SENATE FILE _____

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT BILL BY CHAIRPERSON DEARDEN)

A BILL FOR

An Act requiring the department of natural resources to produce, and submit to the general assembly, a product stewardship report.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  455B.861  Product stewardship —— report.
   1.  By January 15 of each year, the department may submit to the general assembly a report on products and product categories that when generated as waste may be appropriately managed under a product stewardship program. The report should include proposed changes to the Code necessary to implement the recommendations in the report. The report shall not consider or include motor vehicles or watercraft. The department may identify a product or product category as a candidate for a product stewardship program if the department determines one or more of the following criteria are met:
   a.  The product or product category is found to contain toxics that pose the risk of an adverse impact to the environment or public health and safety.
   b.  A product stewardship program for the product would increase the recovery of materials for reuse and recycling.
   c.  A product stewardship program for the product would reduce the costs of waste management to local governments.
   d.  Other states or countries have successfully collected and processed similar products under product stewardship programs.
   e.  Existing voluntary product stewardship programs for the product in the state are not effective in achieving solid waste reduction.
   2.  At least thirty days prior to submitting the report to the general assembly, the department shall conduct a public hearing regarding the proposed report. The department shall make the proposed report publicly available through the internet at least one week prior to the date of the public hearing. The department shall accept both written and oral testimony regarding the proposed report and shall include all testimony as part of the report submitted to the general assembly.
   3.  For purposes of this section, unless the context otherwise requires:

   a.  “Brand” means a name, symbol, word, or mark that identifies a product, rather than its components, and attributes the product to the owner of the brand.
   b.  “Producer” means a person that does any of the following:
   (1)  Has legal ownership of the brand of a product sold in the state.
   (2)  Imports a product branded by a person that meets the requirements of subparagraph (1) and has no physical presence in the United States.
   (3)  Sells a product in the state at wholesale or retail, does not have legal ownership of the brand of the product and elects to fulfill the responsibilities of the producer for that product.
   c.  “Product” means an item intended for sale within the state.
   d.  “Product category” means a group of similar products.
   e.  “Product stewardship program” means a program financed without a visible fee at purchase which is either managed or provided by producers and includes but is not limited to the collection, transportation, reuse, and recycling or disposal, or both, of unwanted products.
   f.  “Unwanted product” means a product that has been abandoned or discarded or is intended to be discarded by its owner.
EXPLANATION
   This bill allows the department of natural resources to submit a product stewardship report to the general assembly by January 15 of each year. The report is required to identify products and product categories that when generated as waste may be appropriately managed under a product stewardship program. A product stewardship program is defined as a program financed without a visible fee at purchase which is either managed or provided by producers and includes but is not limited to the collection, transportation, reuse, and recycling or disposal, or both, of unwanted products.