This bill amends and adds to Washington law to establish and enforce a statewide paint product stewardship program under chapter 70A.515 RCW, administered by the Department of Ecology. It requires all paint producers selling in or into Washington to participate in an approved stewardship plan, administered by nonprofit stewardship organizations, and prohibits sale in the state of paint from producers not participating. The stewardship organizations must set a uniform per-container “paint product stewardship assessment” added to the purchase price to fund administration, education/outreach, collection, transportation, processing, reuse, recycling, energy recovery, and disposal of leftover paint; the assessment must be reviewed by an independent financial auditor and approved by the department. The bill amends multiple RCW sections, reenacts and amends RCW 42.56.270 (public records exemptions), amends RCW 82.04.765 (tax exclusion for the assessment), and repeals RCW 70A.515.130. The bill creates detailed plan, collection, reporting, and oversight requirements: stewardship plans must describe statewide collection, transport, processing and end-of-life management, list collection sites (using existing retail stores where feasible), provide education materials, and ensure at least 90% of residents have a permanent collection site within 15 miles (with additional sites required per urban population thresholds). Plans must establish convenience for isolated/island communities, limit charging at time of delivery, and require annual program reports (due May 1, 2026 and annually thereafter) showing volumes, costs, disposition methods, participating producers, and an independent audit. Implementation and update deadlines are specified in the text (including historic plan submission and implementation dates and later plan-update deadlines through 2029–2030 as described). Retailers and distributors must monitor the department’s posted list of participating producers; retailers may continue selling certain nonarchitectural paint categories until July 1, 2030 or six months after an updated plan is approved, as provided. The bill also addresses financial and legal procedures: stewardship organization assessment funds are not state funds and are not eligible for appropriation except that stewardship organizations must pay the department an annual administrative fee (not to exceed 5% of aggregate assessment) to cover the department’s costs; the department must deposit receipts it receives into a dedicated paint product stewardship account and may use those moneys only to administer and enforce the chapter. The department may enforce the chapter, adopt rules, and assess civil penalties (up to $1,000 per violation per day, and up to $10,000 per violation per day for violations described as intentional, knowing, or negligent). The bill authorizes confidentiality for certain submitted information, allows limited antitrust immunity for producers and stewardship organizations for planning and operating the program, and provides that the chapter is void if a federal national paint collection/recycling program substantially meets the chapter’s intent. The extracted text is incomplete in places: many amended sections are listed but their full revised language and some implementation details, enforcement procedures, and certain definitions and subsections are not included in the provided excerpts, so some operational specifics and cross-section changes remain uncertain from the materials given.

If enacted, paint manufacturers selling in Washington would have to join and fund a nonprofit stewardship organization that runs a statewide paint takeback program, pay an added “stewardship assessment” on each container (which they will likely pass on in price), and meet plan, audit, reporting, and collection-coverage requirements approved and enforced by the Department of Ecology. The stewardship organization must fund and operate collection, transport, reuse, recycling, and disposal services so that most residents have local access, cannot charge for drop-off, must produce annual audited reports, and must use surplus funds only to improve services or lower the assessment; Ecology will post participating brands, collect an administrative fee (capped at 5% of assessments), and may penalize noncompliance. Those most affected are paint producers (new ongoing costs, mandatory membership, and the risk of being barred from selling in-state if they don’t participate), stewardship organizations (new operational and reporting responsibilities), the Department of Ecology (new enforcement and oversight duties and an account to handle receipts), retailers and distributors (must not sell noncompliant brands and may host agreed collection sites), and households/small businesses (greater no-fee collection access but likely higher retail prices reflecting the assessment). Key implementation details such as exact assessment amounts, some governance and timeline specifics, and portions of the amended statutes are missing from the provided text, so the timing and full operational effects remain uncertain.