1. (1) All producers of covered products sold or offered for sale in or into Washington state are required to pay an annual fee calculated by the department based on the department's published workload analysis (WLA) and fee distribution calculations described in this section.

2. (2) By January 31st of each year, the department will publish for public comment the annual WLA for the next fiscal year (July 1st through June 30th). The WLA provides the department's estimated annual cost in the following two workload categories:

   1. (a) Ecology program administration costs include the department's costs to support producer registration, manage and maintain the registration and reporting system and department website, prepare the annual workload analysis and fee calculation, conduct rule and guideline updates, and implement any requirements that would apply to all producers of covered products, regardless of their PCRC requirements.
   2. (b) Ecology PCRC oversight costs include the department's costs to provide compliance monitoring and technical assistance for producers submitting PCRC product reports required to meet minimum PCRC requirements for the prior calendar year.

3. (3) (a) Producer fees are calculated based on the producer's reported total pounds of covered product plastic resin data submitted during annual registration or reporting by April 1st, as shown in the calculation formulas below.

   1. (i) Ecology program administration costs are allocated to each producer based on the producer's share of the total pounds of all covered product resin (virgin and PCRC) sold in or offered for sale in or into Washington during the prior calendar year as illustrated in equation 1(a) below.

      Equation 1(a), Program Administration Fee

      Program Administration Fee = Ecology Program Administration Cost ×

      [(Individual Producer Resins for Covered Products)/

      (Washington Resin Totals for Covered Products)]

      Program Administration Fee = Fee for all producers registered for covered product categories, excluding de minimis producers.

      Ecology Program Administration Cost = Estimated annual workload cost for the department to administer the program as a whole, such as producer registration, management and maintenance of the registration and reporting database and department website, preparation of the annual workload analysis and fee calculation, rule and guideline updates, and any requirements that would apply to all producers of covered products.

      Individual Producer Resins for Covered Products = One registered producer's total pounds of all plastic resins (PCRC and virgin) used in all covered products sold or offered for sale in Washington state during the previous calendar year.

      Washington Resin Totals for Covered Products = Total pounds of all plastic resins (PCRC and virgin) used in all covered products sold or offered for sale in or into Washington state for the prior calendar year.

   2. (ii) Ecology PCRC product oversight costs are allocated based on each producer's share of the total pounds of all plastic resins (PCR and virgin) used in the PCRC product categories sold in or offered for sale in or into Washington state in the prior calendar year as illustrated in equation 1(b) below.

      Equation 1(b), PCRC Oversight Fee

      PCRC Oversight Fee = Ecology PCRC Oversight Cost ×

      [(Individual Producer Resins for PCRC Products)/

      (Washington Resin Totals for PCRC Products)]

      PCRC Oversight Fee = Fee for producers submitting PCRC reports for PCRC products.

      Ecology PCRC Oversight Cost = Estimated annual workload cost for the department to provide compliance monitoring and technical assistance to producers submitting PCRC reports for PCRC products.

      Individual Producer Resins for PCRC Products = One registered and reporting producer's total pounds of all plastic resins (PCRC and virgin) used in all PCRC products sold or offered for sale in or into Washington state during the previous calendar year.

      Washington Resin Totals for PCRC Products = Total pounds of all plastic resins (PCRC and virgin) used in all PCRC products sold or offered for sale in or into Washington state for the prior calendar year.

   3. (iii) Each producer will be invoiced a Total Producer Fee, based on the sum of the producer's individual Program Administration Fee and PCRC Oversight Fee, as shown in equation 1(c).

      Equation 1(c) Total Producer Fee

      Total Producer Fee = Program Administration Fee (Equation 1(a)) + PCRC Oversight Fee (Equation 1(b))

      Total Producer Fee = Fee for each producer submitting registration and reporting data for covered products. For producers of covered product categories not yet required to submit PCRC reports, the PCRC oversight fee amount is zero, and only the program administration fee amount applies.

   4. (b) De minimis producers are not required to pay annual fees, and resin data submitted by de minimis producers in their annual de minimis notification is not included in the calculations described above.

4. (4) (a) The department may adjust annual billing for the following reasons:

   1. (i) Difference between actual revenue and costs for the most recent prior closed fiscal year;
   2. (ii) Registration and reporting data submitted by producers after the April 1st deadline; or
   3. (iii) Revised resin weight data.
   4. (b) Any adjustment to billing as described in (a)(i) of this subsection will be distributed among all producers using their proportions of the total fee amounts from the appropriate billing cycle.
   5. (c) For adjustments made under the conditions of (a)(ii) of this subsection, producers who register or report after April 1st will be billed for the adjusted annual fee in the next billing cycle. The invoice for the next billing cycle will include the fee for that year, plus the adjusted fee for the previous year, for which registration or reporting was submitted late. The fees for producers who had registered by April 1st will be adjusted in the following billing cycle with a credit for their proportionate share, based on individual plastic resin weights, of applied changes resulting from the late registration(s) of other producers.

   6. (d) For adjustments made in response to (a)(iii) of this subsection, fees will not be adjusted for revised resin weight data submitted after April 1st until the following annual billing cycle.

      1. (i) Producers will be responsible for paying the fees calculated using the data submitted for that year.
      2. (ii) Producers will be responsible for ensuring that their data is accurate.
      3. (iii) Resin weight data should be reported in pounds and appropriately prorated when derived from national or regional totals.
   7. (e) In the event that a significant error is discovered, the department will notify producers of the estimated impact for the forthcoming billing cycle.
5. (5) (a) Producer annual fees are due 30 days after the department sends a billing statement.
6. (b) Annual fees shall be deemed delinquent if they are not received by the first invoice billing due date.
7. (c) If a producer's annual fee payment is delinquent, the producer will be notified by certified letter and have 30 days to pay the invoice before the department takes further action.

8. (d) Accounts that remain delinquent will be submitted to a collection agency. The collection agency will charge the producer a service fee, in addition to the delinquent amount due.

   Reviser's note: The brackets and enclosed material in the text of the above section occurred in the copy filed by the agency.

[Statutory Authority: Chapter 70A.245 RCW. WSR 23-22-102 (Order 21-09), § 173-925-050, filed 10/31/23, effective 12/1/23.]