Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

General Assembly                       Raised Bill No. 115
      February Session, 2022                 LCO No. 1271
     Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT
     Introduced by:
       (ENV)
 AN ACT CONCERNING EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY
 FOR CONSUMER PACKAGING.
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
 Assembly convened:
       Section 1. (Effective October 1, 2022) For the purposes of this section:
       (1) "Break-even point" means the minimum number of reuses after
    which a covered material designed for reuse is environmentally
    preferable to a comparable covered material intended for discard after
    a single use;
      (2) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Energy and
    Environmental Protection;
      (3) "Covered materials" means packaging, packaging-like products
   and paper. "Covered materials" does not include any material that could
   become unsafe or unsanitary to recycle by virtue of the anticipated use
   of the material or design of the material, as determined by the
   stewardship plan approved pursuant to this section;
      (4)   "Department"    means     the   Department      of   Energy    and
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 Environmental Protection;
    (5) "Packaging" means any container or material used for the
 containment, protection, handling, delivery or presentation of goods
 that are intended for the consumer market, including through an
 internet transaction. "Packaging" does not include: (A) Any container or
 material used for the multiyear protection or storage of a product; (B)
 any beverage container subject to the provisions of section 22a-243 of
 the general statutes; (C) any container for architectural paint, as defined
 in section 22a-904 of the general statutes, that is recycled through a paint
 stewardship program that is in operation and that has been approved
 by the department pursuant to section 22a-904a of the general statutes;
 or (D) any other containers or materials collected through any other
 stewardship program;
    (6) "Packaging-like products" means the following products that are
 intended for the consumer market, including through an Internet
 transaction, that are not packaging and are ordinarily discarded after a
 single use or short-term use, whether or not they could be reused: (A)
 Food containers, including, but not limited to, take-out food containers,
 (B) foil and wraps, (C) bags, (D) boxes, (E) straws and items used to stir
 beverages, (F) utensils, plates, bowls and cups, (G) party supplies, and
 (H) objects purchased by or supplied to consumers expressly for the
 purpose of protecting, containing or transporting commodities or
 products;
   (7) "Packaging stewardship program" or "program" means a program
 implemented under this section by a responsible party or stewardship
 organization;
    (8) "Paper materials" means paper that is not packaging and that is
 printed with text or graphics or intended to be printed with text or
 graphics as a medium for communicating information, including, but
 not limited to: (A) Newsprint and inserts; (B) magazines and catalogs;
 (C) paper used for copying, writing, or other general use; (D) telephone
 directories; (E) flyers; (F) brochures; and (G) booklets. "Paper materials"
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 does not include bound reference, literary or text books;
    (9) "Stewardship plan" or "plan" means a plan described in subsection
 (e) of this section that describes the manner in which a packaging
 stewardship program will be administered and operated;
    (10) "Post-consumer recycled content" means a material or product
 that was made or manufactured from materials that have completed
 their intended end use and product life cycle, from households or by
 commercial, industrial or institutional facilities and that have been
 separated from the solid waste stream for the purposes of collection and
 recycling. "Post-consumer recycled content" does not include secondary
 waste material or materials and by-products generated from, and
 commonly used within, an original manufacturing and fabrication
 process;
    (11) "Reasonable rate" means the funding rate calculated and
 dispersed by a responsible party or stewardship organization using a
 formula approved by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental
 Protection and that may vary for: (A) Any municipality that elects to
 collect, transport, process and market covered materials through its own
 municipal crew or fleet, (B) any municipality that elects to provide for
 collection, transportation, processing and marketing of covered
 materials through a contract with a service provider, or (C) a service
 provider that collects, transports, processes and markets covered
 materials through a subscription. "Reasonable rate" for a municipality
 includes consideration of (i) the cost to collect, transport, process and
 market covered materials, (ii) the cost to collect and transport covered
 materials, container rental and fund staff at a transfer station, and (iii)
 population density of the municipality;
    (12) "Recycling" means the transforming or remanufacturing of a
 covered material or a covered material's components and by-products
 into usable or marketable materials in lieu of virgin materials.
 "Recycling" does not include landfill disposal, incineration, energy
 recovery or energy generation by means of combustion, or final
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 conversion to a fuel, of a covered material or covered material's
 components and by-products. "Recycling" for plastics includes a fuel
 that is converted to a raw material that is used for the manufacture of
 new products.
    (13) "Recycled" means: (A) For sorted glass, that such material does
 not require further processing before entering a glass furnace or before
 use in the production of filtration media, abrasive materials, glass fiber
 insulation or construction materials; (B) for sorted metal, the material
 does not require further processing before entering a smelter or furnace;
 (C) for sorted paper, the material does not require further processing
 before entering a pulping operation; and (D) for sorted plastic, the
 material does not require further processing before entering a
 pelletization, extrusion or molding operation or, in the case of plastic
 flakes, the material does not require further processing before use in a
 final product;
    (14) "Responsible party" means any person that is determined to be
 the responsible party for a covered material, as described in subsection
 (b) of this section;
    (15) "Retailer" means any person who sells or offers for sale a product
 to a consumer, including sales made through an Internet transaction to
 be delivered to a consumer in this state;
    (16) "Reuse" or "reusable" means, with respect to a covered material,
 that the covered material (A) is capable of being refilled or reused for its
 original purpose and the responsible party or a designated third party
 for that covered material provides a program for the consumer to refill
 the covered material; or (B) the responsible party or a designated third
 party for that covered material provides a program where the covered
 material is collected and refilled or reused by the responsible party or
 another responsible party provided such program meets or exceeds any
 recovery, recycling and reuse performance goals established pursuant
 to this section and such covered materials are designed to be reused and
 refilled within the material's lifecycle to the break-even point with a
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 comparable discarded covered material;
    (14) "Stewardship organization" means a nonprofit organization,
 association or entity that assumes the responsibilities, obligations and
 liabilities under this section of multiple responsible parties for covered
 materials;
    (b) The responsible party for a covered material shall be determined
 as follows:
    (1) For covered materials sold or distributed at a physical retail
 location in the state: (A) The responsible party is the person who
 manufactures the covered material or good sold in covered material if
 the covered material or good is sold under the manufacturer's own
 brand or is sold in covered materials that lack identification of a brand;
 (B) if the covered material or good is manufactured by a person other
 than the brand owner, the responsible party is the person that is the
 licensee of a brand or trademark under which the covered material or
 good is used in a commercial enterprise, sold, offered for sale or
 distributed in or into this state, whether or not the trademark is
 registered in this state; and (C) if there is no person described in
 subparagraph (A) or (B) of this subdivision within the United States, the
 responsible party is the person that imports the covered material or
 good into the United States for use in a commercial enterprise that sells,
 offers for sale or distributes the covered material or good into this state.
    (2) For covered materials sold or distributed in or into this state via
 remote sale or distribution: (A) The responsible party for a covered
 material used to directly protect or contain a good, whether or not the
 good is a covered material, is the same as the responsible party for
 purposes of subdivision (1) of this subsection, and (B) the responsible
 party for the covered material used to ship a good to a consumer,
 whether or not the good is a covered material, is the person that ships
 the covered material or good to the consumer.
   (c) On or before January 1, 2024, any responsible party or stewardship
 organization authorized to operate and administer a program on its
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 behalf that intends to submit a stewardship plan pursuant to subsection
 (e) of this section shall register with the Commissioner of Energy and
 Environmental Protection provided any responsible party or
 stewardship organization operating on behalf of responsible parties
 may submit a registration for approval to the commissioner in
 accordance with this subsection after January 1, 2024, provided a
 responsible party only participates in one stewardship organization for
 each of such party's types of covered materials. Such registration shall
 be on a form prescribed by the commissioner and shall: (1) Identify each
 responsible party that intends to authorize the stewardship
 organization to operate and administer a program on its behalf, (2)
 provide the name, address and contact information of any person
 responsible for ensuring the responsible party or stewardship
 organization and the responsible parties that have authorized the
 stewardship organization to operate a program on such parties' behalf
 comply with the requirements of this section, and (3) describe a study
 conducted by a third-party that the responsible party or stewardship
 organization intends to fund to assess recycling and covered materials
 management needs in the state. Such study may build on the plan
 developed pursuant to section 22a-228 of the general statutes to assess,
 but not be limited to, (A) the current rates for the performance goals
 described in this section, to the extent available, (B) current funding
 needs affecting recycling access and availability in the state, (C) the
 capacity, costs and needs associated with the collection, transportation
 and processing of covered materials in the state, and (D) consumer
 education needs in the state with respect to recycling and reducing
 contamination in collected covered materials. The Commissioner of
 Energy and Environmental Protection shall make a determination
 whether to approve the study required by this subdivision. In the event
 that the commissioner disapproves such study because it does not meet
 the requirements of this subdivision, the commissioner shall describe
 the reasons for the disapproval in a notice of determination that the
 commissioner shall provide to the responsible party or stewardship
 organization. The responsible party or stewardship organization shall
 revise and resubmit the study to the commissioner not later than thirty
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 days after receipt of notice of the commissioner's disapproval notice.
 Not later than thirty days after receipt of the revised study, the
 commissioner shall review and approve or disapprove the revised
 study, and provide a notice of determination to the responsible party or
 stewardship organization. The responsible party or stewardship
 organization may resubmit a revised study to the commissioner for
 approval on not more than one occasion. If the responsible party or
 stewardship organization fails to submit a study that is acceptable to the
 commissioner because it does not meet the requirements of subdivision
 (3) of this subsection, the commissioner shall modify a submitted study
 to make it conform to the requirements of subdivision (3) of this
 subsection and approve it. In deciding whether to approve any such
 study, the commissioner may consider prior registrations submitted by
 any responsible party or stewardship organization. After the
 commissioner approves a study, the responsible party or stewardship
 organization shall cause such study to be conducted.
    (d) (1) Not later than one hundred eighty days after a responsible
 party or stewardship organization registers with the Commissioner of
 Energy and Environmental Protection, the responsible party or
 stewardship organization shall establish and nominate members to an
 advisory committee to advise and provide comment to the responsible
 party or stewardship organization regarding any plan prior to approval,
 and any substantive changes to a program prior to submission in
 accordance with the provisions of this section. Such advisory committee
 shall meet not less than once a year or more frequently as needed, and
 shall review any plans, revisions to a plan or substantive changes to a
 plan prior to submission of such plan, revisions or changes to the
 commissioner in accordance with the provisions of this section. The
 advisory committee shall assume the responsibilities assigned to it
 under this section for any and all subsequent responsible parties or
 stewardship organizations.
   (2) Any such advisory committee shall include, at a minimum (A) the
 Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, or the
 commissioner's designee, (B) a representative from a municipal
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 association or municipal government, (C) a representative of a regional
 or municipal waste management program, (D) an individual with
 expertise in the development of recycling markets, (E) a representative
 of a materials recycling facility located in the state, (F) a representative
 of waste haulers, or a regional waste management and recycling
 organization, (G) a representative of a state-wide retail association, (H)
 a representative of a nonprofit environmental advocacy organization, (I)
 a representative of a community-based organization or an organization
 representing equity and underrepresented stakeholders, (J) a
 representative of a nonprofit organization dedicated to litter cleanup,
 (K) an individual with expertise in environmental and human health,
 (L) a representative of a manufacturer of packaging, (M) a
 representative of a material supplier, and (N) a representative of
 responsible parties.
    (3) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection shall
 approve all nominations to any such advisory committee and may add
 new members to such advisory committee at the commissioner's
 discretion. The commissioner may not approve an advisory committee
 member to fulfill more than one of the membership categories provided
 for in subdivision (2) of this subsection.
    (e) On or before January 1, 2025, a responsible party or a stewardship
 organization authorized to operate and administer a program on behalf
 of responsible parties shall submit a stewardship plan for the
 establishment of a packaging stewardship program described in this
 subsection to the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental
 Protection for approval. Any such packaging stewardship program
 shall: (1) Minimize public sector involvement in the management of
 covered materials, (2) to the greatest extent