beverage in a
 returnable container, a convenient means whereby the for containers
 of any kind, size, and brand material sold or offered for sale by
 the dealer may to be returned by, and the deposit refunded in cash
 to, a person whether or not the person is the original customer of
 that dealer, and whether or not the container was sold by that
 dealer.
       (3) Regional centers for the redemption of returnable
 containers may be established, in addition to but not as
 substitutes for, the means established for refunds of deposits
 prescribed in subsection subsections (2) and (14).
       (4) Except as provided in subsections (5) and (7), a dealer
 shall accept from a person an empty returnable container of any
 kind, size, and brand material sold or offered for sale by that
 dealer and pay to that person its full refund value in cash.
       (5) A dealer who that does not require a deposit on a
 returnable container when the contents are consumed in the dealer's
 sale or consumption area is not required to pay a refund for
 accepting that empty container.
       (6) Except as provided in subsection (7), a distributor shall
 accept from a dealer an empty returnable container of any kind,
 size, and brand material sold or offered for sale by that
 distributor and pay to the dealer its full refund value in cash.
       (7) Each beverage container sold or offered for sale by a
 dealer within this state shall must clearly indicate by embossing
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 or by a stamp, a label, or other method securely affixed to the
 beverage container, the refund value of the container and the name
 of this state. A dealer or distributor may, but is not required to,
 refuse to accept from a person an empty returnable container which
 that does not state on the container the refund value of the
 container and the name of this state. This subsection does not
 apply to a refillable container having a refund value of not less
 than 10 cents, having a brand name permanently marked on it, and
 having a securely affixed method of indicating that it is a
 returnable container.
       (8) A dealer within this state shall not sell, offer for sale,
 or give to consumers a metal beverage container, any part of which
 becomes detached when opened.
       (9) A person, dealer, distributor, or manufacturer shall not
 return an empty container to a dealer for a refund of the deposit
 if a dealer has already refunded the deposit on that returnable
 container. This subsection does not prohibit a dealer from
 refunding the deposit on an empty returnable container each time
 the returnable container is sanitized by the manufacturer and
 reused as a beverage container.
       (10) A dealer with a store footprint of 4,000 or more square
 feet may accept, but is not required to accept, from a person,
 empty returnable containers for a refund in excess of $25.00 on any
 given day. A dealer with a store footprint of less than 4,000
 square feet may accept, but is not required to accept, from a
 person, empty returnable containers for a refund in excess of
 $10.00 on any given day.
       (11) A manufacturer licensed by the commission shall not
 require a distributor licensed by the commission to pay a deposit
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 to the manufacturer on a nonrefillable container. However, a
 manufacturer licensed by the commission and a distributor licensed
 by the commission may enter into an agreement providing that either
 or both may originate a deposit or any portion of a deposit on a
 nonrefillable container if the agreement is entered into freely and
 without coercion.
       (12) A manufacturer shall refund the deposit paid on any
 container returned by a distributor for which a deposit has been
 paid by a distributor to the manufacturer.
       (13) Subsections (4), (6), and (7), (15), and (16) apply only
 to a returnable container that was originally sold in this state as
 a filled returnable container.
       (14) A dealer with a store footprint of less than 4,000 square
 feet that regularly sells beverages for consumption off the
 dealer's premises shall provide on the premises, or within 100
 yards of the premises on which the dealer sells or offers for sale
 a beverage in a returnable container, a convenient means for
 containers of any kind, size, and brand sold or offered for sale by
 the dealer to be returned by, and the deposit refunded in cash to,
 a person whether or not the person is the original customer of that
 dealer, and whether or not the container was sold by that dealer.
       (15) Except as provided in subsections (5) and (7), a dealer
 with a store footprint of less than 4,000 square feet shall accept
 from a person an empty returnable container of any kind, size, and
 brand sold or offered for sale by that dealer and pay to that
 person its full refund value in cash.
       (16) Except as provided in subsection (7), a distributor shall
 accept from a dealer with a store footprint of less than 4,000
 square feet an empty returnable container of any kind, size, and
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 brand sold or offered for sale by that distributor and pay to the
 dealer its full refund value in cash.
       Sec. 2a. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), beginning
 90 days after the effective date of the amendatory act that added
 this section, on March 1, 2010, a manufacturer of nonalcoholic
 beverages shall not sell, offer for sale, or give a nonalcoholic
 beverage to a consumer, dealer, or distributor in this state in a
 12-ounce metal beverage container that is not a designated metal
 container if either of the following is met:
       (a) Sales of that brand of beverage in 12-ounce metal beverage
 containers in this state in the preceding calendar year were at
 least 500,000 cases, as determined by the department of treasury.
       (b) Sales of that brand of beverage in 12-ounce metal beverage
 containers in this state in the preceding calendar year were fewer
 than 500,000 cases, and 12-ounce metal beverage containers of that
 brand of beverage were overredeemed by more than 600,000 containers
 in the preceding calendar year, as determined by the department of
 treasury.
       (2) Beginning 90 days after the effective date of the
 amendatory act that added this section, on March 1, 2010, a
 manufacturer of nonalcoholic beverages shall not sell, offer for
 sale, or give a nonalcoholic beverage to a consumer, dealer, or
 distributor in the Upper Peninsula in a 12-ounce metal beverage
 container that is not a designated metal container if either of the
 following is met:
       (a) Sales of that brand of beverage in 12-ounce metal beverage
 containers in the Upper Peninsula were at least 500,000 cases, as
 determined by the department of treasury.
       (b) Sales of that brand of beverage in 12-ounce metal beverage
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 containers in the Upper Peninsula in the preceding calendar year
 were fewer than 500,000 cases, and 12-ounce metal beverage
 containers of that brand of beverage were overredeemed in the Upper
 Peninsula by more than 600,000 containers in the preceding calendar
 year, as determined by the department of treasury.
       (3) Except as provided in subsection (4), beginning 450 days
 after the effective date of the amendatory act that added this
 section, on February 24, 2011, a manufacturer of nonalcoholic
 beverages shall not sell, offer for sale, or give a nonalcoholic
 beverage to a consumer, dealer, or distributor in this state in a
 12-ounce glass beverage container that is not a designated glass
 container if either of the following is met:
       (a) Sales of that brand of beverage in 12-ounce glass beverage
 containers in this state in the preceding calendar year were at
 least 500,000 cases, as determined by the department of treasury.
       (b) Sales of that brand of beverage in 12-ounce glass beverage
 containers in this state in the preceding calendar year were fewer
 than 500,000 cases, and 12-ounce glass beverage containers of that
 brand of beverage were overredeemed by more than 600,000 containers
 in the preceding calendar year, as determined by the department of
 treasury.
       (4) Beginning 450 days after the effective date of the
 amendatory act that added this section, on February 24, 2011, a
 manufacturer of nonalcoholic beverages shall not sell, offer for
 sale, or give a nonalcoholic beverage to a consumer, dealer, or
 distribut