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) › § 1335j - Used Oil Collection and Management Fund

(1) A Used Oil Collection and Management Fund is hereby created which shall be nourished by the oil disposal fee collected for oil manufactured, imported and/or re-refined in Puerto Rico and for all used oil introduced in Puerto Rico for its final disposal that is not recycled through re-refining or retrieval of energy, if it has not paid the fee as lubricating oil when imported. Said Fund shall be used as described hereinbelow:
(a) Sixty-five percent (65%) of the money collected shall be used for the carrying and final disposal of all used oil generated or imported for its disposal in Puerto Rico that has paid the fee indicated in § 1335k(1) of this title, including its reuse and recycling. No money from the Fund shall be used for the disposal and carrying of contaminated used oil, according to the parameters of the Board and/or the applicable federal laws and regulations, whichever is most restrictive, except what is established in § 1335d(4) of this title. In this case, it shall be the responsibility of the generator to dispose of the contaminated used oil adequately.
(b) A maximum of two percent (2%) shall be assigned to the Solid Waste Authority for the education and promotion with regard to this chapter, and the adequate management of used oil.
(c) A maximum of zero point five percent (0.5%) shall be alloted to the Solid Waste Authority to cover expenses inherent to the administration and operation of the Administrative Board according to its duties, as provided in this chapter.
(d) The Department of the Treasury shall be assigned three point five percent (3.5%) of the money collected to cover its administrative expenses with regard to this chapter. These funds may also be used to improve its systems or physical facilities, modernize service facilities, digitize processes and documents, implement measures to improve operational and oversight efficiency and effectiveness, evaluate reforms and changes in the tax systems and to defray other expenses as appropriate to assure compliance by the Department of the Treasury with its ministerial duties.
(e) Five percent (5%) shall be appropriated to the Environmental Quality Board from the money collected to cover expenses inherent to its duty of implementing, enforcing this chapter and ensuring its compliance.
(f) Twenty-four percent (24%) of the money collected shall be deposited in the Environmental Emergencies Fund created by Act No. 81 of July 12, 1987. The same shall be used to address those situations that jeopardize our environment and our public health, as determined by the Environmental Quality Board. The expenses incurred to address emergencies may be recovered through an administrative order issued by the Environmental Quality Board or through a civil action filed in the General Court of Justice of Puerto Rico or of the United States of America against any person liable for the emergency, and the Environmental Quality Board shall reimburse it to Environmental Emergencies Fund created by Act No. 81 of July 12, 1987. These provisions shall be complementary to those of Act No. 81 of July 12, 1987, and nothing of the herein provided shall be construed as preventing the application of the same or the filing of judicial or administrative actions pursuant to same, and for obtaining the remedies provided in said sections.
(2) Any surplus from the Fund for the Recollection and Management of Used Oil, as well as the interest accrued at the closing of each fiscal year shall be divided and transferred prospectively into fifty percent (50%) to the Environmental Emergency Fund created by Act No. 81 of July 12, 1987, and the other fifty percent (50%) to the Fund for the Acquisition and Conservation of Land created by law. Furthermore, the Department of the Treasury shall transfer to the Environmental Emergency Fund created by Act No. 81 of July 12, 1987, the remaining funds and interest accrued of the Fund for the Recollection and Management of Used Oil in existence on the effective date of this act.
(3) The Secretary of the Treasury shall open an account at the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico for the investment of the emergencies account funds, which at the end of each fiscal year shall be distributed as established in subsection (2) of this section. The interest generated by this account shall be reinvested in the same account. The investment of funds shall be governed by the investment policy for government dependencies.
(4) The total distributed funds shall never exceed one hundred percent (100%) of the collection.
(5) All the monies of the Used Oil Collection and Management Fund shall be deposited in a special account in the Department of the Treasury which shall annually certify to the Administrative Board, on or before August 31, the balance of said fund to June 30 and the income and expenditures of the same during the fiscal year ending on said date. The disbursements shall be approved by the Administrative Board and shall be made pursuant to the regulations adopted by the Department of the Treasury.
(6) The Distribution of the Used Oil Collection and Management Fund as well as the Disposal and Environmental Protection Fee shall be revised by the Legislative Assembly every two (2) years using as a basis the recommendations of the report of the Administrative Board created by this chapter. Provided, That notwithstanding the provisions of this section, for Fiscal Year 2015-2016, the sum of three million, five hundred thousand dollars ($3,500,000) in account number 0500000-226-782-1998 of the Department of the Treasury’s accounting system; and the sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000) available in account number 0240000-226-882-1998 of the Department of the Treasury’s accounting system shall be transferred from this Fund to the “2015-2016 Legal Liability Fund”.
History —Aug. 31, 1996, No. 172, § 12; Aug. 29, 2000, No. 230, § 4; Sept. 5, 2003, No. 269, § 1; Sept. 14, 2004, No. 278, § 3; Dec. 26, 2006, No. 290, § 7, eff. Jan. 1, 2007; Dec. 5, 2013, No. 143, § 2; July 2, 2015, No. 105, § 8.