September 9, 2014, Introduced by Rep. LaFontaine and referred to the Committee on Natural Resources.
A bill to amend 1994 PA 451, entitled
"Natural resources and environmental protection act,"
(MCL 324.101 to 324.90106) by adding part 175.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
PART 175 RECYCLING REPORTS
Sec. 17501. As used in this part:
(a) "Beneficial use by-product" means that term as defined in
section 11502.
(b) "Director" means the director of the department of
environmental quality or his or her designee.
(c) "Food processing residuals" means that term as defined in
section 11503.
(d) "Municipal source" means a residential, municipal,
commercial, or institutional establishment, or another generator of
recyclable materials that are essentially the same as recyclable
materials normally generated by 1 of these establishments.
(e) "Recyclable materials" means that term as defined in
section 11505.
(f) "Recycler" means a person that, as a principal component
of business operations at an establishment, acquires recyclable
materials for use or reuse, separating, sorting, processing,
converting into raw materials, or transferring to other recyclers.
Recycler includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(i) The owner or operator of a disposal area as defined in
section 11503 that recycles materials from the solid waste stream
received by the disposal area.
(ii) The owner or operator of a composting facility as defined
in section 11502.
(iii) The owner or operator of a collection site as defined in
section 16901.
(iv) A recycler, as that term is defined in section 17301.
(v) The owner or operator of a resource recovery facility as
defined in section 11505.
(vi) The owner or operator of a collection facility that
directly markets recyclable material to a broker or end user.
(vii) The owner or operator of an establishment that produces
biogas, synthetic gas, or other fuel from recyclable materials, but
does not include a solid waste incinerator or a landfill that
collects landfill gas for use as a fuel.
(viii) The owner or operator of an establishment engaged
primarily in the acquisition, processing, and shipment of scrap
metal, site separated material, source separated material, or a
combination of such materials.
(g) "Single stream recyclable materials" means 2 or more types
of recyclable materials that have been commingled.
(h) "Site separated material" means that term as defined in
section 11505.
(i) "Solid waste" means that term as defined in section 11506.
(j) "Solid waste incinerator" means a device that is
specifically designed for the destruction, by burning, of
combustible solid waste, and in which the products of combustion
are emitted into the outer air by passing through a stack or
chimney, but does not include a boiler, industrial furnace, or
power plant that burns recyclable materials as fuel.
(k) "Source separated material" means that term as defined in
section 11506.
(l) "Use or reuse" means the direct use of a recyclable
material as a product or raw material, but does not include any of
the following uses:
(i) Fuel at a solid waste incinerator.
(ii) Daily cover at a landfill.
(iii) Landfill gas production.
Sec. 17503. (1) Beginning on October 1, 2015, not more than 30
days after the close of each state fiscal year quarter, a recycler
shall submit to the director a completed recycling activity report
regarding recycling activities conducted by the recycler during the
preceding state fiscal year quarter. The report shall be submitted
on a form or through an electronic reporting system provided by the
department. A separate report shall be submitted for each
establishment owned or operated by the same recycler.
(2) Any person not required to submit a recycling activity
report under subsection (1) may voluntarily submit the report to
the department. The department shall include the voluntarily
reported information in its report to the legislature under
subsection (6) unless the director determines that this information
is duplicative of other information submitted under subsection (1).
(3) A recycling activity report shall include information on
the following recyclable materials:
(a) Ashes.
(b) Asphalt shingles.
(c) Beneficial use by-products, reported separately by type.
(d) Construction and demolition debris.
(e) Concrete and asphalt.
(f) Drywall.
(g) Electronic devices.
(h) Food processing residuals and rejected food wastes.
(i) Foundry sand.
(j) Glass and glass products.
(k) Metal (ferrous), including white goods.
(l) Metal (nonferrous).
(m) Paper and paper products (all grades).
(n) Plastic and plastic products.
(o) Textiles, mattresses, and carpeting.
(p) Rubber and tires (chipped and whole).
(q) Single stream recyclable materials, including the types of
recyclable materials and estimated percentage portion of each type
of recyclable material contained in the single stream recyclable
materials.
(r) Sludges.
(s) Wood and wood products.
(t) Yard clippings and other compostable materials.
(u) Other recyclable materials specified by the department.
(4) Not later than March 31, 2015, the director shall post on
the department's website a uniform recycling activity report form
or other means to report recycling information under this part.
Information required in a report under this subsection shall
include only the following:
(a) The recycler's name.
(b) The location of, and principal business activities
conducted at, the recycler's establishment.
(c) A certification, signed by a senior official with
management responsibility for the recycler, regarding the accuracy
and completeness of the report.
(d) The quantity, in tons, of each recyclable material listed
in subsection (3) in storage at the recycler's establishment at the
close of the state fiscal year quarter covered by the report,
excluding to the extent possible the quantity of any nonrecyclable
residuals commingled with the recyclable material.
(e) For each recyclable material listed in subsection (3) that
was received at the recycler's establishment during the state
fiscal year quarter covered by the report, the quantity received,
in tons, excluding to the extent possible the quantity of any
nonrecyclable residuals commingled with the recyclable material,
and the estimated percentage portion of the recyclable material
generated by a municipal source. The recycler shall report this
information separately for each recyclable material type received
from the following:
(i) Persons located within this state that are not recyclers,
including generators of recyclable materials.
(ii) Recyclers located within this state.
(iii) Persons located outside this state.
(f) For each recyclable material listed in subsection (3) that
was transported from the recycler's establishment during the state
fiscal year quarter covered by the report, the quantity
transported, in tons, excluding to the extent possible the quantity
of any nonrecyclable residuals commingled with the recyclable
material. The recycler shall report this information separately for
each recyclable material type transported to the following:
(i) Persons located within this state that are not recyclers,
including end users of recyclable materials but excluding persons
listed in subparagraph (iv).
(ii) Recyclers located within this state.
(iii) Persons located outside this state.
(iv) The owner or operator of a landfill or solid waste
incinerator if the recyclable materials were disposed of.
(g) Any conversion factor or method applied by the recycler to
convert volume data to the weight data required to be contained in
the report. The department may post on its website conversion
factors for specific recyclable materials.
(5) The department may implement an electronic reporting
system that allows persons to file recycling activity reports under
this part with the department electronically.
(6) Beginning January 1, 2016, by January 31 of each year, the
department shall submit to the legislature a report summarizing the
information obtained under subsections (1) and (2) and under
section 11552 for the preceding state fiscal year. The report
required under this section shall not contain the names of persons
submitting recyclable materials reports or other information or
identifiers that would make it possible to identify those persons.
(7) A recycler that ships, or arranges for the shipment of,
recyclable materials from the recycler's establishment to another
recycler located within this state shall provide an annual notice
to the recipient stating that the shipper is a recycler regulated
under this part and that all recyclable materials received from the
shipper will be included in the shipper's recycling activity report
submitted under this part. The shipping and receiving recyclers
each shall maintain a copy of the notice at their respective
establishments for a period of 3 years and shall make the notice
available to the department upon request during regular business
hours.
(8) A recycler is not required to weigh a recyclable material
for purposes of completing a recycling activity report form if the
recycler converts volume data to weight data based on the density
of the recyclable material and provides in the report the
conversion factor used.
(9) A person that submits a recycling activity report under
this part may designate the information in the report as
confidential business information. If the scope of a request for
public records under section 5 of the freedom of information act,
1976 PA 442, MCL 15.235, includes information designated by the
person that submitted the report as confidential, the department
shall promptly notify the person that submitted the report of the
request, including the date the request was received by the
department, and, pursuant to that section, shall issue a notice
extending for 10 business days the period during which the
department shall respond to the request. The department shall grant
the request for the information unless, within 12 business days
after the date the request was received by the department, the
person that submitted the report demonstrates to the satisfaction
of the department that the information designated as confidential
should not be disclosed because the information constitutes a trade
secret or secret process or is production or commercial information
the disclosure of which would jeopardize the competitive position
of the person that submitted the report. If there is a dispute over
the release of information between the person that submitted the
report and the person requesting the information, the director
shall grant or deny the request. The department shall notify the
person that submitted the report of a decision to grant the request
at least 2 days before the release of the requested information. If
the department determines that the information designated as
confidential should not be disclosed as provided under this
subsection, then that information is exempt from disclosure under
the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246.
(10) A person that violates this section is responsible for a
civil fine of not more than $500.00. This subsection does not apply
to a person that voluntarily submits a report under subsection (2).
(11) A person that submits false information on a recycling
activity report under this section knowing that the information is
false is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not
more than 90 days or a fine of not more than $5,000.00, or both.