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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 1115
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 5325
Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT
Introduced by:
(ENV)
AN ACT CONCERNING ENFORCEMENT OF CROSS-BORDER
BOTTLE REDEMPTION PROHIBITIONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 22a-245 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2025): 2
(a) No person shall establish a redemption center without receiving 3
approval from and annually registering with the [commissioner] 4
Commissioner of Revenue Services on a form provided by the 5
commissioner with such information as the commissioner deems 6
necessary to approve the operation of the redemption center, including 7
(1) the name of the business principals of the redemption center and the 8
address of the business; (2) the name and address of the sponsors and 9
dealers to be served by the redemption center; (3) the types of beverage 10
containers to be accepted; (4) the hours of operation; [and] (5) whether 11
beverage containers will be accepted from consumers; (6) a floor plan 12
for such redemption center that provides for: (A) Adequate and sanitary 13
storage space, and (B) safe and sanitary loading, unloading and 14
vehicular access areas; and (7) records demonstrating sufficient financial 15 Committee Bill No. 1115
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resources to operate such redemption center. The operator of the 16
redemption center shall report any change in [procedure] operations to 17
the commissioner [within] not later than forty-eight hours [of] after such 18
change. Any person establishing a redemption center shall have the 19
right to determine what kind, size and brand of beverage container shall 20
be accepted. Any redemption center may be established to serve all 21
persons or to serve certain specified dealers and shall be subject to the 22
requirements of section 22a-245a, as amended by this act, and this 23
chapter. Any redemption center that accepts more than one thousand 24
two hundred containers from any one individual in one day shall create 25
and obtain from such person a record of such person's name, the license 26
plate number of any vehicle used to transport the containers to such 27
redemption center, the collection points of the empty containers and the 28
number of containers tendered. The redemption center shall obtain from 29
such person a certification that, to the best of such person's knowledge, 30
the beverage containers were originally sold as filled beverages in this 31
state and were not previously redeemed. The Commissioner of Revenue 32
Services shall establish a reasonable annual registration fee for each 33
redemption center to be used for partial funding of examination and 34
enforcement actions authorized under this section and subsections (g) 35
and (h) of section 22a-245a, as amended by this act. 36
(b) A dealer shall not refuse to accept at such dealer's place of 37
business, from any person any empty beverage containers of the kind, 38
size and brand sold by the dealer, or refuse to pay to such person the 39
refund value of a beverage container unless (1) such container contains 40
materials which are foreign to the normal contents of the container; (2) 41
such container is not labeled in accordance with subsection (b) of section 42
22a-244; (3) such dealer sponsors, solely or with others, a redemption 43
center which is located within a one-mile radius of such place of 44
business and which accepts beverage containers of the kind, size and 45
brand sold by such dealer at such place of business; or (4) there is 46
established by others, a redemption center which is located within a 47
one-mile radius of such place of business and which accepts beverage 48
containers of the kind, size and brand sold by such dealer at such place 49 Committee Bill No. 1115
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of business. A dealer shall redeem an empty container of a kind, size or 50
brand the sale of which has been discontinued by such dealer for not 51
less than sixty days after the last sale by the dealer of such kind, size or 52
brand of beverage container. Sixty days before such date, the dealer 53
shall post, at the point of sale, notice of the last date on which the 54
discontinued kind, size or brand of beverage container shall be 55
redeemed. 56
(c) A distributor shall not refuse to accept from a dealer or from an 57
operator of a redemption center, located and operated exclusively 58
within the territory of the distributor or whose operator certifies to the 59
distributor that redeemed containers were from a dealer located within 60
such territory, any empty beverage containers of the kind, size and 61
brand sold by the distributor, or refuse to pay to such dealer or 62
redemption center operator the refund value of a beverage container 63
unless such container contains materials which are foreign to the normal 64
contents of the container or unless such container is not labeled in 65
accordance with subsection (b) of section 22a-244. A distributor shall 66
remove any empty beverage container from the premises of a dealer 67
serviced by the distributor or from the premises of a redemption center 68
sponsored by dealers serviced by the distributor, provided such 69
premises are located within the territory of the distributor. No dealer or 70
redemption center shall remove any beverage container from its 71
premises or transfer such containers between premises under its control 72
before tendering such containers for removal by a distributor. The 73
distributor shall pay the refund value to dealers in accordance with the 74
schedule for payment by the dealer to the distributor for full beverage 75
containers and shall pay such refund value to operators of redemption 76
centers not more than twenty days after receipt of the empty container. 77
For the purposes of this subsection, a redemption center shall be 78
considered to be sponsored by a dealer if (1) the dealer refuses to redeem 79
beverage containers and refers consumers to the redemption center, or 80
(2) there is an agreement between the dealer and the operator of the 81
redemption center requiring the redemption center to remove empty 82
beverage containers from the premises of the dealer. A distributor shall 83 Committee Bill No. 1115
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redeem an empty container of a kind, size or brand of beverage 84
container the sale of which has been discontinued by the distributor for 85
not less than one hundred fifty days after the last delivery of such kind, 86
size or brand of beverage container. Not less than one hundred twenty 87
days before the last date such containers may be redeemed, the 88
distributor shall notify such dealer who bought the discontinued kind, 89
size or brand of beverage container that such distributor shall not 90
redeem an empty beverage container of such kind, size or brand of 91
beverage containers. 92
(d) In addition to the refund value of a beverage container, a 93
distributor shall pay to any dealer or operator of a redemption center a 94
handling fee of at least two and one-half cents for each container of beer, 95
hard seltzer, hard cider or other malt beverage and three and one-half 96
cents for each beverage container of mineral waters, soda water and 97
similar carbonated soft drinks or noncarbonated beverage returned for 98
redemption. A distributor shall not be required to pay to a manufacturer 99
the refund value of a nonrefillable beverage container. 100
(e) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection shall 101
adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, to 102
implement the provisions of sections 22a-243 to 22a-245, inclusive, as 103
amended by this act. Such regulations shall include, but not be limited 104
to, provisions for the redemption of beverage containers dispensed 105
through automatic reverse vending machines, the use of vending 106
machines that reimburse consumers for the redemption value of 107
beverage containers, scheduling for redemption by dealers and 108
distributors and for exemptions or modifications to the labeling 109
requirement of section 22a-244. 110
(f) For the purposes of this section, "refund value" means the refund 111
value established by subsection (a) of section 22a-244. 112
(g) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (b) to (d), 113
inclusive, of this section, no person shall tender to a dealer, redemption 114
center, reverse vending machine, distributor or deposit initiator for the 115 Committee Bill No. 1115
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purpose of obtaining a refund value or handling fee for any empty 116
beverage container that the person knows or has reason to know was 117
not originally sold in this state as a filled beverage container or that was 118
previously redeemed through a dealer, redemption center, reverse 119
vending machine, distributor or deposit initiator. 120
(h) Each dealer, redemption center or reverse vending machine 121
operator shall post where empty containers are redeemed a conspicuous 122
"Redemption Warning" sign using at least a one-inch font that states the 123
following: "Returning empty beverage containers for refund that were 124
not purchased in Connecticut or that were previously redeemed is 125
illegal. Any person who returns empty beverage containers that the 126
person knows or has reason to know were not originally sold in this 127
state as filled beverage containers or that were previously redeemed 128
shall be subject to fines and state enforcement action. Connecticut 129
General Statutes section 22a-245, as amended by this act.". 130
(i) Each operator of a redemption center and reverse vending 131
machine shall report monthly to the Commissioner of Energy and 132
Environmental Protection, on a form provided by the commissioner, the 133
number and type of containers such operator redeems, aggregated by 134
each town in which such operator operates and any such other 135
redemption information the commissioner deems necessary. 136
Sec. 2. Subsections (f) and (g) of section 22a-245a of the general 137
statutes are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 138
(Effective October 1, 2025): 139
(f) If moneys deposited in the special account are insufficient to pay 140
for withdrawals authorized pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, 141
the amount of such deficiency shall be subtracted from the next 142
succeeding payment or payments due pursuant to subsection (e) of this 143
section until the amount of the deficiency has been subtracted in full. 144
The Commissioner of Revenue Services shall remit from the General 145
Fund to a deposit initiator payment of the amount of any deficiency 146
credit accumulated by a deposit initiator plus the handling fee for each 147 Committee Bill No. 1115
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container paid by the deposit initiator in excess of the number of 148
containers sold by the deposit initiator through the quarter ending June 149
30, 2025. For any calendar quarter beginning September 30, 2025, if 150
moneys deposited in the special account are insufficient to pay for 151
withdrawals authorized pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, the 152
amount of such deficiency shall not be paid by the deposit initiator to 153
the Commissioner of Revenue Services and the commissioner shall 154
remit from the General Fund, to a deposit initiator, payment of the 155
amount of the refund value plus the handling fee for each container paid 156
by the deposit initiator in excess of the number of containers sold by the 157
deposit initiator during such quarter. 158
(g) The Commissioner of Revenue Services may examine the accounts 159
and records of any deposit initiator, dealer or redemption center 160
maintained under this section or sections 22a-243 to 22a-245, inclusive, 161
as amended by this act, and any related accounts and records, including 162
receipts, disbursements and such other items as the Commissioner of 163
Revenue Services deems appropriate. The Commissioner of Revenue 164
Services may hire employees in sufficient number to carry out the 165
examination and enforcement actions authorized under this subsection 166
and subsections (a) and (h) of this section. 167
Sec. 3. Section 22a-246 of the general statutes is repealed and the 168
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2025): 169
Any person who violates any provision of section 22a-244, 22a-245, 170
as amended by this act, or 22a-245a, as amended by this act, shall be 171
fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, and 172
for a second offense shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor 173
more than two hundred dollars and for a third or subsequent offense 174
shall be fined not less than two hundred fifty dollars or more than five 175
hundred dollars. The Commissioner of Revenue Services may, after 176
notice and hearing, suspend or revoke the registration of a person 177
operating a redemption center who violates any provision of subsection 178
(a) of section 22a-245, as amended by this act, or subsection (c) of section 179
22a-245, as amended by this act, or impose a fine of not less than five 180 Committee Bill No. 1115
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hundred dollars and not more than one thousand dollars for each such 181
offense. Any person aggrieved by such action of the Commissioner of 182
Revenue Services may appeal such action, in accordance with section 4-183
183. 184
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2025 22a-245
Sec. 2 October 1, 2025 22a-245a(f) and (g)
Sec. 3 October 1, 2025 22a-246
ENV Joint Favorable