Subdivision 1. Statewide reduction goal. It is the goal of the state that there be a minimum 25 percent statewide per capita reduction in the amount of discarded packaging delivered to facilities by December 31, 1995, based on a reasonable estimate of the amount of packaging that was delivered to facilities in calendar year 1992.

Subd. 2. Measurement; procedures. To measure the overall percentage of packaging in the statewide solid waste stream, the commissioner shall conduct annual solid waste composition studies in the nonmetropolitan and metropolitan areas or shall develop an alternative method that is as statistically reliable as a waste composition study to measure the percentage of packaging in the waste stream.

The commissioner shall average the nonmetropolitan and metropolitan results and submit the statewide percentage, along with a statistically reliable margin of error, to the senate and house of representatives committees having jurisdiction over environment and natural resources and environment and natural resources finance by July 1 of each year. The 1994 report must include a discussion of the reliability of data gathered under this subdivision and the methodology used to determine a statistically reliable margin of error.

Subd. 3. Facility cooperation and reports. The owner or operator of a facility shall allow access upon reasonable notice to authorized agency staff for the purpose of conducting waste composition studies or otherwise assessing the amount of total packaging in the waste delivered to the facility under this section.

Beginning in 1993, by February 1 of each year the owner or operator of a facility governed by this subdivision shall submit a report to the commissioner, on a form prescribed by the commissioner, specifying the total amount of solid waste received by the facility between January 1 and December 31 of the previous year. The commissioner shall calculate the total amount of solid waste delivered to solid waste facilities from the reports received from the facility owners or operators and shall report the aggregate amount by April 1 of each year. The commissioner shall assess a nonforgivable administrative penalty under section 116.072 of $500 plus any forgivable amount necessary to enforce this subdivision on any owner or operator who fails to submit a report required by this subdivision.

Subd. 4. Report. The commissioner shall apply the statewide percentage determined under subdivision 2 to the aggregate amount of solid waste determined under subdivision 3 to determine the amount of packaging in the waste stream. By July 1, 1996, the commissioner shall submit to the Legislative Commission on Waste Management an analysis of the extent to which the waste packaging reduction goal in subdivision 1 has been met. In determining whether the goal has been met, the margin of error must be applied in favor of meeting the goal. The commissioner shall use the statistical mean for the data collected in determining whether the goal has been met and shall include in the analysis a discussion of the margin of error and statistical reliability for the data collected.

Subd. 5. Recommendations for further reduction goals. If the goal in subdivision 1 is met, the commissioner shall include in the report required in subdivision 4 recommendations for appropriate goals for further reducing the amount of discarded packaging delivered to facilities. The report must include an analysis of the costs of further reductions.

Subd. 6. Definition. For the purposes of this section, "facility" means a composting, incineration, refuse-derived fuel, or disposal facility that accepts mixed municipal solid waste or construction waste.

History: 1992 c 593 art 1 s 13; 1993 c 249 s 12; 1994 c 585 s 6-10; 1994 c 632 art 2 s 30; 1995 c 247 art 1 s 12; art 2 s 13,14; 1996 c 470 s 27; 1Sp2005 c 1 art 2 s 161