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Senate amendments to bottle bill would create EPR program and raise handling fees, industry warns of consumer costs
Summary
A Ways & Means briefing on HB 915 outlined a new extended producer responsibility program, a phased 4.5¢ handling‑fee for redemption sites, and fiscal safeguards; the beverage industry urged delaying the fee increase, saying it would translate to roughly $2 million in added costs annually.
Legislative counsel and agency witnesses told the House Ways & Means Committee that the Senate‑amended version of House Bill 915 would create an extended producer responsibility (EPR) program for beverage containers and change how redemption centers are compensated.
Michael Grady, legislative counsel, said the bill moves the definition of "deposit initiator" to the chapter definitions, requires formation of a producer responsibility organization (PRO) and lays out a compensation framework for retailers and redemption centers. "For the first 15 months of the plan, those retail redemption centers ... will be paid 4 and 1/2 cents per container for all other means of redemption at a location," Grady said, and after July 2030 compensation would be determined by negotiated agreements between the PRO and each redemption location. He added the bill builds in ANR approval of compensation, binding dispute resolution and reporting requirements to monitor fair compensation.
Industry testimony pushed back on the handling‑fee increases. Chris Rice of MMR, testifying for the Beverage Association of Vermont, said the combined one‑cent handling‑fee increase (raising certain fees to 4.5¢) amounts to "a little shy of $2 million a year" in added costs ultimately passed to consumers and warned that adding fees without tying money to modernization risks perpetuating the current system. Rice asked that if the House concurs with the Senate changes, the effective date for the handling‑fee increase be postponed by six months to give deposit initiators and redemption sites time to implement changes thoughtfully.
A fiscal office representative told the committee the liquor‑container handling‑fee increase would cost the Division of Liquor and Lottery about $35,000 annually and noted two reimbursement paths for the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR): oversight reimbursement where deposit initiators form the PRO, and a different penalty/reimbursement structure if ANR operates as the PRO. The fiscal witness also described a transfer of some funds from the Clean Water Fund into a Waste Management Assistance Fund, and new caps on grants to limit drawdown from that account.
Committee members pressed for clarity on the audit schedule and timeline: the Senate pushed the fiscal audit back (the fiscal witness described an October 2030 date), and legislators noted the bill delays full implementation until the PRO is stood up (March 2029) and phases the handling‑fee mechanics.
Why it matters: The bill changes who pays and who is paid in the redemption market, affects revenue flows among ANR, DLL and the waste management account, and could alter costs to consumers and the viability of redemption centers. Provisions on dispute resolution, reporting and grant caps are intended to limit unintended fiscal impacts but leave several implementation questions for budgeting and rulemaking.
Next steps: Committee members asked staff for follow‑ups and indicated the committee will take a vote the next morning once jurisdictional questions are resolved. A straw poll on the bills will occur at a future date.
