Publishers and recyclers clash over removing newspapers from extended producer responsibility law

House Bill 3,780 drew a short but pointed hearing in which newspaper publishers asked to be excluded from Oregon’s extended producer responsibility (EPR) program for paper and packaging and program implementers warned that excluding newspapers now would create cost and implementation problems.

Greg Peten, representing the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association, asked the committee to remove newspapers from the EPR program adopted under the Recycling Modernization Act. Peten said newspapers are already widely recycled—he estimated about 80 percent—and argued that the law’s in‑kind advertising compliance option for newspapers raises constitutional concerns because it would require newspapers to provide state advertising in lieu of program fees.

David LeFave, policy adviser at Circular Action Alliance (CAA), the producer responsibility organization approved by Department of Environmental Quality to implement Oregon's program, told the committee CAA’s plan has been approved and the program is scheduled to launch July 1. He said newspaper producers currently face the program’s lowest estimated fee (about one cent per pound), and removing newspapers would shift costs onto other producers and create "free rider" problems. LeFave said the program’s fee-setting and registration deadlines are already in motion and that changes now would create uncertainty weeks before launch.

Committee members asked implementation questions. LeFave confirmed the program’s registration and reporting deadlines and said excluding newspapers would not reduce curbside collection costs for residents; instead, costs would be redistributed across remaining covered producers. Peten said his clients are concerned about First Amendment and other legal risks in the statute as written.

The committee closed the hearing without taking action; members were told they could submit additional written testimony within 48 hours.