Beverage container recycling: pilot projects: extension.

The California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act requires the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery to annually designate convenience zones and requires at least one certified recycling center that meets certain requirements to be located within every convenience zone. The act authorizes up to 10 limited-term recycling pilot projects, subject to certain requirements, that are designed to improve redemption opportunities in unserved convenience zones, and deems a convenience zone that falls within the area of an operational, department-approved pilot project to be served. The act makes the authorization provisions inoperative on June 30, 2026, and repeals them on January 1, 2027. The act establishes the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund and continuously appropriates moneys in the fund to the department for specified purposes, including the amount necessary to pay handling fees to certain types of recyclers to provide an incentive for the redemption of empty beverage containers in convenience zones. The act makes a pilot project recycler eligible to apply for handling fees from the department. This bill would authorize recycling pilot projects to operate until January 1, 2034, and repeal those provisions on that date. By extending the time recycling pilot projects may operate, the bill would make an appropriation by increasing expenditures from a continuously appropriated fund for handling fee payments to pilot project recyclers. The bill would limit the time that a convenience zone that falls within the area of an operational, department-approved pilot project is deemed to be served to January 1, 2027.