Beverage containers: wine and distilled spirits: processing fees.

The California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act requires a beverage manufacturer to pay to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery a processing fee for each beverage container, as defined, sold or transferred in this state. The act requires the department to deposit the fee into the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund, a continuously appropriated fund. The act requires the department to pay processing payments to processors and recycling centers from the fund, as specified. The act requires the processing payment to be at least equal to the difference between the scrap value of the beverage containers and the sum of certain actual operational costs for certified recycling centers and a reasonable financial return for recycling centers, as specified. The act requires the processing fee to be 65% of the processing payment, except as specified. This bill would authorize the department to reduce the processing fee for a beverage container that is a box, bladder, or pouch, or similar container containing wine or distilled spirits if the department determines the aggregate amount forecasted to be collected from that processing fee will exceed by at least an unspecified percentage the aggregate amount needed to pay the corresponding processing payment.