89R2897 DRS-F
By: Johnson S.B. No. 728
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to an incentive program to promote beverage container
recycling.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 5, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 375 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 375. BEVERAGE CONTAINER RECYCLING REFUND PROGRAM
Sec. 375.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Beverage" means an alcoholic, nonalcoholic,
carbonated, or noncarbonated drink prepared in liquid,
ready-to-drink form and intended for human consumption.
(2) "Beverage container" means a glass, metal, or
plastic vessel that is hermetically sealed or capped and that
contains a beverage at the time it is sold or offered for sale. The
term does not include a container that:
(A) has a fluid capacity of more than one gallon;
(B) contains milk or another dairy product;
(C) contains infant formula, including any
liquid food sold as an alternative for human milk for the feeding of
infants; or
(D) contains medical food, including:
(i) a liquid food that is formulated to be
consumed or administered 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; and
(ii) a product that meets the definition of
a medical food under Section 5(b) of the Orphan Drug Act (21 U.S.C.
Section 360ee(b)).
(3) "Commission" means the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality.
(4) "Consortium" means the Texas Beverage Container
Recycling Consortium established under this chapter.
(5) "Consumer" means a person who purchases at retail
a beverage in a beverage container. The term includes a lodging,
eating, or drinking establishment if beverages are generally
consumed on the establishment's premises. The term does not
include a person who purchases a beverage from a lodging, eating, or
drinking establishment for consumption on the establishment's
premises.
(6) "Redemption center" means a staffed or unstaffed
operation approved by the consortium under this chapter that
redeems returned empty beverage containers by collecting beverage
containers from persons who deliver to the operation beverage
containers and issuing to a person delivering beverage containers a
refund for each with a value not less than the beverage container's
refund value.
(7) "Refund" means a payment by a redemption center to
a person who presents a beverage container at the redemption
center.
(8) "Refund program" means the beverage container
recycling program established under this chapter.
Sec. 375.002. RULES. The commission may adopt rules to
administer this chapter. The commission may consult the consortium
and the Municipal Solid Waste Management and Resource Recovery
Advisory Council in developing for proposal rules to administer
this chapter.
Sec. 375.003. PRODUCERS. (a) Except as provided by
Subsection (b), for purposes of this chapter, the following person
is considered to be the producer of a beverage sold, offered for
sale, or distributed in or imported into this state:
(1) the manufacturer of the beverage, if the beverage
is sold in a beverage container:
(A) under the brand of the manufacturer; or
(B) that does not identify the brand;
(2) if a person described by Subdivision (1) cannot be
identified, the person licensed to manufacture the beverage and
sell or offer to sell the beverage to consumers in this state in a
beverage container under the brand or trademark of another person;
(3) if a person described by Subdivision (1) or (2)
cannot be identified, the owner of the beverage brand;
(4) if a person described by Subdivision (1), (2), or
(3) cannot be identified, the importer of record for the beverage
into the United States for use in a commercial enterprise that
sells, offers for sale, or distributes the beverage in this state;
or
(5) if a person described by Subdivision (1), (2),
(3), or (4) cannot be identified, the person that first distributes
the beverage in this state.
(b) A person is not considered to be a producer for purposes
of this chapter if the person:
(1) is a state, a federal or state agency, a political
subdivision, or another governmental entity;
(2) is an organization that is exempt from federal
income taxation under Section 501(a), Internal Revenue Code of
1986, by being listed as an exempt organization under Section
501(c)(3) or (4) of that code; or
(3) sells, offers for sale, or distributes in or
imports into this state beverages in an amount that the commission
determines to be a de minimis amount.
Sec. 375.004. CONSORTIUM REQUIRED; NON-JOINING PRODUCERS.
(a) Producers shall form, and a producer shall participate in, the
Texas Beverage Container Recycling Consortium. The consortium must
be a nonprofit corporation under Chapter 22, Business Organizations
Code, that is formed for the purpose of creating and implementing a
plan to meet and maintain the recycling rate target provided by
Section 375.009.
(b) The consortium may sue a producer that has not joined
the consortium in an appropriate court to require compliance with
the duty to join the consortium. The consortium may recover court
costs and attorney's fees if it prevails in a suit brought under
this subsection.
(c) The consortium shall:
(1) establish labeling standards for beverage
containers covered by this chapter to inform the consumer of the
refund amount provided on return of the beverage container;
(2) establish quality standards for beverage
containers accepted for refund; and
(3) collect and provide to the commission information
necessary to enable the commission to determine the biennial
recycling rate for beverage containers collected through
redemption centers, curbside recycling programs, and other means.
Sec. 375.005. RECYCLING REFUND TRUST FUND. Money,
including beverage container deposits, collected under this
chapter shall be deposited to the credit of a recycling refund trust
fund maintained by the consortium in a depository chosen by the
consortium. Money in the trust fund may be allocated and spent only
for:
(1) the construction, operation, and maintenance of
redemption centers;
(2) the operation of technology-based redemption
centers, including reverse vending machines and bag-drop
receptacles, that provide convenient cost-effective methods of
paying refunds;
(3) leasing agreements for and liability insurance on
redemption centers;
(4) refund payments to persons, including curbside
recycling programs, that return a beverage container to a
redemption center, or through other means as determined by the
consortium, that meet quality standards determined by the
consortium and that receive a refund;
(5) reimbursing a local governmental entity or
independent entity operating a redemption center, as authorized by
the consortium, for refunds paid to persons, including curbside
recycling programs, returning beverage containers that meet
quality standards determined by the consortium;
(6) reimbursing a governmental or other entity that
provides beverages free of charge to the public during a declared
disaster;
(7) providing information to and educating consumers
about the refund program; and
(8) administering and managing the consortium.
Sec. 375.006. COMPTROLLER OVERSIGHT; RESERVES. The
comptroller may:
(1) require the consortium to provide financial
information;
(2) conduct financial audits of the refund program;
and
(3) require the consortium to maintain reserves in an
amount determined by the comptroller in accordance with applicable
financial accounting standards.
Sec. 375.007. LABEL AND DEPOSIT REQUIRED. (a) A person may
not sell, offer for sale, or distribute in or import into this state
a beverage in a beverage container unless the beverage container
meets labeling standards established by the consortium.
(b) A person may not sell at retail in this state a beverage
in a beverage container unless the person collects or provides for
the collection of a deposit on the beverage container in a manner
established by the consortium.
Sec. 375.008. DEPOSITS AND REFUNDS FOR BEVERAGE CONTAINERS.
The consortium shall establish efficient, convenient, and
cost-effective procedures for the collection of a beverage
container deposit and payment of deposit refunds.
Sec. 375.009. RECYCLING RATE TARGET FOR BEVERAGE
CONTAINERS. (a) The consortium shall implement a plan to meet and
maintain an average biennial recycling rate for beverage containers
sold or distributed in or imported into this state of not less than
75 percent by January 1, 2035.
(b) If the consortium does not meet the recycling rate
target provided by Subsection (a) before the second anniversary of
the date the consortium was required to meet the target under that
subsection, the commission may require the consortium to remit to
the state all or part of the money in the recycling refund trust
fund established under Section 375.005. The comptroller shall hold
money remitted under this subsection until the consortium or
another organization provides to the commission a corrective plan
to meet the recycling rate target provided by Subsection (a).
(c) On approval by the commission of the corrective plan,
the comptroller shall release the money remitted and held under
Subsection (b) to the consortium or other organization responsible
for the plan.
(d) The commission may audit the consortium for accuracy and
adherence to the recycling rate target provided by Subsection (a).
The consortium shall reimburse the commission for the cost incurred
by the commission in the audit process.
SECTION 2. (a) Not later than September 1, 2026, the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality shall adopt rules for the
implementation of Chapter 375, Health and Safety Code, as added by
this Act. To facilitate the approval of the structure and
organization of the Texas Beverage Container Recycling Consortium
and the consortium's initial plan, the commission may adopt the
initial rules in the manner provided by law for emergency rules.
(b) Except as otherwise provided by this Act, a producer or
other person subject to the requirements imposed by the consortium
plan adopted under Chapter 375, Health and Safety Code, as added by
this Act, shall comply with those requirements beginning January 1,
2028.
SECTION 3. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
section, this Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
(b) Section 375.007, Health and Safety Code, as added by
this Act, takes effect October 1, 2028.