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Senators hear bipartisan plan for manufacturer‑funded paint recycling program
Summary
Representative Karen Veil told the Senate Ways and Means Committee that House Bill 451 would establish a manufacturer‑funded paint stewardship program so consumers and municipalities can return leftover paint for recycling.
Representative Karen Veil introduced House Bill 451, a bipartisan measure to establish a post‑consumer paint stewardship program in New Hampshire modeled on existing PaintCare programs in other states.
"Once the program is up and running, anybody can bring their leftover paint and other related products to participating retailers," Representative Veil told the committee, describing the outreach the solid waste working group conducted and the broad support the bill received in prior hearings.
Under the bill and the stewardship model witnesses described, manufacturers would fund a stewardship organization (PaintCare) that develops a state program plan, negotiates contracts with processors and transporters, and sets a per‑container assessment to cover collection, transport and processing. The assessment is remitted by manufacturers on a quarterly basis and typically appears as an add‑on in the retail price of paint. Heidi McAuliffe of the American Coatings Association described fee ranges in other Northeast programs: "For the very smallest container of paint, it's 0. For the next level up, which is typically a 1 gallon, the fee ranges in the Northeast anywhere from 75¢ a gallon to 90¢... For a 5‑gallon can, it is more — somewhere around a dollar 50, maybe a dollar 75." She said PaintCare operates in multiple states and would submit a plan for DES approval, provide collection sites and commit to siting a collection location within 15 miles of residents.
Witnesses and department staff outlined fiscal and operational points: - Department of Environmental Services (DES) officials said they do not take an official position but have worked with the sponsor and industry on technical details. DES intends to set up accounting so program oversight costs can be reimbursed by the stewardship organization; the fiscal note shows a revenue/expenditure wash to the state for reimbursement of oversight costs. - The Northeast Resource Recovery Association provided an analysis estimating an average household hazardous waste collection day for a community of the sample size cost roughly $13,000 and that, on average across a sampled set, 53% of the material collected was paint. Municipal witnesses and the New Hampshire Municipal Association supported the bill as a way to reduce municipal costs and landfill leachate. - The stewardship model is voluntary for retailers to serve as collection sites; retailers are not required to participate and collectors may still run household hazardous waste days.
Committee members pressed on consumer cost mechanics and program oversight. Senator Sullivan and others asked whether the assessment will be visible to consumers and whether the fee could exceed actual program costs; industry witnesses said the fee schedule is developed by PaintCare using audited sales, transport and processing costs and that the program produces annual reporting and audit provisions. Representative Veil and industry representatives said municipalities would see reduced collection costs and that PaintCare would reimburse DES for administrative work.
Several senators expressed philosophical and policy questions about whether the cost should be borne as a retail‑level fee (passed through to consumers) or absorbed by manufacturers. The committee closed the public hearing and indicated it would not execute the bill that day; senators asked staff to consider drafting clarifications about the purchase‑price language and reimbursement provisions.
