An Act To Establish a Mattress Stewardship Program
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 0349
Committee Amendment CA_A_S58 (Senate)
Amends: 38 MRSA §1611

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ''A " to S.P. 115, L.D. 349, Bill, "An Act To 
Establish a Mattress Stewardship Program" 
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following: 
'An Act To Facilitate the Recycling of Discarded Mattresses' 
Amend the bill by striking out eve1ything after the enacting clause and before the 
summary and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 1. 38 MRSA §1611 is enacted to read: 
§1611. Mattress recycling 
1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings. 
A. "Discarded mattress" means a mattress that a person discards, abandons or sends 
for recycling. 
B. "Foundation" means any ticking-covered structure used to support a mattress and 
composed of one or more of the following: a constructed frame, foam or a box spring. 
"Foundation" does not include a bed frame or base made of wood, metal or other 
material that rests upon the floor and serves as a brace for a mattress. 
C. "Fund" means the Mattress Recycling Grant Fund established in subsection 3. 
D. 
"Mattress" means any resilient material or combination of materials that is 
enclosed by ticking, used alone or in combination with other products, and intended 
or promoted for sleeping upon. 
"Mattress" includes any foundation: renovated 
foundation or renovated mattress. "Mattress" does not include: 
(1) An unattached mattress pad or an unattached mattress topper, including any 
item with resilient filling, with or without ticking, intended for use with or on top 
of a mattress; 
(2) A sleeping bag or pillow; 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT"A "to S.P. 115, L.D. 349 
(3) A car bed; 
( 4) 
Juvenile products, including a carriage, basket, dressing table, stroller, 
playpen, infant catTier, lounge pad, crib bumper or any pad for such products; 
(5) 
A product that contains liquid-filled or gas-filled ticking, including .a 
waterbed or air mattress that does not contain upholste1y material; or 
(6) Any upholstered furniture not otherwise containing a detachable mattress, 
including, but not limited to, a fold-out sofa bed or a futon. 
E. 
"Mattress core" means the principal suppmi system present in a mattress, 
including, but not limited to, springs, foam, an air bladder, a water bladder or resilient 
filling. 
F. "Mattress recycling fee" or "fee" means the amount added to the purchase price of 
mattresses sold in the State in accordance with subsection 2. 
G. "Program" means the Mattress Recycling Grant Program established in subsection 
4. 
H. "Recycling" has the same meaning as in section 1771, subsection 7. "Recycling" 
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does not include the renovation of a mattress. 
I. "Renovate" or "renovation" means to alter a mattress for the purpose of resale 
including replacing the ticking or filling of a mattress, to add filling to a mattress or 
to replace mattress components with new or recycled materials. "Renovate" does not 
include stripping a mattress of its ticking or filling without adding new material or 
sanitizing or sterilizing a mattress without otherwise altering the mattress. 
J. "Retailer" means a person that offers a mattress for sale in the State in a retail sale, 
as defined in Title 36, section 1752, subsection 11, including remote sales conducted 
through sales outlets, catalogs or the Internet or any other similar electronic means. 
K. "Sell" or "sale" means any transfer of title for consideration, including remote 
sales conducted through sales outlets, catalogs or the Internet or any other similar 
electronic means. 
L. "Ticking" means the outermost layer of fabric or material of a mattress. "Ticking" 
does not include any layer of fabric or material quilted together with, or otherwise 
attached to, the outennost layer of fabric or material of a mattress. 
M. "Upholste1y material" means all material, loose or attached, between the ticking 
and the mattress core. 
2. Mattress recycling fee. Except as provided in paragraph D, beginning Januaiy 1, 
2018 and ending December 31, 2021, a retailer shall apply a mattress recycling fee of $5, 
in accordance with this subsection, to each mattress sold at retail in the State. 
A. A retailer that first sells a mattress in the State shall add the mattress recycling fee 
to the purchase price of the mattress. The fee must be clearly visible on invoices or 
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functionally equivalent billing documents as a separate line item. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A" to S.P. 115, L.D. 349 
B. Notwithstanding Title 3 6, section 1811, or any other provision of law to the 
contrary, the mattress recycling fee imposed under this subsection is not subiect to 
the sales tax. 
C. A retailer that adds the mattress recycling fee to the purchase price of a mattress 
shall remit to the depatiment on a quatierly basis payment of all mattress recycling 
fees collected on mattresses sold in the State during the quatier, except that the 
retailer may retain $1 of each mattress recycling fee collected to cover the 
administrative costs incurred by the retailer in collecting, remitting and otherwise 
administering the fee. 
D. A retailer that has established a program for the recycling of discarded mattresses, 
the cost of which is included in the purchase price of mattresses sold by the retailer, 
may apply to the commissioner for an exemption from the requirements of this 
subsection. The commissioner shall grant the exemption upon a finding that the 
program established by the retailer adequately provides for the recycling of discarded 
mattresses. 
E. Fee payments received by the depatiment pursuant to this subsection must be 
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deposited into the fund. 
3. 
Mattress Recycling Grant Fund. 
The Mattress Recycling Grant Fund is 
established as a dedicated, nonlapsing fund to be administered by the department to 
support programs, projects, initiatives or activities designed to increase the recycling and 
diversion from disposal of discarded mattresses in the State in accordance with subsection 
4. The fund receives all fees collected under subsection 2. 
4. Mattress Recycling Grant Program. The Mattress Recycling Grant Program is 
established to provide grants to public and private entities to assist in the development, 
implementation or improvement of programs, projects, initiatives or activities designed to 
increase the recycling and diversion from disposal of discarded mattresses in the State. 
A. The depatiment shall administer the program and may disburse revenue from the 
fund based on approved grant requests from public and private applicants. 
The 
depatiment may provide grants for the documented costs of application proposals 
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consistent with the criteria in paragraph B and the priorities in paragraph C. Costs 
incurred by the depatiment in the development and administration of the program 
may be paid with revenue from the fund, except that such costs may not exceed 10% 
of the revenue deposited in the fund in a calendar year. 
B. The depatiment may disburse grants under this subsection from the fund, to the 
extent that funds are availabie, on a quatierly basis, to any public or private entity 
demonstrating, in the department's determination, that a proposed program, project, 
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initiative or activity is likely to increase the recycling and diversion from disposal of 
8 
discarded mattresses within a patiicular community, municipality or region or the 
State. Programs, projects, initiatives or activities eligible for funding include, but are 
not limited to, municipal or regional mattress recycling programs, including the 
establishment of such programs or the purchase of infrastructure, equipment or other 
items necessaty to implement such programs, including, but not limited to, storage 
containers or other structures for holding collected discarded mattresses; and 
programs or business models designed to provide equipment for or otherwise 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A "to S.P. 115, L.D. 349 
establish or supp01t the collection, transp01tation for recycling, processing or 
recycling of discarded mattresses in the State or the incineration or combustion of 
discarded mattresses in the State for the generation of heat, steam or electricity. 
C. The department shall give priority in the awarding of funds under this subsection 
to applicants based in the rural areas of the State and to those proposed programs, 
projects, initiatives or activities that will, in the depattment's detennination, supp01t 
the recycling and diversion from disposal of discarded mattresses primarily in the 
rural areas of the State and that otherwise meet the department's eligibility criteria. 
The awarding of funds under this subsection must be consistent with the solid waste 
management hierarchy established under section 2101 and must be prioritized to 
provide the most benefit to the State in tenns of increasing the recycling and 
diversion from disposal of discarded mattresses in the State. 
D. The department may require, as a condition of grant approval, that an applicant 
demonstrate its ability to provide in-kind contributions relating to the grant applied 
for or to provide a ce1tain level of matching funding to supplement the grant applied 
for. 
E. Revenue from the fund disbursed by the program is subject to audit as determined 
by the department, and the recipient of any such funding must agree to be subject to 
audit and to cooperate with the auditor as a condition ofreceiving funding. 
5. Report. Beginning February 15, 2019 and annually thereafter, the department 
shall submit a rep01t to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction 
over environmental and natural resources matters containing information on the revenues 
added to the fund in the prior calendar year; the revenues disbursed from the fund in the 
form of approved grants in the prior calendar year, including a brief description of each 
approved grant; updated data or information, if available, as to the effect of the program 
on the recycling and diversion from disposal of discarded mattresses in the State; and any 
recommendations for improvements or changes to the program, including, but not limited 
to, changes to the fee structure under subsection 2 to better supp01t the purposes of the 
program. The rep01t may be included in the report required pursuant to section 1772, 
subsection 1. 
6. Rulemaking. The department may adopt rules to implement this section. Rules 
adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, 
chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
7. Repeal. This section is repealed December 31, 2022. 
Sec. 2. Appropriations and allocations. 
The following appropriations and 
allocations are made. 
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF 
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Mattress Recycling Grant Fund N242 
Initiative: Provides allocations for one part-time Environmental Specialist III position to 
administer the Mattress Recycling Grant Program and for program grants to entities and 
businesses. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A " to S.P. 115, L.D. 349 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS 
2017-18 
2018-19 
POSITIONS - LEGISLATIVE COUNT 
0.500 
0.500 
Personal Services 
$22,114 
$44,229 
All Other 
$199,030 
$398,058 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS TOTAL 
$221,144 
$442,287 
SUMMARY 
This amendment, which is the majority report of the committee, replaces the bill, 
changes the title and applies, starting January 1, 2018 and ending December 31, 2021, a 
recycling fee of $5 on each mattress sold at retail in the State. This mattress recycling fee 
will be deposited in the Mattress Recycling Grant Fund to support the Mattress Recycling 
Grant Program, which are both established in the amendment. Revenue in the Mattress 
Recycling Grant Fund will be used by the Department of Environmental Protection to 
provide grants under the Mattress Recycling Grant Program to public and private entities 
demonstrating that a proposed program, project, initiative or activity is likely to increase 
the recycling and diversion from disposal of discarded mattresses within a particular 
community, municipality or region or the State. These provisions are repealed December 
31,2022. 
The amendment also adds an appropriations and allocations section. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Revised: 04/27 /17 feac 
LD349 
LR445(02) 
An Act To Establish a Mattress Stewardship Program 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment'/\'' (S- S ~"\ 
Committee: Environment and Natural Resources 
>,,) 
Appropriations/Allocations 
Other Special Revenue Funds 
Revenue 
Other Special Revenue Funds 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
FY 2017-18 
FY 2018-19 
$221,144 
$442,287 
$221,144 
$442,287 
Projections 
FY 2019-20 
$442,287 
$442,287 
Projections 
FY 2020-21 
$442,287 
$442,287 
This bill establishes a mattress recycling fee of $5 added to the retail price of each mattress sold in the State starting 
on January 1, 2018, and ending December 31, 2021. Retailers may retain $1 of the fee for the administrative costs of 
collecting the fee, with the remaining $4 deposited into the newly established Mattress Recycling Grant Fund 
(MRGF) within the Department ofEnviromnental Protection (DEP). Based on a similar program in Connecticut and 
an estimated total for national mattress sales and then prorated for population, it is anticipated that approximately 
110,572 mattresses will be disposed of annually in Maine. The mattress recycling fee will generate $221,144 to the 
Mattress Recycling Grant Fund in fiscal year 2017-18 and $442,287 in fiscal year 2018-19. The MRGF will be used to 
provide grants to entities or programs designed to increase the recycling of disposed mattress units and reduce their 
entry into the waste stream. Up to 10% of the revenue deposited into the MRGF maybe used by the DEP for the 
development and administration of the program. 
The bill includes allocations to the MRGF of $22,114 in fiscal year 2017-18 and $44,229 in fiscal year 2018-19 for 
one part-time Enviromnental Specialist III position to administer the mattress recycling grant program. It also includes 
allocations of $199,030 in fiscal year 2017-18 and $398,058 in fiscal year 2018-19 for grants to entities or programs 
that meet the mattress recycling program criteria. 
LR0445(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1