Vermont H 915: An act relating to a requirement that an athletic trainer be present at public school sponsored field hockey and soccer events

Bill Text

No. 158 Page 1 of 40
2026

VT LEG #390250 v.1
No. 158. An act relating to establishing an extended producer
responsibility program for beverage containers.
(H.915)
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont:
Sec. 1. 10 V.S.A. chapter 53 is amended to read:
CHAPTER 53. BEVERAGE CONTAINERS; DEPOSIT-REDEMPTION
SYSTEM
§ 1521. DEFINITIONS
As used in this chapter:
(1) “Beverage” means beer or other malt beverages and mineral waters,
mixed wine drink, soda water and carbonated soft drinks in liquid form and
intended for human consumption. “Beverage” also means liquor and ready-to-
drink spirits beverage.
(2) “Biodegradable material” means material that is capable of being
broken down by bacteria into basic elements. [Repealed.]
(3) “Container” means the individual, and separate, bottle, can, or jar, or
carton composed of glass, aluminum or other metal, paper, plastic polyethylene
terephthalate, high density polyethylene, or any combination of those
materials, and containing a consumer product beverage. This definition shall
does not include containers made of biodegradable material beverage
containers with a volume greater than three liters.

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VT LEG #390250 v.1
(4) “Dealer” means any person, including any operator of a vending
machine or retailer, who engages in the sale of beverages in beverage
containers to consumers in the State.
(5) “Deposit initiator” means the first distributor or manufacturer to
collect the deposit on a beverage container sold to any person within the State.
If no person initiates a deposit, the first distributor in the State shall be the
deposit initiator.
(6) “Distributor” means every person who engages in the sale of
consumer products beverages in containers to a dealer in this State, including
any manufacturer who engages in such sales. Any dealer or retailer who sells,
at the retail level, beverages in containers without having purchased them from
a person otherwise classified as a distributor shall be is a distributor.
(7) “Fair compensation” means the compensation from the producer
responsibility organization to the point of redemption in the amount that covers
the point of redemption’s reasonable costs of operating redemption services
and a reasonable rate of return.
(5)(8) “Manufacturer” means every person bottling, canning, packing, or
otherwise filling containers for sale to distributors or dealers.
(9) “Mixed wine drink” means a beverage containing wine and more
than 15 percent added plain, carbonated, or sparkling water and that contains
added natural or artificial blended material, such as fruit juices, flavors,
flavoring, adjuncts, coloring, or preservatives; a beverage that contains not

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VT LEG #390250 v.1
more than 16 percent alcohol by volume; or another similar product marketed
as a wine cooler.
(10) “Point of redemption” means a location included in the plan
adopted under section 1532 of this title that redeems beverage containers under
this chapter. A point of redemption includes manually sorting containers,
mechanically sorting containers, and bag drops.
(11) “Point of redemption with immediate return of deposit” means a
point of redemption that immediately provides a person with a deposit when a
beverage container is presented for redemption.
(6)(12) “Recycling” means the process of sorting, cleansing, treating,
and reconstituting waste and other discarded materials for the purpose of
reusing the materials in the same or altered form.
(7)(13) “Redemption center” means a store or other location where any
person may, during normal business hours, redeem the amount of the deposit
for any empty beverage container labeled or certified pursuant to section 1524
of this title.
(14) “Redemption rate” means the number of beverage containers
redeemed for the deposit divided by the number of beverage containers sold
and may not include in its calculation any unredeemed beverage containers
collected or processed by municipal or other recycling programs.

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(15) “Retailer” means a store or other licensed entity, including vending
machines, where containers are sold at the retail level for off-premise
consumption.
(8)(16) “Secretary” means the Secretary of Natural Resources.
(9) “Mixed wine drink” means a beverage containing wine and more
than 15 percent added plain, carbonated, or sparkling water and that contains
added natural or artificial blended material, such as fruit juices, flavors,
flavoring, adjuncts, coloring, or preservatives; that contains not more than
16 percent alcohol by volume; or other similar product marketed as a wine
cooler.
(10)(17) “Liquor” means spirits as defined in 7 V.S.A. § 2.
§ 1522. BEVERAGE CONTAINERS; DEPOSIT
(a) Except with respect to beverage containers that contain liquor, a deposit
of not less than five cents shall be paid by the consumer on each beverage
container sold at the retail level and refunded to the consumer upon r