§ 23-24.10-9. Manufacturer responsibility. (a) A manufacturer choosing to implement a manufacturer program shall submit a plan to the department by October 15 each year, by way of a template created by the department, with two (2) years of possible renewal at the time of payment of the annual registration fee required under § 23-24.10-8(c).

(b) The manufacturer's plan must describe how the manufacturer will:

(1) Finance, manage, and conduct a statewide program to collect covered electronic products from households and public and private elementary and secondary schools in this state;

(2) Provide for environmentally sound management practices to collect, transport, and recycle covered electronic products;

(3) Provide for advertising and promotion of collection opportunities statewide and on a regular basis; and

(4) Include convenient service statewide. Collection sites shall be staffed and open to the public at a frequency adequate to meet the needs of the area being served. A program may provide collection service jointly with another program and may include, but not be limited to, mail-back programs and collection events.

(c) The plan shall include a statement disclosing whether: (1) Any video display devices sold in Rhode Island exceed the maximum concentration values established for lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated diphenyls (PBBs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) under the RoHS (restricting the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment) Directive 2002/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and any amendments thereto enacted as of the date; or (2) The manufacturer has received an exemption from one or more of those maximum concentration values under the RoHS directive that has been approved and published by the European commission.

(d) A manufacturer choosing to implement a manufacturer program shall:

(1) Provide for collection, transportation, and recycling of covered electronic products from households and public and private elementary and secondary schools free of charge and a manufacturer that provides premium service for a person may charge for the additional cost of that premium service.

(2) Implement the plan and provide quarterly reports to the department no later than April 30, July 31, October 31 each year showing the progress of the plan to date, and a final report shall be due February 1 of each year that details how the plan required under this section was implemented during the previous calendar year on a reporting template as provided by the department. This report shall include operating hours and quantities collected from each collection location or collection event during the reporting period.

(3) [Deleted by P.L. 2017, ch. 391, § 1 and P.L. 2017, ch. 430, § 1].

(e) A group of manufacturers, except television manufacturers, may choose to implement a manufacturer program as one entity if in doing so the manufacturers meet the sum of their individual return shares by weight under § 23-24.10-12(d) and that sum is at least five percent (5%). A group of television manufacturers may choose to implement a manufacturer program as one entity if in doing so the manufacturers meet the sum of their individual market shares under § 23-24.10-12(d) and that share is at least five percent (5%).

(f) By February 1 of each year, a manufacturer who or that does not meet ninety percent (90%) of its share for the previous calendar year shall pay the corporation for the amount under ninety percent (90%) not achieved at a rate determined and enforceable by the department to be equivalent to the amount the manufacturer would have paid as defined under § 23-24.10-11(d) plus ten percent (10%) to be paid to the department, and which shall be the per-pound fee for the prior year multiplied by the manufacturer's return share as established prior to the start of the program year. The remaining variance shall be addressed and reconciled in the plan's final report (pursuant to subsection (d) of this section) and an amended plan shall also be submitted. Manufacturers are allowed a ten percent (10%) variance (over or under collected) to be carried forward to the new plan year. Collections of greater than one hundred ten percent (110%) will not be allowed to carry forward. The purchase of extra weight between plans is allowed with prior approval of the department.

(g) A manufacturer with less than a five percent (5%) return share or market share is required to participate in the state program under § 23-24.10-11. A manufacturer who or that does not have an approved manufacturer's plan shall participate in the state program under § 23-24.10-11.

(h) A manufacturer participating in the state program under § 23-24.10-11 shall notify the department at the time of its registration each year.

(i) By April 1 of each year, a manufacturer who or that participates in the state program shall pay a recycling fee to the corporation in an amount adopted by the department under § 23-24.10-12 to cover the costs of collecting, transporting, and recycling the manufacturer's annual share of covered electronic products for the following year.

(j)(1) A manufacturer program, the state program, or a collector participating in a manufacturer program or the state program may not charge a fee to households or public and private elementary and secondary schools for the collection, transportation, or recycling of any covered electronic products defined in § 23-24.10-3.

(2) A collector who or that provides a premium service to a person may charge for the additional cost of providing the premium service.

History of Section. (P.L. 2008, ch. 105, § 3; P.L. 2008, ch. 126, § 3; P.L. 2010, ch. 122, § 1; P.L. 2017, ch. 391, § 1; P.L. 2017, ch. 430, § 1.)