It’s important that counties watch out for a survey arriving in their inboxes in early January. All counties should respond to this survey by the April 14 deadline, because those who fail to do so will become ineligible for much of the new funding coming to local governments as part of implementation of Oregon’s new recycling law. Responding to the survey by the April 14 deadline–and indicating interest in expanding recycling services–will substantially reduce the risk of communities facing new costs resulting from the new rules.
As you may recall, the Plastic Pollution and Recycling Modernization Act (RMA) was passed in 2021, several years after the world market for waste plastics collapsed and longstanding systems for recycling the materials failed. Lawmakers hoped to restore consumers’ ability to dispose of product packaging responsibly, to alleviate confusion about what materials are recyclable, and to require that manufacturers help pay for responsible disposal of product packaging. The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has been busy writing rules to implement the new law, and right now, the DEQ is drafting a list of materials that will be considered recyclable. Starting in July, 2025, every community throughout Oregon will have a common list of materials that can be recycled.
Local governments are supposed to get funding under the new law if they choose to expand their recycling services, or if they need to expand their recycling services to meet the new requirements. The DEQ is conducting this survey to try to figure out what communities might need. All local governments in Oregon will be receiving the survey, regardless of their size.
Local governments aren’t expected to be able to fully articulate all the things they’ll need, in part, because needs will vary depending on what materials end up being placed on DEQ’s list of recyclable materials. Many communities may only be able to guess at their potential needs. There’s no penalty if communities provide information that turns out to be inaccurate. However, local governments who don’t complete the survey–or who indicate on the survey that they aren’t interested in expanding their recycling programs–will not be eligible for much of the funding that will be available to communities starting in 2025. Local governments are being strongly encouraged to work with their haulers to try to answer the survey questions in as much detail as possible, but communities must submit the survey responses themselves.
Local governments who have questions about this process, or about anything related to implementation of Oregon’s new recycling law can contact DEQ at RethinkRecycling@deq.oregon.gov.
DEQ will also be holding two virtual informational sessions to help communities get answers to questions they may have:
Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023 at 11 a.m. (PT): https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIpfuygrDwpEtVhhZnLoDRlK4PPvthtFOc1
Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023 at 11 a.m. (PT): https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYrdu6srT4oHNxTOjGwazWQmxLdmFCMDsUG
The Association of Oregon Counties has discussed plans for this survey with DEQ, and asked for clarification of the reasoning for withholding funding from communities who fail to respond to it or who indicate they aren’t interested in expanding services. We anticipate hearing more from the agency soon, and will provide an update if new information emerges. In the meantime, we will continue raising awareness around the need for communities to participate in the survey, and monitoring the overall implementation of the RMA as well.
Contributed by: Michael Burdick | Legislative Affairs Manager