BILL NUMBER: SB 55 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Corbett
JANUARY 15, 2009
An act to amend Sections 14504, 14551, 14575, 14581, and 14585 of,
to add Sections 14518.6, and 14575.5 to, and to repeal Section
14523.5 of, the Public Resources Code, relating to recycling, and
making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 55, as introduced, Corbett. Recycling: California redemption
value containers.
(1) Under existing law, the California Beverage Container
Recycling and Litter Reduction Act, every beverage container sold or
offered for sale in this state is required to have a minimum refund
value. A distributor is required to pay a redemption payment for
every beverage container sold or offered for sale in the state to the
Department of Conservation and the department is required to deposit
those amounts in the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund.
The money in the fund is continuously appropriated to the department
for the payment of refund values and processing fees. A violation of
the act is a crime.
Beverage is defined, for purposes of the act, to include, among
other things, beer and other malt beverages, wine and distilled
spirit coolers, carbonated mineral and soda waters, noncarbonated
fruit drinks, and vegetable juices, in liquid form that are intended
for human consumption, but excludes from that definition vegetable
drinks in beverage containers of more than 16 ounces. The act also
excludes, from the definition of beverage, any product sold in a
container that is not an aluminum beverage container, a glass
container, a plastic beverage container, or a bimetal container.
This bill would revise the term beverage to include vegetable,
nut, grain, or soy drinks that contain any percentage of juice, and
would delete the requirement that a vegetable drink subject to the
act be sold in a container of 16 ounces or less. The bill would
delete the exclusion from the term beverage, for a product that is
not sold in the above-specified types of containers. The bill would
additionally exclude from the definition a beverage in a flexible
foil, plastic pouch, or aseptic container delivering 7 or less fluid
ounces. The bill would also make conforming changes to other
definitions, for purposes of the act.
Since the payments for the plastic beverage containers and other
beverage containers that this bill would make subject to the act
would be deposited in a continuously appropriated fund, the bill
would make an appropriation. The bill would also impose a
state-mandated local program by creating new crimes relating to
beverage containers.
(2) The Department of Conservation is required to establish
reporting periods of 6 months each for redemption rates and recycling
rates for specified types of beverage containers. The act also
requires the department to determine the redemption rates and
recycling rates for those beverage containers for each reporting
period and to issue a report on those determinations. The act defines
various words for purposes of those provisions, including redemption
rate.
This bill would delete the provisions that require the department
to establish reporting periods for redemption rates and that require
the department to determine redemption rates for specified types of
beverage containers. The bill also would delete the definition of
redemption rate.
(3) The act requires the department to calculate a processing fee
and a processing payment for each beverage container with a specified
scrap value. The processing fee is required to be paid by beverage
manufacturers for each beverage container sold or transferred to a
dealer. Existing law authorizes, subject to the availability of
funds, a reduction in the processing fee paid by beverage
manufacturers for container types with certain recycling rates.
Existing law requires the department to pay processing payments for
redeemed containers to processors, for each type of beverage
container, in a specified manner. The department is also required to
pay a handling fee to specified recyclers.
The bill would make changes with regard to the processing fee
reductions for container types with certain recycling rates. The bill
would include provisions for determining a supplemental processing
payment, based on the volume of redeemed containers, which would be
paid to processors and ultimately to recyclers.
This bill would revise the provisions for the payment of handling
fees with regard to payments for beverage containers with a 24-ounce
capacity.
(4) The department is authorized to make other specified
expenditures from the moneys remaining in the fund after the moneys
for certain purposes have been set aside, including $10,000,000
annually for payments to cities and counties for beverage container
recycling and litter cleanup activities. Existing law requires the
department to expend $15,000,000 annually, plus a proportional
cost-of-living adjustment, for grants for eligible community
conservation corps beverage container litter reduction and recycling
programs.
This bill would increase the payments to cities and counties to
$15,000,000 to be paid as specified. The bill would require the
department to expend $17,500,000 annually, plus a proportional
cost-of-living adjustment, for grants for eligible community
conservation corps beverage container litter reduction and recycling
programs.
(5) The department is authorized to expend up to $20,000,000 to
issue grants for recycling market development and expansion-related
activities aimed at increasing the recycling of beverage containers.
This bill would additionally include, as activities eligible for
these grants, the upgrading or retrofitting of existing facilities or
construction of new facilities that process or use postconsumer
beverage container material and payments to manufacturers located in
this state who utilize material from the types of recycled beverage
containers that are generated in this state and that became subject
to the act pursuant to this bill.
(6) The bill would make conforming changes.
(7) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) California has demonstrated a more than 20-year commitment to
reducing and recycling materials that would otherwise become waste.
(b) California's commitment to waste reduction and recycling has
demonstrated itself in the development and implementation of a
comprehensive waste reduction and recycling policy that has succeeded
in achieving a 50 percent diversion of solid waste from landfills.
(c) California's commitment has further demonstrated itself in the
development and implementation of the nation's most expansive and
cost-effective beverage container recycling system that has succeeded
in recycling 60 percent of beverage containers generated.
(d) Despite the commitment and efforts of the public, local
agencies, and the state to reduce waste and increase recycling, the
lack of incentives and opportunities for the recycling of most
plastic bottles has resulted in a recycling failure.
(e) Studies by the California Integrated Waste Management Board
(CIWMB) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency reveal
that each year California generates more than 13 billion plastic
bottles and disposes of more than 315,000 tons of plastic bottle
waste.
(f) A recent study by the CIWMB further revealed that while 96
percent of the plastic bottles not currently covered by the state's
container recycling law are made from readily recyclable and
marketable polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and high density
polyethylene (HDPE) plastic, less than 12 percent of these plastic
bottles are currently recycled.
(g) Relying exclusively on California's curbside recycling
infrastructure to collect the more than six billion non-California
Refund Value (CRV) plastic bottles littered throughout and landfilled
in California annually has proven unsuccessful and even moderate
success, 50 percent recycling, if it were possible, would cost local
agencies and ratepayers in excess of thirty-five million dollars
($35,000,000) annually in higher collection and processing costs.
(h) Compounding the problem of plastic litter and waste, the
California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) has determined that marine
debris poses a serious threat to California's marine environment and
ocean-based economies, and that 60 to 80 percent, inclusive, of all
marine debris and 90 percent of all floating debris is plastic.
(i) To help reduce the problem of plastic marine debris, the OPC
unanimously adopted a resolution stating in part: "The state should
look closely at extending the CRV or similar Extended Producer
Responsibility programs to include other plastics commonly found in
marine debris."
(j) California's 20 years of experience demonstrates that
extending the financial incentives and convenient return
opportunities of the state's successful container recycling and
litter reduction law to all plastic bottles regardless of content
represents the single most expeditious and cost-effective means of
reducing and recycling the more than six billion non-CRV plastic
bottles that are littered and landfilled in California annually.
SEC. 2. Section 14504 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
14504. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), "beverage"
means any of the following products if those products are in liquid,
ready-to-drink form, and are intended for human consumption:
(1) Beer and other malt beverages.
(2) Wine and distilled spirit coolers.
(3) Carbonated water, including soda and carbonated mineral water.
(4) Noncarbonated water, including noncarbonated mineral water.
(5) Carbonated soft drinks.
(6) Noncarbonated soft drinks and "sport" drinks.
(7) Except as provided in paragraph (4) of subdivision
(b), Vegetable, nut, grain, soy, or
noncarbonated fruit drinks that contain any percentage of
fruit juice.
(8) Coffee and tea drinks.
(9) Carbonated fruit drinks.
(10) Vegetable juice in beverage containers of 16 ounces or less.
(b) "Beverage" does not include any of the following:
(1) Any product sold in a container that is not an aluminum
beverage container, a glass container, a plastic beverage container,
or a bimetal container.
(2)
(1) Wine, or wine from which alcohol has been removed,
in whole or in part, whether or not sparkling or carbonated.
(3)
(2) Milk, medical food, or infant formula.
(4) One hundred percent fruit juice in containers that are 46
ounces or more in volume.
(3) Beverages in a flexible foil, plastic pouch, or aseptic
container that delivers seven or less fluid ounces of beverage in the
container.
(c) For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall
apply:
(1) "Infant formula" means any liquid food described or sold as an
alternative for human milk for the feeding of infants.
(2) (A) "Medical food" means a food or beverage that is formulated
to be consumed, or administered enterally under the supervision of a
physician, and that is intended for specific dietary management of
diseases or health conditions for which distinctive nutritional
requirements, based on recognized scientific principles, are
established by medical evaluation.
(B) A "medical food" is a specially formulated and processed
product, for the partial or exclusive feeding of a patient by means
of oral intake or enteral feeding by tube, and is not a naturally
occurring foodstuff used in its natural state.
(C) "Medical food" includes any product that meets the definition
of "medical food" in the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21
U.S.C. Sec. 360ee (b)(3) (b)(3)) .
(3) "Noncarbonated soft drink" means a nonalcoholic, noncarbonated
naturally or artificially flavored water containing sugar or
sweetener or trace amounts of various elements from both natural and
synthetic sources.
SEC. 3. Section 14518.6 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
14518.6. "Product manufacturer" means a person that bottles or
otherwise fills a plastic bottle or imports a filled plastic bottle,
for sale to a distributor, dealer, or consumer.
SEC. 4. Section 14523.5 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.
14523.5. "Redemption rate" means the proportion of empty beverage
containers returned to processors measured in the manner prescribed
in Section 14551.
SEC. 5. Section 14551 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
14551. (a) The department shall establish reporting periods for
the reporting of redemption rates and recycling
rates. Each reporting period shall be six months. The department
shall determine all of the following for each reporting period and
shall issue a report on its determinations, within 130 days of the
end of each reporting period:
(1) Sales of beverages in aluminum beverage containers, bimetal
beverage containers, glass beverage containers, plastic beverage
containers, and other beverage containers in this state, including
refillable beverage containers.
(2) Returns for recycling, and returns not for recycling, of empty
aluminum beverage containers, bimetal beverage containers, glass
beverage containers, plastic beverage containers, and other beverage
containers in this state, including refillable beverage containers
returned to distributors pursuant to Section 14572.5. These numbers
shall be calculated using the average current weights of beverage
containers, as determined and reported by the department. To
these numbers shall be added and separately reported the following,
if greater than, or equal to, zero:
(A) All empty postfilled aluminum, glass, and plastic food or
drink packaging materials sold in the state, returned for recycling,
and reported by weight to the department which do not have a refund
value less the number specified in subparagraph (B).
(B) The number of beverage containers which comprise the first
five percentage points of the redemption rate without including the
empty postfilled aluminum, glass, and plastic food or drink packaging
materials sold in the state, returned for recycling and reported by
weight to the department which do not have a refund value.
(3) An aluminum beverage container redemption rate, the numerator
of which shall be the number of empty aluminum beverage containers
returned, including refillable aluminum beverage containers and empty
postfilled aluminum food or drink packaging material included in
paragraph (2), and the denominator of which shall be the number of
aluminum beverage containers sold in this state.
(4)
(3) An aluminum beverage container recycling rate, the
numerator of which shall be the number of empty aluminum beverage
containers returned for recycling, including refillable aluminum
beverage containers, and the denominator of which shall be the number
of aluminum beverage containers sold in this state.
(5) A bimetal beverage container redemption rate, the numerator of
which shall be the number of empty bimetal beverage containers
returned, and the denominator of which shall be the number of bimetal
beverage containers sold in this state.
(6)
(4) A bimetal beverage container recycling rate, the
numerator of which shall be the number of empty bimetal containers
returned for recycling, including refillable bimetal beverage
containers, and the denominator of which shall be the number of
bimetal beverage containers sold in this state.
(7) A glass beverage container redemption rate, the numerator of
which shall be the number of empty glass beverage containers
returned, including refillable glass beverage containers and empty
postfilled food or drink packaging materials included in paragraph
(2), and the denominator of which shall be the number of glass
beverage containers sold in this state.
(8)
(5) A glass beverage container recycling rate, the
numerator of which shall be the number of empty glass beverage
containers returned for recycling, including refillable glass
beverage containers, and the denominator of which shall be the number
of glass beverage containers sold in this state.
(9) A plastic beverage container redemption rate, the numerator of
which shall be the number of empty plastic beverage containers
returned, including refillable plastic beverage containers and empty
postfilled food or drink packaging materials included in paragraph
(2), and the denominator of which shall be the number of plastic
beverage containers sold in this state.
(10)
(6) A plastic beverage container recycling rate, the
numerator of which shall be the number of empty plastic beverage
containers returned for recycling, including refillable plastic
beverage containers, and the denominator of which shall be the number
of plastic beverage containers sold in this state.
(11) A redemption rate for other beverage containers, the
numerator of which shall be the number of empty beverage containers
other than those containers specified in paragraphs (1) to (10),
inclusive, returned, and the denominator of which shall be the number
of beverage containers, other than those containers specified in
paragraphs (1) to (10), inclusive, sold in this state.
(12)
(7) A recycling rate for other beverage containers, the
numerator of which shall be the number of empty beverage containers
other than those containers specified in paragraphs (1) to
(10) (6) , inclusive, returned for recycling,
and the denominator of which shall be the number of beverage
containers, other than those containers specified in paragraphs (1)
to (10) (6) , inclusive, sold in this
state.
(13)
(8) The department may define categories of other
beverage containers, and report a redemption rate and a
recycling rate for each such category of
those categories of other beverage containers.
(14)
(9) The volumes of materials collected from certified
recycling centers, by city or county, as requested by the city or
county, if the reporting is consistent with the procedures
established pursuant to Section 14554 to protect proprietary
information.
(b) The department shall determine the manner of collecting the
information for the reports specified in subdivision (a), including
establishing procedures, to protect any proprietary information
concerning the sales and purchases.
SEC. 6. Section 14575 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
14575. (a) If any type of empty beverage container with a refund
value established pursuant to Section 14560 has a scrap value less
than the cost of recycling, the department shall, on January 1, 2000,
and on or before January 1 annually thereafter, establish a
processing fee and a processing payment for the container by the type
of the material of the container.
(b) The processing payment shall be at least equal to the
difference between the scrap value offered to a statistically
significant sample of recyclers by willing purchasers, and except for
the initial calculation made pursuant to subdivision (d), the sum of
both of the following:
(1) The actual cost for certified recycling centers, excluding
centers receiving a handling fee, of receiving, handling, storing,
transporting, and maintaining equipment for each container sold for
recycling or, only if the container is not recyclable, the actual
cost of disposal, calculated pursuant to subdivision (c). The
department shall determine the statewide weighted average cost to
recycle each beverage container type, which shall serve as the actual
recycling costs for purposes of paragraph (2) of subdivision (c), by
conducting a survey of the costs of a statistically significant
sample of certified recycling centers, excluding those recycling
centers receiving a handling fee, for receiving, handling, storing,
transporting, and maintaining equipment.
(2) A reasonable financial return for recycling centers.
(c) The department shall base the processing payment pursuant to
this section upon all of the following:
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), for calculating
processing payments that will be in effect on and after January 1,
2004, the department shall determine the actual costs for certified
recycling centers, every second year, pursuant to paragraph (1) of
subdivision (b). The department shall adjust the recycling costs
annually to reflect changes in the cost of living, as measured by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor
or a successor agency of the United States government.
(2) On and after January 1, 2010, the department shall use the
most recently published, measured actual costs of recycling for a
specific beverage material type if the department determines the
number of beverage containers for that material type that is returned
for recycling pursuant to Section 14551, based on the most recently
published calendar year number of beverage containers returned for
recycling, is less than 5 percent of the total number of beverage
containers returned for recycling for all material types. The
department shall determine the actual recycling cost to be used for
calculating processing payments for those beverage containers in the
following manner:
(A) The department shall adjust the costs of recycling that
material type every second year by the percentage change in the most
recently measured cost of recycling HDPE plastic beverage containers,
as determined by the department. The department shall use the
percentage change in costs of recycling HDPE plastic beverage
containers for this purpose, even if HDPE plastic beverage containers
are less than 5 percent of the total volume of returned beverage
containers.
(B) The department shall adjust the recycling costs annually for
that material type to reflect changes in the cost of living, as
measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States
Department of Labor or a successor agency of the United States
government.
(d) Except as specified in subdivision (e), the actual processing
fee paid by a beverage manufacturer shall equal 65 percent of the
processing payment calculated pursuant to subdivision (b).
(e) The department, consistent with Section 14581 and subject to
the availability of funds, shall reduce the processing fee paid by
beverage manufacturers by expending funds in each material processing
fee account, in the following manner:
(1) On January 1, 2005, and annually thereafter, the processing
fee shall equal the following amounts:
(A) Ten percent of the processing payment for a container type
with a recycling rate equal to or greater than 75 percent.
(B) Eleven percent of the processing payment for a container type
with a recycling rate equal to or greater than 65 percent, but less
than 75 percent.
(C) Twelve percent of the processing payment for a container type
with a recycling rate equal to or greater than 60 percent, but less
than 65 percent.
(D) Thirteen percent of the processing payment for a container
type with a recycling rate equal to or greater than 55 percent, but
less than 60 percent.
(E) Fourteen percent of the processing payment for a container
type with a recycling rate equal to or greater than 50 percent, but
less than 55 percent.
(F) Fifteen Thirty
percent of the processing payment for a container type with a
recycling rate equal to or greater than 45 percent, but less than 50
percent.
(G) Eighteen Thirty-six percent of
the processing payment for a container type with a recycling rate
equal to or greater than 40 percent, but less than 45 percent.
(H) Twenty Forty percent of the
processing payment for a container type with a recycling rate equal
to or greater than 30 percent, but less than 40 percent.
(I) Sixty-five One hundred percent
of the processing payment for a container type with a recycling rate
less than 30 percent.
(2) The department shall calculate the recycling rate for
purposes of paragraph (1) based on the 12-month period ending on June
30 that directly precedes the date of the January 1 processing fee
determination.
(f) Not more than once every three months, the department may make
an adjustment in the amount of the processing payment established
pursuant to this section notwithstanding any change in the amount of
the processing fee established pursuant to this section, for any
beverage container, if the department makes the following
determinations:
(1) The statewide scrap value paid by processors for the material
type for the most recent available 12-month period directly preceding
the quarter in which the processing payment is to be adjusted is 5
percent more or 5 percent less than the average scrap value used as
the basis for the processing payment currently in effect.
(2) Funds are available in the processing fee account for the
material type.
(3) Adjusting the processing payment is necessary to further the
objectives of this division.
(g) (1) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), every
beverage manufacturer shall pay to the department the applicable
processing fee for each container sold or transferred to a
distributor or dealer within 40 days of the sale in the form and in
the manner which the department may prescribe.
(2) (A) Notwithstanding Section 14506, with respect to the payment
of processing fees for beer and other malt beverages manufactured
outside the state, the beverage manufacturer shall be deemed to be
the person or entity named on the certificate of compliance issued
pursuant to Section 23671 of the Business and Professions Code. If
the department is unable to collect the processing fee from the
person or entity named on the certificate of compliance, the
department shall give written notice by certified mail, return
receipt requested, to that person or entity. The notice shall state
that the processing fee shall be remitted in full within 30 days of
issuance of the notice or the person or entity shall not be permitted
to offer that beverage brand for sale within the state. If the
person or entity fails to remit the processing fee within 30 days of
issuance of the notice, the department shall notify the Department of
Alcoholic Beverage Control that the certificate holder has failed to
comply, and the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control shall
prohibit the offering for sale of that beverage brand within the
state.
(B) The department shall enter into a contract with the Department
of Alcoholic Beverage Control, pursuant to Section 14536.5,
concerning the implementation of this paragraph, which shall include
a provision reimbursing the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control
for its costs incurred in implementing this paragraph.
(3) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if a beverage manufacturer
displays a pattern of operation in compliance with this division and
the regulations adopted pursuant to this division, to the
satisfaction of the department, the beverage manufacturer may make a
single annual payment of processing fees, if the beverage
manufacturer meets either of the following conditions:
(i) If the redemption payment and refund value is not increased
pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 14560, the
beverage manufacturer's projected processing fees for a calendar year
total less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
(ii) If the redemption payment and refund value is increased
pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 14560, the
beverage manufacturer's projected processing fees for a calendar year
total less than fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000).
(B) An annual processing fee payment made pursuant to this
paragraph is due and payable on or before February 1 for every
beverage container sold or transferred by the beverage manufacturer
to a distributor or dealer in the previous calendar year.
(C) A beverage manufacturer shall notify the department of its
intent to make an annual processing fee payment pursuant to this
paragraph on or before January 31 of the calendar year for which the
payment will be due.
(4) The department shall pay the processing payments on redeemed
containers to processors, in the same manner as it pays refund values
pursuant to Sections 14573 and 14573.5. The processor shall pay the
recycling center the entire processing payment representing the
actual costs and financial return incurred by the recycling center,
as specified in subdivision (b).
(h) When assessing processing fees pursuant to subdivision (a),
the department shall assess the processing fee on each container
sold, as provided in subdivisions (d) and (e), by the type of
material of the container, assuming that every container sold will be
redeemed for recycling, whether or not the container is actually
recycled.
(i) The container manufacturer, or a designated agent, shall pay
to, or credit, the account of the beverage manufacturer in an amount
equal to the processing fee.
(j) If, at the end of any calendar year for which glass recycling
rates equal or exceed 45 percent and sufficient surplus funds remain
in the glass processing fee account to make the reduction pursuant to
this subdivision or if, at the end of any calendar year for which
PET recycling rates equal or exceed 45 percent and sufficient surplus
funds remain in the PET processing fee account to make the reduction
pursuant to this subdivision, the department shall use these surplus
funds in the respective processing fee accounts in the following
calendar year to reduce the amount of the processing fee that would
otherwise be due from glass or PET beverage manufacturers pursuant to
this subdivision.
(1) The department shall reduce the glass or PET processing fee
amount pursuant to this subdivision in addition to any reduction for
which the glass or PET beverage container qualifies under subdivision
(e).
(2) The department shall determine the processing fee reduction by
dividing two million dollars ($2,000,000) from each processing fee
account by an estimate of the number of containers sold or
transferred to a distributor during the previous calendar year, based
upon the latest available data.
SEC. 7. Section 14575.5 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
14575.5. (a) The department shall establish a supplemental
processing payment to be paid to a processor. The processor shall pay
the entire supplemental processing payment to a recycler that
receives processing payments pursuant to Section 14575. The
department shall determine the supplemental processing payment based
on the volume of redeemed containers that the recycler reports for
each whole month pursuant to subdivision (b), commencing on January
1, 2010, and continuing for a period of 12 consecutive months.
(1) Consistent with Section 14581 and subject to the availability
of funds, the department shall establish a supplemental processing
payment for glass, PET plastic containers, and HDPE plastic
containers as follows:
(A) Twenty dollars ($20) for each ton of glass beverage
containers.
(B) Thirty-five dollars ($35) for each ton of PET plastic beverage
containers.
(C) Thirty-five dollars ($35) for each ton of HDPE plastic
beverage containers.
(2) The department shall not make a supplemental processing
payment to a recycler for any volume reported for a whole month that
is not within the 12-month consecutive time period established in
this subdivision.
(b) A recycler shall report to a processor the volume of redeemed
containers subject to the supplemental processing payments
established pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) no later
than the 10th day following the end of the 12-month period
established in subdivision (a).
(c) The department shall pay the supplemental processing payments
on eligible redeemed containers to processors in the same manner as
it pays refund values pursuant to Sections 14573 and 14573.5, except
that paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 14573.5 is not
applicable. The processor shall pay a recycler the entire
supplemental processing payment as specified in subdivision (a).
SEC. 8. Section 14581 of the
Public Resources Code is amended to read:
14581. (a) (1) Subject to the availability
of funds, and pursuant to subdivision (c), the department shall
expend the moneys set aside in the fund, pursuant to subdivision (c)
of Section 14580, for the purposes of this section :
.
(1) (A) On and after July 1, 2005, to June 30, 2006, inclusive, up
to thirty-one million dollars ($31,000,000) may be expended for that
fiscal year for the payment of handling fees pursuant to Section
14585.
(B) On and after July 1, 2006, to June 30, 2007, inclusive, up to
thirty-three million dollars ($33,000,000) may be expended for that
fiscal year for the payment of handling fees pursuant to Section
14585.
(C) On and after July 1, 2007, to June 30, 2008, inclusive, up to
thirty-five million dollars ($35,000,000) may be expended for that
fiscal year for the payment of handling fees pursuant to Section
14585.
(D)
(2) For each fiscal year commencing July 1, 2008, the
department may expend the amount necessary to make the required
handling fee payment pursuant to Section 14585.
(2)
(3) Fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) shall be
expended annually for payments for curbside programs and neighborhood
dropoff programs pursuant to Section 14549.6.
(3)
(4) (A) Fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000)
Seventeen million five hundred thousand dollars
($17,500,000) , plus the proportional share of the
cost-of-living adjustment, as provided in subdivision (b), shall be
expended annually in the form of grants for beverage container litter
reduction programs and recycling programs issued to either of the
following:
(i) Certified community conservation corps that were in existence
on September 30, 1999, or that are formed subsequent to that date,
that are designated by a city or a city and county to perform litter
abatement, recycling, and related activities, if the city or the city
and county has a population, as determined by the most recent
census, of more than 250,000 persons.
(ii) Community conservation corps that are designated by a county
to perform litter abatement, recycling, and related activities, and
are certified by the California Conservation Corps as having operated
for a minimum of two years and as meeting all other criteria of
Section 14507.5.
(B) Any grants provided pursuant to this paragraph shall not
comprise more than 75 percent of the annual budget of a community
conservation corps.
(4) (A) On or after July 1, 2007, until June 30, 2008, for only
that fiscal year, up to twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) may be
expended in the form of competitive grants issued to community
conservation corps that are designated by a city or county, and that
meet all of the following criteria:
(i) Are certified by the California Conservation Corps as having
operated for a minimum of two years.
(ii) Meet all other requirements under Section 14507.5.
(B) The department shall prepare and adopt criteria and procedures
for evaluating grant applications on a competitive basis. Eligible
activities for the use of these funds shall include developing new
projects, or enhancing or assisting existing projects, to increase
beverage container recycling and increasing the quality of recycled
material at the following locations:
(i) Multifamily dwellings.
(ii) Schools.
(iii) Commercial, state, and local government buildings.
(iv) Bars, restaurants, hotels, and lodging establishments, and
entertainment venues.
(v) Parks and beaches.
(C) Any grants provided pursuant to this paragraph shall not
comprise more than 75 percent of the annual budget of a community
conservation corps.
(D) Any grants provided pursuant to this paragraph shall support
one-time capital improvement projects and shall not be used to
support ongoing staff activities.
(E) Any grant funds appropriated pursuant to this paragraph that
have not been awarded to a grantee prior to the end of the 2007-08
fiscal year shall revert to the fund.
(5) (A) Ten million five hundred thousand dollars
($10,500,000) Fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000)
may be expended annually for payments of five thousand
dollars ($5,000) seven thousand five hundred dollars
($7,500) to cities and ten thousand dollars ($10,000)
for payments to counties each city and payments of
fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) to each county for beverage
container recycling and litter cleanup activities, or the department
may calculate the payments to counties and cities on a per capita
basis, and may pay whichever amount is greater, for those activities.
(B) Eligible activities for the use of these funds may include,
but are not necessarily limited to, support for new or existing
curbside recycling programs, neighborhood dropoff recycling programs,
public education-promoting beverage container recycling, litter
prevention, and cleanup, cooperative regional efforts among two or
more cities or counties, or both, or other beverage container
recycling programs.
(C) These funds may not be used for activities unrelated to
beverage container recycling or litter reduction.
(D) To receive these funds, a city, county, or city and county
shall fill out and return a funding request form to the Department of
Conservation. The form shall specify the beverage container
recycling or litter reduction activities for which the funds will be
used.
(E) The Department of Conservation shall annually prepare and
distribute a funding request form to each city, county, or city and
county. The form shall specify the amount of beverage container
recycling and litter cleanup funds for which the jurisdiction is
eligible. The form shall not exceed one double-sided page in length,
and may be submitted electronically. If a city, county, or city and
county does not return the funding request form within 90 days of
receipt of the form from the department, the city, county, or city
and county is not eligible to receive the funds for that funding
cycle.
(F) For the purposes of this paragraph, per capita population
shall be based on the population of the incorporated area of a city
or city and county and the unincorporated area of a county. The
department may withhold payment to any city, county, or city and
county that has prohibited the siting of a supermarket site, caused a
supermarket site to close its business, or adopted a land use policy
that restricts or prohibits the siting of a supermarket site within
its jurisdiction.
(6) One million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) may be
expended annually in the form of grants for beverage container
recycling and litter reduction programs.
(7) (A) The department shall expend the amount necessary to pay
the processing payment and supplemental processing payment
established pursuant to Sections 14575 and 14575.5 and pay
processing fee rebates pursuant to Section 14575.2 . The
department shall establish separate processing fee accounts in the
fund for each beverage container material type for which a processing
payment and processing fee are calculated pursuant to Section 14575,
or for which a processing payment is calculated pursuant to Section
14575 and a voluntary artificial scrap value is calculated pursuant
to Section 14575.1, into which account shall be deposited all of the
following:
(i) All amounts paid as processing fees for each beverage
container material type pursuant to Section 14575.
(ii) Funds equal to the difference between the amount in clause
(i) and the amount of the processing payments established in
subdivision (b) of Section 14575, and adjusted pursuant to paragraph
(2) of subdivision (c) of, and subdivision (f) of, Section 14575, to
reduce the processing fee to the level provided in subdivision (f) of
Section 14575, or to reflect the agreement by a willing purchaser to
pay a voluntary artificial scrap value pursuant to Section 14575.1.
(iii) Funds equal to an amount sufficient to pay the total amount
of the supplemental processing payments established pursuant to
Section 14575.5.
(B) Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, the
moneys in each processing fee account are hereby continuously
appropriated to the department for expenditure without regard to
fiscal years, for purposes of making processing payments and
supplemental processing payments, and reducing processing fees,
pursuant to Sections 14575 and 14575.5 , and paying
processing fee rebates pursuant to Section 14575.2 .
(8) Up to five million dollars ($5,000,000) may be annually
expended by the department for the purposes of undertaking a
statewide public education and information campaign aimed at
promoting increased recycling of beverage containers.
(9) Until January 1, 2008, the department may expend up to five
million dollars ($5,000,000) for the purposes of undertaking a
statewide public education and information campaign aimed at
promoting increased recycling of beverage containers that meets both
of the following requirements:
(A) The public education and information campaign is multimedia
and includes print, radio, and television.
(B) The public education and information campaign is multilingual.
(10)
(9) Up to fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) may be
expended annually by the department for quality incentive payments
for empty beverage containers pursuant to Section 14549.1.
(11)
(10) Up to twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) may be
expended annually by the department, until January 1, 2012, to issue
grants for recycling market development and expansion-related
activities aimed at increasing the recycling of beverage containers,
including, but not limited to, the following:
(A) Research and development of collecting, sorting, processing,
cleaning, or otherwise upgrading the market value of recycled
beverage containers.
(B) Identification, development, and expansion of markets for
recycled beverage containers.
(C) Research and development for products manufactured using
recycled beverage containers.
(D) Research and development to provide high-quality materials
that are substantially free of contamination.
(E) Payments to California manufacturers who recycle beverage
containers that are marked by resin type identification code "3," "4,"
"5," "6," or "7," pursuant to Section 18015.
(F) Upgrading or retrofitting of existing facilities that process
or use postconsumer beverage container material, to increase the
amount of postconsumer beverage container material being used or to
meet or exceed standards set in state environmental laws,
regulations, and policies.
(G) Construction of new facilities that process or use
postconsumer beverage container material, including, but not limited
to, aseptic beverage container materials, and that will meet or
exceed standards set in state environmental laws, regulations, and
policies.
(H) Payments to manufacturers located in this state that utilize
material from the types of recycled beverage containers that are
generated in this state and that were not subject to this division
before January 1, 2009, but which became subject to this division on
and after January 1, 2009.
(12)
(11) Up to ten million dollars ($10,000,000) may be
transferred on a one-time basis by the department to the Recycling
Infrastructure Loan Guarantee Account, for expenditure pursuant to
Section 14582.
(13)
(12) Up to ten million dollars ($10,000,000) may be
expended annually by the department for the payment of recycling
incentive payments pursuant to Section 14549.7 until payments for
eligible beverage containers redeemed or collected for recycling on
or before December 31, 2009, have been paid.
(14)
(13) Up to five million dollars ($5,000,000) may be
expended annually by the department for market development payments
for empty plastic beverage containers pursuant to Section 14549.2,
until January 1, 2012.
(15)
(14) Up to five million dollars ($5,000,000) may be
expended, by the department, on a one-time basis beginning on January
1, 2007, in coordination with the Department of Parks and Recreation
for the purposes of installing source separated beverage container
recycling receptacles at each of the state parks, starting with those
parks that have the highest day use.
(16)
(15) Up to five million dollars ($5,000,000) may be
expended, from January 1, 2007, to January 1, 2008, to provide grants
to local governments or nonprofit agencies to place multifamily
housing source separated beverage container recycling receptacles in
low-income communities.
(17)
(16) (A) Up to fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000)
may be expended from January 1, 2008, to January 1, 2009, to provide
grants to place source separated beverage container recycling
receptacles in multifamily housing.
(B) Notwithstanding subdivision (b) of Section 14580, the amount
of one hundred ninety-eight thousand dollars ($198,000) may be
expended by the department from the fund, on a one-time basis, for
the administrative costs of implementing the grant program
established by subparagraph (A).
(18)
(17) (A) Up to twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) may
be expended from July 1, 2009, to January 1, 2012, inclusive, for
either of the following:
(i) Grants for beverage container recycling and litter reduction
programs that emphasize the greatest and most effective collection of
beverage containers per dollar spent to ensure the program's
performance and accountability.
(ii) Focused, regional community beverage container recycling and
litter reduction programs that enable the department to more
effectively organize the amount and type of resources needed for
regional and statewide efforts to increase recycling.
(B) The department shall require, as a condition of receiving
grant funds pursuant to subparagraph (A), each grant recipient to
submit a final report including, but not limited to, the grant
recipient's reported volumes of beverage containers recycled, where
applicable.
(C) On or before July 1, 2014, the department shall publish an
evaluation of all grants made pursuant to paragraph (A). At a
minimum, the evaluation shall summarize each final report submitted
by each grantee pursuant to subparagraph (B) and assess whether the
grantee adequately met the scope and objectives outlined in the grant
agreement.
(b) The fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000)
seventeen million five hundred thousand dollars ($17,500,000)
that is set aside pursuant to paragraph (3)
(4) of subdivision (a) is a base amount that the
. The department shall adjust the
proportional share of the cost-of-living adjustment annually to
reflect any increases or decreases in the cost of living, as
measured by the Department of Labor, or a successor agency, of the
federal government.
(c) (1) The department shall review all funds on a quarterly basis
to ensure that there are adequate funds to make the payments
specified in this section and the processing fee reductions required
pursuant to Section 14575.
(2) If the department determines, pursuant to a review made
pursuant to paragraph (1), that there may be inadequate funds to pay
the payments required by this section and the processing fee
reductions required pursuant to Section 14575, the department shall
immediately notify the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of
the Legislature regarding the inadequacy.
(3) On or before 180 days after the notice is sent pursuant to
paragraph (2), the department may reduce or eliminate expenditures,
or both, from the funds as necessary, according to the procedure set
forth in subdivision (d).
(d) If the department determines that there are insufficient funds
to make the payments specified pursuant to this section and Section
14575, the department shall reduce all payments proportionally.
(e) Prior to making an expenditure pursuant to paragraph (7) of
subdivision (a), the department shall convene an advisory committee
consisting of representatives of the beverage industry, beverage
container manufacturers, environmental organizations, the recycling
industry, nonprofit organizations, and retailers to advise the
department on the most cost-effective and efficient method of the
expenditure of the funds for that education and information campaign.
(f) After setting aside money for the expenditures required
pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) and Section 14580, the
department may, on and after January 1, 2007, but not after July 1,
2007, expend remaining moneys in the fund to pay a refund value in an
amount greater than the refund value established pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 14560.
SEC. 9. Section 14585 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
14585. (a) The department shall adopt guidelines and methods for
paying handling fees to supermarket sites, nonprofit convenience zone
recyclers, or rural region recyclers to provide an incentive for the
redemption of empty beverage containers in convenience zones. The
guidelines shall include, but not be limited to, all of the
following:
(1) Handling fees shall be paid on a monthly basis, in the form
and manner adopted by the department. The department shall require
that claims for the handling fee be filed with the department not
later than the first day of the second month following the month for
which the handling fee is claimed as a condition of receiving any
handling fee.
(2) (A) To be eligible for any handling fee, a supermarket site
recycling center, nonprofit convenience zone recycler, or rural
region recycler shall redeem not less than 60,000 beverage
containers, during the calendar month in which the handling fee is
claimed or have redeemed not less than an average of 60,000 beverage
containers per month during the previous 12 months.
(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply on and after July 1, 2008.
(3)
(2) (A) A beverage container with a capacity of 24
fluid ounces or more shall be considered as two beverage containers
for purposes of determining the eligibility percentage, any handling
fee calculations, and payments.
(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply until January 1, 2010,
and shall not apply on and after July 1, 2008
2012 .
(4)
(3) The department shall determine the number of
eligible containers per site for which a handling fee will be paid in
the following manner:
(A) Each eligible site's combined monthly volume of glass and
plastic beverage containers shall be divided by the site's total
monthly volume of all empty beverage container types.
(B) If the quotient determined pursuant to subparagraph (A) is
equal to, or more than, 10 percent, the total monthly volume of the
site shall be the maximum volume which is eligible for a handling fee
for that month.
(C) If the quotient determined pursuant to subparagraph (A) is
less than 10 percent, the department shall divide the volume of glass
and plastic beverage containers by 10 percent. That quotient shall
be the maximum volume that is eligible for a handling fee for that
month.
(5)
(4) (A) From the effective date of the statute enacted
by Assembly Bill 3056 of the 2005-06 Regular Session to June 30,
2008, inclusive, the department shall pay a handling fee of 1.8 cents
($0.018) per eligible beverage container, as determined pursuant to
paragraph (4) (3) .
(B) On and after July 1, 2008, the department shall pay a handling
fee per eligible container in the amount determined pursuant to
subdivision (f).
(6)
(5) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (5)
(4) , the total handling fee payment to a
supermarket site, nonprofit convenience zone recycler, or rural
region recycler shall not exceed two thousand three hundred dollars
($2,300) per month.
(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply on and after July 1, 2008.
(7)
(6) If the eligible volume in any given month would
result in handling fee payments that exceed the allocation of funds
for that month, as provided in subdivision (b), sites with higher
eligible monthly volumes shall receive handling fees for their entire
eligible monthly volume before sites with lower eligible monthly
volumes receive any handling fees.
(8)
(7) (A) If a dealer where a supermarket site, nonprofit
convenience zone recycler, or rural region recycler is located
ceases operation for remodeling or for a change of ownership, the
operator of that supermarket site nonprofit convenience zone
recycler, or rural region recycler shall be eligible to apply for
handling fees for that site for a period of three months following
the date of the closure of the dealer.
(B) Every supermarket site operator, nonprofit convenience zone
recycler, or rural region recycler shall promptly notify the
department of the closure of the dealer where the supermarket site,
nonprofit convenience zone recycler, or rural region recycler is
located.
(C) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), any operator who fails to
provide notification to the department pursuant to subparagraph (B)
shall not be eligible to apply for handling fees.
(b) The department may allocate the amount authorized for
expenditure for the payment of handling fees pursuant to paragraph
(1) of subdivision (a) of Section 14581 on a monthly basis and may
carry over any unexpended monthly allocation to a subsequent month or
months. However, unexpended monthly allocations shall not be carried
over to a subsequent fiscal year for the purpose of paying handling
fees but may be carried over for any other purpose pursuant to
Section 14581.
(c) (1) The department shall not make handling fee payments to
more than one certified recycling center in a convenience zone. If a
dealer is located in more than one convenience zone, the department
shall offer a single handling fee payment to a supermarket site
located at that dealer. This handling fee payment shall not be split
between the affected zones. The department shall stop making handling
fee payments if another recycling center certifies to operate within
the convenience zone without receiving payments pursuant to this
section, if the department monitors the performance of the other
recycling center for 60 days and determines that the recycling center
is in compliance with this division. Any recycling center that
locates in a convenience zone, thereby causing a preexisting
recycling center to become ineligible to receive handling fee
payments, is ineligible to receive any handling fee payments in that
convenience zone.
(2) The department shall offer a single handling fee payment to a
rural region recycler located anywhere inside a convenience zone, if
that convenience zone is not served by another certified recycling
center and the rural region recycler does either of the following:
(A) Operates a minimum of 30 hours per week in one convenience
zone.
(B) Serves two or more convenience zones, and meets all of the
following criteria:
(i) Is the only certified recycler within each convenience zone.
(ii) Is open and operating at least eight hours per week in each
convenience zone and is certified at each location.
(iii) Operates at least 30 hours per week in total for all
convenience zones served.
(d) The department may require the operator of a supermarket site
or rural region recycler receiving handling fees to maintain records
for each location where beverage containers are redeemed, and may
require the supermarket site or rural region recycler to take any
other action necessary for the department to determine that the
supermarket site or rural region recycler does not receive an
excessive handling fee.
(e) The department may determine and utilize a standard container
per pound rate, for each material type, for the purpose of
calculating volumes and making handling fee payments.
(f) (1) On or before January 1, 2008, and every two years
thereafter, the department shall conduct a survey pursuant to this
subdivision of a statistically significant sample of certified
recycling centers that receive handling fee payments to determine the
actual cost incurred for the redemption of empty beverage containers
by those certified recycling centers. The department shall conduct
these cost surveys in conjunction with the cost surveys performed by
the department pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 14575 to
determine processing payments and processing fees. The department
shall include, in determining the actual costs, only those allowable
costs contained in the regulations adopted pursuant to this division
that are used by the department to conduct cost surveys pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 14575.
(2) Using the information obtained pursuant to paragraph (1), the
department shall then determine the statewide weighted average cost
incurred for the redemption of empty beverage containers, per empty
beverage container, at recycling centers that receive handling fees.
(3) On and after July 1, 2008, the department shall determine the
amount of the handling fee to be paid for each empty beverage
container by subtracting the amount of the statewide weighted average
cost per container to redeem empty beverage containers by recycling
centers that do not receive handling fees from the amount of the
statewide weighted average cost per container determined pursuant to
paragraph (2).
(4) The department shall adjust the statewide average cost
determined pursuant to paragraph (2) for each beverage container
annually to reflect changes in the cost of living, as measured by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor
or a successor agency of the United States government.
(5) The cost information
collected pursuant to this section at recycling centers that receive
handling fees shall not be used in the calculation of the processing
payments determined pursuant to Section 14575.
SEC. 10. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.