EPR commission approves sending paint extended-producer-responsibility recommendation to Legislature

The Extended Producer Responsibility Commission voted June 18 to send a recommendation to the Legislature urging enactment of an extended-producer-responsibility (EPR) program for architectural paint.

The commission's draft asks the Legislature to enact paint EPR that "follows and tracks" programs operating in Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont and New York, and notes that draft bills are currently pending at the Statehouse (house 886 and senate 647), but it does not direct the Legislature to adopt any single pending bill.

John Bieling, deputy commissioner for policy and planning at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and chair of the commission, led the discussion and presented the text the commission considered. "We are recommending that the Legislature enact paint EPR legislation, which follows and tracks the programs already in place such in Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, and that Vermont and New York to provide consistency across the region," he said.

Tracy Triplett, representing the Attorney General's Office, asked the commission to make explicit that acknowledging pending bills does not constitute an endorsement by her office. "Our office does endorse different legislation and and does not. And so wanted to make clear that this group itself ... acknowledges but does not endorse," Triplett said. Several commission members and staff agreed to amend the draft language to clarify the distinction.

Commissioners then took a formal vote to transmit the recommendation to the Legislature. After a motion and second, the chair called for the ayes; the motion carried with a single opposed vote recorded during the roll call vote.

The commission also agreed to circulate the final recommendation text to members before transmission so departments and agencies can run the language through internal review channels. Several members asked for additional lead time for internal review on future recommendations.

The vote concludes the commission's work on the paint product category; commissioners next planned to turn to mattresses on the same agenda day.

Details: the commission debated whether to include explicit wording about pending bills; the Attorney General's Office requested language that the commission "acknowledges but does not endorse" the bills under consideration. The commission adopted that approach and approved sending the recommendation to the Legislature.

The commission recorded the motion and carried it by affirmative vote with one recorded opposing vote.