2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWELVE - Conservation (§§ 1-16 — 8162) › Subtitle 5 - Environment (§§ 1120 — 1436) › Chapter 128C - Provisions for Proper Management of Used Oil (§§ 1335 — 1335n) › § 1335i - Used oil disposal and environmental protection fee

(1) Any natural or juridical wholesaler of lubricating oil, and/or any natural or juridical person who imports or introduces lubricating oil into Puerto Rico, or who manufactures or refines lubricating oil on the Island, shall be subject to the payment of a fee of twenty-five cents (25¢) per quart of lubricating oil or a fee of sixty cents (60¢) per gallon of bulk or semi-bulk lubricating oil, whether imported, made or re-refined in Puerto Rico. The fee provided in this section is in addition to any other fee, tax or duty already established by other laws of Puerto Rico.
In the case of lubricating oil imported, manufactured or sold in Puerto Rico in bulk or semi-bulk, and that having paid the fee corresponding to said type of container, is then repackaged by the importer, manufacturer, refiner or any other person in containers of less than fifty-five (55) gallons to be resold in Puerto Rico, the importer, manufacturer, refiner or the person who made the sale, as the case may be, shall be responsible for paying the difference between the fee corresponding to fifty-five (55) -gallon containers or more (bulk or semi-bulk) and the fee corresponding to containers of less than fifty-five (55) gallons.
(2) The fees provided in subsection (1) of this section shall be paid by the importer at the arrival of the product in Puerto Rico and, in the case of manufacturers or refiners, shall be paid by these before the product is distributed or sold at retail. The Department of the Treasury shall establish a register of all persons who import, produce or sell lubricating oil at wholesale prices.
(3) Every importer, manufacturer, refiner, seller or distributor of lubricating oil shall pass on to his/her client or purchaser the exact increase in the price of the lubricating oil resulting from the imposition of said fee.
(4) All lubricating oil manufactured or refined in Puerto Rico destined for exportation shall be exempted from the fee for disposal of used oil and environmental protection and shall not benefit from the Fund created by this chapter.
(5) All used oil introduced [into] Puerto Rico and which will be finally disposed of on the Island shall pay the disposal and environmental protection fee if the lubricating oil was not purchased in Puerto Rico, except that used oil which [was] imported to be refined or to be used in the recovery of its energy value. For such exceptions, the used oil importer shall be responsible for handling and disposing of the imported used oil, complying with all the applicable environmental regulations, and shall not benefit from the Used Oil Collection and Management Fund created by this chapter.
(6) The Department of the Treasury shall assign and deposit the fees collected under this section to the Used Oil Collection and Management Fund established under this chapter.
(7) The Used Oil Disposal and Environmental Protection Fee shall be levied and collected one hundred and twenty (120) days as of the approval of this act, including the lubricating oil inventory kept by lubricating oil importers, distributors and wholesalers. The Department of the Treasury shall promulgate or amend the regulations needed for the collection of the fee established in this chapter and for the intact fee to be passed on to the consumer. The Secretary of the Treasury is empowered to impose sanctions and administrative fines for violations of this section and/or the regulations approved, which shall not exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each infraction, it being understood that each infraction shall be considered as a separate violation. In case the Department of the Treasury determines that there has been contempt in the commission of or persistence in the acts for which an administrative fine has already been imposed or in the commission of or persistence in acts in violation of this chapter and its regulations, the Department of the Treasury, at its discretion, may impose an additional administrative fine of up to a maximum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for any of the acts indicated herein.
The Secretary of the Treasury is also empowered to impose the corresponding surcharges and interest, over any amount not received or not received on time, of the fee for the disposal of used oil.
(8) Every generator of used oil who reuses and recycles the used oil generated by its own machinery, equipment and motor vehicle fleet as part of its industrial process, shall receive the equivalent of the cost of transportation in Puerto Rico and the disposal of said used oil, according to the rates established in § 1335h of this title and the provisions of § 1335d(7) of this title. The equivalent shall be granted by the Department of the Treasury through credits or payments for new purchases of lubricating oil. Only the number of reused or recycled gallons of lubricating oil for which the generator paid the disposal and environmental protection fee shall be considered for said payment. In order to grant said credit or payment, the claimant shall obtain a certification from the Environmental Quality Board to such effect.
History —Aug. 31, 1996, No. 172, § 11; July 14, 1998, No. 125, § 3; Sept. 14, 2004, No. 278, § 2; Dec. 26, 2006, No. 290, § 6, eff. Jan. 1, 2007.