Johnson Recycling Bill Makes Producers Form A Deposit Consortium

The text as introduced · 1,643 words

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.