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) › § 1335f - Environmental protection deposit

Every person engaged in the retail sale of lubricating oil shall collect a deposit of one dollar ($1) for each quart (1 / 4) [sic] of lubricating oil sold in his/her place of business. The buyer shall return the used oil to any authorized collection center within a ninety (90) -day period, where he/she will be asked for a voucher or purchase receipt, which shall indicate the number of quarts (1 / 4) [sic] of oil purchased, as well as the amount of the deposit posted. It shall be the responsibility of the collection center to certify on the original voucher or purchase receipt, through a stamp or official seal, that the oil used was duly accepted. Said certification shall include the approximate amount of oil accepted, as well as the date of its receipt. The buyer shall recover his/her deposit upon taking the certified receipt to the establishment where he/she purchased the oil within a one hundred and twenty (12) -day [sic] period as of the date of purchase. The retailer shall return to the Department of the Treasury the deposits that have not been claimed by consumers within ninety (90) days. The imposition, collection, and administration of the environmental protection deposit shall be governed by the regulations promulgated by the Department of the Treasury to such effect.
The unclaimed deposits shall be administered by the Department of the Treasury as stated hereinafter. Fifty percent (50%) of said unclaimed deposits shall be distributed among the agencies in charge of the education concerning this chapter and its implementation and supervision, as follows: the Environmental Quality Board, twenty-two point five percent (22.5%), the Department of the Treasury, sixteen (16%) percent, and the Solid Waste Authority, eleven point five (11.5%) percent; the remaining fifty percent (50%) shall be transferred and deposited, in equal parts, in the Environmental Emergencies Fund and in the Fund for Land Acquisition and Conservation, as provided in subsection (2) of § 1335j of this title.
The Solid Waste Authority may use fifty percent (50%) of the unclaimed deposits appropriated and to be appropriated to the same to defray costs and expenses which are reasonably necessary to comply with its ministerial duties under this chapter, §§ 1301–1319, and §§ 1320–1320u, both of this title.
The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby empowered to impose administrative sanctions and fines for infractions of this section or the regulations approved thereunder, which shall not exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each infraction, it being understood that each infraction shall be deemed as a separate violation. The Secretary of the Treasury is also empowered to impose the corresponding surcharges and interest on any amount received on account of the environmental protection deposit which has not been remitted on time or which is for a lesser amount than that which should have been remitted.
History —Aug. 31, 1996, No. 172, § 8; July 14, 1998, No. 125, § 2; Sept. 14, 2004, No. 278, § 1; Sept. 1, 2005, No. 109, § 1; Dec. 30, 2005, No. 170, § 1; July 20, 2006, No. 128, § 1; Dec. 26, 2006, No. 290, §§ 1, 4, eff. Jan. 1, 2007.