Maine Revises Proposal for Packaging Stewardship Program
In 2021, Maine implemented a law establishing a stewardship program for packaging, which requires producers of products to participate in and pay into a stewardship organization based on the amount of packaging used for products sold in state and the properties of the packaging. Under that law, the Department of Environmental Protection is undergoing rulemaking to detail various aspects of the program, such as methods for determining producer payments, criteria for identifying easily recyclable packaging types, and requirements for producer reporting, among others.
On February 5, 2024, Maine released a proposed rule that provided details for implementing the Packaging Stewardship Program pursuant to 8 M.R.S. 2146, with the goals of reducing the burden to municipalities of managing packaging material and improving the design and management of packaging material.
The Department has recently reposted the proposed rule with substantive changes to the original version. These include several changes in the definitions section. For example, the definition of “compostable packaging material” now includes a requirement for third-party certification. Additionally, “reusable packaging material” no longer requires that the packaging must be designed for several uses without changing format after initial use. “Reusable packaging material” now means packaging that is designed to be reused and the reuse of which is facilitated by an alternative collection program collecting the reusable packaging material in every county in which it is produced. The revised draft also removes the provision that allowed two producers of the same packaging material to satisfy all applicable requirements under 38 M.R.S. § 2146 by having one producer complete the reporting and payment requirements specified in the rule.
The revised reposted draft also introduces specific deadlines concerning fees and reimbursements. Producers, other than low-volume producers, that are producing packaging material at the time the rule goes into effect must pay a start-up registration fee within 180 days of the Stewardship Organization entering into a contract with the Department of Environmental Protection. Additionally, producers are required to pay annual fees based on their packaging production by July 1st of each calendar year. Furthermore, the reposted draft stipulates that the Stewardship Organization must reimburse participating municipalities by October 1st of each calendar year.
The comment deadline for the reposted rule is August 26, 2024, at 5:00 p.m.