OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
HB-6502
AN ACT CONCERNING THE USE OF CERTAIN POLYSTYRENE
PRODUCTS, THE AVAILABILITY OF SINGLE -USE STRAWS, THE
RELEASE OF CERTAIN BALLOONS AND THE COMPOSTABLE
NATURE OF SINGLE-USE PRODUCE BAGS.
Primary Analyst: MR 3/29/21
Contributing Analyst(s): SB, RDP, ME, JS
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 22 $ FY 23 $
Technical Education and Career
System
GF - Cost None See Below
Department of Energy and
Environmental Protection
GF - Revenue
Gain
30,000 None
Consumer Protection, Dept.;
Public Health, Dept.; Department
of Energy and Environmental
Protection
GF - Potential
Revenue Gain
None Less than
2,500
Note: GF=General Fund
Municipal Impact:
Municipalities Effect FY 22 $ FY 23 $
Local and Regional School Districts STATE
MANDATE
1
- Cost
None 2-2.8 million
statewide
Various Municipalities Potential
Revenue
Gain
None Less than 7,500
Explanation
The bill creates various new environmental laws regarding plastics.
1
State mandate is defined in Sec. 2-32b(2) of the Connecticut General Statutes, "state
mandate" means any state initiated constitutional, statutory or executive action that
requires a local government to establish, expand or modify its activities in such a
way as to necessitate additional expenditures from local revenues. 2021HB-06502-R000209-FN.docx Page 2 of 4
Section 1 requires each school district, regional school district,
regional vocational technical school, and constituent unit of higher
education to develop a plan by July 1, 2022, to discontinue use of
expanded polystyrene trays. The bill specifies that each plan must
require (1) discontinuing use of the trays by July 1, 2023, and (2)
preparing to end or amend any purchasing contracts for the trays by
July 1, 2022. The plan requirement is not anticipated to result in a
fiscal impact to local and regional school districts or the regional
vocational technical schools, as they have staff with the purchasing
experience necessary to amend existing contracts and create the plans.
This section of the bill also has no fiscal impact to the constituent units,
as they are not currently using expanded polystyrene trays and
therefore are not required to develop plans.
To the extent that each plan's requirements are followed, the bill
results in a state mandate and a statewide annual cost to local and
regional school districts, including the Connecticut Technical
Education and Career System, of up to approximately $2 million to
$2.8 million, beginning as early as FY 23 and taking full effect in FY 24,
associated with discontinuing the purchase and use of the trays.
The cost per district will vary by the size of the district, the number
of trays used, and the specific contract. It is estimated that replacing
polystyrene trays with trays made of recycled materials results in an
increased cost of $18 to $25 for each case of 500 trays. Connecticut
public schools provide 46 million lunches and 18 million breakfasts
annually. While the bill does not specifically state that districts must
use trays made of recycled materials, it is the most common
replacement of polystyrene trays.
Assuming that a tray is used for each lunch, the additional
statewide cost for purchasing lunch trays made of recycled materials is
approximately $1.7 million to $2.3 million. Assuming 50% of breakfast
meals are served with a tray, the statewide cost for breakfast trays is
between $324,000 and $450,000.
The cost to each district for purchasing replacement trays will vary. 2021HB-06502-R000209-FN.docx Page 3 of 4
A small district serving approximately 350,000 meals will incur annual
additional costs of approximately $12,600 to $17,500. A medium sized
district serving 1.8 million meals will incur annual costs of
approximately $64,800 to $90,000. Larger districts serving 2.5 million
meals will incur annual costs of $90,000 to $125,000.
If a district instead purchases reusable plastic trays to replace all
polystyrene trays, a more significant cost results. It is estimated that
reusable plastic trays average $10-$12 per tray. In addition to the larger
one-time cost of purchasing the trays, districts would incur additional
ongoing, significant costs related to staff, dishwashing equipment,
plumbing, electrical, and maintenance costs.
Section 2 prohibits restaurants or caterers, beginning on January 1,
2021, from providing single-use expanded polystyrene food and
beverage containers to customers, with certain exceptions. It creates a
set of penalties for violations of the bill's provisions.
Under the bill, a local health department or health district, the
Departments of Public Health (DPH), Consumer Protection (DCP), or
DEEP may enforce the ban. To the extent, a local health department or
health district enforces the prohibition, half of the fine must be
remitted to the municipality where the violation occurred. It is
estimated that less than $5,000 will be generated annually from
violations of the bill’s provisions.
Section 3 prohibits a full-service restaurant from automatically
providing customers with a plastic straw, with certain exceptions. It
establishes fines for violations and specifies that a municipal health
district may enforce the bill’s provisions. This prohibition is also
anticipated to result in a revenue gain to the municipality in which the
violation occurs, anticipated to be less than $2,500 annually.
Section 4 prohibits the intentional releasing of helium or gas
balloons into the atmosphere and creates an infraction for violations.
This has no fiscal impact as no fines have been collected under this
statute for the past twelve years. 2021HB-06502-R000209-FN.docx Page 4 of 4
Section 5 requires the DEEP commissioner to accept an application
accompanied with a fee (on behalf of a single-use produce bag
manufacturer) for a study to be performed by the Connecticut
Academy for Science and Engineering on certain plastic food bags, by
September 1, 2021. This is anticipated to result in a revenue gain to
DEEP of approximately $30,000 in FY 22 associated with remittance of
the fee.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to the number of container and straw
violations and the extent of tray use among school districts.