Notice of Public Hearing for Senate Bill 5219 - Update: 10 Year Analysis Completed

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SB 5219, titled AN ACT Relating to the management of plastic packaging materials, has been scheduled for a public hearing by the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology.

Date and Time: 01/28/2021 10:30AM (Subject to change by the Legislature.)
Location: , Virtual, ,

The Office of Financial Management has identified this bill as requiring a ten-year projection of increased cost to the taxpayers or affected fee payers.

Ten-year projection:

Fiscal Year		Plastic Packaging Fee
2022		$
2023		0
2024		25,000,000
2025		25,000,000
2026		25,000,000
2027		22,500,000
2028		20,000,000
2029		20,000,000
2030		20,000,000
2031		17,500,000
Total:		$ 175,000,000

Department of Ecology:

Section 5 would provide that a plastic packaging producer in violation of this chapter would be subject to an annual fee. Ecology would be required to adopt rules to implement the fees which must be structured within a prescribed range. Ecology assumes rulemaking would take two years to complete, beginning July 1, 2021, and adopted by June 2023.

Cash receipts from fees is Indeterminate. The fee structure would be established as part of the rulemaking process. Based on comparisons to the Recycle BC program and other packaging programs in Canada, Ecology assumes 1,500 plastic packaging producers would be required to comply with the recycled content requirements. The number and level of violations of those who do not meet minimum post-consumer recycled content is unknown. While companies have made progress in increasing their recycled content use over the last few years, Ecology assumes that a significant number of producers will not meet the 15% postconsumer content minimum required beginning in 2023. Ecology assumes similar rates of non-compliance will continue as the minimum requirements are increased to 25% in 2027 and 50% in 2030.

For purposes of this analysis, Ecology estimates the average of the prescribed fee minimums and maximums as established in section 5. Under the bill, the fee amount would not exceed $200 per ton, and could be lowered for producers that achieve partial compliance. The fee would be set at $200 per ton if the estimated revenues fall below these established ranges. The total amount raised would be as follows:

•           Between $40 million and $60 million per biennium from July 1, 2023 through December 31, 2026,

•           Between $30 million and $50 million per biennium from January 1, 2027 through December 31, 2030, and

•           Between $20 million and $40 million per biennium on or after January 1, 2031.

Based on the average of the range of fee revenue under section 5, Ecology estimates the following for purposes of this analysis. 

•           FY 2024 (July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024): $25 million (Note: $1 million of this would be deposited in WRRLCA per section 6) 

•           FY 2025 (July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025): $25 million

•           FY 2026 (July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026): $25 million

•           FY 2027 (July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027): $12.5 million (July-December)+ $10 million (January-June)= $22.5 million

•           FY 2028 (July 1, 2027 – June 30, 2028): $20 million

•           FY 2029 (July 1, 2028 – June 30, 2029): $20 million

•           FY 2030 (July 1, 2029 – June 30, 2030): $20 million

•           FY 2031 (July 1, 2030 – June 30, 2031): $10 million (July-December)+ $7.5 million (January-June)= $17.5 million

•           FY 2032 and thereafter: $15 million

All fee revenue would be deposited in the Recycling Improvement Account, with the exception of $1 million in FY 2024 which would be deposited in the Waste Reduction, Recycling, and Litter Control Account as prescribed under section 6.

Ten-year projection prepared in consultation with the following agencies:

Department of Ecology


Bill sponsors and contact information:

Senator Derek Stanford, Prime Sponsor
Democrat
(360) 786-7600
Derek.Stanford@leg.wa.gov

Senator Marko Liias
Democrat
(360) 786-7640
Marko.Liias@leg.wa.gov

Senator Steve Conway
Democrat
(360) 786-7656
steve.conway@leg.wa.gov

Senator Sam Hunt
Democrat
(360) 786-7642
Sam.Hunt@leg.wa.gov

Senator Karen Keiser
Democrat
(360) 786-7664
Karen.Keiser@leg.wa.gov

Senator Patty Kuderer
Democrat
(360) 786-7694
patty.kuderer@leg.wa.gov

Senator Joe Nguyen
Democrat
(360) 786-7667
NGUYEN_JO@leg.wa.gov

Senator Claire Wilson
Democrat
(360) 786-7658
WILSON_CL@leg.wa.gov


Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology members and contact information:

Senator Sharon Brown
Republican
(360) 786-7614
Sharon.Brown@leg.wa.gov

Senator Reuven Carlyle
Democrat
(360) 786-7670
Reuven.Carlyle@leg.wa.gov

Senator Mona Das
Democrat
(360) 786-7692
DAS_MO@leg.wa.gov

Senator Doug Ericksen
Republican
(360) 786-7682
Doug.Ericksen@leg.wa.gov

Senator Phil Fortunato
Republican
(360) 786-7660
phil.fortunato@leg.wa.gov

Senator Steve Hobbs
Democrat
(360) 786-7686
steve.hobbs@leg.wa.gov

Senator Marko Liias
Democrat
(360) 786-7640
Marko.Liias@leg.wa.gov

Senator Liz Lovelett
Democrat
(360) 786-7678
Liz.Lovelett@leg.wa.gov

Senator Joe Nguyen
Democrat
(360) 786-7667
NGUYEN_JO@leg.wa.gov

Senator Ann Rivers
Republican
(360) 786-7634
ann.rivers@leg.wa.gov

Senator Tim Sheldon
Democrat
(360) 786-7668
Timothy.Sheldon@leg.wa.gov

Senator Shelly Short
Republican
(360) 786-7612
Shelly.Short@leg.wa.gov

Senator Derek Stanford
Democrat
(360) 786-7600
Derek.Stanford@leg.wa.gov

Senator Lisa Wellman
Democrat
(360) 786-7641
Lisa.Wellman@leg.wa.gov



Legislative Bill Information Website: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/

Initiative 960 Website: http://www.ofm.wa.gov/tax/default.asp