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Committee hears expansion of paint stewardship program; agencies describe fee flow and small fiscal effects
Summary
Committee testimony outlined an expansion of Vermont's paint stewardship program to additional 'paint products,' explained how stewardship assessments are collected and remitted, and described a contingency authority for ANR to establish household hazardous waste plans if manufacturers fail to comply.
Legislative staff and agency witnesses briefed the committee on proposed expansions to Vermont's paint stewardship program and related household hazardous waste contingency authority.
The bill would expand the existing architectural paint stewardship program to include a broader set of "paint products" (examples discussed in testimony included aerosol spray paints, paint thinners and stains) and would codify the stewardship assessment schedule now charged at point of sale.
"The flow is, you know, you or I pay, and then that money is remitted back to either the manufacturer or in this case, it's really PaintCare Vermont, the stewardship organization that was formed by the manufacturers to handle, administration of this program," legislative staff said. Later in the hearing an industry representative clarified: "Sherwin Williams isn't paying anything. The consumer is," and that retailers remit assessment fees to the stewardship organization when they sell paint.
Legislative staff told the committee that PaintCare Vermont collected about $990,000 in stewardship assessment fees in the referenced tax year and that, at Vermont's sales tax rate, that represented roughly $60,000 in additional sales tax revenue. The tax department testified that the assessment is included in the taxable sales price of the product under their interpretation and that any marginal increase in assessed fees will slightly increase sales tax collections.
The bill also contains a contingency for household hazardous waste collections: if manufacturers do not convene and submit compliant collection plans by statutory deadlines, the Agency of Natural Resources would have authority to establish the plan and charge manufacturers 10% of the plan cost; the agency estimates the cost to establish a plan could be between roughly $500,000 and $750,000 per plan, but ANR told JFO it expects manufacturers to comply and therefore does not expect the contingency to be triggered.
Committee members asked for clarity on fee flow, retailer practice, and taxable treatment; witnesses said that retail receipts sometimes show the stewardship assessment as a separate line item and sometimes not. No final vote occurred at the hearing; staff and agencies agreed to provide additional implementation details if the committee advances the bill.
