Beverage containers: supermarkets: reverse vending machines.

The minimum gross annual sales threshold for a store to be classified as a supermarket is set at $6,000,000, resolving a bracketed choice between $5,000,000 and $6,000,000. This means fewer stores will qualify as supermarkets, which in turn affects how many convenience zones are designated (since each supermarket generates a one-mile radius convenience zone).

The emergency regulations establishing the handling fee methodology are extended through June 30, 2032, rather than expiring on June 30, 2027. This gives CalRecycle an additional five years to operate under the current regulatory framework before being required to transition to a different method.

Violations of the act are classified as crimes rather than infractions, increasing the potential penalties for noncompliance with beverage container recycling requirements.

The legislative digest in the enrolled version removes references to a two-thirds vote requirement and state-mandated local program designation that appeared in the amended assembly version, retaining only the appropriation designation.

The minimum gross annual sales required for a store to be classified as a 'supermarket' was increased from $5,000,000 to $6,000,000. This narrows the set of stores that anchor convenience zones, potentially leaving more areas unserved.

A new savings clause (Section 14526.5(b)) was added providing that a recycling center eligible to receive handling fees immediately before the effective date of the act shall continue to be eligible on and after that date, protecting existing operators from losing eligibility due to the changed supermarket definition.

The deadline for emergency regulations establishing the handling fee methodology was extended from June 30, 2027 to June 30, 2032. The related inoperative date also shifted from July 1, 2027 to July 1, 2032, giving CalRecycle five additional years to implement its tiered handling fee approach.

The digest now explicitly states the bill makes an appropriation by both expanding the entities eligible for program payments and changing the calculation of handling fees, reflecting the combined effect of the threshold change and methodology extension on fund outlays.

Section 14526.5 now requires CalRecycle to consult the most recent annual update to the Progressive Grocer Marketing Guidebook and any other relevant updates developed in conjunction with that guidebook when determining which dealers are supermarkets. This gives the department a specific, industry-recognized reference for making supermarket determinations rather than relying solely on the statutory definition.

Subdivision (a)(4) of new Section 14571.6 was deleted. That provision had stated that a reverse vending machine is not made ineligible for handling fees under Section 14585(c) simply because another recycling center becomes certified in the same convenience zone. Its removal means a reverse vending machine could now lose its handling fee eligibility if a new recycling center is certified in the zone where it already operates, potentially reducing funding available to those machines.

Senator Valladares was added as a coauthor of the bill.

Removed the provision (former paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 14571.6) that allowed the department to deem multiple reverse vending machines as serving an unserved convenience zone regardless of operating hours, if together they accepted 100 percent of beverage containers sold by dealers in that zone. Without this, RVMs must meet standard minimum hour requirements individually.

Updated a cross-reference in Section 14578.5(d)(1) from 'subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 14571.6' to 'subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 14571.6' to conform to the renumbering after the removed paragraph.

The definition of 'supermarket' in Section 14526.5 now requires gross annual sales of $5,000,000 or more (up from $2,000,000) and revises the list of items sold to 'dry groceries, canned goods, alcoholic or nonalcoholic beverages, nonfood items, or some perishable items' (previously 'dry grocery, canned goods, or alcoholic or nonalcoholic beverages, nonfood items and items, or some perishable items').

Paragraphs in Section 14571.6(a) were renumbered: former paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) became (2), (3), and (4). The substantive content of each provision regarding reverse vending machines, dealer cooperatives, mobile units, and handling fee eligibility remains unchanged.

Section 14583(d)(1) cross-reference was updated from 'paragraph (3)' to 'paragraph (2)' to match the renumbering in Section 14571.6(a), and 'Dealer cooperatives' was changed to lowercase 'dealer cooperatives.'

Section 14585(c) had its '(1)' sub-numbering removed, changing from '(c)(1) The Except as provided...' to '(c) Except as provided...', making the handling fee rules a direct subdivision rather than a numbered paragraph.