Massachusetts 2009 bill text
Scroll down for the most current draft of the bill, Senate Bill 2547
House Bill 3515
The following text was found at http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/house/186/ht03/ht03515.htm and is identical to the text of Senate Bil 1480, found at http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/186/st01/st01480.htm
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1314 FILED ON: 1/12/2009
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3515
|
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
PRESENTED BY:
Alice K. Wolf
_______________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the passage of the accompanying bill:
An Act to improve recycling rates in the Commonwealth.
_______________
PETITION OF:
Name: |
District/Address: |
Alice K. Wolf |
25th Middlesex |
Geraldo Alicea |
6th Worcester |
Tom Sannicandro |
7th Middlesex |
Stephen Kulik |
1st Franklin |
Kay Khan |
11th Middlesex |
Jennifer Benson |
37th Middlesex |
Mary E. Grant |
6th Essex |
Robert M. Koczera |
11th Bristol |
William N. Brownsberger |
24th Middlesex |
Ellen Story |
3rd Hampshire |
David P. Linsky |
5th Middlesex |
James M. Murphy |
4th Norfolk |
Christopher G. Fallon |
33rd Middlesex |
Sarah K. Peake |
4th Barnstable |
Matthew C. Patrick |
3rd Barnstable |
Katherine Clark |
32nd Middlesex |
Pam Richardson |
6th Middlesex |
Peter v. Kocot |
1st Hampshire |
David B. Sullivan |
6th Bristol |
Jonathan Hecht |
29th Middlesex |
Geraldine Creedon |
11th Plymouth |
Barbara A. L'Italien |
18th Essex |
Michael F. Rush |
10th Suffolk |
Stephen L. DiNatale |
3rd Worcester |
Steven J. D'Amico |
4th Bristol |
Christine E. Canavan |
10th Plymouth |
Cory Atkins |
14th Middlesex |
Elizabeth A. Malia |
11th Suffolk |
Jay R. Kaufman |
15th Middlesex |
Martha M. Walz |
8th Suffolk |
Cleon H. Turner |
1st Barnstable |
Lori Ehrlich |
8th Essex |
Cheryl A. Coakley-Rivera |
10th Hampden |
James B. Eldridge |
Middlesex and Worcester |
Carl M. Sciortino, Jr. |
34th Middlesex |
John W. Scibak |
2nd Hampshire |
John V. Fernandes |
10th Worcester |
Jennifer M. Callahan |
18th Worcester |
William Lantigua |
16th Essex |
Theodore C. Speliotis |
13th Essex |
Frank I. Smizik |
15th Norfolk |
Timothy J. Toomey, Jr. |
26th Middlesex |
Jason Lewis |
31st Middlesex |
Anthony D. Galluccio |
Middlesex, Suffolk and Essex |
Paul McMurtry |
11th Norfolk |
Kevin G. Honan |
17th Suffolk |
Karen E. Spilka |
Second Middlesex and Norfolk |
Mark V. Falzone |
9th Essex |
Sean Garballey |
23rd Middlesex |
Linda Dean Campbell |
15th Essex |
Thomas P. Conroy |
13th Middlesex |
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the Year Two Thousand and Nine
_______________
An Act to improve recycling rates in the Commonwealth.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 321 of Chapter 94 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the definitions for “beverage” and “beverage container,” and inserting in place thereof the following definitions:—
“Beverage,” soda water or similar carbonated soft drinks; noncarbonated beverages including mineral water, flavored and unflavored water, vitamin water, and other water beverages, tea, sports drinks, isotonic drinks; beer and other malt beverages; and all other non-alcoholic carbonated and noncarbonated drinks in liquid form intended for human consumption except milk and beverages that are primarily derived from dairy products, infant formula, and FDA-approved medicines.
“Beverage container,” any sealable bottle, can, jar, or carton which is primarily composed of glass, metal, plastic, or any combination of those materials and is produced for the purpose of containing a beverage, which, at the time of sale, contains one-hundred and thirty-five ounces or less of a beverage. This definition shall not include containers made of paper-based biodegradable material and aseptic multi-material packaging.
SECTION 2. Section 321 of Chapter 94 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding, after the definition of “Plastic bottle” the following definition:— “Redemption center,” any business whose primary purpose is the redemption of beverage containers and is not ancillary to any other business,
SECTION 3. Section 321 of Chapter 94 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding, after the definition of “Reusable beverage container,” the following definition:—
“Small dealer,” any person, including any operator of a vending machine, employing the equivalent of ten full time employees or less, who engages in the sale of beverages in beverage containers to consumers in the Commonwealth.
SECTION 4. Section 323 of Chapter 94 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding in line 30 after the letter “(e),” the following:—
The Executive Office of Environmental Affairs shall promulgate rules and regulations for the licensure of redemption centers, and may set fees for the licensing of such redemption centers.
SECTION 5. Section 323, paragraph (a), of Chapter 94 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1998 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out in line the words “the refund value” and inserting in place thereof the words “the full refund value”.
SECTION 6. Section 323, paragraph (b), of Chapter 94 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1998 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the words “one cent” and inserting in place thereof the words “three and one quarter cents” and placing the following sentence at the end of the paragraph. “The handling fee shall be reviewed semi-annually by the Secretary of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs and adjustments made to reflect increases in costs incurred by redemption facilities.”
SECTION 7. Section 323, paragraph (c), of Chapter 94 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out in the words “one cent” and inserting in place thereof the words “three and one quarter cents” and placing the following sentence at the end of the paragraph. “The handling fee shall be reviewed semi-annually by the Secretary of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs and adjustments made to reflect increases in costs incurred by redemption facilities.”
SECTION 8. Section 323 of Chapter 94 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding in line 73, after the word “civil,” the words “or administrative.”
SECTION 9. Chapter 94 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding a new section after 323F:— SECTION 323G. Redemption Centers.
(a) Only small dealers may apply for an exemption with the department.
(b) Application for an exemption shall be jointly filed with the department by the small dealer and redemption center. The application shall state the name and address of the person responsible for the establishment and operation of the center, the kinds, sizes and brand names of beverage containers that will be accepted and the names and addresses of dealer(s) to be served and their distance from the local redemption center.
(c) In approving the exemption, the department shall consider at least the health and safety of the public; the convenience for the public, including standards governing distribution of centers by population or by distance or both, the size and storage capacity of the dealer(s) to be served by the redemption center and the size and storage capacity of the redemption center. The order approving a local redemption center license must state the dealers to be served and the kinds, sizes and brand names of empty beverage containers that the center accepts.
(d) A local redemption center may not refuse to accept from any consumer or other person not a dealer any empty, unbroken and reasonably clean beverage container of the kind, size and brand sold by a dealer served by the center, or refuse to pay in cash the full refund value of the returned beverage container as established by Section 322 of Chapter 94 of the General Laws.
(e) A list of the dealers served and the kinds, sizes and brand names accepted shall be promptly displayed at each local redemption centers.
(f) The name and location of the redemption center serving the dealer shall be conspicuously displayed at the dealer.
SECTION 10. Section 327 of Chapter 94 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the first paragraph the following new paragraphs:— The Department of Environmental Protection shall have authority to enforce the provisions of sections three hundred and twenty-one; three hundred and twenty-two; paragraphs (a) through (f) inclusive, and paragraph (i) of section three hundred and twenty-three; three hundred and twenty-three A; three hundred and twenty-three F; three hundred and twenty-four; and three hundred and twenty-five. Any bottler, distributor, redemption center, or dealer who violates any of the foregoing provisions shall be subject to an administrative penalty for each violation of not more than one thousand dollars.
The Department of Revenue shall have authority to enforce the provisions of paragraphs (g) and (h) of section three hundred and twenty-three and sections three hundred and twenty-three B to three hundred and twenty-three E, inclusive. Any bottler, distributor, redemption center, or dealer who violates any of the foregoing provisions shall be subject to an administrative penalty for each violation of not more than one thousand dollars.
SECTION 11. Section 327 of Chapter 94 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding after the word “civil” in line 14 the words “or administrative.”
SECTION 12. Section 323F. of Chapter 94 of the General Laws, is hereby amended by replacing the existing text with the following:
(a) There shall be established on the books of the Commonwealth a separate fund to be known as the Clean Environment Fund as established in Section 323D of Chapter 94 of the General Laws. Amounts deposited in said fund shall be used, subject to appropriation, solely for programs and projects in the management of solid waste and for environmental protection; provided, however, that no funds shall be used for costs associated with incineration.
(b) Not less than fifty percent of amounts deposited in the Fund shall be used for recycling, composting and solid waste source reduction projects and programs.
(c) Not less than an additional twenty percent of amounts deposited in the Fund shall be used for recycling and other solid waste projects and programs.
(d) Not more than thirty percent of amounts deposited in the fund shall be used for other environmental programs consistent with the purposes of the ""bottle bill'', so-called.
(e) Of amounts expended under paragraphs (b) through (d), not more than fifty percent shall be used for debt service on capital outlays authorized prior to January first, nineteen hundred and eighty-eight.
SECTION 13. This act shall take effect on December first, two thousand eleven.
Senate Bill 2547
PDF Version [239kb]
