An Act To Implement Recommendations of the Department of Environmental Protection Concerning Product Stewardship in Maine
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 1335
Committee: Environment and Natural Resources
Amends: 38 MRSA §1771, 38 MRSA §1772, 38 MRSA §1773, 38 MRSA §1776, 38 MRSA §2143

Legislative Document 
No. 1335 
H.P. 952 
House of Representatives, April 4, 2013 
An Act To Implement Recommendations of the Department of 
Environmental Protection Concerning Product Stewardship in 
Maine 
Reported by Representative WELSH of Rockport for the Joint Standing Committee on 
Environment and Natural Resources pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 38, section 
1773. 
Reference to the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources suggested and ordered 
printed pursuant to Joint Rule 218. 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  38 MRSA §1771, sub-§1-A is enacted to read: 
1-A.  Covered entity.  "Covered entity" means a household in this State, a business 
or nonprofit organization in this State exempt from taxation under the United States 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, Section 501(c)(3) that employs 100 or fewer individuals, 
an elementary school in this State or a secondary school in this State. 
Sec. 2.  38 MRSA §1772, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 516, §1, is amended 
to read: 
1.  Policy; report.  It is the policy of the State, consistent with its duty to protect the 
health, safety and welfare of its citizens, to promote product stewardship to support the 
State's solid waste management hierarchy under chapter 24.  In furtherance of this policy, 
the department may collect information available in the public domain regarding products 
in the waste stream and assist the Legislature in designating products or product 
categories for product stewardship programs in accordance with this chapter.  By January 
February 15, 2011 2014, and annually thereafter, the department may shall submit to the 
joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over natural resources 
matters a report on products and product categories that when generated as waste may be 
appropriately managed under a product stewardship program.  The report submitted under 
this subsection must include updates on the performance of existing product stewardship 
programs. 
Sec. 3.  38 MRSA §1772, sub-§5 is enacted to read: 
5.  Legislation to establish product stewardship programs.  Annually, after 
reviewing the report submitted by the department pursuant to subsection 1, the joint 
standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over natural resources matters 
may submit a bill to implement recommendations included in the department's report to 
establish new product stewardship programs or revise existing product stewardship 
programs. 
Sec. 4.  38 MRSA §1773, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 516, §1, is repealed. 
Sec. 5.  38 MRSA §1776 is enacted to read: 
§1776.  Product stewardship program; program requirements 
A product stewardship program established for a product or product category 
designated by the Legislature for inclusion in a product stewardship program must be 
established and implemented in accordance with the provisions of this section. 
1.  Program.  A producer selling a product in the State that is a designated product or 
that is in a designated product category is responsible individually, collectively or 
through a stewardship organization for the implementation and financing of a product 
stewardship program to manage the product at the end of the product's life in accordance 
with the priorities in section 2101. 
A.  The program must include a collection system that is convenient and adequate to 
serve the needs of covered entities in both rural and urban areas. 
B.  The program must provide for effective education and outreach to promote the 
use of the program and to ensure that collection options are understood by covered 
entities. 
C.  A producer or stewardship organization, including a producer's or stewardship 
organization's officers, members, employees and agents that organize a product 
stewardship program under this chapter, is immune from liability for the producer's or 
stewardship organization's conduct under state laws relating to antitrust, restraint of 
trade, unfair trade practices and other regulation of trade or commerce only to the 
extent necessary to plan and implement the producer's or stewardship organization's 
chosen organized collection or recycling system. 
2.  Requirement for sale.  One hundred eighty days after a product stewardship plan 
under subsection 5 is approved in accordance with subsection 8, a producer may not sell 
or offer for sale in the State the relevant product, unless the producer of the product 
participates individually, collectively or through a product stewardship program in 
accordance with an approved product stewardship plan. 
3.  No fee.  A product stewardship program may not charge a fee at the time an 
unwanted product is delivered or collected for recycling or disposal. 
4.  Costs.  Producers in a product stewardship program shall finance the collection, 
transportation and reuse, recycling or disposition of the relevant product. 
5.  Requirement to submit a plan.  Within one year of a product's or product 
category's being designated for inclusion in a product stewardship program, the relevant 
producer or stewardship organization shall submit a product stewardship plan to the 
department for approval.  The plan must include: 
A.  Identification and contact information for: 
(1)  The individual or entity submitting the plan; 
(2)  All producers participating in the product stewardship program; 
(3)  The owners of the brands covered by the program; and 
(4)  If using a stewardship organization, the stewardship organization, including a 
description of the organization and the tasks to be performed by the organization.  
The description must include information on how the organization is organized, 
including administration of the organization and management of the organization; 
B.  A description of the collection system, including: 
(1)  The types of sites or other collection services to be used;  
(2)  How all products covered under the product stewardship program will be 
collected in all counties of the State; and 
(3)  How the collection system will be convenient and adequate to serve the 
needs of all entities; 
C.  The names and locations of recyclers, processors and disposal facilities that may 
be used by the product stewardship program; 
D.  Information on how the product and product components will be safely and 
securely transported, tracked and handled from collection through final disposition; 
E.  If possible, a description of the method to be used to reuse, deconstruct or recycle 
the unwanted product to ensure that the product components are transformed or 
remanufactured to the extent feasible; 
F.  A description of how the convenience and adequacy of the collection system will 
be monitored and maintained;  
G.  A description of how the amount of product and product components collected, 
recycled, processed, reused and disposed of will be measured; 
H.  A description of the education and outreach methods that will be used to 
encourage participation; 
I.  A description of how education and outreach methods will be evaluated;  
J.  Any performance goals established by producers or a stewardship organization to 
show success of the program; and 
K.  A description of how the program will be financed.  If the program is financed by 
a per unit assessment paid by the producer to a stewardship organization, a plan for 
an annual 3rd-party audit to ensure revenue from the assessment does not exceed the 
cost of implementing the product stewardship program must be included. 
6.  Plan amendments.  A change to an approved product stewardship plan must be 
submitted to the department for review prior to the implementation of that change.  If a 
change is not substantive, such as the addition of or a change to collection locations, or if 
an additional producer joins the product stewardship program, approval is not needed, but 
the producer or stewardship organization operating the program must inform the 
department of the change within 14 days of implementing the change.  The department 
shall review plan amendments in accordance with subsection 8. 
7.  Annual reporting.  By February 1st of the calendar year after the calendar year in 
which an approved product stewardship program is implemented, and annually thereafter, 
the producer or stewardship organization operating the program shall submit to the 
department a report on the program for the previous calendar year.  The report must 
include, at a minimum: 
A.  The amount of product collected per county; 
B.  A description of the methods used to collect, transport and process the product; 
C.  An evaluation of the program, including, if possible, diversion and recycling rates 
together with certificates of recycling or similar confirmations; 
D.  A description of the methods used for education and outreach efforts and an 
evaluation of the convenience of collection and the effectiveness of outreach and 
education.   Every 2 years, the report must include the results of an assessment of the 
methods used for and effectiveness of education and outreach efforts.  The 
assessment must be completed by a 3rd party; 
E.  If applicable, the report of the 3rd-party audit conducted to ensure that revenue 
collected from the assessment does not exceed implementation costs pursuant to 
subsection 5, paragraph K; and 
F.  Any recommendations for changes to the product stewardship program to improve 
convenience of collection, consumer education and program evaluation. 
8.  Department review and approval.  Within 20 business days after receipt of a 
proposed product stewardship plan, the department shall determine whether the plan 
complies with subsection 5.  If the plan is approved, the department shall notify the 
submitter in writing.  If the department rejects the plan, the department shall notify the 
submitter in writing stating the reason for rejecting the plan.  A submitter whose plan is 
rejected must submit a revised plan to the department within 60 days of receiving a notice 
of rejection. 
9.  Plan availability.  Within 30 days of approval by the department of a product 
stewardship plan under subsection 8, the department shall place the approved product 
stewardship plan on the department's publicly accessible website. 
10.  Proprietary information.  Information identified as proprietary information by 
the submitter and submitted to the department in a product stewardship plan or in an 
amendment to a product stewardship plan and information in documents submitted 
pursuant to reporting requirements of this section are confidential and are not a public 
record as defined in Title 1, section 402, subsection 3. 
11.  Exceptions.  This section does not apply to products subject to section 1610, 
1665-A, 1665-B, 1672, 2165 or 2166. 
Sec. 6.  38 MRSA §2143, sub-§1, ¶¶B and C, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 343, 
§1, are repealed. 
Sec. 7.  38 MRSA §2143, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 343, §1, is repealed. 
Sec. 8.  38 MRSA §2143, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 343, §1, is repealed. 
SUMMARY 
This bill is reported out by the Joint Standing Committee on Environment and 
Natural Resources pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 38, section 1773.  The 
bill incorporates the recommendations of the Department of Environmental Protection. 
The Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resources has not taken 
a position on the substance of the recommendations or the bill.  The committee is 
reporting the bill out for the sole purpose of turning the department's proposal into a 
printed bill that can be referred to the committee for an appropriate public hearing and 
subsequent processing in the normal course.  The committee is taking this action to 
ensure clarity and transparency in the legislative review of the department's proposal. 
The bill establishes a framework for the implementation of product stewardship 
programs.  The bill provides that a product stewardship program established for products 
designated by the Legislature for inclusion in a product stewardship program must be 
established and implemented in accordance with the provisions of the bill. 
The bill also makes changes to the law concerning the recycling of cellular 
telephones.  It repeals the requirement that retailers that sell cellular telephones accept 
used cellular telephones from any person.  It also removes reporting requirements that 
ended in February 2013.