1. (a) The department shall develop a risk-based process to select, for periodic audit, certain deposit beverage distributor and redemption center reports submitted to the deposit beverage container program. The department may hire personnel or external consultants to perform the audits. In developing a risk-based process to audit certain deposit beverage distributor and redemption center reports, the department shall:

   1. (1) Consider a variety of risk factors, including but not limited to the amount of money transacted, prior audit findings, and frequency of the deposit beverage distributor's or redemption center's prior audits;
   2. (2) Require deposit beverage distributors to send monthly or semi-annual distribution reports and supporting records, such as schedules of invoices, shipping documents, point-of-sale reports, and other documentation as required by the department, to the deposit beverage container program; and
   3. (3) Ensure that the audit process includes a risk assessment derived from deposit beverage distributor and redemption center data based on the reports submitted, including but not limited to carrying out analytics and trend analyses to target certain deposit beverage distributors and redemption centers having unusual fluctuations.

2. (b) The department shall:

   1. (1) Summarize the results of the deposit beverage distributor and redemption center audits and assess whether enforcement actions should be considered to ensure that the amounts that are being reported are accurate;
   2. (2) Consider conducting follow-up audits; and
   3. (3) Consider publicly announcing violations.

3. (c) All deposit beverage distributors shall:

   1. (1) Develop and submit to the deposit beverage container program for approval an internal control process to ensure that the monthly or semi-annual distribution report forms contain accurate data and that adequate records are maintained; and
   2. (2) Obtain independent audits for years ending in an odd number.

[L 2022, c 12, §2]