Maine Revised Statutes Title 38 Sec. 3108-A – Unclaimed deposits
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(WHOLE SECTION TEXT EFFECTIVE 10/15/24)
(CONTAINS TEXT WITH VARYING EFFECTIVE DATES)
(WHOLE SECTION TEXT EFFECTIVE 10/15/24)
This section governs unclaimed beverage container deposits. [PL 2023, c. 482, §28 (NEW); PL 2023, c. 482, §43 (AFF).]
1. Commingling group; unclaimed deposits. Prior to July 15, 2025, unclaimed deposits for nonrefillable beverage containers that are subject to a commingling agreement pursuant to section 3107, subsection 1?A or 1?B are the property of the members of the commingling group administering the agreement. The commingling group shall determine the disposition and use of those unclaimed deposits.
[PL 2023, c. 482, §28 (NEW); PL 2023, c. 482, §43 (AFF).]
Terms Used In Maine Revised Statutes Title 38 Sec. 3108-A
- Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
- Beverage: means beer, ale or other drink produced by fermenting malt, spirits, wine, hard cider, wine coolers, soda or noncarbonated water and all nonalcoholic carbonated or noncarbonated drinks in liquid form and intended for internal human consumption, except for unflavored rice milk, unflavored soymilk, milk and dairy-derived products. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 38 Sec. 3102
- Beverage container: means a bottle, can, jar or other container made of glass, metal or plastic that has been sealed by a manufacturer and at the time of sale contains 4 liters or less of a beverage. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 38 Sec. 3102
- Commingling agreement: means an agreement between 2 or more initiators of deposit allowing the beverage containers for which they have initiated deposits to be commingled by dealers and redemption centers, as described in section 3107. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 38 Sec. 3102
- Commingling group: includes the State, through the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations, which, pursuant to section 3107, is deemed to be managing returned containers for which the State has initiated deposits in a commingling program pursuant to a qualified commingling agreement, but does not include the commingling cooperative. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 38 Sec. 3102
- cooperative: means the entity established pursuant to section 3107, subsection 3?B to manage the collection of all beverage containers subject to the requirements of this chapter under a single commingling program. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 38 Sec. 3102
- Department: means the Department of Environmental Protection. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 38 Sec. 3102
- initiator: means a manufacturer, distributor or other person who initiates a deposit on a beverage container under section 3103. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 38 Sec. 3102
- Nonrefillable: means a beverage container that, after being used by a consumer, is not to be reused as a beverage container by a manufacturer. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 38 Sec. 3102
- Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 72
2. Commingling cooperative; unclaimed deposits. Except as provided in paragraph D, beginning July 15, 2025, unclaimed deposits for nonrefillable beverage containers subject to the requirements of this chapter are the property of the cooperative and, in accordance with rules adopted by the department pursuant to subsection 3, must be deposited and maintained by the cooperative in a separate account or accounts and expended only in accordance with this subsection.
A. The cooperative shall expend unclaimed deposit amounts as provided in paragraphs B and C and may not expend unclaimed deposit amounts to offset legal or lobbying fees or fines incurred by the cooperative, a commingling group or an initiator of deposit. [PL 2023, c. 482, §28 (NEW); PL 2023, c. 482, §43 (AFF).]
B. The cooperative shall expend unclaimed deposit amounts for the following purposes:
(1) Payment of the annual fee to the department as provided in section 3107, subsection 3?B, paragraph G;
(2) Reasonable costs of administering the program under section 3107, subsection 3?B, including, but not limited to, staffing costs and office operating costs;
(3) Costs of educational materials and signage provided to dealers and redemption centers regarding redemption instructions and other information, including information regarding the fraudulent redemption of beverage containers in accordance with section 3106, subsection 10;
(4) Reimbursement to dealers and redemption centers of the costs of plastic bags pursuant to section 3106, subsection 9; and
(5) Payment of $1,000,000 annually to the department for deposit into and use in accordance with the Cost and Carbon Efficient Technology Fund established in section 3114?A.
The cooperative shall include in its annual report required under section 3107, subsection 3?B, paragraph E any recommendations for a reduction in or other amendment to the payment required under this subparagraph that the cooperative believes necessary due to a reduction in the amount of unclaimed deposits available for expenditure in accordance with paragraph C, a surplus of undistributed funding within the Cost and Carbon Efficient Technology Fund established in section 3114?A or for other reasons specified by the cooperative. [PL 2023, c. 482, §28 (NEW); PL 2023, c. 482, §43 (AFF).]
C. Any deposits determined by the cooperative to be unclaimed in accordance with the rules adopted by the department pursuant to subsection 3 that are not expended by the cooperative as otherwise required by this section may be expended by the cooperative to offset other costs incurred by the program, including, but not limited to, costs of beverage container pickups and payment to dealers or redemption centers of required handling fees under section 3106, subsection 7, as long as such expenditures are designed to equitably offset those costs incurred by each member commingling group as determined pursuant to the approved program plan under section 3107, subsection 3?B, paragraph B, subparagraph (2). [PL 2023, c. 482, §28 (NEW); PL 2023, c. 482, §43 (AFF).]
D. Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, if the cooperative fails to implement a program plan approved by the department pursuant to section 3107, subsection 3?B, paragraph C by July 15, 2025, until the cooperative implements an approved program plan, unclaimed deposits for nonrefillable beverage containers subject to the requirements of this chapter must be deposited and maintained by the cooperative, or, in the event the cooperative has not been established, by each commingling group, in a separate account or accounts and in the manner directed by the department must be paid to the department for deposit into and use in accordance with the Beverage Container Enforcement Fund established under section 3114. [PL 2023, c. 482, §28 (NEW); PL 2023, c. 482, §43 (AFF).]
[PL 2023, c. 482, §28 (NEW); PL 2023, c. 482, §43 (AFF).]
3. Rules. The department shall adopt rules as necessary to implement this section. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2?A. The rules must include, but are not limited to:
A. Provisions requiring the deposit by the cooperative into and the maintenance by the cooperative of a segregated account or accounts, separate from all other revenues, of the refund value for all nonrefillable beverage containers subject to the requirements of this chapter and sold by the members of the cooperative; [PL 2023, c. 482, §28 (NEW); PL 2023, c. 482, §43 (AFF).]
B. Provisions regarding the method and process by which the cooperative shall calculate the total amount of deposits determined to be unclaimed during the previous calendar year and the total amount of those deposits expended by the cooperative in accordance with this section during the previous calendar year; and [PL 2023, c. 482, §28 (NEW); PL 2023, c. 482, §43 (AFF).]
C. Any other provisions relating to the accounting for, determination of or expenditure of unclaimed deposits by the cooperative pursuant to this section. [PL 2023, c. 482, §28 (NEW); PL 2023, c. 482, §43 (AFF).]
[PL 2023, c. 482, §28 (NEW); PL 2023, c. 482, §43 (AFF).]
SECTION HISTORY
PL 2023, c. 482, §28 (NEW). PL 2023, c. 482, §43 (AFF).