NPCA’s Board of Directors Approves Continued Efforts for PPSI Legislation

On June 2, NPCA’s Board of Directors accepted staff’s recommended next steps for the Paint Product Stewardship Initiative (PPSI), following Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s veto of NPCA-sponsored legislation. The legislation was important because it would have created a state-wide test pilot program for post-consumer paint in Minnesota. With the Board’s approval, NPCA will continue to pursue a pilot program in Minnesota; however, NPCA will evaluate other potential states in the event that Minnesota does not present a viable option for 2009. If not, the association will be ready to pursue another state in the same time period. 

While other states may present viable alternatives for pilot program legislation in 2009, NPCA is not abandoning the progress made in Minnesota because starting over in a different state will not necessarily result in successful passage of the legislation necessary to start a program. On the contrary, it might also take a few attempts in a different state for successful passage, which would put industry further from its timeline goals. Over the next few months, NPCA will further evaluate the true chances of successful legislation in Minnesota in 2009. If this seems likely, it will proceed under the original agreement under the PPSI Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).  NPCA will also use the next several months to assess the true chances of successful passage in the roll-out states, in case 2009 Minnesota legislation appears unlikely, to be ready to act where there is the best chance for success.

Pawlenty’s veto was unfortunate, but NPCA believes it had little to do with the pilot program itself; rather, it had to do with some internal Minnesota state politics. As such, NPCA continues to have the support of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, much of the Minnesota Legislature, and that of the local governments in Minnesota, which have all expressed their willingness to work with NPCA and industry next year towards successful resolution of the legislation.  In addition, through industry's efforts with the governor's office, there are good indications that it will be willing to work with industry to ensure the same result does not happen the next time. 

NPCA has been participating in the PPSI since 2003, in an effort to address the growing concerns of states regarding post-consumer paint collection and disposal. The Product Stewardship Institute (PSI), made up of state and local government agencies from across the country, identified post-consumer paint as a top priority given its “high volume in the waste stream, subsequent costs to manage, and high potential for increased recovery, reuses and recycling.” As a result, PSI started the PPSI dialogue in order to assist the government agencies and industry in establishing a cooperative agreement to solve the post-consumer paint issue in lieu of a state-by-state approach mandating pure “producer responsibility” programs.

Following two MOUs signed jointly in 2004 and 2007 by PPSI stakeholders, the objective of the dialogue has become the development and implementation of a nationally coordinated post consumer paint management system. Minnesota was to be the site of a national test, or demonstration pilot project, the financing of which would be based on a consumer cost recovery model similar to the program currently in place in British Columbia, Canada.

Here’s how it will work: the cost-recovery financing system is consumer-based, i.e., the cost of the program is to be passed on to the consumer through the purchase of architectural paint products and remitted back up the supply chain to an industry organization — a Paint Stewardship Organization or “PSO.” The PSO will be responsible for implementing the program, from education/outreach to collection, transportation and ultimate processing/disposal of the paint. Architectural paint manufacturers will pay the PSO a paint stewardship fee based on the amount of architectural paint they sell into the state of Minnesota. They will then invoice their retailers/distributors for the fee in addition to the base price of the paint. Retailers must remit payment for this additional fee and recoup their costs by adding it to all paint sold in Minnesota. 

The PSO will contract for these services, as appropriate, and report to the state as well as the PPSI on the program, including recommendations for whether or not to continue the program beyond the one-year pilot date, with necessary adjustments.

The Board also approved NPCA's work to finalize the PSO’s structure/business plan, the Life Cycle Analysis/Cost Benefit Analysis of paint disposal methods, and an education/outreach proposal in the next several months. The Board’s support of this approach is in keeping with our commitment under the latest PPSI MOU, the only change to the agreement, being pushback of the estimated timeline.

For more information: contact NPCA’s Alison Keane or David Darling.

Source: July/August 2008 Coatings, posted 6/30/08