I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1818

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require a refund value for certain

beverage containers, and to provide resources for State pollution prevention and recycling programs, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 22, 1993

Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. HENRY, Mr. UPTON, Mr. BONIOR, Mr. BEILENSON, Mr. BROWN of California, Mr. DELLUMS, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr.

MILLER of California, Mrs. SCHROEDER, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. WALSH,

Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mrs. KENNELLY, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Ms.

PELOSI, Mr. YATES, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. OLVER, Mr.

STUDDS, Mr. ANDREWS of Maine, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. KILDEE, Mr.

STUPAK, Mr. KENNEDY, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. MCHALE,

Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. OWENS, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. STOKES,

Mr. EVANS, Mr. KOPETSKI, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO ́, Mr.

DE LUGO, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. FORD of Michigan, Mr. NADLER, Mr. FILNER,

Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. FURSE, Mr. KREIDLER,

Ms. SCHENK, Ms. MARGOLIES-MEZVINSKY, Mr. LEACH, Mrs. MALONEY,

Mr. GILCHREST, Mr. BLACKWELL, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. EDWARDS of California, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. STARK, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. CARR, Mr. DEFAZIO,

Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. SHAYS, and Ms.

SNOWE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require a refund

value for certain beverage containers, and to provide

resources for State pollution prevention and recycling

programs, and for other purposes.
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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Beverage

5 Container Reuse and Recycling Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:

8 (1) The failure to reuse and recycle empty bev9 erage containers represents a significant and unnec10 essary waste of important national energy and mate11 rial resources.

12 (2) The littering of empty beverage containers

13 constitutes a public nuisance, safety hazard, and

14 aesthetic blight and imposes upon public agencies,

15 private businesses, farmers, and landowners unnec16 essary costs for the collection and removal of such

17 containers.

18 (3) Solid waste resulting from such empty bev19 erage containers constitutes a significant and rapidly

20 growing proportion of municipal solid waste and in21 creases the cost and problems of effectively manag22 ing the disposal of such waste.

23 (4) It is difficult for local communities to raise

24 the necessary capital needed to initiate comprehen25 sive recycling programs.
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1 (5) The reuse and recycling of empty beverage

2 containers would help eliminate these unnecessary

3 burdens on individuals, local governments, and the

4 environment.

5 (6) Several States have previously enacted and

6 implemented State laws designed to protect the envi7 ronment, conserve energy and material resources

8 and promote resource recovery of waste by requiring

9 a refund value on the sale of all beverage containers,

10 and these have proven inexpensive to administer and

11 effective at reducing financial burdens on commu12 nities by internalizing the cost of recycling and litter

13 control to the producers and consumers of bev14 erages.

15 (7) A national system for requiring a refund

16 value on the sale of all beverage containers would

17 act as a positive incentive to individuals to clean up

18 the environment and would result in a high level of

19 reuse and recycling of such containers and help re20 duce the costs associated with solid waste manage21 ment.

22 (8) A national system for requiring a refund

23 value on the sale of all beverage containers would re24 sult in significant energy conservation and resource

25 recovery.
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1 (9) The reuse and recycling of empty beverage

2 containers would eliminate these unnecessary bur3 dens on the Federal Government, local and State

4 governments, and the environment.

5 (10) The collection of unclaimed refunds from

6 such a system would provide the resources necessary

7 to assist comprehensive reuse and recycling pro8 grams throughout the Nation.

9 (11) A national system of beverage container

10 recycling is consistent with the intent of the Re11 source Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (42

12 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.).

13 (12) The provisions of this Act are consistent

14 with the goals set in January 1988, by the Environ15 mental Protection Agency, which establish a national

16 goal of 25 percent source reduction and recycling by

17 1992, coupled with a substantial slowing of the pro18 jected rate of increase in waste generation by the

19 year 2000.

20 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT OF SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL ACT.

21 (a) AMENDMENT.—The Solid Waste Disposal Act is

22 amended by adding the following new subtitle at the end

23 thereof:

24 ‘‘SUBTITLE K—BEVERAGE CONTAINER RECYCLING

25 ‘‘SEC. 12001. DEFINITIONS.

26 ‘‘For purposes of this subtitle—
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1 ‘‘(1) The term ‘beverage’ means beer or other

2 malt beverage, mineral water, soda water, wine cool3 er, or a carbonated soft drink of any variety in liq4 uid form intended for human consumption.

5 ‘‘(2) The term ‘beverage container’ means a

6 container constructed of metal, glass, plastic, or

7 some combination of these materials and having a

8 capacity of up to one gallon of liquid and which is

9 or has been sealed and used to contain a beverage

10 for sale in interstate commerce. The opening of a

11 beverage container in a manner in which it was de12 signed to be opened and the compression of a bev13 erage container made of metal or plastic shall not,

14 for purposes of this section, constitute the breaking

15 of the container if the statement of the amount of

16 the refund value of the container is still readable.

17 ‘‘(3) The term ‘beverage distributor’ means a

18 person who sells or offers for sale in interstate com19 merce to beverage retailers beverages in beverage

20 containers for resale.

21 ‘‘(4) The term ‘beverage retailer’ means a per22 son who purchases from a beverage distributor bev23 erages in beverage containers for sale to a consumer

24 or who sells or offers to sell in commerce beverages

25 in beverage containers to a consumer.
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1 ‘‘(5) The term ‘consumer’ means a person who

2 purchases a beverage container for any use other

3 than resale.

4 ‘‘(6) The term ‘refund value’ means the amount

5 specified as the refund value of a beverage container

6 under section 12002.

7 ‘‘(7) The term ‘wine cooler’ means a drink con8 taining less than 7 percent alcohol (by volume), con9 sisting of wine and plain, sparkling, or carbonated

10 water and containing any one or more of the follow11 ing: non-alcoholic beverage, flavoring, coloring mate12 rials, fruit juices, fruit adjuncts, sugar, carbon diox13 ide, preservatives.

14 ‘‘SEC. 12002. REQUIRED BEVERAGE CONTAINER LABELING.

15 ‘‘Except as otherwise provided in section 12007, no

16 beverage distributor or beverage retailer may sell or offer

17 for sale in interstate commerce a beverage in a beverage

18 container unless there is clearly, prominently, and securely

19 affixed to, or printed on, the container a statement of the

20 refund value of the container in the amount of 10 cents.

21 The Administrator shall promulgate rules establishing

22 uniform standards for the size and location of the refund

23 value statement on beverage containers. The 10 cent

24 amount specified in this section shall be subject to adjust25 ment by the Administrator as provided in section 12008.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 12003. ORIGINATION OF REFUND VALUE.

2 ‘‘For each beverage in a beverage container sold in

3 interstate commerce to a beverage retailer by a beverage

4 distributor, the distributor shall collect from the retailer

5 the amount of the refund value shown on the container.

6 With respect to each beverage in a beverage container sold

7 in interstate commerce to a consumer by a beverage re8 tailer, the retailer shall collect from the consumer the

9 amount of the refund value shown on the container. No

10 person other than the persons described in this section

11 may collect a deposit on a beverage container.

12 ‘‘SEC. 12004. RETURN OF REFUND VALUE.

13 ‘‘(a) PAYMENT BY RETAILER.—If any person tenders

14 for refund an empty and unbroken beverage container to

15 a beverage retailer who sells (or has sold at any time dur16 ing the period of 3 months ending on the date of such

17 tender) the same brand of beverage in the same kind and

18 size of container, the retailer shall promptly pay such per19 son the amount of the refund value stated on the

20 container.

21 ‘‘(b) PAYMENT BY DISTRIBUTOR.—If any person

22 tenders for refund an empty and unbroken beverage con23 tainer to a beverage distributor who sells (or has sold at

24 any time during the period of 3 months ending on the

25 date of such tender) the same brand of beverage in the

26 same kind and size of container, the distributor shall
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1 promptly pay such person (1) the amount of the refund

2 value stated on the container, plus (2) an amount equal

3 to at least 2 cents per container to help defray the cost

4 of handling. This subsection shall not preclude any person

5 from tendering beverage containers to persons other than

6 beverage distributors.

7 ‘‘(c) AGREEMENTS.—(1) Nothing in this subtitle

8 shall preclude agreements between distributors, retailers,

9 or other persons to establish centralized beverage collec10 tion centers, including centers which act as agents of such

11 retailers.

12 ‘‘(2) Nothing in this subtitle shall preclude agree13 ments between beverage retailers, beverage distributors, or

14 other persons for the crushing or bundling (or both) of

15 beverage containers.

16 ‘‘SEC. 12005. ACCOUNTING FOR UNCLAIMED REFUNDS AND

17 PROVISIONS FOR STATE RECYCLING FUNDS.

18 ‘‘(a) UNCLAIMED REFUNDS.—At the end of each cal19 endar year each beverage distributor shall pay to each

20 State an amount equal to the sum by which the total re21 fund value of all containers sold by the distributor for re22 sale in that State during that year exceeds the total sum

23 paid during that year by the distributor under section

24 12004(b) to persons in that State. The total of unclaimed

25 refunds received by any State under this section shall be
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1 available to carry out pollution prevention and recycling

2 programs in that State.

3 ‘‘(b) REFUNDS IN EXCESS OF COLLECTIONS.—If the

4 total of payments made by a beverage distributor in any

5 calendar year under section 12004(b) for any State exceed

6 the total refund value of all containers sold by the dis7 tributor for resale in that State, the excess shall be cred8 ited against the amount otherwise required to be paid by

9 the distributor to that State under subsection (a) for a

10 subsequent calendar year designated by the beverage dis11 tributor.

12 ‘‘SEC. 12006. PROHIBITIONS ON DETACHABLE OPENINGS

13 AND POST-REDEMPTION DISPOSAL.

14 ‘‘(a) DETACHABLE OPENINGS.—No beverage dis15 tributor or beverage retailer may sell, or offer for sale,

16 in interstate commerce a beverage in a metal beverage

17 container a part of which is designed to be detached in

18 order to open such container.

19 ‘‘(b) POST-REDEMPTION DISPOSAL.—No retailer or

20 distributor or agent of a retailer or distributor may dis21 pose of any beverage container labeled under section

22 12002 or any metal, glass, or plastic from such a beverage

23 container (other than the top or other seal thereof) in any

24 landfill or other solid waste disposal facility.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 12007. EXEMPTED STATES.

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The provisions of sections 12002

3 through 12005 and sections 12008 and 12009 of this sub4 title shall not apply in any State which—

5 ‘‘(1) has adopted and implemented require6 ments applicable to all beverage containers sold in

7 that State which the Administrator determines to be

8 substantially identical to the provisions of sections

9 12002 through 12005 and sections 12008 and

10 12009 of this subtitle; or

11 ‘‘(2) demonstrates to the Administrator that,

12 for any period of 12 consecutive months following

13 the date of the enactment of this subtitle, such State

14 achieved a recycling or reuse rate for beverage con15 tainers of at least 70 percent.

16 If at any time following a determination under paragraph

17 (2) that a State has achieved a 70 percent recycling or

18 reuse rate the Administrator determines that such State

19 has failed, for any 12-consecutive month period, to main20 tain at least a 70 percent recycling or reuse rate of its

21 beverage containers, the Administrator shall notify such

22 State that, upon the expiration of the 90-day period fol23 lowing such notification, the provisions under sections

24 12002 through 12005 and sections 12008 and 12009 shall

25 be applicable to that State until a subsequent determina-
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1 tion is made under subparagraph (A) or a demonstration

2 is made under subparagraph (B).

3 ‘‘(b) DETERMINATION OF TAX.—No State or political

4 subdivision which imposes any tax on the sale of any bev5 erage container may impose a tax on any amount attrib6 utable to the refund value of such container.

7 ‘‘(c) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in this

8 subtitle shall be construed to affect the authority of any

9 State or political subdivision thereof to enact or enforce

10 (or continue in effect) any law respecting a refund value

11 on containers other than beverage containers or from reg12 ulating redemption and other centers which purchase

13 empty beverage containers from beverage retailers, con14 sumers, or other persons.

15 ‘‘SEC. 12008. REGULATIONS.

16 ‘‘Not later than 12 months after the enactment of

17 this subtitle, the Administrator shall prescribe regulations

18 to carry out this subtitle. The regulations shall include a

19 definition of the term ‘beverage retailer’ in a case in which

20 beverages in beverage containers are sold to consumers

21 through beverage vending machines. Such regulations

22 shall also adjust the 10 cent amount specified in section

23 12002 to account for inflation. Such adjustment shall be

24 effective 10 years after the enactment of this subtitle and
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1 additional adjustments shall take effect at 10 year inter2 vals thereafter.

3 ‘‘SEC. 12009. PENALTIES.

4 ‘‘Any person who violates any provision of section

5 12002, 12003, 12004, or 12006 shall be subject to a civil

6 penalty of not more than $1,000 for each violation. Any

7 person who violates any provision of section 12005 shall

8 be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 for

9 each violation.

10 ‘‘SEC. 12010. EFFECTIVE DATE.

11 ‘‘Except as provided in section 12008, this subtitle

12 shall take effect 2 years after the date of its enactment.’’.

13 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for

14 such Act is amended by adding the following at the end

15 thereof:

‘‘SUBTITLE K—BEVERAGE CONTAINER RECYCLING

‘‘Sec. 12001. Definitions.

‘‘Sec. 12002. Required beverage containers labeling.

‘‘Sec. 12003. Origination of refund value.

‘‘Sec. 12004. Return of refund value.

‘‘Sec. 12005. Accounting for unclaimed refunds and provisions for State recycling funds.

‘‘Sec. 12006. Prohibitions on detachable openings and post-redemption disposal.

‘‘Sec. 12007. Exempted States.

‘‘Sec. 12008. Regulations.

‘‘Sec. 12009. Penalties.

‘‘Sec. 12010. Effective date.’’.

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