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NY Assembly Approves PaintCare Bill
The New York State Assembly recently approved legislation establishing a PaintCare program—a paint stewardship program involving paint manufacturers and producers in conjunction with the American Coatings Association. The measure is expected to be signed into law by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The non-profit 501(c)(3) organization was established in 2009 and works through a Paint Producer Stewardship Initiative, which is facilitated by the Product Stewardship Institute. To date, the program has collected over 35 million gallons of paint.
The Bills
Assembly Bill A6373 establishes the PaintCare program within the state, and requires that producers of architectural coatings sold in retail or through a representative organization within the state submit a plan to the commissioner of environmental conservation for the establishment of the program, and forbids a producer or retailer to sell architectural paint unless it has already implemented an approved program plan.
Senate Bill S4351 serves as a companion bill to the assembly program, and was sponsored by Sen. Tom O’Mara (R, C, I-Big Flats). Both bills were approved unanimously on June 5.
According to Sen. O’Mara, the legislation is expected to create local jobs and encourage recycling and proper disposal of unused paint, as well as relieve local property taxpayers. In addition, the bills will mandate the industry-sponsored paint stewardship program and reduce costly responsibilities from local governments currently accountable for paint collection and disposal services.
In order to promote fairness and consumer protection, New York’s legislation specifies that all assessment funding must first be approved by an independent audit with rates to cover only the management cost and sustain the program, followed by a submission to the state’s Department of Environment.
Other Paint Recycling Bills
Since the establishment of the program, various states have implemented the ACA- and industry-conceived platform to properly and effectively manage post-consumer paints.
As early as June 2013, PaintSquare Daily News reported Minnesota being the fifth state in the country to embrace the PaintCare model, following Oregon, California, Connecticut and Rhode Island. In 2014, New Hampshire and Colorado also adopted the paint-recycling legislation.
Thus far, similar legislations have since been implemented in Vermont, Maine, the District of Columbia and most recently reported by the ACA, Washington state will officially be putting the program into effect by 2020. Additional states are expected to adopt the program in the future as well.
How It Works
Funded by budgets and fees applied to the purchase price of new paint, which are individually set by the state and vary by size, the program takes care of collection, transportation, recycling, public education and outreach.
From that point, manufacturers can then remit the fees to PaintCare for each container sold within a program-participating state, and cost is passed to retailers charging the fee to the consumer. According to the program’s website, the fee is neither a deposit nor a tax.
In addition to the program’s collection services, the organization has set up over 1,750 drop-off locations at various paint and hardware stores, solid waste and household hazardous waste facilities.
PaintCare allows consumers to recycle:
It does not accept:
Containers containing paints to be recycled must have original labels, secure lids, cannot be leaking or exceed five gallons in size.
