This bill creates a new chapter in Title 70A establishing a Beverage Container Recycling Refund Program as an extended producer responsibility system. It requires beverage producers to register with or join a recycling refund producer responsibility organization (RPRO), pay initial and ongoing fees, and submit program and coordination plans for department approval. The program requires a statewide network of express and full‑service redemption sites, processing facilities, incentives to material recovery facilities and service providers, and a per‑container refund value that the bill sets at $0.10 to take effect by January 1, 2030 or six months after plan approval. The Department of Ecology is assigned administration, rulemaking, plan review, and enforcement duties, and the bill establishes a recycling refund advisory council and an equity subcommittee to advise on plans and audits. The bill changes procedures and creates new compliance and reporting requirements: RPROs must register with the department (deadlines in the bill include March 1, 2027 for RPRO registration and April 15, 2027 for producer membership), establish fee structures, implement an approved program by January 1, 2030 (or six months after plan approval), and file annual reports beginning June 30, 2031. It sets program performance targets (aggregated redemption and reusable‑container redemption rates greater than 65% by the end of year two and greater than 80% by the end of year five of plan implementation), requires audits and third‑party analyses for expansion of covered container types, calls for coordination with the paper and packaging producer responsibility organization (including a temporary reimbursement schedule through February 15, 2032), creates dedicated state accounts for program receipts and penalty deposits, and amends tax and litter statutes to allow a tax deduction and litter‑tax exemption for separately itemized refund charges. The bill creates new enforcement authorities and changes penalty procedures: the department may impose administrative civil penalties up to $1,000 per violation per day for a first violation and up to $10,000 per violation per day for subsequent violations, issue corrective actions, revoke plan approvals, require contingency implementation, and recover penalties into a recycling enhancement account; affected parties may appeal to the pollution control hearings board. The bill also provides state antitrust immunity for activities that comply with and are authorized by the chapter. Several provisions and definitions are incomplete or appear in different sections of the draft (for example, some advisory council appointment dates differ across sections, section 110 and the definition of the second plan implementation period are referenced but not fully included here), so certain operational details and cross‑references are uncertain from the extracted text.

If enacted, the bill creates a statewide beverage container recycling refund program run under producer responsibility. Brand owners and other producers must join a registered recycling refund producer responsibility organization (RPRO) and pay initial and ongoing fees beginning in 2027, and may not introduce covered containers after March 1, 2029 unless they are registered. The RPROs must fund and run a network of express and full-service redemption sites, pay refunds (set at $0.10 per covered container by Jan 1, 2030 or six months after plan approval), compensate site hosts and service providers, provide incentive payments to material recovery facilities, meet redemption and reuse performance targets (greater than 65% by year two and 80% by year five), and file detailed annual reports starting June 30, 2031; the Department of Ecology administers, reviews plans, enforces the program, and may levy civil penalties up to $1,000 per day for a first violation and $10,000 per day thereafter. The immediate financial and operational impacts fall heaviest on producers (new membership fees, responsibility for refund funding and program costs), RPROs (administration, department fees, start‑up payments, and program delivery), retailers and online delivery companies (must collect and remit the refund value and separately itemize it on receipts; large stores must sell mandated bags), material recovery facilities and service providers (must meet quality/reporting standards and share incentive payments), and counties (must make space available at transfer stations). The law also creates tax and litter‑tax exemptions for separately stated refund charges, provides antitrust immunity for approved program activities, and requires several feasibility, community engagement, and ex‑ante studies. Some key implementation details remain unclear from the provided text—for example the exact timing and scope of the “second plan implementation period,” certain technical plan metrics, and the full contents of referenced sections—so parties will face remaining uncertainty until the department’s rules and approved plans are published.