Committee favors H.319 with contingency authority for household hazardous‑product stewardship

The House Ways & Means Committee found H.319 favorable after hearing testimony about multiple changes to the state’s extended producer responsibility and household hazardous product rules, including contingency authority that would let the Agency of Natural Resources implement a collection plan and recover costs from manufacturers if stewardship organizations fail to submit adequate plans.

Michael Grady, legislative counsel, walked the committee through the bill’s sections. He said the agency originally proposed language to set a statutory fee schedule for the paint stewardship program but that those fee caps are not in the bill as presented to the committee. The existing assessment mechanism for paint collection remains unchanged in the committee draft.

For covered household hazardous products and other extended producer‑responsibility programs, Grady said H.319 grants more time for stewardship organizations to develop implementation plans, reporting timelines and initial requirements. Section 7 creates a contingency: if manufacturers or a stewardship organization fail to deliver an approved plan, ANR may adopt and run a plan and recover the plan’s costs plus a 10 percent administrative recovery from manufacturers. Joint Fiscal Office staff told the committee that, if triggered, that contingency could produce roughly $500,000 to $750,000 annually deposited into the Waste Management Assistance Special Fund, but DEC staff said they do not expect the contingency to be triggered routinely.

Other provisions: the bill delays the landfill disposal prohibition for covered household hazardous products by one year, authorizes ANR to waive certain household hazardous waste collection requirements so municipalities may cooperate, and clarifies confidentiality for recipients of Healthy Homes assistance under Vermont’s public records practice.

James Duffy of the Joint Fiscal Office described section 7 as the primary fiscal exposure: the contingency represents a cost‑recovery authority that could produce the cited revenues only if ANR had to implement and run a program directly. Duffy said DEC officials expect stewardship organizations to comply and therefore do not anticipate the contingency producing recurring revenues.

Representative questions addressed implementation mechanics and how the contingency would be applied; committee members emphasized they view the 10 percent recovery as a backstop to encourage stewardship organizations to submit and run plans.

A motion to find H.319 favorable was made and the committee recorded a unanimous favorable recommendation (11–0–0).