14575.

 (a) (1) If any type of empty beverage container with a refund value established pursuant to Section 14560 has a scrap value less than the cost of recycling, the department shall establish a processing fee and a processing payment for the container, by the type of the material of the container.

(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including, but not limited to, Section 14575, as amended by Section 26 of Chapter 624 of the Statutes of 1995, the processing fee and processing payment established pursuant to this section shall apply retroactively to each container sold or transferred to a distributor or dealer on and after January 1, 1999, and the processing payment established pursuant to this section shall apply retroactively to each container redeemed on and after January 1, 1999.

(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), costs to recycle determined pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) and subdivision (d) established by the department on and after the effective date of the act adding this section, shall be adjusted annually to reflect changes in the cost of living, as measured by the Department of Labor or a successor agency of the United States government.

(c) Except for the adjustments made pursuant to subdivision (b), the department shall calculate the processing fee in an amount so that the processing payment will equal sixty-nine dollars and forty-one cents ($69.41) for each ton of glass containers and three hundred ninety-eight dollars and forty-five cents ($398.45) for each ton of bimetal containers, based upon all of the following assumptions:

(1) The estimated average scrap value is thirty dollars ($30) per ton for glass containers and ten dollars and sixty-seven cents ($10.67) per ton for bimetal containers.

(2) The unmodified cost data for certified recycling centers for the January 1, 1992, calculation of the processing fee was ninety-nine dollars and forty-one cents ($99.41) for each ton of glass containers and four hundred nine dollars and twelve cents ($409.12) for each ton of bimetal containers.

(d) If the scrap value surveyed by the department pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (j) for PET containers is less than seven hundred ninety-nine dollars and sixty-eight cents ($799.68) for each ton of PET containers, as adjusted pursuant to subdivision (b), the department shall establish a processing fee and payment for each PET container sold.

(e) Once the annual processing payment has been determined utilizing the calculations made pursuant to subdivisions (a), (b), (c), and (d), the actual processing fee paid by beverage manufacturers, subject to modification pursuant to subdivision (f), shall be the per-container fee multiplied by the sum of the following:

(1) An estimate of the number of containers redeemed by recyclers during the previous calendar year, divided by an estimate of the number of nonrefillable beverage containers sold or transferred to a distributor or dealer during the previous calendar year, based on the latest available data.

(2) Five percentage points, except that whenever a surplus of unexpended money exists in the fund sufficient to equal the estimate of the previous three months, expenditures of processing payments for each material type as determined by the department, then zero percentage points shall be used.

(f) (1) The department shall reduce the processing fee paid by beverage manufacturers pursuant to subdivisions (d) and (e), and the voluntary artificial scrap value paid by a willing purchaser pursuant to Section 14575.1, by expending the funds in the Glass Processing Fee Account, the PET Processing Fee Account, and the Bimetal Processing Fee Account.

(2) The total amount of funds expended in each calendar year to reduce the amount of processing fees or the voluntary artificial scrap value paid by a willing purchaser pursuant to Section 14575.1 paid for each container type shall be equal to the funds available in the Glass Processing Fee Account, the PET Processing Fee Account, or the Bimetal Processing Fee Account, for each container type and shall not exceed an amount equal to 25 percent of the redemption payments projected to be paid by distributors of beverages sold in that container type for the previous calendar year.

(g) (1) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), every beverage manufacturer shall pay to the department the applicable processing fee for each container sold or transferred to a distributor or dealer within 40 days of the sale in the form and in the manner which the department may prescribe.

(2) (A) Notwithstanding Section 14506, with respect to the payment of processing fees for beer and other malt beverages manufactured outside the state, the beverage manufacturer shall be deemed to be the person or entity named on the certificate of compliance issued pursuant to Section 23671 of the Business and Professions Code. If the department is unable to collect the processing fee from the person or entity named on the certificate of compliance, the department shall give written notice by certified mail to that person or entity. The notice shall state that the processing fee shall be remitted in full within 30 days of issuance of the notice or the person or entity shall not be permitted to offer that beverage brand for sale within the state. If the person or entity fails to remit the processing fee within 30 days of issuance of the notice, the department shall notify the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control that the certificate holder has failed to comply, and the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control shall prohibit the offering or sale of that beverage brand within the state.

(B) The department shall enter into a contract with the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, pursuant to Section 14536.5, concerning the implementation of this paragraph, which shall include a provision reimbursing the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control for its costs incurred in implementing this paragraph.

(3) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a beverage manufacturer may, upon the approval of the department, elect to make a single annual payment of processing fees, if the beverage manufacturer’s projected processing fees for a calendar year total less than one thousand dollars ($1,000).

(B) An annual processing fee payment made pursuant to this paragraph is due and payable on or before February 1 for every beverage container sold or transferred by the beverage manufacturer to a distributor or dealer in the previous calendar year.

(C) A beverage manufacturer shall notify the department of its intent to make an annual processing fee payment pursuant to this paragraph on or before January 31 of the calendar year preceding the year in which the payment will be due.

(4) The department shall pay the processing payments on redeemed containers to processors, in the same manner as it pays refund values pursuant to Sections 14573 and 14573.5. The processor shall pay the recycling center the entire processing payment representing the actual cost and financial return incurred by the recycling center, as specified in subdivision (a).

(h) When assessing processing fees pursuant to subdivision (a), the department shall assess the processing fee on each container sold, as provided in subdivision (e), by the type of material of the container.

(i) The container manufacturer, or a designated agent, shall pay to, or credit, the account of the beverage manufacturer in an amount equal to the processing fee.

(j) (1) The department shall annually, on or before January 1, determine the statewide average scrap values paid by beneficiating and nonbeneficiating processors for glass containers during the 12-month period ending September 30. If the department determines that the statewide average scrap values paid for glass containers is 10 percent or more above or below the scrap value specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c), the department shall adjust the processing payment to equal the difference between the cost of recycling, as specified in subdivision (b) and paragraph (2) of subdivision (c), and the new statewide average scrap value.

(2) The department shall make a monthly upward or downward adjustment of a processing fee established pursuant to this section for PET plastic beverage containers if the department determines that the average statewide scrap values paid by processors, for any monthly period, are more or less than the average scrap values used as the basis for the processing fee currently in effect.

(l) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2000, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, which is enacted before January 1, 2000, deletes or extends that date.

14575.

 (a) If any type of empty beverage container with a refund value established pursuant to Section 14560 has a scrap value less than the sum of paragraphs (1) and (2), the department shall establish a processing fee and a processing payment for the container, by the type of the material of the container, at least equal to the difference between the scrap value offered by a statistically significant sample of container manufacturers, beverage manufacturers, processors, or willing purchasers, for each container sold by the beverage manufacturer, and the sum of both of the following:

(1) The actual cost for certified recycling centers, excluding those recycling centers receiving a convenience incentive payment, and certified processors which did not receive convenience incentive payments in the year in which the processing fee is calculated or recalculated, of receiving, handling, processing, storing, transporting, and maintaining equipment for each container sold for recycling or, only if the container is not recyclable, for disposal, calculated pursuant to subdivision (c).

(2) A reasonable financial return for recycling centers and processors, calculated pursuant to subdivision (b).

(b) The department shall annually, on or before January 1, calculate weighted statewide average values for the amounts specified in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (a) for each type of container material sold and a new processing fee, which shall be effective on that same date.

(c) A processing fee established pursuant to this section shall be based upon all of the following:

(1) The average scrap values paid by willing purchasers during the 1990 calendar year for the initial calculation and the average scrap values paid by willing purchasers during the calendar year directly preceding the year in which the processing fee is calculated for any subsequent calculation.

(2) The latest available data indicating the volumes of beverage containers collected by certified processors and recycling centers.

(3) The actual recycling costs for certified recycling centers and processors, as determined pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) for the 1989 calendar year for the initial calculation, and for the second calendar year preceding the year in which the processing fee is calculated for any subsequent calculation.

(d) Every six months, or more frequently as determined to be necessary by the department, the department may adjust a processing fee established pursuant to this section if both of the following occur:

(1) The department determines that the average statewide scrap values paid by willing purchasers are less than the average scrap values used as the basis for the processing fee calculation.

(2) The department determines that adjusting the processing fee is necessary to further the objectives of this division.

(e) The calculations of the statewide weighted average values and processing fee made pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be based on audited surveys of the costs specified in subdivision (a) at existing certified recycling centers, reverse vending machines, and processors, with standardized modifications for transportation distances and factors specific to a particular region, as determined by the department, and, if the container is not recyclable, local disposal fees. The processing fee shall be calculated in a manner which furthers the purposes of this division and the fee shall be sufficient to establish sufficient recycling locations and processors to achieve the goals established pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 14501 and Section 14571. Except for the first calculation of a processing fee made pursuant to this section, 60 days prior to the annual calculation of the processing fee, the department shall submit a report to the Chairperson of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee and the Chairperson of the Senate Natural Resources and Wildlife Committee. The report shall include a summary of the fluctuations of costs and scrap values necessitating the recalculation. The report shall also highlight changes in markets, new technologies, and other business and economic factors. The report shall include a description of the average per container statewide costs of recycling beverage containers, by each material type, for the following recycling systems, including a description of any assumptions used to allocate undifferentiated costs among material types, and a brief statement of the reason for the adoption of these assumptions:

(1) Automated recycling centers.

(2) Staffed recycling centers.

(3) Recycling centers established since September 29, 1988.

(4) Recycling centers established prior to September 29, 1988.

(5) Recyclers receiving convenience incentive payments, as feasible.

(6) Nonprofit dropoff programs.

(7) Curbside recycling programs.

(f) (1) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), every beverage manufacturer shall pay to the department the applicable processing fee for each container sold or transferred to a distributor or dealer within 40 days of the sale in the form and in the manner which the department may prescribe.

(2) (A) Notwithstanding Section 14506, with respect to the payment of processing fees for beer and other malt beverages manufactured outside the state, the beverage manufacturer shall be deemed to be the person or entity named on the certificate of compliance issued pursuant to Section 23671 of the Business and Professions Code. If the department is unable to collect the processing fee from the person or entity named on the certificate of compliance, the department shall give written notice by certified mail to that person or entity. The notice shall state that the processing fee shall be remitted in full within 30 days of issuance of the notice or the person or entity shall not be permitted to offer that beverage brand for sale within the state. If the person or entity fails to remit the processing fee within 30 days of issuance of the notice, the department shall notify the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control that the certificate holder has failed to comply, and the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control shall prohibit the offering or sale of that beverage brand within the state.

(B) The department shall enter into a contract with the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, pursuant to Section 14536.5, concerning the implementation of this paragraph, which shall include a provision reimbursing the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control for its costs incurred in implementing this paragraph.

(3) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a beverage manufacturer may, upon the approval of the department, elect to make a single annual payment of processing fees, if the beverage manufacturer’s projected processing fees for a calendar year total less than one thousand dollars ($1,000).

(B) An annual processing fee payment made pursuant to this paragraph is due and payable on or before February 1 for every beverage container sold or transferred by the beverage manufacturer to a distributor or dealer in the previous calendar year.

(C) A beverage manufacturer shall notify the department of its intent to make an annual processing fee payment pursuant to this paragraph on or before January 31 of the calendar year preceding the year in which the payment will be due.

(4) The department shall pay the processing payments on redeemed containers to processors, in the same manner as it pays refund values pursuant to Sections 14573 and 14573.5. The department shall pay the processing fees collected on unredeemed containers into the fund. The department shall not use processing fees collected on unredeemed beverage containers to pay all or a portion of the processing costs determined pursuant to subdivision (a). The processor shall pay the recycling center that portion of the processing payment representing the actual cost and financial return incurred by the recycling center, as specified in subdivision (a).

(g) When assessing processing fees pursuant to subdivision (b), the department shall assess the processing fee on each container sold, by the type of material of the container, assuming that every container sold will be redeemed for recycling, whether or not the container is actually recycled. When calculating and assessing processing fees, the department also shall not assume that redemption bonuses will be kept by recycling centers or locations.

(h) The container manufacturer, or a designated agent, shall pay to, or credit, the account of the beverage manufacturer in an amount equal to the processing payment.

(i) This section shall become operative January 1, 2000.

14581.

 (a) Subject to the availability of funds, the department may expend the money set aside in the fund, pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 14580 for the purposes of this section, in the following order of priority:

(1) Eighteen million five hundred thousand dollars ($18,500,000) may be expended, until January 1, 2000, for the payment of handling fees required pursuant to Section 14585.

(2) Five million dollars ($5,000,000) may be expended, until January 1, 2000, for payments for curbside programs pursuant to Section 14549.6.

(3) (A) Seven million dollars ($7,000,000), plus the proportional share of the cost-of-living adjustment, as provided in subdivision (b), may be expended in the form of grants issued to either of the following:

(i) Certified community conservation corps, that either exist as of September 12, 1996, or that are formed after that date, that are designated by a city or a city and county to perform litter abatement, recycling, and related activities, if the city or the city and county has a population, as determined by the most recent census, of more than 250,000 persons.

(ii) Community conservation corps, that are designated by a county to perform litter abatement, recycling, and related activities, and are certified by the California Conservation Corps as having operated for a minimum of two years and as meeting all other criteria of Section 14507.5.

(B) Any grants provided pursuant to this paragraph shall not comprise more than 75 percent of the annual budget of a community conservation corps.

(4) Two million dollars ($2,000,000), plus the proportional share of the cost-of-living adjustment, as provided in subdivision (b), may be expended, in the form of grants to nonprofit organizations or governmental entities, as determined by the department.

(b) The nine million dollars ($9,000,000) that is set aside pursuant to paragraphs (3) and (4) of subdivision (a), is a base amount that the department shall adjust annually to reflect any increases or decreases in the cost of living, as measured by the Department of Labor, or a successor agency, of the federal government.

(c) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the payments of handling fees to supermarket sites pursuant to Section 14585 shall apply retroactively to any eligible beverage container redeemed on and after January 1, 1999.

(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the payments to curbside programs pursuant to Section 14549.6 shall apply retroactively to containers collected by curbside programs on and after January 1, 1999.

14585.

 (a) The department shall adopt guidelines and methods for paying handling fees to supermarket sites to provide an incentive for the redemption of empty beverage containers in convenience zones. The guidelines shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(1) Handling fees shall be paid on a monthly basis, in the form and manner adopted by the department. The department shall require that claims for the handling fee be filed with the department not later than the first day of the second month following the month for which the handling fee is claimed as a condition of receiving any handling fee.

(2) To be eligible for any handling fee, a supermarket site recycling center shall redeem not less than 60,000 beverage containers, and, except for operators of certified recycling centers that are nonprofit organizations, not more than 500,000 beverage containers, during the calendar month in which the handling fee is claimed.

(3) A beverage container with a capacity of 24 fluid ounces or more shall be considered as two beverage containers for purposes of determining the eligibility percentage, any handling fee calculations, and payments.

(4) The department shall determine the number of eligible containers per site for which a handling fee will be paid in the following manner:

(A) Each supermarket site’s combined monthly volume of glass and plastic beverage containers shall be divided by the site’s total monthly volume of all empty beverage container types.

(B) If the quotient determined pursuant to subparagraph (A) is equal to, or more than, 20 percent, the total monthly volume of the site shall be the maximum volume which is eligible for a handling fee for that month.

(C) If the quotient determined pursuant to subparagraph (A) is less than 20 percent, the department shall divide the volume of glass and plastic beverage containers by 20 percent. That quotient shall be maximum volume that is eligible for a handling fee for that month.

(5) The department shall pay a handling fee of 1.7 cents ($0.017) per eligible beverage container, as determined pursuant to paragraph (4).

(6) Notwithstanding paragraph (5), the total handling fee payment to a supermarket site shall not exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000) per month.

(7) If the eligible volume in any given month would result in handling fee payments which exceed the allocation of funds for that month, as provided in subdivision (b), sites with higher eligible monthly volumes shall receive handling fees for their entire eligible monthly volume before sites with lower eligible monthly volumes receive any handling fees.

(8) (A) If a dealer where a supermarket site is located ceases operation for remodeling or for a change of ownership, the operator of that supermarket site shall be eligible to apply for handling fees for that site for a period of three months following the date of the closure of the dealer.

(B) Every supermarket site operator shall promptly notify the department of the closure of the dealer where the supermarket site is located.

(C) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), any operator who fails to provide notification to the department pursuant to subparagraph (B) shall not be eligible to apply for handling fees.

(b) The department may allocate the eighteen million five hundred thousand dollars ($18,500,000) authorized for expenditure for the payment of handling fees pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 14581 on a monthly basis and may carry over any unexpended monthly allocation to a subsequent month or months. However, unexpended monthly allocations shall not be carried over to a subsequent fiscal year for the purpose of paying handling fees but may be carried over for any other purpose pursuant to Section 14581.

(c) The department shall not make handling fee payments to more than one certified recycling center in a convenience zone. If a dealer is located in more than one convenience zone, the department shall offer a single handling fee payment to a supermarket site located at that dealer. This handling fee payment shall not be split between the affected zones. The department shall stop making handling fee payments if another recycling center certifies to operate within the convenience zone without receiving payments pursuant to this section, if the department monitors the performance of the other recycling center for 60 days and determines that the recycling center is in compliance with this division. Any recycling center that locates in a convenience zone, thereby causing a preexisting recycling center to become ineligible to receive handling fee payments, is ineligible to receive any handling fee payments in that convenience zone.

(d) The department may require the operator of a supermarket site receiving handling fees to maintain records for each location where beverage containers are redeemed, and may require the supermarket site to take any other action necessary for the department to determine that the supermarket site does not receive an excessive handling fee.

(e) The department may determine and utilize a standard container per pound rate, for each material type, for the purpose of calculating volumes and making handling fee payments.

(f) (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that handling fees paid to supermarket site recycling centers be only used to offset the unique costs of providing convenient recycling opportunities to consumers, and that those fees shall not be expended for the purpose of engaging in unfair and predatory pricing intended to increase the recycling of beverage containers at those centers.

(2) To ensure that handling fees, paid to supermarket site recycling centers, are not used for the purpose of engaging in unfair and predatory pricing and to otherwise further the intent of paragraph (1), the department shall, upon the complaint of any person other than the department, convene an informal hearing before the director or a designee, in accordance with the following:

(A) At the hearing, the complainant shall present evidence that a respondent handling fee recipient has engaged in unfair and predatory pricing and that the complainant has suffered substantial and quantifiable economic damages as a result of that pricing. Upon the director’s determination that there is credible evidence of unfair and predatory pricing and of resulting damages, the complainant is entitled to a rebuttable presumption that the respondent has engaged in unfair and predatory pricing.

(B) At the hearing, the respondent shall have the opportunity to respond to the complaint by presenting evidence that the respondent has not engaged in unfair and predatory pricing and has not caused any damage to the complainant.

(C) Based upon the evidence presented at the hearing and any presumption pursuant to subparagraph (A), the director or the director’s designee shall determine if there is clear and convincing evidence that a violation of this division has occurred, and, if so, the respondent shall not be eligible to receive handling fees for three months.

(D) The complainant or respondent may obtain review of the director’s action taken pursuant to this subdivision by filing in the superior court a petition for writ of mandate within 30 days following the issuance of the director’s decision. Section 1094.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure shall govern judicial proceedings pursuant to this subdivision, except that in every case the court shall exercise its independent judgment. If a petition for a writ of mandate is not filed within the time limits set by this subdivision, the director’s action under this subdivision shall not be subject to review by any court or agency.

(E) If either party appeals the director’s or designee’s decision pursuant to subparagraph (D), and the department prevails, the department may recover any costs associated with its defense of the petition.

(g) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2000, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, which is enacted before January 1, 2000, deletes or extends that date.