ASSEMBLY ENVIRONMENT AND SOLID WASTE COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
ASSEMBLY, No. 3383
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: MARCH 16, 2026
The Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 3383.
This bill requires every producer of architectural paint sold in the State to implement, or participate in, a Statewide architectural paint stewardship program.
The bill requires every architectural paint producer, or a representative organization established on behalf of two or more producers, to develop and implement a plan for an architectural paint stewardship program that is designed to minimize the involvement of, and eliminate costs to, the public sector in association with the collection, transportation and processing of post-consumer architectural paint using environmentally sound management practices that are consistent with the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Waste Management Hierarchy (federal waste management hierarchy).
The bill requires the plan to: (1) provide for convenient and available Statewide collection of post-consumer architectural paint from urban, suburban, and rural areas of the State; (2) provide collection site locations Statewide that will accept post-consumer architectural paint; (3) address, to the extent reasonably feasible and mutually agreeable, the coordination of the architectural paint stewardship program with the existing infrastructure of local governments and the existing household hazardous waste collection infrastructure in the State; (4) describe how the program will follow a hierarchy that is consistent, to the extent feasible, with the federal waste management hierarchy; (5) describe the educational materials and outreach efforts that would be used to inform consumers about the architectural paint stewardship program; (6) identify an appropriate amount for the paint stewardship assessment; (7) provide two lists identifying each producer participating in the architectural paint stewardship program and the brands of architectural paint included under the program; and (8) include a proposed budget.
No sooner than five years and no later than six years, after the effective date of this act, all architectural paint stewardship plans would be required to be amended to provide for the environmentally sound collection, transportation, reuse, recycling and disposal of aerosol paint.
Under the bill, a producer or representative organization is also required to establish, as a funding mechanism for the program and the implementation of its plan, a paint stewardship assessment amount that is uniformly included in the sale price of all brands of architectural paint covered under the architectural paint stewardship program. The bill prohibits the assessment amount from exceeding the costs of implementing and sustaining the architectural paint stewardship plan and the architectural paint stewardship program. Each producer is required to include the paint stewardship assessment in the cost of each container of architectural paint sold thereby to a retailer or distributor in the State, and each retailer or distributor is then required to include the paint stewardship assessment in the purchase price of the producer’s architectural paint. If a producer is a member of a representative organization, the producer is required to remit to the representative organization the paint stewardship assessment received for each container of architectural paint sold by the producer in the State.
The bill requires an architectural paint stewardship program plan to be submitted to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for approval prior to its implementation by a paint producer or representative organization. The bill authorizes the DEP to approve or disapprove of a proposed plan. If the DEP disapproves of a plan, the bill provides a procedure for subsequent plan revision by the producer or representative organization, and DEP review of the revised plan. If the DEP is dissatisfied with a revised plan, the bill authorizes the DEP, in the interests of expediency, to propose any modifications or substitutions to the plan’s provisions it deems necessary. The bill requires notice to the DEP if there are any changes to the location or number of collection sites, the identity of the processors that manage the post-consumer architectural paint, or the transporters of the post-consumer architectural paint collected by the program. An amendment to the plan is required if there is any change to the amount of the paint stewardship assessment or the goals of the architectural paint stewardship program. The bill directs the DEP to charge and collect from each producer or representative organization that submits a plan pursuant to the bill an annual administrative fee, not to exceed the DEP’s costs in administering the provisions of the bill.
The bill requires a producer or representative organization to implement the program described in a proposed plan within 90 days after its approval or modification by the DEP. The producer or representative organization is further required to submit an annual report to the DEP, which describes or includes, among other things: the pounds of post-architectural paint collected in the State; the methods used to collect, transport, reduce, reuse, recycle, and process post-consumer architectural paint; and a list of all producers participating in the program.
The bill prohibits a producer, distributor, or retailer of architectural paint from selling architectural paint, or offering it for sale, in the State unless the producer of the paint, or a representative organization of which the producer is a member, is engaged in the implementation of, or has fully implemented, an architectural paint stewardship program plan or revised plan approved by the DEP commissioner. A distributor or retailer is deemed to be in compliance with this sales prohibition if, on the date architectural paint is ordered thereby, the producer of the paint and the brand name of the paint are each identified on the DEP’s Internet website as being included in an architectural paint stewardship program plan.
The bill provides that any producer, distributor, or retailer who fails to comply with the bill’s sales prohibition is subject to a written warning for a first offense, and a penalty of $500 for each subsequent offense. The bill authorizes the DEP to institute a civil action for injunctive relief to prevent a continuing violation of this sales prohibition. However, in order to allow time for the submission, approval, or modification of the plans required by the bill, the sales prohibition and penalty provision do not take effect until the first day of the 18th month following enactment of the bill into law.
The bill also provides that when the DEP determines that any producer, distributor, or retailer is in violation of the bill’s provisions, the DEP may assess a civil administrative penalty of not more than $500 for each violation, not to exceed a maximum penalty of $10,000 during a calendar year, and each day of violation would constitute an additional, separate, and distinct violation.
Finally, the bill specifies that a producer or the representative organization participating in a post-consumer paint stewardship program will not be liable for any claim of a violation of antitrust, restraint of trade, unfair trade practice, or other anticompetitive conduct arising from conduct undertaken in accordance with the program, including, without limitation, the types or quantities of paint being managed consistent with the federal waste management hierarchy. This protection against antitrust liability is, however, not applicable to: (1) any agreement establishing or affecting the price of architectural paint, except an agreement to establish a paint stewardship assessment, as authorized by the bill; or (2) any agreement restricting the output or production of architectural paint or the geographic area or customers to which paint will be sold.
This bill was prefiled for introduction in the 2026-2027 session pending technical review. As reported, the bill includes the changes required by technical review, which has been performed.