* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Kraft
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
Title
In Support of State Legislation - House Bill 839 - Environment - Recycling - Bottle Deposits, Returns, and Refunds
FOR the purpose of supporting this legislation that would require bottle deposits, returns, and refunds on certain beverage containers; requiring a certain person to pay a refund under certain circumstances; requiring counties in the State to open at least one redemption center and requiring the redemption centers to be certified by the Department of the Environment; urging the Honorable Chair and Members of the House Environmental Matters Committee and the Honorable Chair and Members of the Baltimore City Delegations to the Maryland General Assembly to support passage of the legislation and petitioning the Governor to sign the measure into law.
Body
Recitals
This legislation has a number of very important parts that create an important piece of environmental legislation. First, this legislation creates a State Recycling Trust Fund. This fund will include recycling fees for newsprint, telephone directories, computer manufacturer registration fees, unclaimed deposits, and fines collected for violation of the bill. This Trust Fund will be used to provide grants to counties so that they may develop and implement local recycling plans, create public awareness campaigns, and pay redemption centers the refund value of the returned beverage containers plus a handling fee, which had previously been the responsibility of the bottler. In addition, at the end of each fiscal year, any unspent or unencumbered funds will revert to the general fund.
Another purpose for this legislation is the creation of Redemption Centers. These centers will be certified by the Department of the Environment, and each county in the State will set up and run at least one. The application to become a redemption center will be available to almost anyone, including private retail stores. This will create a genuine interest in community recycling as well provide more places for people to being their recyclables.
The Bill has provisions for financial accountability as well. The redemption centers will file a quarterly report with the Department and the Comptroller that will outline all relevant beverage container transactions, and these numbers will be used to calculate handling fees and refund values. In addition, all deposits collected by a dealer must be returned to the Comptroller for deposit into the State Recycling Trust Fund.
With stiffer penalties for violating recycling laws, and by providing a way for communities to become more involved in the recycling process, this Bill allows for more benefit from recycling than previous legislation. It provides for accountability as well as the necessary creation of recycling centers in all the counties in the State of Maryland. Hopefully by passing House Bill 839, we can move forward in our environmental efforts and make the State of Maryland as clean and beautiful as we know it deserves to be.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That this Body supports House Bill 839 and urges the Honorable Chair and Members of the House Environmental Matters Committee and the Honorable Chair and Members of the Baltimore City Delegations to the Maryland General Assembly to support passage of the legislation, and petitions the Governor to sign the measure into law.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Honorable Chair of the House Environmental Matters Committee is respectfully requested to include this Resolution as part of the Committee record of support for legislative proposals to alter the recycling laws as they pertain to bottle deposits, returns, and refunds.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Governor, the Mayor, the Honorable Chair and Members of the Baltimore City Delegation to the Maryland General Assembly, the Honorable Chair and Members of the Environmental Matters Committee, the Executive Director of the Mayor's Office of State Relations, and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the City Council.
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