(1) A manufacturer choosing to implement a manufacturer program shall submit a plan to the Department of Environmental Quality at the time of payment of the annual registration fee required under ORS § 459A.315.

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(2) The manufacturer’s plan must describe how the manufacturer will:

(a) Finance, manage and conduct a statewide program to collect covered electronic devices from covered entities in this state.

(b) Provide for environmentally sound management practices to collect, transport and recycle covered electronic devices.

(c) Provide for advertising and promotion of collection opportunities statewide and on a regular basis.

(d) Include convenient service in every county in this state and at least one collection site for any city with a population of at least 10,000. A collection site for a county may be the same as a collection site for a city in the county. Collection sites shall be staffed and open to the public at a frequency adequate to meet the needs of the area being served. A program may provide collection service jointly with another program.

(3) A manufacturer choosing to implement a manufacturer program shall:

(a) Meet or exceed the requirements for collection sites described in subsection (2) of this section.

(b) Provide for collection, transportation and recycling of covered electronic devices for covered entities free of charge, except that a manufacturer that provides premium service for a covered entity may charge for the additional cost of that premium service.

(c) Implement the plan required under this section.

(d) Conduct a statistically significant sampling or actual count of the covered electronic devices, except for computer peripherals, collected and recycled by the manufacturer each calendar year using a methodology approved by the department. The manufacturer shall report the results of the sampling or count to the department at least annually or as required by the department. The sampling or count methodology must take into account information including but not limited to the device type, weight and brand of each unit sampled.

(e) In addition to the report required by paragraph (d) of this subsection and no later than March 1 of each year, the manufacturer shall provide a report to the department that:

(A) Includes the total weight of covered electronic devices, including orphan devices and computer peripherals, collected from covered entities in this state by the manufacturer during the previous calendar year;

(B) Includes the total weight of each type of covered electronic device, including orphan devices and computer peripherals, collected from covered entities in this state by the manufacturer during the previous calendar year; and

(C) Details how the plan required under this section was implemented during the previous calendar year.

(4) A group of manufacturers may choose to implement a manufacturer program as one entity, if in doing so the manufacturers meet the sum of their individual return shares by weight under ORS § 459A.340 (3) and that sum is at least five percent.

(5) By July 1 of each year, a manufacturer that does not meet its return share by weight for the previous calendar year shall pay the department for the amount not achieved at a rate determined by the department to be equivalent to the amount the manufacturer would have paid, plus 10 percent, to be part of the state contractor program under ORS § 459A.340.

(6) A manufacturer participating in the state contractor program under ORS § 459A.340 shall notify the department at the time of its registration each year.

(7) Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, a manufacturer with less than a five percent return share is required to participate in the state contractor program under ORS § 459A.340. [2007 c.302 § 5; 2007 c.302 § 6; 2011 c.548 5,6; 2019 c.212 § 3]

The amendments to 459A.320 by section 4, chapter 259, Oregon Laws 2023, become operative January 1, 2026, and apply to electronics producer responsibility program plans submitted to the Department of Environmental Quality pursuant to section 21, chapter 259, Oregon Laws 2023. See sections 20 and 21, chapter 259, Oregon Laws 2023. The text that is operative on and after January 1, 2026, is set forth for the user’s convenience.

(1) In the form and manner prescribed by the Department of Environmental Quality, an electronics producer responsibility organization must annually submit to the department a plan for implementing an electronics producer responsibility program.

(2) The electronics producer responsibility organization’s plan must describe how the electronics producer responsibility organization will implement an electronics producer responsibility program that complies with ORS § 459A.305 to 459A.355, including how the electronics producer responsibility organization will:

(a) Finance, manage and conduct a statewide program to collect covered electronic devices from covered entities in this state.

(b) Provide for environmentally sound management practices to collect, transport and recycle covered electronic devices.

(c) Provide for advertising and promotion of collection opportunities statewide and on a regular basis, as described in ORS § 459A.327.

(d)(A) Provide convenient and equitable service throughout the state, including to rural areas and minority, lower-income and other historically underserved populations.

(B) At a minimum, convenient service must include a network of collection sites distributed to ensure that 95 percent of the residents of this state are within 15 miles of a collection site, and must also include:

(i) At least one collection site in each county;

(ii) In each city with a population of at least 10,000 but less than 200,000, at least one collection site, plus one additional collection site for every additional 20,000 residents of the city over 10,000; and

(iii) In each city with a population of 200,000 or greater, at least 10 collection sites, plus one additional collection site for every additional 50,000 residents of the city over 200,000.

(C) A collection site for a county may be the same as a collection site for a city in the county. Collection sites shall be staffed and open to the public at a frequency adequate to meet the needs of the area being served. An electronics producer responsibility organization may provide collection service jointly with another electronics producer responsibility organization.

(D) The department may waive the requirements of subparagraphs (B) and (C) of this paragraph with respect to a county or city if the proposed plan demonstrates to the department’s satisfaction that alternative services or collection sites would provide substantially equivalent collection convenience.

(e) Ensure continuous improvement of the electronics producer responsibility program by:

(A) Establishing and working to achieve measurable program goals for:

(i) Collection, such as amount collected or usage rates of collection services; and

(ii) Maintaining high public awareness of the program.

(B) Evaluating every four years whether additional electronic devices should be included in, or existing devices be removed from, the program.

(C) For any year for which a program goal was not met, describing, with supporting data, what changes or steps the program will undertake that can ensure the program achieves its goals in the upcoming year.

(f) Coordinate with all other electronics producer responsibility organizations through a coordinating body in accordance with ORS § 459A.323, if applicable.

(g) Coordinate activities with recycling and reuse programs, including nonprofit organizations that refurbish technology, to further the environmentally sound management of recycling of electronics.

(3) In addition to the information required under subsection (2) of this section, an electronics producer responsibility program plan must include:

(a) A list of all processors that will be used by the electronics producer responsibility program;

(b) The contact information for the electronics producer responsibility organization;

(c) A list of all manufacturers participating in the electronics producer responsibility program; and

(d) A list of all brands of covered electronic devices manufactured, sold or imported by each participating manufacturer, including:

(A) Those brands being offered for sale in this state by each manufacturer; and

(B) Those brands that were offered for sale in this state by each manufacturer during the previous year.

(4) An electronics producer responsibility organization must:

(a) Provide for collection, transportation and recycling of covered electronic devices for covered entities free of charge, except that an electronics producer responsibility program that provides premium service for a covered entity may charge for the additional cost of that premium service.

(b) Implement the plan required under this section.

(c) Provide fair financial compensation to collection sites calculated to cover the costs of collecting, storing, managing and transporting covered electronic devices.

(d) Enter into agreements with all willing transfer stations, landfills and material recovery facilities, that are covered under a solid waste disposal permit issued by the department, to collect covered electronic devices in accordance with all applicable laws and the approved electronics producer responsibility program plan.

(e) In the form and manner prescribed by the department, provide an annual report to the department that:

(A) Includes the total weight of covered electronic devices, including peripherals, collected from covered entities in this state by the electronics producer responsibility program during the previous year;

(B) Includes the total weight of each type of covered electronic device, including peripherals, collected from covered entities in this state by the electronics producer responsibility program during the previous year;

(C) Includes a list of all collection sites and processors used by the electronics producer responsibility program;

(D) Includes the total amount, by weight, of each type of covered electronic device collected at each collection site, or if approved by the department, a grouping of collection sites, presented in a manner that assists the department in determining the rate of use of each collection site;

(E) Includes the results of any approved alternative methods of service in adequately meeting the needs of the applicable jurisdiction, including the date of each alternative service event and the total weight of each type of covered electronic device, including peripherals, collected at each alternative service event;

(F) Details how the plan required under this section was implemented during the previous year, including:

(i) A description of how the electronics producer responsibility organization complied with subsection (2)(e) of this section that includes whether goals have been met, a summary of public awareness activities and copies of public awareness materials developed by the electronics producer responsibility organization; and

(ii) A summary of any safety or security problems that occurred during the collection, transportation or disposal of covered electronic devices and the actual or potential future resolutions of those problems; and

(G) Includes an attestation that all covered electronic devices collected under the electronics producer responsibility program were collected and disposed of in compliance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations and in accordance with environmentally sound management standards.

(f) Retain all records related to the implementation and administration of the electronics producer responsibility program for not less than three years from the time the record was created and make the records available for inspection and audit by the department upon request.

(g) Provide, upon the request of the department, the contact information and a point of contact for each manufacturer participating in the electronics producer responsibility program.

(h)(A) Allow a collection site to recover collected covered electronic devices for refurbishment and resale at retail.

(B) An electronics producer responsibility organization may require a collection site to exclude the weight of covered electronic devices recovered for refurbishment or resale from the weight of covered electronic devices collected by the collection site for the purposes of annual reporting and determining compensation for the collection and management of covered electronic devices unless:

(i) The collection site is a nonprofit organization that refurbishes technologies for resale and recovers the collected covered electronic device for resale at retail, which may include online retail; or

(ii) The collection site recovers the collected covered electronic device for donation to an organization that refurbishes technologies for resale at retail, which may include online retail.

(i)(A) Prior to removing a collection site from an electronics producer responsibility program, work with other electronics producer responsibility organizations or the coordinating body, if applicable, to determine if the collection site can be added to another electronics producer responsibility program.

(B) If the collection site will not be added to another electronics producer responsibility program, the electronics producer responsibility organization must, 90 days prior to removing the collection site from the electronics producer responsibility program:

(i) Provide notice to covered entities by posting notice of the removal on the program website; and

(ii) Provide written notice to the department and all other collection sites in the same wasteshed.

(C) The department may require the electronics producer responsibility organization to retain a collection site if the electronics producer responsibility organization does not provide notice as required under subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, unless the electronics producer responsibility organization demonstrates good cause for being unable to provide notice.

(5) The department shall review reports submitted under subsection (4)(e) of this section, and approve those reports that the department determines satisfy the requirements of subsection (4)(e) of this section. If the department does not approve a report, the department shall provide the electronics producer responsibility organization with written notice of revisions necessary for approval and the timeline for resubmittal.

(6) Rules adopted by the Environmental Quality Commission to implement this section may include standards for environmentally sound management practices and standards for participating collection sites.

See note under 459A.300.

Section 21 (2), chapter 259, Oregon Laws 2023, provides:

(2) An electronics producer responsibility organization that plans to implement an electronics producer responsibility program beginning January 1, 2026, must submit an electronics producer responsibility program plan to the department no later than July 1, 2025. [2023 c.259 § 21(2)]