(a) No lease entered into by a dealer after January 1, 1987, may contain a leasehold restriction that prohibits or results in the prohibition of the establishment of a recycling location.

(b) The director may grant an exemption from the requirements of Section 14571 for an individual convenience zone only after the department solicits public testimony on whether or not to provide an exemption from Section 14571. The solicitation process shall be designed by the department to ensure that operators of recycling centers, dealers, and members of the public in the jurisdiction affected by the proposed exemption are aware of the proposed exemption. After evaluation of the testimony and any field review conducted, the department shall base a decision to exempt a convenience zone on one, or any combination, of the following factors:

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(1) The exemption will not significantly decrease the ability of consumers to conveniently return beverage containers for the refund value to a certified recycling center redeeming all material types.

(2) Except as provided in paragraph (5), the nearest certified recycling center is within a reasonable distance of the convenience zone being considered from exemption.

(3) The convenience zone is in the area of a curbside recycling program that meets the criteria specified in Section 14509.5.

(4) The requirements of Section 14571 cannot be met in a particular convenience zone due to local zoning or the dealer’s leasehold restrictions for leases in effect on January 1, 1987, and the local zoning or leasehold restrictions are not within the authority of the department and the dealer. However, any lease executed after January 1, 1987, shall meet the requirements specified in subdivision (a).

(5) The convenience zone has redeemed less than 60,000 containers per month for the prior 12 months and, notwithstanding paragraph (2), a certified recycling center is located within one mile of the convenience zone that is the subject of the exemption.

(c) The department shall review each convenience zone in which a certified recycling center was not located on January 1, 1996, to determine the eligibility of the convenience zone under the exemption criteria specified in subdivision (b).

(d) The total number of exemptions granted by the director under this section shall not exceed 15 percent of the total number of convenience zones identified pursuant to this section.

(e) The department may, on its own motion, or upon petition by any interested person, revoke a convenience zone exemption if either of the following occurs:

(1) The condition or conditions that caused the convenience zone to be exempt no longer exists, and the department determines that the criteria for an exemption specified in this section are not presently applicable to the convenience zone.

(2) The department determines that the convenience zone exemption was granted due to an administrative error.

(f) If an exemption is revoked and a recycling center is not certified and operational in the convenience zone, the department shall, within 10 days of the date of the decision to revoke, serve all dealers in the convenience zone with the notice specified in subdivision (a) of Section 14571.7.

(g) An exemption shall not be revoked when a recycling center becomes certified and operational within an exempt convenience zone unless either of the events specified in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (e) occurs.

(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 610, Sec. 25. (SB 1013) Effective January 1, 2023.)