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Amend the bill by striking out all of section 1 and inserting the following:
‘Sec. 1.  38 MRSA §1672, sub-§1, ¶A-1  is enacted to read:
 
A-1.  "Covered entity" means a person who at any one time presents for drop off at a collection location participating in a department-approved program for the recycling of mercury-added lamps under this subsection:
 
(1) Any number of compact fluorescent mercury-added lamps; or
’
 
(2) Ten or fewer mercury-added lamps that are not compact fluorescent mercury-added lamps.
Amend the bill in section 2 in paragraph C in the first line (page 1, line 13 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "site" and inserting the following: 'sitelocation'
Amend the bill in section 2 in paragraph C in the 3rd line (page 1, line 15 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "covered entities" and inserting the following: 'a covered entity'
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 4 and inserting the following:
‘Sec. 4. 38 MRSA §1672, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2013, c. 315, §2, is further amended to read:
 
4. Manufacturer recycling programs for mercury-added lamps.   Effective January 1, 2011, eachEach manufacturer of mercury-added lamps sold or distributed for household use in the State for use by a covered entity on or after January 1, 2001 shall individually or collectively implement a department-approved program for the recycling of mercury-added lamps from householdsa covered entity.
 
A. The recycling program required under this subsection must include, but is not limited to:
 
(1) Convenient collection locations locatedadequate to serve the needs of covered entities in rural and urban areas throughout the State where residentsa covered entity can drop off their householdmercury-added lamps without cost, including but not limited to municipal collection siteslocations and participating retail establishments;. The program must include a method of determining the adequate number and geographic distribution of collection locations based on geographic information system modeling.
 
No later than January 1, 2020, the collection system implemented under the program must provide at least 90% of the residents of the State with a permanent collection location or a nonpermanent collection location available on a periodic basis within 15 miles of their residence unless the commissioner determines that this requirement is not practicable due to geographic constraints, in which case the commissioner may approve an alternative collection system that includes a geographic distribution of collection locations but that does not otherwise meet this requirement.
 
Unless otherwise approved by the commissioner, the collection system implemented under the program:
 
(a) Must provide at least 2 collection locations within a population center of at least 30,000 residents and an additional collection location for each additional 30,000 residents within the population center; and
 
(b) Must ensure that the collection locations required under division (a) are located in a manner that provides residents of the population center with convenient and reasonably equitable access to the collection locations;
 
(2) Handling and recycling equipment and practices in compliance with the universal waste rules adopted pursuant to section 1319-O, subsection 1, paragraph F, with subsection 6 if a crushing device is used and with all other applicable requirements;
 
(3) EffectiveProvision of education and outreach efforts by a manufacturer to promote the program, which must include, but are not limited to, strategies for education of and outreach to covered entities in all areas of the State and ensuring understanding of collection options by covered entities. The education and outreach, including, but not limited tomust, at a minimum, include posters, window clings and point-of-purchase signs and other materials providedthat are made available to retail establishmentscollection locations without cost, that can be prominently displayed and that will be easily visible to covered entities; and outreach to the general public, including annual Internet-based media campaigns and print and radio media campaigns conducted in rural and urban areas in the State; and
 
(4) An annual report to the department on the number of mercury-added lamps recycled under the manufacturer's program, the estimated percentage of mercury-added lamps available for recycling that were recycled under the program and the methodology for estimating the number of mercury-added lamps available for recycling, an evaluation of the effectiveness of the recycling program, recommendations for increasing the number of lamps recycled under the recycling program and an accounting of the costs associated with administering and implementing the recycling program.
 
(5) A goal of annually increasing the percentage of the residents of the State that are aware of the requirement to recycle mercury-added lamps and the availability of mercury-added lamp recycling at collection locations implemented under the program;
 
(6) Provisions for routinely evaluating the effectiveness of the education and outreach under subparagraph (3);
 
(7) Procedures for improving the education and outreach under subparagraph (3) if the goal under subparagraph (5) is not achieved; and
 
(8) An annual report to the department, which must include, at a minimum:
 
(a) The number of mercury-added lamps recycled under the program;
 
(b) The estimated percentage of mercury-added lamps available for recycling that were recycled under the program and, if the percentage of lamps recycled in the prior calendar year did not represent an increase from the percentage of lamps recycled in the calendar year prior to the prior calendar year, recommendations for program modifications to increase the percentage of lamps recycled under the program;
 
(c) The methodology for estimating the number of mercury-added lamps available for recycling, which must include an assumption of the average lifespan of a lamp by type of lamp and number of lamps sold by type in the years on which the percentage under division (b) is calculated. Proprietary information submitted to the department pursuant to this division that is identified by the manufacturer as proprietary information is confidential and must be handled by the department in the same manner as confidential information is handled under section 1310-B;
 
(d) A description of the education and outreach under subparagraph (3) and an evaluation of the effectiveness of that education and outreach, including a description of the methods used to measure consumer awareness of the requirement to recycle mercury-added lamps and, beginning with the annual report for 2020, the results of an assessment of consumer awareness of the program as completed by an independent 3rd-party assessor;
 
(e) The location of and contact information for each collection location established under the program and an assessment of the convenience of the collection system established under the program;
 
(f) An accounting of the costs associated with implementing and administering the program; and
 
(g) Any recommendations for changes to the program to improve the convenience of the collection system, consumer education or program evaluation.
 
B. A manufacturer required to implement a recycling program under this subsection shall submit its proposed recycling program for department review and approval. The department shall solicit public comment on the proposed program before approving or denying the program.
 
C. Beginning April 1, 2011, a manufacturer not in compliance with this section is prohibited from offering any mercury-added lamp for final sale in the State or distributing any mercury-added lamp in the State. A manufacturer not in compliance with this section shall provide support to retailers to ensure the manufacturer's mercury-added lamps are not offered for sale, sold at final sale or distributed in the State.
 
D. Beginning April 1, 2011, a retailer may not offer for final sale a mercury-added lamp produced by a manufacturer not in compliance with this section. The department shall notify retailers of the manufacturers of mercury-added lamps not in compliance with this section.
 
E. Beginning in 2013, and biennially thereafter, the department shall calculate the percentage of mercury-added lamps recycled from householdscovered entities and report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over natural resources matters on any modifications to the manufacturer recycling programs it intends to make to improve mercury-added lamp recycling rates and any recommendations for statutory changes needed to facilitate mercury-added lamp collection and recycling. The report may be included in the report required pursuant to section 1772, subsection 1.
 
F.  The department may determine that a manufacturer's recycling program is in compliance with paragraph A, subparagraphs (1), (2) and (4) for the collection of compact fluorescent lamps from households if the manufacturer provides adequate financial support for the collection and recycling of such lamps to municipalities and a conservation program established pursuant to Title 35-A, section 10110 and implemented by the Efficiency Maine Trust.
 
G.  A department-approved recycling program under this subsection that is collectively implemented by manufacturers of mercury-added lamps must require the payment of a flat program participation fee, in lieu of payment of any other fees or costs associated with the program's operation, by a manufacturer participating in the program that previously offered for sale or distributed in the State any type of mercury-added lamps but that no longer offers for final sale or distributes in the State any type of mercury-added lamps; except that a manufacturer that previously offered for sale or distributed in the State only compact fluorescent mercury-added lamps but that no longer offers for final sale or distributes in the State compact fluorescent mercury-added lamps may be required to pay the flat program participation fee only for a period beginning on the date the manufacturer stops offering for final sale or distributing in the State compact fluorescent mercury-added lamps and ending 5 years after that date, after which time the manufacturer must be allowed to continue to participate in the program without being required to pay any fees or other costs associated with the program's operation.
 
H.  If, based on the information annually reported to the department under paragraph A, subparagraph (8), the department determines that fewer than 25,000 total mercury-added lamps were collected in the prior calendar year in the State under all recycling programs implemented under this subsection and that the combined mercury-added lamp recycling rate in the prior calendar year under all recycling programs implemented under this subsection was 10% or greater, the department shall develop a process for reducing the scope of the manufacturer recycling program required under this subsection and for terminating all program requirements within the 3-year period subsequent to that determination.
 
(1) In developing the program reduction and termination process under this paragraph, the department shall invite the participation of manufacturers that have implemented a recycling program under this section.
 
(2) The program reduction and termination process developed under this paragraph must be based on the best available data regarding the collection of mercury-added lamps in the State, including, but not limited to:
 
(a) The collection activity at each collection location;
 
(b) The estimated number of mercury-added lamps in the State still available for collection; and
 
(c) The total number of mercury-added lamps collected in the prior program years.
’
 
(3) Following completion of the development of the program reduction and termination process under this paragraph, the department shall submit a report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over environment and natural resources matters regarding its findings and recommendations for implementing that process, including any proposed legislation. The report under this subparagraph may be included in the report required under section 1772, subsection 1. After reviewing the report the committee may report out a bill to implement the recommendations contained in the report or to otherwise facilitate a reduction and termination of the manufacturer recycling program required under this subsection.
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or section number to read consecutively.
 
SUMMARY
This amendment, which is the majority report of the committee, amends the bill as follows.
1. It amends the definition in the bill for the term "covered entity" to mean a person who at any one time presents for drop off at a collection location participating in a department-approved program for the recycling of mercury-added lamps any number of compact fluorescent mercury-added lamps or 10 or fewer mercury-added lamps that are not compact fluorescent mercury-added lamps.
2. It amends the collection system requirements under the bill to require that no later than January 1, 2020, the collection system must provide at least 90% of residents with a permanent collection location or nonpermanent collection location available on a periodic basis within 15 miles of their residence.
3. It removes specific consumer awareness requirements in the bill and instead requires that a mercury-lamp recycling program annually increase consumer awareness.
4. It removes from the bill the requirement for a mercury-lamp recycling program to provide a minimum half-time employee dedicated to implementing the program.
5. It provides for payment of a flat program participation fee by manufacturers that have stopped offering for sale or distributing in the State mercury-added lamps.
6. It establishes a threshold for development by the Department of Environmental Protection, with input from manufacturers of mercury-added lamps, of a process to reduce the scope of the manufacturer recycling program and to terminate all program requirements. The department is required to submit a report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over environment and natural resources matters regarding its findings and recommendations for reducing and terminating the program, and the committee is authorized to report out a bill to implement those recommendations.
The amendment makes other technical corrections to the bill.
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED
(See attached)