14580. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (d), the department
shall deposit all amounts paid as redemption payments by distributors
pursuant to Section 14574 and all other revenues received into the
California Beverage Container Recycling Fund, which is hereby created
in the State Treasury. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the
Government Code, the money in the fund is hereby continuously
appropriated to the department for expenditure without regard to
fiscal year for the following purposes:
(1) The payment of refund values and administrative fees to
processors pursuant to Section 14573.
(2) For a reserve for contingencies, which shall not be greater
than an amount equal to 5 percent of the total amount paid to
processors pursuant to Section 14573 during the preceding calendar
year, plus the interest earned on that amount.
(b) The money in the fund may be expended by the department for
the administration of this division only upon appropriation by the
Legislature in the annual Budget Act.
(c) After setting aside funds estimated to be needed for
expenditures authorized pursuant to this section, the department
shall set aside funds on a quarterly basis for the purposes specified
in Section 14581. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government
Code, that money is hereby continuously appropriated to the
department, without regard to fiscal year, for the purposes specified
in Section 14581.
(d) The department shall deposit all civil penalties or fines
collected pursuant to this division into the Penalty Account, which
is hereby created in the fund. The money in the Penalty Account may
be expended by the department only upon appropriation by the
Legislature, for purposes of this division.
(e) The Legislature finds and declares that the maintenance of the
fund is of the utmost importance to the state and that it is
essential that any money in the fund be used solely for the purposes
authorized in this division and should not be used, loaned, or
transferred for any other purpose.
14581. (a) Subject to the availability of funds, and pursuant to
subdivision (c), the department shall expend the moneys set aside in
the fund, pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 14580, for the
purposes of this section in the following manner:
(1) For each fiscal year commencing July 1, 2008, the department
may expend the amount necessary to make the required handling fee
payment pursuant to Section 14585.
(2) Fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) shall be expended
annually for payments for curbside programs and neighborhood dropoff
programs pursuant to Section 14549.6.
(3) (A) Fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000), plus the
proportional share of the cost-of-living adjustment, as provided in
subdivision (b), shall be expended annually in the form of grants for
beverage container litter reduction programs and recycling programs
issued to either of the following:
(i) Certified community conservation corps that were in existence
on September 30, 1999, or that are formed subsequent to that date,
that are designated by a city or a city and county to perform litter
abatement, recycling, and related activities, if the city or the city
and county has a population, as determined by the most recent
census, of more than 250,000 persons.
(ii) Community conservation corps that are designated by a county
to perform litter abatement, recycling, and related activities, and
are certified by the California Conservation Corps as having operated
for a minimum of two years and as meeting all other criteria of
Section 14507.5.
(B) Any grants provided pursuant to this paragraph shall not
comprise more than 75 percent of the annual budget of a community
conservation corps.
(C) For the 2009-10 fiscal year only, the eight million two
hundred fifty thousand dollars ($8,250,000) appropriated to the
California Conservation Corps for certified local conservation corps
by Item 3340-101-0133 of Sec. 2.00 of the 2009-10 Budget Act, as
added by Section 166 of Chapter 1 of the Fourth Extraordinary Session
of the Statutes of 2009, shall be in addition to the amounts
expended pursuant to paragraph (3).
(4) (A) Ten million five hundred thousand dollars ($10,500,000)
may be expended annually for payments of five thousand dollars
($5,000) to cities and ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for payments to
counties for beverage container recycling and litter cleanup
activities, or the department may calculate the payments to counties
and cities on a per capita basis, and may pay whichever amount is
greater, for those activities.
(B) Eligible activities for the use of these funds may include,
but are not necessarily limited to, support for new or existing
curbside recycling programs, neighborhood dropoff recycling programs,
public education promoting beverage container recycling, litter
prevention, and cleanup, cooperative regional efforts among two or
more cities or counties, or both, or other beverage container
recycling programs.
(C) These funds shall not be used for activities unrelated to
beverage container recycling or litter reduction.
(D) To receive these funds, a city, county, or city and county
shall fill out and return a funding request form to the department.
The form shall specify the beverage container recycling or litter
reduction activities for which the funds will be used.
(E) The department shall annually prepare and distribute a funding
request form to each city, county, or city and county. The form
shall specify the amount of beverage container recycling and litter
cleanup funds for which the jurisdiction is eligible. The form shall
not exceed one double-sided page in length, and may be submitted
electronically. If a city, county, or city and county does not return
the funding request form within 90 days of receipt of the form from
the department, the city, county, or city and county is not eligible
to receive the funds for that funding cycle.
(F) For the purposes of this paragraph, per capita population
shall be based on the population of the incorporated area of a city
or city and county and the unincorporated area of a county. The
department may withhold payment to any city, county, or city and
county that has prohibited the siting of a supermarket site, caused a
supermarket site to close its business, or adopted a land use policy
that restricts or prohibits the siting of a supermarket site within
its jurisdiction.
(5) (A) One million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) may
be expended annually in the form of grants for beverage container
recycling and litter reduction programs.
(B) Notwithstanding subdivision (f), the department shall not
expend funds pursuant to this paragraph for the 2010 and 2011
calendar years.
(6) (A) The department shall expend the amount necessary to pay
the processing payment established pursuant to Section 14575. The
department shall establish separate processing fee accounts in the
fund for each beverage container material type for which a processing
payment and processing fee are calculated pursuant to Section 14575,
or for which a processing payment is calculated pursuant to Section
14575 and a voluntary artificial scrap value is calculated pursuant
to Section 14575.1, into which account shall be deposited both of the
following:
(i) All amounts paid as processing fees for each beverage
container material type pursuant to Section 14575.
(ii) Funds equal to the difference between the amount in clause
(i) and the amount of the processing payments established in
subdivision (b) of Section 14575, and adjusted pursuant to paragraph
(2) of subdivision (c) of, and subdivision (f) of, Section 14575, to
reduce the processing fee to the level provided in subdivision (e) of
Section 14575, or to reflect the agreement by a willing purchaser to
pay a voluntary artificial scrap value pursuant to Section 14575.1.
(B) Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, the
moneys in each processing fee account are hereby continuously
appropriated to the department for expenditure without regard to
fiscal years, for purposes of making processing payments pursuant to
Section 14575.
(C) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section and
Section 14575, for the 2010 and 2011 calendar years, the total amount
that the department may expend to reduce the amount of processing
fees for each container type shall not exceed the total amount
expended to reduce processing fees in the 2008 calendar year.
(7) (A) Up to five million dollars ($5,000,000) may be annually
expended by the department for the purposes of undertaking a
statewide public education and information campaign aimed at
promoting increased recycling of beverage containers.
(B) Notwithstanding subdivision (f), the department shall not
expend funds pursuant to this paragraph for the 2010 and 2011
calendar years.
(8) Up to ten million dollars ($10,000,000) may be expended
annually by the department for quality incentive payments for empty
glass beverage containers pursuant to Section 14549.1.
(9) Up to twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) may be expended
annually by the department, until January 1, 2012, to issue grants
for recycling market development and expansion-related activities
aimed at increasing the recycling of beverage containers.
Notwithstanding subdivision (f), the department shall not expend any
funds pursuant to this paragraph for the 2010 and 2011 calendar
years. The activities that may be funded include, but are not limited
to, the following:
(A) Research and development of collecting, sorting, processing,
cleaning, or otherwise upgrading the market value of recycled
beverage containers.
(B) Identification, development, and expansion of markets for
recycled beverage containers.
(C) Research and development for products manufactured using
recycled beverage containers.
(D) Research and development to provide high-quality materials
that are substantially free of contamination.
(E) Payments to California manufacturers who recycle beverage
containers that are marked by resin type identification code "3," "4,"
"5," "6," or "7," pursuant to Section 18015.
(10) Up to ten million dollars ($10,000,000) may be expended
annually by the department for market development payments for empty
plastic beverage containers pursuant to Section 14549.2, until
January 1, 2012.
(11) (A) Up to twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) may be
expended from July 1, 2009, to January 1, 2012, inclusive, for either
of the following:
(i) Grants for beverage container recycling and litter reduction
programs that emphasize the greatest and most effective collection of
beverage containers per dollar spent to ensure the program's
performance and accountability.
(ii) Focused, regional community beverage container recycling and
litter reduction programs that enable the department to more
effectively organize the amount and type of resources needed for
regional and statewide efforts to increase recycling.
(B) The department shall require, as a condition of receiving
grant funds pursuant to subparagraph (A), each grant recipient to
submit a final report including, but not limited to, the grant
recipient's reported volumes of beverage containers recycled, where
applicable.
(C) On or before July 1, 2014, the department shall publish an
evaluation of all grants made pursuant to subparagraph (A). At a
minimum, the evaluation shall summarize each final report submitted
by each grantee pursuant to subparagraph (B) and assess whether the
grantee adequately met the scope and objectives outlined in the grant
agreement.
(D) Notwithstanding subdivision (f), the department shall not
expend funds pursuant to this paragraph for the 2010 and 2011
calendar years.
(b) The fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) that is set aside
pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) is a base amount that
the department shall adjust annually to reflect any increases or
decreases in the cost of living, as measured by the Department of
Labor, or a successor agency, of the federal government.
(c) (1) If the department determines, pursuant to a review made
pursuant to Section 14556, that there may be inadequate funds to pay
the payments required by this division, the department shall
immediately notify the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of
the Legislature regarding the inadequacy.
(2) On or before 180 days, but not less than 80 days, after the
notice is sent pursuant to paragraph (1), the department may reduce
or eliminate expenditures, or both, from the funds as necessary,
according to the procedure set forth in subdivision (d).
(d) If the department determines that there are insufficient funds
to make the payments specified pursuant to this section and Section
14575, the department shall reduce all payments proportionally.
(e) Prior to making an expenditure pursuant to paragraph (7) of
subdivision (a), the department shall convene an advisory committee
consisting of representatives of the beverage industry, beverage
container manufacturers, environmental organizations, the recycling
industry, nonprofit organizations, and retailers to advise the
department on the most cost-effective and efficient method of the
expenditure of the funds for that education and information campaign.
(f) Subject to the availability of funds, the department shall
retroactively pay in full any payments provided in this section that
have been proportionally reduced during the period of January 1,
2010, through June 30, 2010.
14582. The Recycling Infrastructure Loan Guarantee Account is
hereby created as a revolving account in the California Beverage
Container Recycling Fund, and the funds in that account are
continuously appropriated to the department to issue loan guarantees
for capital expenditures for new recycling infrastructure located in
the state. The department may issue a loan guarantee from the account
only if the department determines that the new recycling
infrastructure adds recycling capacity, results in remanufacturing
and reuse of beverage containers into new products, and complies with
all applicable laws and regulations.
14584. (a) Operators of reverse vending machines or processors may
apply to the California Pollution Control Financing Authority for
financing pursuant to Section 44526 of the Health and Safety Code, as
a means of obtaining capital for establishment of a convenience
network. For purposes of Section 44508 of the Health and Safety Code,
"project" includes the establishing of a recycling location pursuant
to the division.
(b) Corporations, companies, or individuals may apply for loan and
grant funds from the Energy Technologies Research, Development, and
Demonstration Account specified in Section 25683 by applying to the
State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission for
the purpose of demonstrating equipment for enhancing recycling
opportunities.
14585. (a) The department shall adopt guidelines and methods for
paying handling fees to supermarket sites, nonprofit convenience zone
recyclers, or rural region recyclers to provide an incentive for the
redemption of empty beverage containers in convenience zones. The
guidelines shall include, but not be limited to, all of the
following:
(1) Handling fees shall be paid on a monthly basis, in the form
and manner adopted by the department. The department shall require
that claims for the handling fee be filed with the department not
later than the first day of the second month following the month for
which the handling fee is claimed as a condition of receiving any
handling fee.
(2) (A) To be eligible for any handling fee, a supermarket site
recycling center, nonprofit convenience zone recycler, or rural
region recycler shall redeem not less than 60,000 beverage
containers, during the calendar month in which the handling fee is
claimed or have redeemed not less than an average of 60,000 beverage
containers per month during the previous 12 months.
(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply on and after July 1, 2008.
(3) (A) A beverage container with a capacity of 24 fluid ounces or
more shall be considered as two beverage containers for purposes of
determining the eligibility percentage, any handling fee
calculations, and payments.
(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply on and after July 1, 2008.
(4) The department shall determine the number of eligible
containers per site for which a handling fee will be paid in the
following manner:
(A) Each eligible site's combined monthly volume of glass and
plastic beverage containers shall be divided by the site's total
monthly volume of all empty beverage container types.
(B) If the quotient determined pursuant to subparagraph (A) is
equal to, or more than, 10 percent, the total monthly volume of the
site shall be the maximum volume which is eligible for a handling fee
for that month.
(C) If the quotient determined pursuant to subparagraph (A) is
less than 10 percent, the department shall divide the volume of glass
and plastic beverage containers by 10 percent. That quotient shall
be the maximum volume that is eligible for a handling fee for that
month.
(5) (A) From the effective date of the statute enacted by Assembly
Bill 3056 of the 2005-06 Regular Session to June 30, 2008,
inclusive, the department shall pay a handling fee of 1.8 cents
($0.018) per eligible beverage container, as determined pursuant to
paragraph (4).
(B) On and after July 1, 2008, the department shall pay a handling
fee per eligible container in the amount determined pursuant to
subdivision (f).
(6) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (5), the total handling fee
payment to a supermarket site, nonprofit convenience zone recycler,
or rural region recycler shall not exceed two thousand three hundred
dollars ($2,300) per month.
(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply on and after July 1, 2008.
(7) If the eligible volume in any given month would result in
handling fee payments that exceed the allocation of funds for that
month, as provided in subdivision (b), sites with higher eligible
monthly volumes shall receive handling fees for their entire eligible
monthly volume before sites with lower eligible monthly volumes
receive any handling fees.
(8) (A) If a dealer where a supermarket site, nonprofit
convenience zone recycler, or rural region recycler is located ceases
operation for remodeling or for a change of ownership, the operator
of that supermarket site nonprofit convenience zone recycler, or
rural region recycler shall be eligible to apply for handling fees
for that site for a period of three months following the date of the
closure of the dealer.
(B) Every supermarket site operator, nonprofit convenience zone
recycler, or rural region recycler shall promptly notify the
department of the closure of the dealer where the supermarket site,
nonprofit convenience zone recycler, or rural region recycler is
located.
(C) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), any operator who fails to
provide notification to the department pursuant to subparagraph (B)
shall not be eligible to apply for handling fees.
(b) The department may allocate the amount authorized for
expenditure for the payment of handling fees pursuant to paragraph
(1) of subdivision (a) of Section 14581 on a monthly basis and may
carry over any unexpended monthly allocation to a subsequent month or
months. However, unexpended monthly allocations shall not be carried
over to a subsequent fiscal year for the purpose of paying handling
fees but may be carried over for any other purpose pursuant to
Section 14581.
(c) (1) The department shall not make handling fee payments to
more than one certified recycling center in a convenience zone. If a
dealer is located in more than one convenience zone, the department
shall offer a single handling fee payment to a supermarket site
located at that dealer. This handling fee payment shall not be split
between the affected zones. The department shall stop making handling
fee payments if another recycling center certifies to operate within
the convenience zone without receiving payments pursuant to this
section, if the department monitors the performance of the other
recycling center for 60 days and determines that the recycling center
is in compliance with this division. Any recycling center that
locates in a convenience zone, thereby causing a preexisting
recycling center to become ineligible to receive handling fee
payments, is ineligible to receive any handling fee payments in that
convenience zone.
(2) The department shall offer a single handling fee payment to a
rural region recycler located anywhere inside a convenience zone, if
that convenience zone is not served by another certified recycling
center and the rural region recycler does either of the following:
(A) Operates a minimum of 30 hours per week in one convenience
zone.
(B) Serves two or more convenience zones, and meets all of the
following criteria:
(i) Is the only certified recycler within each convenience zone.
(ii) Is open and operating at least eight hours per week in each
convenience zone and is certified at each location.
(iii) Operates at least 30 hours per week in total for all
convenience zones served.
(d) The department may require the operator of a supermarket site
or rural region recycler receiving handling fees to maintain records
for each location where beverage containers are redeemed, and may
require the supermarket site or rural region recycler to take any
other action necessary for the department to determine that the
supermarket site or rural region recycler does not receive an
excessive handling fee.
(e) The department may determine and utilize a standard container
per pound rate, for each material type, for the purpose of
calculating volumes and making handling fee payments.
(f) (1) On or before January 1, 2008, and every two years
thereafter, the department shall conduct a survey pursuant to this
subdivision of a statistically significant sample of certified
recycling centers that receive handling fee payments to determine the
actual cost incurred for the redemption of empty beverage containers
by those certified recycling centers. The department shall conduct
these cost surveys in conjunction with the cost surveys performed by
the department pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 14575 to
determine processing payments and processing fees. The department
shall include, in determining the actual costs, only those allowable
costs contained in the regulations adopted pursuant to this division
that are used by the department to conduct cost surveys pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 14575.
(2) Using the information obtained pursuant to paragraph (1), the
department shall then determine the statewide weighted average cost
incurred for the redemption of empty beverage containers, per empty
beverage container, at recycling centers that receive handling fees.
(3) On and after July 1, 2008, the department shall determine the
amount of the handling fee to be paid for each empty beverage
container by subtracting the amount of the statewide weighted average
cost per container to redeem empty beverage containers by recycling
centers that do not receive handling fees from the amount of the
statewide weighted average cost per container determined pursuant to
paragraph (2).
(4) The department shall adjust the statewide average cost
determined pursuant to paragraph (2) for each beverage container
annually to reflect changes in the cost of living, as measured by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor
or a successor agency of the United States government.
(5) The cost information collected pursuant to this section at
recycling centers that receive handling fees shall not be used in the
calculation of the processing payments determined pursuant to
Section 14575.
14585.5. (a) The department shall not make handling fee payments to
a supermarket site if the department determines that all empty
beverage container types are not redeemed at the same physical
location within the recycling location.
(b) A supermarket site that redeems all empty beverage container
types at the same physical location within the recycling location,
and issues script to consumers which is required to be redeemed at a
nearby host business, is eligible to receive handling fee payments.
14586. This division does not create any guarantee of a continuing
level of support, or other obligation on the part of the State of
California, the department, or any agency thereof, to pay any
specified amount to any local conservation organization, community
conservation corps, or statewide nonprofit private agency.
14587. This division does not require or create any obligation that
payments made pursuant to this division to any local conservation
organization, community conservation corps, or statewide nonprofit
private agency in any given fiscal year be made in any subsequent
fiscal year at the same or greater level.
14580. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (d), the department
shall deposit all amounts paid as redemption payments by distributors
pursuant to Section 14574 and all other revenues received into the
California Beverage Container Recycling Fund, which is hereby created
in the State Treasury. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the
Government Code, the money in the fund is hereby continuously
appropriated to the department for expenditure without regard to
fiscal year for the following purposes:
(1) The payment of refund values and administrative fees to
processors pursuant to Section 14573.
(2) For a reserve for contingencies, which shall not be greater
than an amount equal to 5 percent of the total amount paid to
processors pursuant to Section 14573 during the preceding calendar
year, plus the interest earned on that amount.
(b) The money in the fund may be expended by the department for
the administration of this division only upon appropriation by the
Legislature in the annual Budget Act.
(c) After setting aside funds estimated to be needed for
expenditures authorized pursuant to this section, the department
shall set aside funds on a quarterly basis for the purposes specified
in Section 14581. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government
Code, that money is hereby continuously appropriated to the
department, without regard to fiscal year, for the purposes specified
in Section 14581.
(d) The department shall deposit all civil penalties or fines
collected pursuant to this division into the Penalty Account, which
is hereby created in the fund. The money in the Penalty Account may
be expended by the department only upon appropriation by the
Legislature, for purposes of this division.
(e) The Legislature finds and declares that the maintenance of the
fund is of the utmost importance to the state and that it is
essential that any money in the fund be used solely for the purposes
authorized in this division and should not be used, loaned, or
transferred for any other purpose.
14581. (a) Subject to the availability of funds, and pursuant to
subdivision (c), the department shall expend the moneys set aside in
the fund, pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 14580, for the
purposes of this section in the following manner:
(1) For each fiscal year commencing July 1, 2008, the department
may expend the amount necessary to make the required handling fee
payment pursuant to Section 14585.
(2) Fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) shall be expended
annually for payments for curbside programs and neighborhood dropoff
programs pursuant to Section 14549.6.
(3) (A) Fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000), plus the
proportional share of the cost-of-living adjustment, as provided in
subdivision (b), shall be expended annually in the form of grants for
beverage container litter reduction programs and recycling programs
issued to either of the following:
(i) Certified community conservation corps that were in existence
on September 30, 1999, or that are formed subsequent to that date,
that are designated by a city or a city and county to perform litter
abatement, recycling, and related activities, if the city or the city
and county has a population, as determined by the most recent
census, of more than 250,000 persons.
(ii) Community conservation corps that are designated by a county
to perform litter abatement, recycling, and related activities, and
are certified by the California Conservation Corps as having operated
for a minimum of two years and as meeting all other criteria of
Section 14507.5.
(B) Any grants provided pursuant to this paragraph shall not
comprise more than 75 percent of the annual budget of a community
conservation corps.
(C) For the 2009-10 fiscal year only, the eight million two
hundred fifty thousand dollars ($8,250,000) appropriated to the
California Conservation Corps for certified local conservation corps
by Item 3340-101-0133 of Sec. 2.00 of the 2009-10 Budget Act, as
added by Section 166 of Chapter 1 of the Fourth Extraordinary Session
of the Statutes of 2009, shall be in addition to the amounts
expended pursuant to paragraph (3).
(4) (A) Ten million five hundred thousand dollars ($10,500,000)
may be expended annually for payments of five thousand dollars
($5,000) to cities and ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for payments to
counties for beverage container recycling and litter cleanup
activities, or the department may calculate the payments to counties
and cities on a per capita basis, and may pay whichever amount is
greater, for those activities.
(B) Eligible activities for the use of these funds may include,
but are not necessarily limited to, support for new or existing
curbside recycling programs, neighborhood dropoff recycling programs,
public education promoting beverage container recycling, litter
prevention, and cleanup, cooperative regional efforts among two or
more cities or counties, or both, or other beverage container
recycling programs.
(C) These funds shall not be used for activities unrelated to
beverage container recycling or litter reduction.
(D) To receive these funds, a city, county, or city and county
shall fill out and return a funding request form to the department.
The form shall specify the beverage container recycling or litter
reduction activities for which the funds will be used.
(E) The department shall annually prepare and distribute a funding
request form to each city, county, or city and county. The form
shall specify the amount of beverage container recycling and litter
cleanup funds for which the jurisdiction is eligible. The form shall
not exceed one double-sided page in length, and may be submitted
electronically. If a city, county, or city and county does not return
the funding request form within 90 days of receipt of the form from
the department, the city, county, or city and county is not eligible
to receive the funds for that funding cycle.
(F) For the purposes of this paragraph, per capita population
shall be based on the population of the incorporated area of a city
or city and county and the unincorporated area of a county. The
department may withhold payment to any city, county, or city and
county that has prohibited the siting of a supermarket site, caused a
supermarket site to close its business, or adopted a land use policy
that restricts or prohibits the siting of a supermarket site within
its jurisdiction.
(5) (A) One million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) may
be expended annually in the form of grants for beverage container
recycling and litter reduction programs.
(B) Notwithstanding subdivision (f), the department shall not
expend funds pursuant to this paragraph for the 2010 and 2011
calendar years.
(6) (A) The department shall expend the amount necessary to pay
the processing payment established pursuant to Section 14575. The
department shall establish separate processing fee accounts in the
fund for each beverage container material type for which a processing
payment and processing fee are calculated pursuant to Section 14575,
or for which a processing payment is calculated pursuant to Section
14575 and a voluntary artificial scrap value is calculated pursuant
to Section 14575.1, into which account shall be deposited both of the
following:
(i) All amounts paid as processing fees for each beverage
container material type pursuant to Section 14575.
(ii) Funds equal to the difference between the amount in clause
(i) and the amount of the processing payments established in
subdivision (b) of Section 14575, and adjusted pursuant to paragraph
(2) of subdivision (c) of, and subdivision (f) of, Section 14575, to
reduce the processing fee to the level provided in subdivision (e) of
Section 14575, or to reflect the agreement by a willing purchaser to
pay a voluntary artificial scrap value pursuant to Section 14575.1.
(B) Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, the
moneys in each processing fee account are hereby continuously
appropriated to the department for expenditure without regard to
fiscal years, for purposes of making processing payments pursuant to
Section 14575.
(C) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section and
Section 14575, for the 2010 and 2011 calendar years, the total amount
that the department may expend to reduce the amount of processing
fees for each container type shall not exceed the total amount
expended to reduce processing fees in the 2008 calendar year.
(7) (A) Up to five million dollars ($5,000,000) may be annually
expended by the department for the purposes of undertaking a
statewide public education and information campaign aimed at
promoting increased recycling of beverage containers.
(B) Notwithstanding subdivision (f), the department shall not
expend funds pursuant to this paragraph for the 2010 and 2011
calendar years.
(8) Up to ten million dollars ($10,000,000) may be expended
annually by the department for quality incentive payments for empty
glass beverage containers pursuant to Section 14549.1.
(9) Up to twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) may be expended
annually by the department, until January 1, 2012, to issue grants
for recycling market development and expansion-related activities
aimed at increasing the recycling of beverage containers.
Notwithstanding subdivision (f), the department shall not expend any
funds pursuant to this paragraph for the 2010 and 2011 calendar
years. The activities that may be funded include, but are not limited
to, the following:
(A) Research and development of collecting, sorting, processing,
cleaning, or otherwise upgrading the market value of recycled
beverage containers.
(B) Identification, development, and expansion of markets for
recycled beverage containers.
(C) Research and development for products manufactured using
recycled beverage containers.
(D) Research and development to provide high-quality materials
that are substantially free of contamination.
(E) Payments to California manufacturers who recycle beverage
containers that are marked by resin type identification code "3," "4,"
"5," "6," or "7," pursuant to Section 18015.
(10) Up to ten million dollars ($10,000,000) may be expended
annually by the department for market development payments for empty
plastic beverage containers pursuant to Section 14549.2, until
January 1, 2012.
(11) (A) Up to twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) may be
expended from July 1, 2009, to January 1, 2012, inclusive, for either
of the following:
(i) Grants for beverage container recycling and litter reduction
programs that emphasize the greatest and most effective collection of
beverage containers per dollar spent to ensure the program's
performance and accountability.
(ii) Focused, regional community beverage container recycling and
litter reduction programs that enable the department to more
effectively organize the amount and type of resources needed for
regional and statewide efforts to increase recycling.
(B) The department shall require, as a condition of receiving
grant funds pursuant to subparagraph (A), each grant recipient to
submit a final report including, but not limited to, the grant
recipient's reported volumes of beverage containers recycled, where
applicable.
(C) On or before July 1, 2014, the department shall publish an
evaluation of all grants made pursuant to subparagraph (A). At a
minimum, the evaluation shall summarize each final report submitted
by each grantee pursuant to subparagraph (B) and assess whether the
grantee adequately met the scope and objectives outlined in the grant
agreement.
(D) Notwithstanding subdivision (f), the department shall not
expend funds pursuant to this paragraph for the 2010 and 2011
calendar years.
(b) The fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) that is set aside
pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) is a base amount that
the department shall adjust annually to reflect any increases or
decreases in the cost of living, as measured by the Department of
Labor, or a successor agency, of the federal government.
(c) (1) If the department determines, pursuant to a review made
pursuant to Section 14556, that there may be inadequate funds to pay
the payments required by this division, the department shall
immediately notify the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of
the Legislature regarding the inadequacy.
(2) On or before 180 days, but not less than 80 days, after the
notice is sent pursuant to paragraph (1), the department may reduce
or eliminate expenditures, or both, from the funds as necessary,
according to the procedure set forth in subdivision (d).
(d) If the department determines that there are insufficient funds
to make the payments specified pursuant to this section and Section
14575, the department shall reduce all payments proportionally.
(e) Prior to making an expenditure pursuant to paragraph (7) of
subdivision (a), the department shall convene an advisory committee
consisting of representatives of the beverage industry, beverage
container manufacturers, environmental organizations, the recycling
industry, nonprofit organizations, and retailers to advise the
department on the most cost-effective and efficient method of the
expenditure of the funds for that education and information campaign.
(f) Subject to the availability of funds, the department shall
retroactively pay in full any payments provided in this section that
have been proportionally reduced during the period of January 1,
2010, through June 30, 2010.
14582. The Recycling Infrastructure Loan Guarantee Account is
hereby created as a revolving account in the California Beverage
Container Recycling Fund, and the funds in that account are
continuously appropriated to the department to issue loan guarantees
for capital expenditures for new recycling infrastructure located in
the state. The department may issue a loan guarantee from the account
only if the department determines that the new recycling
infrastructure adds recycling capacity, results in remanufacturing
and reuse of beverage containers into new products, and complies with
all applicable laws and regulations.
14584. (a) Operators of reverse vending machines or processors may
apply to the California Pollution Control Financing Authority for
financing pursuant to Section 44526 of the Health and Safety Code, as
a means of obtaining capital for establishment of a convenience
network. For purposes of Section 44508 of the Health and Safety Code,
"project" includes the establishing of a recycling location pursuant
to the division.
(b) Corporations, companies, or individuals may apply for loan and
grant funds from the Energy Technologies Research, Development, and
Demonstration Account specified in Section 25683 by applying to the
State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission for
the purpose of demonstrating equipment for enhancing recycling
opportunities.
14585. (a) The department shall adopt guidelines and methods for
paying handling fees to supermarket sites, nonprofit convenience zone
recyclers, or rural region recyclers to provide an incentive for the
redemption of empty beverage containers in convenience zones. The
guidelines shall include, but not be limited to, all of the
following:
(1) Handling fees shall be paid on a monthly basis, in the form
and manner adopted by the department. The department shall require
that claims for the handling fee be filed with the department not
later than the first day of the second month following the month for
which the handling fee is claimed as a condition of receiving any
handling fee.
(2) (A) To be eligible for any handling fee, a supermarket site
recycling center, nonprofit convenience zone recycler, or rural
region recycler shall redeem not less than 60,000 beverage
containers, during the calendar month in which the handling fee is
claimed or have redeemed not less than an average of 60,000 beverage
containers per month during the previous 12 months.
(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply on and after July 1, 2008.
(3) (A) A beverage container with a capacity of 24 fluid ounces or
more shall be considered as two beverage containers for purposes of
determining the eligibility percentage, any handling fee
calculations, and payments.
(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply on and after July 1, 2008.
(4) The department shall determine the number of eligible
containers per site for which a handling fee will be paid in the
following manner:
(A) Each eligible site's combined monthly volume of glass and
plastic beverage containers shall be divided by the site's total
monthly volume of all empty beverage container types.
(B) If the quotient determined pursuant to subparagraph (A) is
equal to, or more than, 10 percent, the total monthly volume of the
site shall be the maximum volume which is eligible for a handling fee
for that month.
(C) If the quotient determined pursuant to subparagraph (A) is
less than 10 percent, the department shall divide the volume of glass
and plastic beverage containers by 10 percent. That quotient shall
be the maximum volume that is eligible for a handling fee for that
month.
(5) (A) From the effective date of the statute enacted by Assembly
Bill 3056 of the 2005-06 Regular Session to June 30, 2008,
inclusive, the department shall pay a handling fee of 1.8 cents
($0.018) per eligible beverage container, as determined pursuant to
paragraph (4).
(B) On and after July 1, 2008, the department shall pay a handling
fee per eligible container in the amount determined pursuant to
subdivision (f).
(6) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (5), the total handling fee
payment to a supermarket site, nonprofit convenience zone recycler,
or rural region recycler shall not exceed two thousand three hundred
dollars ($2,300) per month.
(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply on and after July 1, 2008.
(7) If the eligible volume in any given month would result in
handling fee payments that exceed the allocation of funds for that
month, as provided in subdivision (b), sites with higher eligible
monthly volumes shall receive handling fees for their entire eligible
monthly volume before sites with lower eligible monthly volumes
receive any handling fees.
(8) (A) If a dealer where a supermarket site, nonprofit
convenience zone recycler, or rural region recycler is located ceases
operation for remodeling or for a change of ownership, the operator
of that supermarket site nonprofit convenience zone recycler, or
rural region recycler shall be eligible to apply for handling fees
for that site for a period of three months following the date of the
closure of the dealer.
(B) Every supermarket site operator, nonprofit convenience zone
recycler, or rural region recycler shall promptly notify the
department of the closure of the dealer where the supermarket site,
nonprofit convenience zone recycler, or rural region recycler is
located.
(C) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), any operator who fails to
provide notification to the department pursuant to subparagraph (B)
shall not be eligible to apply for handling fees.
(b) The department may allocate the amount authorized for
expenditure for the payment of handling fees pursuant to paragraph
(1) of subdivision (a) of Section 14581 on a monthly basis and may
carry over any unexpended monthly allocation to a subsequent month or
months. However, unexpended monthly allocations shall not be carried
over to a subsequent fiscal year for the purpose of paying handling
fees but may be carried over for any other purpose pursuant to
Section 14581.
(c) (1) The department shall not make handling fee payments to
more than one certified recycling center in a convenience zone. If a
dealer is located in more than one convenience zone, the department
shall offer a single handling fee payment to a supermarket site
located at that dealer. This handling fee payment shall not be split
between the affected zones. The department shall stop making handling
fee payments if another recycling center certifies to operate within
the convenience zone without receiving payments pursuant to this
section, if the department monitors the performance of the other
recycling center for 60 days and determines that the recycling center
is in compliance with this division. Any recycling center that
locates in a convenience zone, thereby causing a preexisting
recycling center to become ineligible to receive handling fee
payments, is ineligible to receive any handling fee payments in that
convenience zone.
(2) The department shall offer a single handling fee payment to a
rural region recycler located anywhere inside a convenience zone, if
that convenience zone is not served by another certified recycling
center and the rural region recycler does either of the following:
(A) Operates a minimum of 30 hours per week in one convenience
zone.
(B) Serves two or more convenience zones, and meets all of the
following criteria:
(i) Is the only certified recycler within each convenience zone.
(ii) Is open and operating at least eight hours per week in each
convenience zone and is certified at each location.
(iii) Operates at least 30 hours per week in total for all
convenience zones served.
(d) The department may require the operator of a supermarket site
or rural region recycler receiving handling fees to maintain records
for each location where beverage containers are redeemed, and may
require the supermarket site or rural region recycler to take any
other action necessary for the department to determine that the
supermarket site or rural region recycler does not receive an
excessive handling fee.
(e) The department may determine and utilize a standard container
per pound rate, for each material type, for the purpose of
calculating volumes and making handling fee payments.
(f) (1) On or before January 1, 2008, and every two years
thereafter, the department shall conduct a survey pursuant to this
subdivision of a statistically significant sample of certified
recycling centers that receive handling fee payments to determine the
actual cost incurred for the redemption of empty beverage containers
by those certified recycling centers. The department shall conduct
these cost surveys in conjunction with the cost surveys performed by
the department pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 14575 to
determine processing payments and processing fees. The department
shall include, in determining the actual costs, only those allowable
costs contained in the regulations adopted pursuant to this division
that are used by the department to conduct cost surveys pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 14575.
(2) Using the information obtained pursuant to paragraph (1), the
department shall then determine the statewide weighted average cost
incurred for the redemption of empty beverage containers, per empty
beverage container, at recycling centers that receive handling fees.
(3) On and after July 1, 2008, the department shall determine the
amount of the handling fee to be paid for each empty beverage
container by subtracting the amount of the statewide weighted average
cost per container to redeem empty beverage containers by recycling
centers that do not receive handling fees from the amount of the
statewide weighted average cost per container determined pursuant to
paragraph (2).
(4) The department shall adjust the statewide average cost
determined pursuant to paragraph (2) for each beverage container
annually to reflect changes in the cost of living, as measured by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor
or a successor agency of the United States government.
(5) The cost information collected pursuant to this section at
recycling centers that receive handling fees shall not be used in the
calculation of the processing payments determined pursuant to
Section 14575.
14585.5. (a) The department shall not make handling fee payments to
a supermarket site if the department determines that all empty
beverage container types are not redeemed at the same physical
location within the recycling location.
(b) A supermarket site that redeems all empty beverage container
types at the same physical location within the recycling location,
and issues script to consumers which is required to be redeemed at a
nearby host business, is eligible to receive handling fee payments.
14586. This division does not create any guarantee of a continuing
level of support, or other obligation on the part of the State of
California, the department, or any agency thereof, to pay any
specified amount to any local conservation organization, community
conservation corps, or statewide nonprofit private agency.
14587. This division does not require or create any obligation that
payments made pursuant to this division to any local conservation
organization, community conservation corps, or statewide nonprofit
private agency in any given fiscal year be made in any subsequent
fiscal year at the same or greater level.
14580. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (d), the department
shall deposit all amounts paid as redemption payments by distributors
pursuant to Section 14574 and all other revenues received into the
California Beverage Container Recycling Fund, which is hereby created
in the State Treasury. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the
Government Code, the money in the fund is hereby continuously
appropriated to the department for expenditure without regard to
fiscal year for the following purposes:
(1) The payment of refund values and administrative fees to
processors pursuant to Section 14573.
(2) For a reserve for contingencies, which shall not be greater
than an amount equal to 5 percent of the total amount paid to
processors pursuant to Section 14573 during the preceding calendar
year, plus the interest earned on that amount.
(b) The money in the fund may be expended by the department for
the administration of this division only upon appropriation by the
Legislature in the annual Budget Act.
(c) After setting aside funds estimated to be needed for
expenditures authorized pursuant to this section, the department
shall set aside funds on a quarterly basis for the purposes specified
in Section 14581. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government
Code, that money is hereby continuously appropriated to the
department, without regard to fiscal year, for the purposes specified
in Section 14581.
(d) The department shall deposit all civil penalties or fines
collected pursuant to this division into the Penalty Account, which
is hereby created in the fund. The money in the Penalty Account may
be expended by the department only upon appropriation by the
Legislature, for purposes of this division.
(e) The Legislature finds and declares that the maintenance of the
fund is of the utmost importance to the state and that it is
essential that any money in the fund be used solely for the purposes
authorized in this division and should not be used, loaned, or
transferred for any other purpose.
14581. (a) Subject to the availability of funds, and pursuant to
subdivision (c), the department shall expend the moneys set aside in
the fund, pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 14580, for the
purposes of this section in the following manner:
(1) For each fiscal year commencing July 1, 2008, the department
may expend the amount necessary to make the required handling fee
payment pursuant to Section 14585.
(2) Fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) shall be expended
annually for payments for curbside programs and neighborhood dropoff
programs pursuant to Section 14549.6.
(3) (A) Fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000), plus the
proportional share of the cost-of-living adjustment, as provided in
subdivision (b), shall be expended annually in the form of grants for
beverage container litter reduction programs and recycling programs
issued to either of the following:
(i) Certified community conservation corps that were in existence
on September 30, 1999, or that are formed subsequent to that date,
that are designated by a city or a city and county to perform litter
abatement, recycling, and related activities, if the city or the city
and county has a population, as determined by the most recent
census, of more than 250,000 persons.
(ii) Community conservation corps that are designated by a county
to perform litter abatement, recycling, and related activities, and
are certified by the California Conservation Corps as having operated
for a minimum of two years and as meeting all other criteria of
Section 14507.5.
(B) Any grants provided pursuant to this paragraph shall not
comprise more than 75 percent of the annual budget of a community
conservation corps.
(C) For the 2009-10 fiscal year only, the eight million two
hundred fifty thousand dollars ($8,250,000) appropriated to the
California Conservation Corps for certified local conservation corps
by Item 3340-101-0133 of Sec. 2.00 of the 2009-10 Budget Act, as
added by Section 166 of Chapter 1 of the Fourth Extraordinary Session
of the Statutes of 2009, shall be in addition to the amounts
expended pursuant to paragraph (3).
(4) (A) Ten million five hundred thousand dollars ($10,500,000)
may be expended annually for payments of five thousand dollars
($5,000) to cities and ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for payments to
counties for beverage container recycling and litter cleanup
activities, or the department may calculate the payments to counties
and cities on a per capita basis, and may pay whichever amount is
greater, for those activities.
(B) Eligible activities for the use of these funds may include,
but are not necessarily limited to, support for new or existing
curbside recycling programs, neighborhood dropoff recycling programs,
public education promoting beverage container recycling, litter
prevention, and cleanup, cooperative regional efforts among two or
more cities or counties, or both, or other beverage container
recycling programs.
(C) These funds shall not be used for activities unrelated to
beverage container recycling or litter reduction.
(D) To receive these funds, a city, county, or city and county
shall fill out and return a funding request form to the department.
The form shall specify the beverage container recycling or litter
reduction activities for which the funds will be used.
(E) The department shall annually prepare and distribute a funding
request form to each city, county, or city and county. The form
shall specify the amount of beverage container recycling and litter
cleanup funds for which the jurisdiction is eligible. The form shall
not exceed one double-sided page in length, and may be submitted
electronically. If a city, county, or city and county does not return
the funding request form within 90 days of receipt of the form from
the department, the city, county, or city and county is not eligible
to receive the funds for that funding cycle.
(F) For the purposes of this paragraph, per capita population
shall be based on the population of the incorporated area of a city
or city and county and the unincorporated area of a county. The
department may withhold payment to any city, county, or city and
county that has prohibited the siting of a supermarket site, caused a
supermarket site to close its business, or adopted a land use policy
that restricts or prohibits the siting of a supermarket site within
its jurisdiction.
(5) (A) One million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) may
be expended annually in the form of grants for beverage container
recycling and litter reduction programs.
(B) Notwithstanding subdivision (f), the department shall not
expend funds pursuant to this paragraph for the 2010 and 2011
calendar years.
(6) (A) The department shall expend the amount necessary to pay
the processing payment established pursuant to Section 14575. The
department shall establish separate processing fee accounts in the
fund for each beverage container material type for which a processing
payment and processing fee are calculated pursuant to Section 14575,
or for which a processing payment is calculated pursuant to Section
14575 and a voluntary artificial scrap value is calculated pursuant
to Section 14575.1, into which account shall be deposited both of the
following:
(i) All amounts paid as processing fees for each beverage
container material type pursuant to Section 14575.
(ii) Funds equal to the difference between the amount in clause
(i) and the amount of the processing payments established in
subdivision (b) of Section 14575, and adjusted pursuant to paragraph
(2) of subdivision (c) of, and subdivision (f) of, Section 14575, to
reduce the processing fee to the level provided in subdivision (e) of
Section 14575, or to reflect the agreement by a willing purchaser to
pay a voluntary artificial scrap value pursuant to Section 14575.1.
(B) Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, the
moneys in each processing fee account are hereby continuously
appropriated to the department for expenditure without regard to
fiscal years, for purposes of making processing payments pursuant to
Section 14575.
(C) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section and
Section 14575, for the 2010 and 2011 calendar years, the total amount
that the department may expend to reduce the amount of processing
fees for each container type shall not exceed the total amount
expended to reduce processing fees in the 2008 calendar year.
(7) (A) Up to five million dollars ($5,000,000) may be annually
expended by the department for the purposes of undertaking a
statewide public education and information campaign aimed at
promoting increased recycling of beverage containers.
(B) Notwithstanding subdivision (f), the department shall not
expend funds pursuant to this paragraph for the 2010 and 2011
calendar years.
(8) Up to ten million dollars ($10,000,000) may be expended
annually by the department for quality incentive payments for empty
glass beverage containers pursuant to Section 14549.1.
(9) Up to twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) may be expended
annually by the department, until January 1, 2012, to issue grants
for recycling market development and expansion-related activities
aimed at increasing the recycling of beverage containers.
Notwithstanding subdivision (f), the department shall not expend any
funds pursuant to this paragraph for the 2010 and 2011 calendar
years. The activities that may be funded include, but are not limited
to, the following:
(A) Research and development of collecting, sorting, processing,
cleaning, or otherwise upgrading the market value of recycled
beverage containers.
(B) Identification, development, and expansion of markets for
recycled beverage containers.
(C) Research and development for products manufactured using
recycled beverage containers.
(D) Research and development to provide high-quality materials
that are substantially free of contamination.
(E) Payments to California manufacturers who recycle beverage
containers that are marked by resin type identification code "3," "4,"
"5," "6," or "7," pursuant to Section 18015.
(10) Up to ten million dollars ($10,000,000) may be expended
annually by the department for market development payments for empty
plastic beverage containers pursuant to Section 14549.2, until
January 1, 2012.
(11) (A) Up to twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) may be
expended from July 1, 2009, to January 1, 2012, inclusive, for either
of the following:
(i) Grants for beverage container recycling and litter reduction
programs that emphasize the greatest and most effective collection of
beverage containers per dollar spent to ensure the program's
performance and accountability.
(ii) Focused, regional community beverage container recycling and
litter reduction programs that enable the department to more
effectively organize the amount and type of resources needed for
regional and statewide efforts to increase recycling.
(B) The department shall require, as a condition of receiving
grant funds pursuant to subparagraph (A), each grant recipient to
submit a final report including, but not limited to, the grant
recipient's reported volumes of beverage containers recycled, where
applicable.
(C) On or before July 1, 2014, the department shall publish an
evaluation of all grants made pursuant to subparagraph (A). At a
minimum, the evaluation shall summarize each final report submitted
by each grantee pursuant to subparagraph (B) and assess whether the
grantee adequately met the scope and objectives outlined in the grant
agreement.
(D) Notwithstanding subdivision (f), the department shall not
expend funds pursuant to this paragraph for the 2010 and 2011
calendar years.
(b) The fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) that is set aside
pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) is a base amount that
the department shall adjust annually to reflect any increases or
decreases in the cost of living, as measured by the Department of
Labor, or a successor agency, of the federal government.
(c) (1) If the department determines, pursuant to a review made
pursuant to Section 14556, that there may be inadequate funds to pay
the payments required by this division, the department shall
immediately notify the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of
the Legislature regarding the inadequacy.
(2) On or before 180 days, but not less than 80 days, after the
notice is sent pursuant to paragraph (1), the department may reduce
or eliminate expenditures, or both, from the funds as necessary,
according to the procedure set forth in subdivision (d).
(d) If the department determines that there are insufficient funds
to make the payments specified pursuant to this section and Section
14575, the department shall reduce all payments proportionally.
(e) Prior to making an expenditure pursuant to paragraph (7) of
subdivision (a), the department shall convene an advisory committee
consisting of representatives of the beverage industry, beverage
container manufacturers, environmental organizations, the recycling
industry, nonprofit organizations, and retailers to advise the
department on the most cost-effective and efficient method of the
expenditure of the funds for that education and information campaign.
(f) Subject to the availability of funds, the department shall
retroactively pay in full any payments provided in this section that
have been proportionally reduced during the period of January 1,
2010, through June 30, 2010.
14582. The Recycling Infrastructure Loan Guarantee Account is
hereby created as a revolving account in the California Beverage
Container Recycling Fund, and the funds in that account are
continuously appropriated to the department to issue loan guarantees
for capital expenditures for new recycling infrastructure located in
the state. The department may issue a loan guarantee from the account
only if the department determines that the new recycling
infrastructure adds recycling capacity, results in remanufacturing
and reuse of beverage containers into new products, and complies with
all applicable laws and regulations.
14584. (a) Operators of reverse vending machines or processors may
apply to the California Pollution Control Financing Authority for
financing pursuant to Section 44526 of the Health and Safety Code, as
a means of obtaining capital for establishment of a convenience
network. For purposes of Section 44508 of the Health and Safety Code,
"project" includes the establishing of a recycling location pursuant
to the division.
(b) Corporations, companies, or individuals may apply for loan and
grant funds from the Energy Technologies Research, Development, and
Demonstration Account specified in Section 25683 by applying to the
State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission for
the purpose of demonstrating equipment for enhancing recycling
opportunities.
14585. (a) The department shall adopt guidelines and methods for
paying handling fees to supermarket sites, nonprofit convenience zone
recyclers, or rural region recyclers to provide an incentive for the
redemption of empty beverage containers in convenience zones. The
guidelines shall include, but not be limited to, all of the
following:
(1) Handling fees shall be paid on a monthly basis, in the form
and manner adopted by the department. The department shall require
that claims for the handling fee be filed with the department not
later than the first day of the second month following the month for
which the handling fee is claimed as a condition of receiving any
handling fee.
(2) (A) To be eligible for any handling fee, a supermarket site
recycling center, nonprofit convenience zone recycler, or rural
region recycler shall redeem not less than 60,000 beverage
containers, during the calendar month in which the handling fee is
claimed or have redeemed not less than an average of 60,000 beverage
containers per month during the previous 12 months.
(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply on and after July 1, 2008.
(3) (A) A beverage container with a capacity of 24 fluid ounces or
more shall be considered as two beverage containers for purposes of
determining the eligibility percentage, any handling fee
calculations, and payments.
(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply on and after July 1, 2008.
(4) The department shall determine the number of eligible
containers per site for which a handling fee will be paid in the
following manner:
(A) Each eligible site's combined monthly volume of glass and
plastic beverage containers shall be divided by the site's total
monthly volume of all empty beverage container types.
(B) If the quotient determined pursuant to subparagraph (A) is
equal to, or more than, 10 percent, the total monthly volume of the
site shall be the maximum volume which is eligible for a handling fee
for that month.
(C) If the quotient determined pursuant to subparagraph (A) is
less than 10 percent, the department shall divide the volume of glass
and plastic beverage containers by 10 percent. That quotient shall
be the maximum volume that is eligible for a handling fee for that
month.
(5) (A) From the effective date of the statute enacted by Assembly
Bill 3056 of the 2005-06 Regular Session to June 30, 2008,
inclusive, the department shall pay a handling fee of 1.8 cents
($0.018) per eligible beverage container, as determined pursuant to
paragraph (4).
(B) On and after July 1, 2008, the department shall pay a handling
fee per eligible container in the amount determined pursuant to
subdivision (f).
(6) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (5), the total handling fee
payment to a supermarket site, nonprofit convenience zone recycler,
or rural region recycler shall not exceed two thousand three hundred
dollars ($2,300) per month.
(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply on and after July 1, 2008.
(7) If the eligible volume in any given month would result in
handling fee payments that exceed the allocation of funds for that
month, as provided in subdivision (b), sites with higher eligible
monthly volumes shall receive handling fees for their entire eligible
monthly volume before sites with lower eligible monthly volumes
receive any handling fees.
(8) (A) If a dealer where a supermarket site, nonprofit
convenience zone recycler, or rural region recycler is located ceases
operation for remodeling or for a change of ownership, the operator
of that supermarket site nonprofit convenience zone recycler, or
rural region recycler shall be eligible to apply for handling fees
for that site for a period of three months following the date of the
closure of the dealer.
(B) Every supermarket site operator, nonprofit convenience zone
recycler, or rural region recycler shall promptly notify the
department of the closure of the dealer where the supermarket site,
nonprofit convenience zone recycler, or rural region recycler is
located.
(C) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), any operator who fails to
provide notification to the department pursuant to subparagraph (B)
shall not be eligible to apply for handling fees.
(b) The department may allocate the amount authorized for
expenditure for the payment of handling fees pursuant to paragraph
(1) of subdivision (a) of Section 14581 on a monthly basis and may
carry over any unexpended monthly allocation to a subsequent month or
months. However, unexpended monthly allocations shall not be carried
over to a subsequent fiscal year for the purpose of paying handling
fees but may be carried over for any other purpose pursuant to
Section 14581.
(c) (1) The department shall not make handling fee payments to
more than one certified recycling center in a convenience zone. If a
dealer is located in more than one convenience zone, the department
shall offer a single handling fee payment to a supermarket site
located at that dealer. This handling fee payment shall not be split
between the affected zones. The department shall stop making handling
fee payments if another recycling center certifies to operate within
the convenience zone without receiving payments pursuant to this
section, if the department monitors the performance of the other
recycling center for 60 days and determines that the recycling center
is in compliance with this division. Any recycling center that
locates in a convenience zone, thereby causing a preexisting
recycling center to become ineligible to receive handling fee
payments, is ineligible to receive any handling fee payments in that
convenience zone.
(2) The department shall offer a single handling fee payment to a
rural region recycler located anywhere inside a convenience zone, if
that convenience zone is not served by another certified recycling
center and the rural region recycler does either of the following:
(A) Operates a minimum of 30 hours per week in one convenience
zone.
(B) Serves two or more convenience zones, and meets all of the
following criteria:
(i) Is the only certified recycler within each convenience zone.
(ii) Is open and operating at least eight hours per week in each
convenience zone and is certified at each location.
(iii) Operates at least 30 hours per week in total for all
convenience zones served.
(d) The department may require the operator of a supermarket site
or rural region recycler receiving handling fees to maintain records
for each location where beverage containers are redeemed, and may
require the supermarket site or rural region recycler to take any
other action necessary for the department to determine that the
supermarket site or rural region recycler does not receive an
excessive handling fee.
(e) The department may determine and utilize a standard container
per pound rate, for each material type, for the purpose of
calculating volumes and making handling fee payments.
(f) (1) On or before January 1, 2008, and every two years
thereafter, the department shall conduct a survey pursuant to this
subdivision of a statistically significant sample of certified
recycling centers that receive handling fee payments to determine the
actual cost incurred for the redemption of empty beverage containers
by those certified recycling centers. The department shall conduct
these cost surveys in conjunction with the cost surveys performed by
the department pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 14575 to
determine processing payments and processing fees. The department
shall include, in determining the actual costs, only those allowable
costs contained in the regulations adopted pursuant to this division
that are used by the department to conduct cost surveys pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 14575.
(2) Using the information obtained pursuant to paragraph (1), the
department shall then determine the statewide weighted average cost
incurred for the redemption of empty beverage containers, per empty
beverage container, at recycling centers that receive handling fees.
(3) On and after July 1, 2008, the department shall determine the
amount of the handling fee to be paid for each empty beverage
container by subtracting the amount of the statewide weighted average
cost per container to redeem empty beverage containers by recycling
centers that do not receive handling fees from the amount of the
statewide weighted average cost per container determined pursuant to
paragraph (2).
(4) The department shall adjust the statewide average cost
determined pursuant to paragraph (2) for each beverage container
annually to reflect changes in the cost of living, as measured by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor
or a successor agency of the United States government.
(5) The cost information collected pursuant to this section at
recycling centers that receive handling fees shall not be used in the
calculation of the processing payments determined pursuant to
Section 14575.
14585.5. (a) The department shall not make handling fee payments to
a supermarket site if the department determines that all empty
beverage container types are not redeemed at the same physical
location within the recycling location.
(b) A supermarket site that redeems all empty beverage container
types at the same physical location within the recycling location,
and issues script to consumers which is required to be redeemed at a
nearby host business, is eligible to receive handling fee payments.
14586. This division does not create any guarantee of a continuing
level of support, or other obligation on the part of the State of
California, the department, or any agency thereof, to pay any
specified amount to any local conservation organization, community
conservation corps, or statewide nonprofit private agency.
14587. This division does not require or create any obligation that
payments made pursuant to this division to any local conservation
organization, community conservation corps, or statewide nonprofit
private agency in any given fiscal year be made in any subsequent
fiscal year at the same or greater level.
