R&D: PROCESS RETURNABLE CONTAINERS S.B. 1395: COMMITTEE SUMMARY
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Senate Bill 1395 (as introduced 6-17-08)
Sponsor: Senator Ron Jelinek
Committee: Commerce and Tourism


Date Completed: 6-24-08

CONTENT
The bill would amend Part 201 (Environmental Remediation) of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act to allow the Department of Environmental Quality to use money from the Cleanup and Redevelopment Fund, upon appropriation, for grants for either or both of the following:

-- Research and development of new technologies for dealers to process returnable containers under the beverage container deposit law. -- Retrofitting reverse vending machines to accommodate those technologies.


MCL 324.20113 Legislative Analyst: Patrick Affholter

FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would have an indeterminate fiscal impact on the State. It would not generate or authorize the expenditure of additional money, but would authorize additional uses of the Cleanup and Redevelopment Fund. This would divert resources from existing programs that are supported by the Fund.


Senate Bill 1097 (S-1), the FY 2008-09 budget for the Department of Environmental Quality as passed by the Senate, included language appropriating $2.0 million from the Cleanup and Redevelopment Trust Fund (CRTF) to reimburse retailers for the cost of retrofitting existing reverse vending machines to accept Michigan-only returnable beverage containers. That language was not included in the House-passed version of the bill, and Senate Bill 1097 has been referred to a conference committee. The CRTF is created in a separate statute and is a different fund than the Cleanup and Redevelopment Fund that would be affected by Senate Bill 1395.

Fiscal Analyst: Jessica Runnels

Analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent. sb1395/0708