October 7, 2009
Belmont
Governor wants to expand bottle bill
Boston, Mass. - Top aides to Gov. Deval Patrick say they are willing to deal in talks over whether to expand the bottle deposit and redemption law to include bottled water, sports drinks and juices, calling current policy riddled with loopholes that pass up revenue and lead to litter.
Energy and Environment Secretary Ian Bowles told the Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Committee Wednesday morning that the exempted products account for 30 percent of the beverages in the Bay State market – much more than when the original bottle bill passed 27 years ago and the drinks accounted for niche sales.
Bowles told the News Service outside a hearing packed with lobbyists and environmental groups that the administration was willing to negotiate on exemptions for small businesses and border communities.
“Given the economic climate, we are not interested in imposing new burdens on small businesses, so we are very happy to carve out large portions of the retailer community,” said Bowles.
Environmental advocates extolled the proposed expansion, which would take effect December 1, 2011, as a “no brainer,” but businesses warned that their capacity for such an increase is limited and could lead to unaffordable costs.
Under current law, consumers pay a 5-cent fee on bottles of carbonated beverages that they can recoup by recycling those bottles at a local redemption center. Retailers that help collect the redeemed bottles receive 2.25 cents for each bottle from bottlers and distributors. If consumers purchase bottles but don’t redeem them, the 5-cent deposit goes into state coffers and retailers don’t face costs.
Bowles noted that expanding the law to include non-carbonated beverages would bring Massachusetts in line with recent laws passed in Maine, New York and Connecticut, reduce pressure on local landfills and encourage greater recycling rates. In addition, the change would reduce consumer fraud in which people purchase bottles in Massachusetts but redeem them in states with expanded bottle laws.
Under the proposal, revenue collected by the state through the expansion would be steered to a new “Clean Environment Fund,” which would disburse funds based on pre-set calculations to recycling and solid waste programs, environmental programs and capital spending debt service.
Rep. Thomas Stanley has filed similar legislation to remove exemptions from the bottle bill and demarcate funds from unreturned deposit receipts for water and sewer infrastructure projects in cities and towns. The Waltham Democrat said his bill would ease the burden on water and sewer ratepayers. Stanley’s office said unclaimed deposits would bring in between $30 million and $50 million annually.
Retailers argued that proponents of the expansion ignored the effect on border retailers and small businesses, already worried about the effect of a 25 percent increase in the state sales tax and a new sales tax on alcohol. Those businesses, they said, fear an expanded bottle bill would cause them to lose further sales to New Hampshire, which has no bottle redemption laws.
In addition, stores across Massachusetts lack the space to store an influx of redeemed bottles, retailers argued, and can’t afford to expand their capacity.
One storeowner told committee members he worried that when bottle storage space runs out, those seeking the 5-cent redemptions would bring their bottles into the store, leading to sanitation issues.
Beer distributors also panned the proposal, noting that they pay about $42 million a year to retailers for handling redeemed bottles, costs they say are passed on to consumers.
“Massachusetts is already at a competitive disadvantage with surrounding non-bottle law states (most notably New Hampshire) in beer sales because of the costs associated with the bottle law and now because New Hampshire has no sales tax on beer,” said John Stasiowski, president of the Beer Distributors of Massachusetts, in prepared testimony.
Patrick administration officials emphasized that they would be flexible to accommodate businesses’ concerns, noting that Maine enabled certain small businesses to opt out of the redemption program.
“Redemption centers have become a viable part of our economy. There are some 80 already in this state employing over 700 people,” said Laurie Burt, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection.
The expansion bill filed by Rep. Alice Wolf in the House and Sen. Cynthia Creem in the Senate, has the support of 51 lawmakers. But Sen. Michael Morrissey (D-Quincy), co-chair of the Telecommunications Committee, which heard the bill Wednesday, voiced skepticism about potential positive effects highlighted by proponents. At one point, he interrupted Wolf to ask if she would be willing to share any of the new revenue reaped by the state from the expansion with the business community. He also asked Bowles whether the administration was working on a repeal of a newly imposed sales tax on alcohol.
“It’s above my pay grade,” Bowles said.
http://www.wickedlocal.com/belmont/news/x576542992/Governor-wants-to-expand-bottle-bill
