[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1867 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1867

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to encourage greater recycling of 
     certain beverage containers through the use of deposit refund 
                              incentives.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

            November 14 (legislative day, November 12), 2003

Mr. Jeffords (for himself, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Lieberman, and Mr. 
Akaka) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 
            to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to encourage greater recycling of 
     certain beverage containers through the use of deposit refund 
                              incentives.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Beverage Producer 
Responsibility Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the beverage industry has an established and effective 
        marketing infrastructure that provides a wide range of beverage 
        products at affordable prices to consumers in the United 
        States;
            (2) the absence of a beverage industry infrastructure for 
        recovering used beverage containers has--
                    (A) placed undue burdens on local waste authorities 
                and, in turn, taxpayers;
                    (B) failed to provide any incentive for the 
                beverage industry to reduce waste by taking 
                responsibility for collecting, recycling, and reusing 
                beverage containers; and
                    (C) resulted in tens of billions of unrecycled 
                beverage containers per year, including 120,000,000,000 
                unrecycled beverage containers in 2001;
            (3) 11 States have enacted laws designed to protect the 
        environment, conserve energy and material resources, and reduce 
        waste by requiring--
                    (A) beverage consumers to pay a deposit on the 
                purchase of beverage containers; and
                    (B) the beverage industry to pay a refund on used 
                beverage containers that are returned for reuse and 
                recycling;
            (4) those laws, based on deposit systems originally devised 
        by the beverage industry to recover used bottles, have been 
        shown to be the most effective and sustainable means for 
        achieving high rates of beverage container reuse and recycling, 
        especially the increasing proportion of beverages consumed away 
        from the home;
            (5) increasing exiting rates of reuse and recycling of 
        beverage containers to 80 percent would--
                    (A) save the equivalent of approximately 
                300,000,000 barrels of oil in the next decade, in 
                addition to the quantity of oil that is already being 
                saved through existing recycling efforts;
                    (B) reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 
                4,000,000 tons annually, in addition to the 4,000,000 
                tons of emissions already being avoided through current 
                recycling efforts;
                    (C) save an additional energy equivalent of 
                25,000,000 barrels of crude oil each year, which is 
                enough to meet the total residential energy needs of 
                1,500,000 households in the United States for a year; 
                and
                    (D) dramatically reduce, by as much as 84 percent, 
                road side litter of beverage containers in States that 
                do not have in effect a law regulating the recycling of 
                beverage containers;
            (6) a beverage container reuse and recycling system 
        designed by brand owners could--
                    (A) be seamlessly integrated with the national and 
                regional marketing systems of the brand owners;
                    (B) maximize recycling efficiency; and
                    (C) minimize costs of compliance with a patchwork 
                of State recycling programs; and
            (7) a national system of beverage container reuse and 
        recycling is consistent with the intent of the Solid Waste 
        Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.) and the goals established 
        by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, 
        including the national goal of 35 percent source reduction and 
        recycling by 2005.

SEC. 3. BEVERAGE CONTAINER REUSE AND RECYCLING.

    (a) In General.--The Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et 
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

          ``Subtitle K--Beverage Container Reuse and Recycling

``SEC. 12001. DEFINITIONS.

    ``In this subtitle:
            ``(1) Beverage.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `beverage' means a 
                nonalcoholic or alcoholic carbonated or noncarbonated 
                liquid that is intended for human consumption.
                    ``(B) Exclusions.--The term `beverage' does not 
                include milk or any other dairy or dairy-derived 
                product.
            ``(2) Beverage container.--The term `beverage container' 
        means a container that--
                    ``(A) is constructed primarily of metal, glass, 
                plastic, or paper (or a combination of those 
                materials);
                    ``(B) has a capacity of not more than 1 gallon of 
                liquid; and
                    ``(C) on or after the date of enactment of this 
                subtitle--
                            ``(i) may contain or contains a beverage; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) is offered for sale or sold in 
                        interstate commerce.
            ``(3) Brand owner.--The term `brand owner' means a person 
        that manufactures or imports for resale in interstate commerce 
        a beverage sold in a beverage container.
            ``(4) Management plan.--The term `management plan' means a 
        management plan submitted under section 12004.
            ``(5) Redemption rate.--The term `redemption rate' means 
        the percentage obtained by dividing--
                    ``(A) the number of beverage containers of a brand 
                owner returned for a refund under section 12005(b)(2) 
                in a calendar year; by
                    ``(B) the number of beverage containers of the 
                brand owner for which a deposit was collected under 
                section 12005(a)(1) in the calendar year.
            ``(6) Refund value.--The term `refund value' means the 
        refund value of a beverage container determined in accordance 
        with section 12006.
            ``(7) Return site.--The term `return site' means an 
        operation, facility, or retail store, or an association of 
        operations, facilities, or retail stores, that--
                    ``(A) is identified in an approved management plan; 
                and
                    ``(B) is operating under contract entered into by 
                the return site and a brand owner to collect and redeem 
                empty beverage containers.
            ``(8) Seller.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `seller' means a person 
                that sells a beverage in a beverage container.
                    ``(B) Inclusions.--The term `seller' includes all 
                members of the supply chain.
            ``(9) Unbroken beverage container.--The term `unbroken 
        beverage container' includes a beverage container that has been 
        opened in a manner in which the beverage container was designed 
        to be opened.

``SEC. 12002. RESPONSIBILITIES OF BRAND OWNERS.

    ``(a) In General.--Each brand owner shall implement an effective 
redemption, transportation, processing, marketing, and reporting system 
for the reuse and recycling of used beverage containers of the brand 
owner.
    ``(b) Prohibition of Post-Redemption Landfilling or Incineration.--
No brand owner or beverage container agency shall dispose of any 
beverage container labeled in accordance with section 12003 in any 
landfill or other solid waste disposal facility.

``SEC. 12003. BEVERAGE CONTAINER LABELING.

    ``(a) In General.--No brand owner may sell or offer for sale in 
interstate commerce a beverage in a beverage container unless a 
statement of the refund value of the beverage container is clearly, 
prominently, and securely affixed to, printed on, or embossed on the 
beverage container.
    ``(b) Size and Location of Refund Value Statement.--The 
Administrator shall promulgate regulations establishing uniform 
standards for the size and appropriate location on beverage containers 
of the refund value statement required under subsection (a).

``SEC. 12004. MANAGEMENT PLANS.

    ``(a) Submission of Plans.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
of enactment of this subtitle, each brand owner shall submit to the 
Administrator--
            ``(1) a management plan, in such form as the Administrator 
        may prescribe, for the collection, transport, reuse, and 
        recycling of beverage containers that the brand owner sells 
        into interstate commerce; and
            ``(2) a fee, in such amount as the Administrator may 
        establish by regulation, to cover administrative costs relating 
        to administration of the management plan.
    ``(b) Contents of Plan.--A management plan submitted under this 
section shall--
            ``(1) include--
                    ``(A) the name, and address for service of process, 
                of the brand owner submitting the management plan;
                    ``(B) the name and title of a contact person at the 
                brand owner;
                    ``(C) the name and corporate address of each brand 
                owner covered by the management plan; and
                    ``(D) the brand name of each beverage covered by 
                the management plan;
            ``(2) provide--
                    ``(A) a proposed implementation date for the 
                management plan; and
                    ``(B) appropriate documentation of such agreements 
                entered into by the beverage container agency and 
                return site operators as will take effect as of the 
                date of implementation of the management plan; and
            ``(3) include a description of--
                    ``(A) the ways in which the beverage container 
                agency intends to make the use of return sites 
                convenient for consumers of beverages covered by the 
                management plan in all areas of interstate commerce;
                    ``(B) the ways in which the beverage container 
                agency intends to achieve, not later than 2 years after 
                the date of implementation of the management plan, a 
                recovery rate of at least 80 percent; and
                    ``(C) the ways in which the beverage container 
                agency will manage beverage containers returned under 
                the management plan in an environmentally responsible 
                manner.
    ``(c) Changes in Information.--Each beverage container agency that 
submits a management plan under this section shall promptly notify the 
Administrator, in writing, of any change in the information provided 
under subsection (b)(1).
    ``(d) Approval of Management Plans.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Administrator shall approve or 
        disapprove each management plan submitted under this section.
            ``(2) Determination.--In determining whether to approve or 
        disapprove a management plan, the Administrator may return the 
        management plan to the beverage container agency--
                    ``(A) with a request for additional information; or
                    ``(B) for amendment.
            ``(3) Disapproval.--If the Administrator disapproves a 
        management plan, the Administrator shall, not later than 60 
        days after the date of disapproval, provide to the beverage 
        container agency that submitted the management plan a written 
        explanation of the reasons for disapproval.
    ``(e) Implementation of Management Plans.--
            ``(1) In general.--A brand owner that, on or before the 
        date of enactment of this subtitle, is selling in interstate 
        commerce a beverage in a beverage container, shall--
                    ``(A) upon submission of the management plan, 
                implement the management plan in accordance with the 
                implementation date proposed by the brand owner under 
                subsection (b)(2)(A).
                    ``(B) upon approval of the management plan by the 
                Administrator, implement the management plan as 
                approved under subsection (d).
            ``(2) New brand owners.--A brand owner that proposes, after 
        the date of enactment of this subtitle, to sell in interstate 
        commerce a beverage in a beverage container shall--
                    ``(A) have, as of the date on which the brand owner 
                commences the selling of the beverage, a management 
                plan that has been approved by the Administrator; and
                    ``(B) implement the management plan in accordance 
                with the implementation date proposed in the management 
                plan under subsection (b)(2)(A).
            ``(3) Prohibition.--No brand owner shall sell in interstate 
        commerce any beverage in a beverage container--
                    ``(A) except as in accordance with paragraph (1) or 
                (2), as appropriate; or
                    ``(B) on or after the implementation date proposed 
                in a management plan of the brand owner under 
                subsection (b)(2)(A), if the Administrator has not 
                approved the management plan.
    ``(f) Report.--
            ``(1) In general.--Each beverage container agency the 
        management plan of which is approved and implemented under this 
        section shall, not later than March 31 of each year after the 
        implementation date of the management plan, submit to the 
        Administrator a report that describes the effectiveness of the 
        management plan during the preceding calendar year.
            ``(2) Information.--The report shall include--
                    ``(A) for each type of beverage container returned, 
                the recovery rate--
                            ``(i) expressed as a percentage; and
                            ``(ii) audited by an entity independent of 
                        the brand owner; and
                    ``(B) annual financial statements, prepared by an 
                entity independent of the beverage container agency, of 
                all deposits received and refunds paid by each brand 
                owner subject to the management plan.
            ``(3) Public availability.--The Administrator shall make 
        available to the public the information described in paragraph 
        (2).

``SEC. 12005. DEPOSIT AND REFUND.

    ``(a) Deposit.--
            ``(1) In general.--On and after the implementation date of 
        any approved management plan to which a seller is subject, the 
        seller shall collect from each purchaser of a beverage in a 
        beverage container, at the time of sale, a deposit in an amount 
        that is not more than the refund value of the beverage 
        container.
            ``(2) Documentation.--A deposit collected under paragraph 
        (1) shall be indicated on the receipt of the purchaser, if a 
        receipt is given for the purchase.
            ``(3) Exception.--This subsection shall not apply to a case 
        in which a beverage in a beverage container is sold for 
        consumption, and is consumed, on the premises of the seller.
    ``(b) Refund.--On and after the implementation date of an approved 
management plan, a beverage container return site covered by the 
management plan shall--
            ``(1) accept unbroken beverage containers for return; and
            ``(2) pay to a person returning beverage containers an 
        amount, in cash or in the form of a voucher redeemable for cash 
        on demand, that is equal to the total of the refund values 
        affixed to, printed on, or embossed on, each container returned 
        by the person.
    ``(c) Acceptable Beverage Containers.--A return site shall not be 
required to accept or pay a refund for a beverage container under this 
section if, as determined by the return site, the beverage container--
            ``(1) is contaminated or, for hygienic reasons, is 
        unsuitable for recycling;
            ``(2) can be reasonably identified as a container that was 
        purchased outside the United States; or
            ``(3) cannot be reasonably identified as a container to 
        which this subtitle applies.

``SEC. 12006. REFUND VALUE.

    ``(a) In General.--The refund value of a beverage container shall 
be the greater of--
            ``(1) 10 cents; or
            ``(2) an adjusted value determined under subsection (b).
    ``(b) Adjustment.--The Administrator shall--
            ``(1) adjust the amount of the refund value of a beverage 
        container under subsection (a) on the date that is 10 years 
        after the date of enactment of this subtitle, and every 10 
        years thereafter, to reflect changes during those 10-year 
        periods in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers 
        published by the Department of Labor; and
            ``(2) round any adjustment under paragraph (1) to the 
        nearest 5-cent increment.

``SEC. 12007. REDEMPTION RATES.

    ``(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsections (b) and (c), 
in a case in which a brand owner complies with each provision of this 
subtitle, but fails to achieve a redemption rate of at least 80 percent 
for beverage containers of the brand owner during a calendar year, the 
Administrator may require that the brand owner pay to each State an 
amount equal to the difference between--
            ``(1) the amount of deposits collected on beverage 
        containers of the brand owner that were sold in the State; and
            ``(2) the amount of refunds paid on those beverage 
        containers.
    ``(b) Reuse Rate Adjustment.--The minimum recovery rate required to 
be achieved by a brand owner under subsection (a) shall be reduced by 1 
percentage point for each percentage point increase in the use by the 
brand owner of refillable beverage containers.

``SEC. 12008. OTHER MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENTS.

    ``(a) Disputes.--If a dispute arises under this subtitle between, 
and cannot be resolved by, a brand owner and a return site, the 
beverage container agency or the return site shall refer the matter to 
binding arbitration.
    ``(b) Confidentiality.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), 
        each person acting under the authority of this subtitle shall 
        keep confidential all facts, information, and records obtained 
        or provided under this subtitle.
            ``(2) Exception.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply in a case 
        in which public duty requires, or any regulation promulgated by 
        the Administrator under this subtitle permits, the disclosure 
        of any facts, information, or records described in that 
        paragraph.

``SEC. 12009. REPORT BY ADMINISTRATOR.

    ``Not later than October 31, 2005, and annually thereafter, the 
Administrator shall submit to Congress a report that describes--
            ``(1) the recovery rate for beverage containers during the 
        year covered by the report; and
            ``(2) the extent to which beverage container collection is 
        proceeding in accordance with this subtitle.

``SEC. 12010. RETENTION OF STATE AUTHORITY.

    ``Nothing in this subtitle prohibits any State or political 
subdivision from imposing any requirement that is not inconsistent with 
this subtitle.

``SEC. 12011. PENALTIES.

    ``Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act--
            ``(1) a person that violates any provision of this subtitle 
        (other than section 12004(f)) shall be subject to a civil 
        penalty of not more than $1,000 for each violation; and
            ``(2) a person that violates section 12004(f) shall be 
        subject to a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 for each 
        violation.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of contents for the Solid 
Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. prec. 6901) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:

          ``Subtitle K--Beverage Container Reuse and Recycling

        ``Sec. 12001. Definitions.
        ``Sec. 12002. Responsibilities of brand owners.
        ``Sec. 12003. Beverage container labeling.
        ``Sec. 12004. Management plans.
        ``Sec. 12005. Deposit and refund.
        ``Sec. 12006. Refund value.
        ``Sec. 12007. Redemption rates.
        ``Sec. 12008. Other management requirements.
        ``Sec. 12009. Report by Administrator.
        ``Sec. 12010. Retention of State authority.
        ``Sec. 12011. Penalties.''.
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