California Code of Regulations
Title 14 - Natural Resources
Division 7 - Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery
Chapter 11 - Product Stewardship
Article 1 - Product Stewardship for Carpets
Section 18943 - Criteria for Plan Approval
Universal Citation: 14 CA Code of Regs 18943
Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 38, September 20, 2024
(a) Product stewardship plans must contain the following:
(1) Contact information. Identify the manufacturer or designated stewardship organization responsible for the plan submittal.
(2) Scope. The program described in the stewardship plan is:
(A) Designed to accept and manage all applicable post-consumer carpet, regardless of polymer type or primary materials of construction.
(B) The stewardship plan submitted follows the standard outline (see §
18942 Stewardship Submittal Instructions).
(3) Performance Goals and Activities. The program described in the stewardship plan shall contain a set of performance goals and criteria that meet the requirements of Public Resources Code Section 42972(a)(2), and also include:
(A) Each goal has a baseline from which it is measured.
(B) The plan describes a methodology for estimating the amount of carpet available for collection in California.
(C) Report on source reduction.
(4) Solid Waste Management Hierarchy. Describe:
(A) Proposed measures that will enable the management of post-consumer carpet in a manner consistent with the state's solid waste management hierarchy pursuant to PRC Section 40051 and demonstrate that over time source reduction, reuse, and recycling will increase, over environmentally safe transformation and land disposal.
(B) Management of carpet through source reduction, reuse and recycling must be greater than, and grow at a higher rate than the management of carpet in any form, including Carpet As Alternative Fuel (CAAF), used as a fuel.
(C) This Article does not modify or abrogate in any manner existing provisions of Section 41783 of the Public Resources Code related to transformation that allow jurisdictions to reduce their per-capita disposal rate by no more than 10 percent.
(5) Collection Systems. Describe the system that will be used to collect and properly manage post-consumer carpet. This description must include the following:
(A) Type of collection sites used.
(B) Types of reuse and recycling activities, processing and/or disposal by product type.
(C) Description of how service providers handling old carpet will be able to readily, accurately, and economically identify the type of carpet polymer to facilitate reuse and recycling, e.g., labeling on the back of carpet, affordable laser detection devices, or other technology.
(D) General description of best management practices to be followed by the service providers, including any training that the manufacturer or stewardship organization intends to provide to or require of service providers to ensure proper collection and management of post-consumer carpet.
(E) Description of how each consumer that pays a carpet stewardship assessment, including but not limited to those in rural areas, will be provided reasonably convenient opportunity(ies) in each county to manage their post-consumer carpet.
(6) Market Development. Describe incentives or methods to increase recycling of carpet into secondary products.
(7) Financing Mechanism. Include a funding mechanism that provides sufficient funding to recover, but not exceed, the cost of the carpet stewardship program, including the administrative, operational, and capital costs of the plan. The funding mechanism includes the following:
(A) A carpet stewardship assessment per square yard of carpet sold in the state, or by some other unit, as approved by the department.
(B) A budget for the program that includes revenue estimates from the assessment, full program costs, and administrative costs; including those pursuant to Section 18948 regarding service payments to the department.
(C) A requirement that any surplus funds will be put back into the program to reduce the costs of the program, including the assessment amount.
(D) An assessment amount that is sufficient to meet, but not exceed, the anticipated cost of carrying out the plan.
(E) An assessment amount that does not create an unfair advantage in the marketplace.
(F) An allocation of funds that support the solid waste management hierarchy and program goals identified in the stewardship plan.
a. Funds designated for CAAF, must be supported with documentation that provides evidence of a net environmental benefit over landfilling and that without an incentive more materials would be landfilled.
b. A carpet stewardship organization shall not expend funds from the assessment for engineered municipal solid waste conversion, as defined in Public Resources Code Section 40131.2, the use of cement kilns to burn carpet, or transformation, as defined in Public Resources Code Section 40201.
(G) Stewardship organization and manufacturers shall allocate revenues and expenditures applicable to this program in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.
(H) The stewardship plan shall describe how the collection and expenditure of carpet assessment funds shall be kept separate from other activities of the stewardship organization.
(8) Education and Outreach. Include education and outreach efforts to consumers, commercial building owners, carpet installers, and retailers to promote their participation in achieving the purposes of the carpet stewardship plan. The description shall include how the outreach and education methods will be used and distributed, and how effectiveness of these activities will be measured. Educational information may include, but is not limited to, signage, written materials, advertising or other promotional materials pursuant to Section 42972 (a) (5).
(9) Program Performance Measurement. Describe how attainment of the goals will be measured per §
18943(a)(3)(c). Program data shall be collected for purposes of annual report submittal (see §
18944 Annual Report Compliance Criteria). Information to be provided includes, but is not limited to:
(A) Specific information on the measurement methodology, assumptions, conversion factors, if used, and data sources.
(10) Stakeholder Consultations. A manufacturer or stewardship organization that submits a plan shall include a process of consultation with affected stakeholders and consider the existing infrastructure in the development of the plan. Stakeholders may include, but are not limited to, other manufacturers and stewardship organizations, service providers, state and local governments, non-governmental organizations, haulers, demolition or other contractors, recyclers, retailers and wholesalers, installers, and consumers.
(11) Audits. Include a process by which the financial activities of the stewardship organization and individual manufacturer that are related to implementation of the stewardship plan will be subject to an independent audit, results of which will be submitted in the manufacturer or stewardship organization's annual report and reviewed by the department.
(12) Environmental information. Plans shall be accompanied with information to assist in completing an initial study under the California Environmental Quality Act.
1. New section filed 1-26-2012; operative 1-26-2012 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4 (Register 2012, No. 4).
2. Change without regulatory effect amending subsection (a)(3), repealing subsections (a)(3)(A)-(a)(3)(B), relettering subsections, amending newly designated subsection (a)(3)(A) and adopting subsection (a)(7)(F)b. filed 1-3-2018 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 2018, No. 1).
Note: Authority cited: Sections 40502, Public Resources Code. Reference: Sections 42972 and 42973, Public Resources Code.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. California may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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