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Committee advances producer‑responsibility and needs‑assessment bills amid sharp industry‑environment split
Summary
The committee released S-3398 (producer responsibility substitute) and S-3815 (needs-assessment) after lengthy testimony: environmental advocates urged EPR to reduce plastic pollution and fund local recycling, while packaging and manufacturing representatives reported definitional, feasibility and cost concerns with the current draft.
On Feb. 10 the Senate Energy and Environment Committee released a substitute to S-3398, a producer responsibility bill addressing packaging, and also released S-3815, a needs-assessment bill intended to inform Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy.
Environmental witnesses, including Judah Fink (Beyond Plastics) and Doug O’Malley (Environment New Jersey), urged the committee to adopt producer responsibility and cited public‑health and waste‑reduction benefits; witnesses referenced studies on microplastics and examples from other jurisdictions where EPR reduced waste. Industry witnesses, led by Andy Hackman on behalf of AmeriPen and representatives of packaging and manufacturing sectors, said the substitute raises unresolved definitional issues (producer definition, incidental presence language for toxic substances), questioned the achievability of a 50% source‑reduction target, and flagged cost and enforcement uncertainties.
Committee staff summarized changes in the Feb. 10 substitute (including removal of hardship waivers, a five‑year look‑back period for earned credits, addition of paper to the needs assessment, and a temporary exemption window for certain protein‑wrap materials). The chair said he will propose amendments to allow a producer responsibility organization (PRO) to form and to have PRO members fund the needs assessment — responding to industry offers to fund the study — and the committee then voted to release the bills. Roll-call votes on S-3398 showed division; S-3815 passed with broader support.
