Substitute Senate Bill No. 233
Special Act No. 16-6
AN ACT CONCERNING A REDUCTION OF CONSUMER-BASED PACKAGING MATERIALS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (Effective from passage) (a) There is established a task force to study methods for reducing, through source reduction, reuse and recycling, consumer packaging that generates solid waste in the state. The task force shall analyze and identify: (1) Strategies for improving the efficacy of state, municipal and local solid waste recycling infrastructures and systems; (2) consumer education and awareness efforts aimed at increasing awareness of consumer packaging as solid waste and reuse and recycling solutions for such packaging; (3) existing methods employed in the consumer packaging and recycling industry to reduce and minimize the amount, weight and volume of consumer packaging that generates solid waste; (4) incentives for consumer packaging producers to reduce the amount of such packaging that they create; (5) opportunities to cost-effectively increase the proportion of biodegradable, postconsumer recycled and recyclable materials used in the manufacture of consumer packaging; (6) strategies for achieving a reduction of not less than twenty-five per cent of consumer packaging in the state's solid waste stream on and after January 1, 2024, and decreasing municipal costs associated with managing such waste stream through the implementation of: (A) Alternative low-cost methods of managing and reducing consumer packaging in an environmentally sustainable manner that additionally yields economic benefits through the creation of job opportunities, or (B) an extended producer responsibility program for consumer packaging; (7) methodologies for measuring and verifying the reduction described in subdivision (6) of this subsection; and (8) incremental performance targets to assure achievement of the reduction described in subdivision (6) of this subsection.
(b) The task force shall consist of the following members:
(1) Two appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, one of whom shall have expertise in the consumer packaging industry and one of whom shall have expertise in state, municipal or local recycling;
(2) Two appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, one of whom shall have expertise in the solid waste management and recycling industry, including public and private sector partnerships that have resulted in reduced solid waste and increased recycling rates, and one of whom shall have expertise in international extended producer responsibility programs;
(3) One appointed by the majority leader of the House of Representatives who shall have expertise in state, municipal or local government;
(4) One appointed by the majority leader of the Senate who shall have expertise in strategies employed by other states to reduce consumer packaging in the solid waste stream, including, but not limited to, domestic extended producer responsibility programs;
(5) One appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives who shall have expertise in developing effective consumer awareness and education efforts that influence consumer choices;
(6) One appointed by the minority leader of the Senate who shall have expertise in corporate policies concerning the development and design of sustainable consumer packaging across commercial sectors, including, but not limited to, considerations of industry-wide safety and shipping standards; and
(7) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, or the commissioner's designee.
(c) Any member of the task force appointed under subdivision (1), (2), (3), (4), (5) or (6) of subsection (b) of this section may be a member of the General Assembly.
(d) All appointments to the task force shall be made not later than thirty days after the effective date of this section. Any vacancy shall be filled by the appointing authority.
(e) The speaker of the House of Representatives and the president pro tempore of the Senate shall select the chairpersons of the task force from among the members of the task force. Such chairpersons shall schedule the first meeting of the task force, which shall be held not later than sixty days after the effective date of this section.
(f) The administrative staff of the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the environment shall serve as administrative staff of the task force.
(g) Not later than January 1, 2017, the task force shall submit a report on its findings and recommendations to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the environment, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes. The task force shall terminate on the date that it submits such report or January 1, 2017, whichever is later.