HB 1621-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2008 SESSION
06/10
HOUSE BILL 1621-FN
AN ACT relative to requiring a refundable deposit on beverage containers.
SPONSORS: Rep. Hall, Hills 5; Rep. Estes, Graf 7
COMMITTEE: Environment and Agriculture
This bill requires a refundable deposit on beverage containers.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
08-2289
06/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eight
AN ACT relative to requiring a refundable deposit on beverage containers.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Chapter; Returnable Beverage Containers. Amend RSA by inserting after chapter 429 the following new chapter:
CHAPTER 429-A
RETURNABLE BEVERAGE CONTAINERS
429-A:1 Definitions. In this chapter:
I. “Beverage” means any ready-to-drink liquid intended for human consumption, including beer, ale, wine, wine cooler, soda, water (carbonated and noncarbonated), juice, milk, and any nonalcoholic carbonated or noncarbonated drink in liquid form.
II. “Beverage container” means an individual, separate bottle, can, or jar, that has been sealed by a manufacturer, contains a beverage, and is made of glass, non-aluminum metal, or plastic. Containers up to and including 2-liter soda and juice bottles are included. “Beverage container” does not include cups or other similar open or loosely sealed receptacles, or containers designed for repeated use.
III. “Department” means the department of agriculture, markets and food.
IV. “Empty beverage container” means a beverage container that has been opened, does not contain foreign materials other than the residue of the original beverage, and has a message indicating that it is a deposit bottle in New Hampshire with a specific redemption value.
429-A:2 Refund Value. An empty beverage container may be exchanged for the refund amount of $.05 at specified redemption centers.
429-A:3 Duties of Retailers.
I. Retailers shall pay to the distributor deposits equal to the value of the refunds when the retailer purchases beverages from a distributor, and shall receive deposits from consumers at the time of sale.
II. Retailers shall identify, by a clear and conspicuous sign at the retailer’s place of business, the address of one or more redemption centers, including the one nearest to the retailer that redeems all types of empty beverage containers at one location.
429-A:4 Duties of Distributors.
I. Within 10 days of the end of each month and in a form and manner to be determined by the department, a distributor shall pay to the department the refund value of every beverage container sold or transferred to a retailer, less one percent for the distributor’s administrative costs.
II. Whenever any retailer or group of retailers receives a shipment or consignment of, or in any other manner acquires, beverage containers outside the state for sale to consumers in the state, such retailer shall comply with paragraph I as if the retailer were a distributor, as well as a retailer.
429-A:5 Beverage Container Litter Reduction Fund.
I. The beverage container litter reduction fund shall be established and administered by the department. The fund shall consist of refund values remitted by distributors to the department under this chapter. The fund shall be nonlapsing and continually appropriated to the department for purposes of this section. Interest earned shall accrue to the fund.
II. The fund shall be used for the following:
(a) Costs of administration by the department.
(b) Payments to certified redemption centers as reimbursement for refund values.
III. After all expenditures, the balance remaining in the beverage container litter reduction fund shall be credited to the unredeemed beverage container deposits fund.
429-A:6 Unredeemed Beverage Container Deposits Account. The unredeemed beverage container deposits fund shall be established and administered by the department. The fund shall be nonlapsing and continually appropriated to the department for purposes of this section. The unredeemed beverage container deposits fund may be used for the following purposes:
I. Urban, rural, and recreational litter abatement, and recycling activities or grants.
II. Recycling information, education, and promotion.
III. Incentive payments to encourage the establishment of certified redemption centers in convenient zones in underserved or rural areas.
IV. Public education programs directed at reducing litter.
429-A:7 Redemption Centers.
I. The department shall, on a statewide basis:
(a) Designate convenience zones, with each convenience zone having at least one redemption center.
(b) Update convenience zone designations and maps as necessary.
(c) Develop and maintain a list of supermarkets and identify supermarket locations only for the purpose of providing a reference point in the establishment of convenience zones.
II. The department shall work to promote the establishment of redemption centers that satisfy the needs of this program. The redemption center shall pay to the consumer the refund value in cash, or equivalent value, at one location for all types of empty beverage containers. The redemption center may pay the refund value based on the weight of the empty beverage containers.
III. The department shall reimburse the redemption center the refund value for every empty beverage container received by the redemption center from consumers and from drop-off or collection programs, plus 2 percent of the refund value for administrative costs. The funds for the administrative costs will come from unredeemed deposits that were made on containers at the time of purchase.
2 New Subparagraphs; Beverage Container Litter Reduction Fund. Amend RSA 6:12, I(b) by inserting after subparagraph (268) the following new subparagraphs:
(269) Moneys received under RSA 429-A:5, which shall be credited to the beverage container litter reduction fund.
(270) Moneys received under RSA 429-A:6, which shall be credited to the unredeemed beverage container deposits account.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
LBAO
08-2289.0
Revised 12/26/07
HB 1621 FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to requiring a refundable deposit on beverage containers.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Environmental Services, New Hampshire State Liquor Commission, and Department of Agriculture state this bill would decrease state general fund revenue, increase state restricted revenue and state expenditures, and decrease local revenue by an indeterminable amount in FY 2009 and each year thereafter. This bill may also have an indeterminable fiscal impact on local expenditures in FY 2009 and each year thereafter. This bill will have no fiscal impact on county revenue or expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department of Environmental Services and New Hampshire State Liquor Commission state this bill requires a refundable deposit on beverage containers. RSA 178:26 reduces the fee on alcoholic beverages from $0.30 to $0.18 per gallon if mandatory deposit legislation is enacted. As a result, this bill will decrease alcohol beverage fee (“beer tax”) revenue deposited into the state general fund. The Department of Environmental Services estimates that state general fund revenue will decrease by approximately $3,360,000 annually (based on a volume of 28 million gallons), while the New Hampshire State Liquor Commission estimates state general fund revenue will decrease by approximately $4,980,000 annually (based on a volume of 41.5 million gallons). The Liquor Commission also states there will be a cost to upgrade their accounting point of sale (POS) system for wholesale and retail refund reporting requirements.
The Department of Environmental Services and the Department of Agriculture state this bill would require distributors to pay the Department of Agriculture the refund value of every beverage container sold or transferred to a retailer, less 1% for the distributor’s administrative costs. The Departments assume a refund value/deposit amount of $0.05 per eligible container. These payments would be deposited into a newly established beverage container litter reduction (BCLR) fund which would be nonlapsing and continually appropriated to the Department of Agriculture. The fund would be used for costs of administration by the Department, and payments to certified redemption centers as reimbursement for refund values. The bill states that redemption centers would also receive 2% of the refund values for administrative costs. After all expenditures, any balance remaining in the BCLR fund would be credited to a newly established unredeemed beverage container deposits (UBCD) fund, which would be nonlapsing and continually appropriated to the Department of Agriculture. The UBCD fund would be used for urban, rural, and recreational litter abatement, and recycling activities or grants; recycling information, education, and promotion; incentive payments to encourage the establishment of certified redemption centers in convenient zones in underserved or rural areas; and public education programs directed at reducing litter.
The Department of Agriculture estimates net revenue from distributors (after allowing 1% administrative costs) to the BCLR fund would total approximately $49,500,000 annually based on 1,000,000,000 eligible containers. The Department assumes there would be a 93% redemption rate, and as a result redemption centers would be reimbursed approximately $46,035,000 for refund values, plus 2% of those values or $920,700 for administrative costs. This would result in total BCLR expenditures to redemption centers of $46,955,700 annually. This bill also allows the Department of Agriculture to use the BCLR fund for costs of administration. The Department states they would need to hire seven positions to carry out the provisions of this bill, including a supervisor (Labor Grade 19), a clerical position (Labor Grade 11), four inspector positions (Labor Grade 17), and an accountant (Labor Grade 16). Assuming benefits at 48.3% of salary, and annual step increases the Department estimates salary and benefit costs for these positions would total $318,306 in FY 2009, $339,937 in FY 2010, $353,500 in FY 2011, and $367,872 in FY 2012. In addition, in FY 2009 the Department states they would need to purchase four vehicles at a one-time cost of $56,000, and computers at a one-time cost of $11,238. Current expense, in-state travel, and rental expenses would bring total Department administrative costs (including salary and benefits) to $425,344 in FY 2009, $381,057 in FY 2010, $395,996 in FY 2011, and $411,803 in FY 2012. As a result, the Department of Agriculture estimates the fiscal impact to the BCLR fund as follows:
FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012
Revenues to BCLR Fund
Distributor Payments $49,500,000 $49,500,000 $49,500,000 $49,500,000
Expenditures from BCLR Fund
Redemption Center Payments $46,955,700 $46,955,700 $46,955,700 $46,955,700
Dept. of Agriculture Costs $ 425,344 $ 381,057 $ 395,996 $ 411,803
Total BCLR Fund Expenditures $47,381,044 $47,336,757 $47,351,696 $47,367,503
The bill would require the balance remaining in the BCLR fund to be credited to the UBCD fund. Based on the figures above, the UBCD would be credited with approximately $2,118,956 in FY 2009, $2,163,243 in FY 2010, $2,148,304 in FY 2011, and $2,132,497 in FY 2012.
The Department of Environmental Services (DES) estimates net revenue from distributors (after allowing 1% administrative costs) to the BCLR fund would total approximately $44,797,500 in FY 2009 based on 905,000,000 eligible containers. DES assumes there would be an 80% redemption rate which they state is typical in other states that have bottle bills. As a result, it is estimated that redemption centers would be reimbursed approximately $35,838,000 for refund values, plus 2% of those values or $716,760 for administrative costs. This would result in total BCLR expenditures to redemption centers of $36,554,760 annually, and result in a balance in the BCLR fund of approximately $8,242,740 in FY 2009 before deducting Department of Agriculture administrative costs. The Department assumes refund values would increase by 5% annually.
In addition, DES states local revenue will decrease by approximately $2,060,071 in FY 2009 as a result of this bill due to the loss of marketable recyclables. The Department based these estimates on the recycled materials reported in the 2006 Annual Facility Reports which each municipality provides to the Department, and the value of recyclable materials obtained from data provided by the Northeast Resource Recovery Association and/or the Recyclenet Composite Index. Assuming a 5% annual increase, the Department estimates a decrease in local revenue of $2,060,071 in FY 2009, $2,163,074 in FY 2010, $2,271,228 in FY 2011, and $2,384,789 in FY 2012. The Department also states diversion to a redemption program of recyclables such as plastics and aluminum cans will remove the primary incentive to go to a single or dual stream recycling program which will raise the cost of these programs and have an indeterminable impact on municipalities. The Department states there may be an indeterminable cost avoidance to municipalities due to a reduction in tipping fees for each ton of waste that is either landfilled or incinerated. The exact fiscal impact cannot be determined at this time.