| 16 | | - | Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) If the task force to study methods for reducing consumer packaging that generates solid waste, established pursuant to special act 16-6, recommends the establishment of an extended producer responsibility program for any consumer packaging component of the state's solid waste stream, the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection shall develop proposed legislation for the implementation of such program. The commissioner shall submit such proposed legislation to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the environment not later than thirty days prior to the next occurring regular legislative session. Said committee shall have sixty days from receipt of such proposed legislation to meet and vote to approve, disapprove or amend such proposed legislation. The commissioner shall implement such extended producer responsibility program upon the approval of such approved or amended proposed legislation by both chambers of the General Assembly. |
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| 28 | + | Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2017) (a) For the purposes of this section: |
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| 29 | + | |
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| 30 | + | (1) "Distributor" means any company that has a contractual relationship with one or more producers to market and sell a covered product to retailers in this state; |
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| 31 | + | |
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| 32 | + | (2) "Environmentally sound management practices" means procedures for the collection, storage, transportation, reuse, recycling and disposal of a covered product, to be implemented by the representative organization or such representative organization's contracted partners to ensure compliance with all applicable federal, state and local laws, regulations and ordinances and the protection of human health and the environment. "Environmentally sound management practices" include, but are not limited to, record keeping, tracking and documenting the fate of postconsumer product in and outside of this state, and retaining environmental liability coverage for professional services and for the operations of the contractors working on behalf of the representative organization; |
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| 33 | + | |
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| 34 | + | (3) "Energy recovery" means the process by which all or a portion of solid waste materials are processed or combusted in order to utilize the heat content or other forms of energy derived from such solid waste materials; |
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| 35 | + | |
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| 36 | + | (4) "Stewardship assessment" means the amount added to the purchase price of a covered product sold in this state that is necessary to cover the cost of collecting, transporting and processing postconsumer product and administering the product stewardship program by the representative organization pursuant to a stewardship program established in accordance with this section; |
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| 37 | + | |
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| 38 | + | (5) "Postconsumer product" means any finished material that is customarily discarded as a solid waste upon the completion of its life cycle as a consumer item; |
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| 39 | + | |
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| 40 | + | (6) "Covered product" means any object or substance identified in regulations adopted pursuant to this section for inclusion in a product stewardship program; |
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| 41 | + | |
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| 42 | + | (7) "Producer" means any manufacturer who sells, offers for sale, distributes or contracts to distribute a covered product in this state; |
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| 43 | + | |
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| 44 | + | (8) "Product Stewardship Program Plan" means a plan submitted to the department by a producer or group of producers and that outlines procedures for compliance with this section; |
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| 45 | + | |
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| 46 | + | (9) "Recycling" means any process by which discarded products, components and by-products are transformed into new, usable or marketable materials in a manner in which the original products may lose their identity. "Recycling" does not include energy recovery; |
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| 47 | + | |
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| 48 | + | (10) "Retailer" means any person who offers a covered product for sale at retail in this state; |
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| 49 | + | |
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| 50 | + | (11) "Reuse" means the return of a product into the stream of commerce for use in the same kind of application as the product was originally intended to be used, without a change in the product's identity; |
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| 51 | + | |
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| 52 | + | (12) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection; |
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| 53 | + | |
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| 54 | + | (13) "Sell" or "sale" means any transfer of title for consideration including, but not limited to, remote sales conducted through sales outlets, catalogues, the Internet or any other similar electronic means; |
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| 55 | + | |
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| 56 | + | (14) "Representative organization" means the nonprofit organization created by producers to implement a product stewardship program; and |
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| 57 | + | |
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| 58 | + | (15) "Department" means the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. |
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| 59 | + | |
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| 60 | + | (b) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes, to identify covered products that shall be included in a product stewardship program in order to reduce or eliminate postconsumer product. The commissioner shall include in such regulations any provisions necessary to administer any such product stewardship program and to implement the provisions of this section. The commissioner may amend such regulations, from time to time, provided any covered product designated in any amended regulation shall first be identified in a biennial report to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the environment, and the Governor, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (l) of this section. |
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| 61 | + | |
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| 62 | + | (c) Whenever a covered product is identified for inclusion in a product stewardship program, the producers of such product or a representative organization shall develop a product stewardship program plan. Any product stewardship program plan developed to implement a product stewardship program shall include, but need not be limited to: (1) The legal and governing structure of the program administering entity; (2) identification of each producer subject to and participating in the program; (3) a producer financed fee structure sufficient to support the program and to maintain an adequate financial reserve to operate the program over a multiyear period of time in a fiscally prudent and responsible manner; (4) procedures for the free, convenient and accessible collection and recycling of the postconsumer product; (5) procedures that such program intends to utilize to meet reporting, oversight, record retention and auditing requirements established by the commissioner in regulations adopted pursuant to subsection (b) of this section; (6) performance goals for the initial and subsequent years of the program's implementation; (7) facilities and processes to be used by the program that are feasible, convenient and accessible to members of the public; (8) metrics to measure the effectiveness of the program that result in postconsumer product component recycling and reuse in new products; and (9) a description of a public education program that the producers or representative organization will implement to make members of the general public aware of such product stewardship program. Any such product stewardship program shall provide for the recycling of the product to the greatest extent technologically feasible and economically practical. |
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| 63 | + | |
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| 64 | + | (d) The commissioner shall approve any product stewardship program plan for the establishment of a product stewardship program only if such plan meets the requirements of this section, as determined by the commissioner. |
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| 65 | + | |
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| 66 | + | (e) Not later than two months after the date that a product stewardship program plan is approved pursuant to this section, the producers or representative organization, as applicable, shall implement the product stewardship program. |
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| 67 | + | |
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| 68 | + | (f) The producers or representative organization shall submit an annual report to the commissioner that details the product stewardship program. Such report shall include, but need not be limited to: (1) A description of the methods used to collect, transport and process postconsumer product in this state; (2) the volume of postconsumer product collected in this state; (3) the volume and type of postconsumer product collected in this state by method of disposition, including reuse, recycling and other methods of processing; (4) the total cost of implementing the product stewardship program, as determined by an independent financial audit performed in accordance with regulations adopted pursuant to subsection (b) of this section; and (5) samples of educational materials provided to consumers of the covered product through the public education program and an evaluation of the methods used to disseminate such materials. |
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| 69 | + | |
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| 70 | + | (g) Each producer and the representative organization, as applicable, shall be immune from liability for any claim of a violation of antitrust law or unfair trade practice to the extent such producer or representative organization is exercising authority pursuant to the provisions of this section. |
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| 71 | + | |
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| 72 | + | (h) Not later than the implementation date of any product stewardship program, the department shall list the names of participating producers, any representative organization, if applicable, and the brands of the covered products included in such product stewardship program on the department's Internet web site. |
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| 73 | + | |
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| 74 | + | (i) On and after the implementation date of any product stewardship program, no producer, distributor or retailer shall sell or offer for sale such covered product to any person in this state if the producer of such covered product or such producer's representative organization does not have an approved product stewardship program plan. No retailer or distributor shall be found to be in violation of the provisions of this subsection if, on the date the covered product was ordered from the producer or its agent, the producer or the subject brand of the covered product was listed on the department's Internet web site as a participant in or part of such product stewardship program, as described in subsection (h) of this section. |
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| 75 | + | |
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| 76 | + | (j) Pursuant to the provisions of chapter 446k of the general statutes, the commissioner may seek civil enforcement of the provisions of this section, including, but not limited to, any product stewardship program plan approved pursuant to this section. |
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| 77 | + | |
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| 78 | + | (k) The commissioner may coordinate with any other state in the administration of any product stewardship program. |
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| 79 | + | |
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| 80 | + | (l) Not later than January 15, 2018, and biennially thereafter, the commissioner shall submit a report, in accordance with section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the environment and the Governor, that describes the status of any product stewardship program established pursuant to this section. Such report shall include, but need not be limited to, recommendations for the: (1) Modification of any such product stewardship program to improve the functioning and efficiency of such program, as necessary, and (2) inclusion of any covered product in a product stewardship program. |
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