Relating to the redemption of and payment of refund value on beverage containers, making appropriations, providing penalties, and including effective date provisions

Under current law, a consumer may return an empty beverage container upon which a 5-cent refund value has been paid to a dealer or a redemption center. When a distributor collects empty beverage containers from a dealer, dealer agent, or redemption center, the distributor reimburses the dealer, dealer agent, or redemption center the refund value plus a 1-cent handling fee for each empty beverage container. Current law also allows any person to establish a redemption center that serves a dealer if it is approved by the department of natural resources. Any person may also establish an unapproved redemption center. DIVISION I. This bill increases the handling fee to cents, but only when paid to a redemption center. The bill provides that a dealer may choose to not accept beverage containers if a redemption center is located within a 20-mile radius of the dealer. The bill makes numerous changes throughout Code chapter 455C to change instances of “dealer” to “participating dealer”, remove obsolete language, and stylistically and grammatically update the Code chapter. This division of the bill takes effect July 1, 2022. DIVISION II. The bill repeals the current beverage container control law (Code chapter 455C) on January 1, 2023, and makes corresponding changes. DIVISION III. The bill creates a new Code chapter 123B to place beverage container control provisions under the authority of the alcoholic beverages division (ABD) within the department of commerce. Under the new beverage container control provisions, a dealer shall submit to the department of revenue on a monthly basis receipts indicating the number of beverage containers sold by the dealer and the 5-cent refund value collected for each beverage container sold by the dealer. The department of revenue shall credit monthly to the treasurer of state for deposit in the bottle bill deposit fund established in the bill the refund value collected from dealers. A consumer may redeem the refund value by returning an empty beverage container to a redemption center. After payment of the refund value by a redemption center to a consumer, the redemption center shall dispose of empty beverage containers by transporting the beverage containers to a recycling site. After a redemption center provides proof of recycling, ABD shall reimburse the redemption center the refund value paid to consumers and a handling fee provided by rule. The reimbursement shall be paid from the bottle bill deposit fund established in the bill. This division of the bill does not require a distributor to pick up beverage containers and reimburse redemption centers. The bill requires ABD to establish and administer a refund value payment program for the purpose of administering payments of refund value and handling fees to redemption centers. The bill establishes a bottle bill deposit fund in the state treasury under the control of the division. Moneys in the bottle bill deposit fund may be used for purposes of issuing refund value and the handling fee to a redemption center, covering administrative costs to administer the program, annually transferring moneys to the taxpayer relief fund, and replenishing the bottle bill cash reserve account established within the fund. The bill requires ABD to require by rule registration of the universal product code for each beverage container in a format required by ABD. The bill requires the alcoholic beverages commission, at the recommendation of ABD, to adopt rules to carry out this division of the bill. The bill provides penalty provisions primarily based on simple misdemeanors and fraudulent practices in current Code chapter 455C, but also creates the fraudulent practice of intentionally submitting to ABD a request for reimbursement of refund value that does not accurately reflect the number of beverage containers collected and recycled by a redemption center for the period that the redemption center seeks reimbursement. The bill also provides for civil enforcement by ABD, including the imposition of civil penalties not to exceed $2,000. This division of the bill takes effect January 1, 2023.