The links below track environmental tax shifting legislation across the states. Please note that SERC does not endorse every aspect of each statute, but these could be steps in the right direction.

Administration Fees

Alabama
Underground Storage and Above-Ground Tank Trust Fund Fee - Leaks and spills associated with underground and above-ground storage tanks for motor fuels and other petroleum products have consistently been one of our nation’s biggest environmental clean-up problems. The federal government requires that operators of underground storage tanks provide proof of financial liability should a spill occur, and states have responded by creating leaking tank clean-up funds. Alabama’s Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund is a good example. Every owner of an underground or above-ground storage tank as defined in Chapter 35 shall pay an Underground and Aboveground Storage Tank Trust Fund fee. This fund pays both the cost of clean-up in excess of $5,000 deductible and third-party claims. However, several conditions must be met. Clean-up must be done through an approved response action contractor, and the operator must be in compliance with requirements for maintenance, leak-detection and reporting, and must develop a plan for full restoration of the site, including permanent restoration of potable water supplies. Due to the absence of at least one of these requirements, 30-40% of the tanks in the state are not eligible for participation. Auditing of compliance with these conditions and payments from the fund is administered by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, and the Trust Fund fees bring in over $10 million per year. (AL Stat. Title 22(1) Ch. 35)

(Note: To see actual bill, click on the link above, scroll down to Chapter 35, and click on Section 22-35-5.)

Arizona
Pesticide Certification and Registration Fee - Every pesticide which is distributed, sold or offered for sale within the state of Arizona or delivered for transportation or transported in intrastate commerce or between points within this state through any point outside the state shall be registered with the division. There is an annual fee on all registrants of $100, and the revenues are placed in the Water Quality Assurance revolving fund. (ARS Sec. 3-351)

Colorado
Solid Waste Facility Application Fee - This is a fee paid by prospective owners or operators of solid waste facilities at the time of application. The $300 application fee is placed in the Solid Waste Management Fund. (CO Stat. Sec. 30-20-103)

Connecticut
Hazardous Waste Generator Assessment - This is a tax on hazardous waste shipped to treatment or disposal facilities located in the state. Exempt from the assessment is any hazardous waste that has been recycled, any residue resulting from the processing or treatment of a hazardous waste at a facility approved in accordance with RCRA as amended, provided such residue is derived from hazardous waste received at the facility under a manifest, and any hazardous waste for which an assessment was paid during the course of handling. The fees range from 5 cents per gallon of metal hydroxide sludge from wastewater treatment up to $12 per cubic yard of hazardous waste entered on a manifest other than metal hydroxide sludge from waste treatment of electroplating or metal finishing operations. (CT Stat. Sec. 22a-132)

Iowa
Groundwater Protection Fund Fee - This is a tax enacted in 1987 on fertilizers and pesticides amounting to 0.3 percent of the value of pesticide sales and 75 cents per ton of fertilizer. These modest taxes have been used to create a groundwater protection trust fund, with an annual income of $2.5 million to $3.5 million. The fund provides well water testing services and research, education, and demonstration projects on crop management techniques that reduce the need for fertilizer and pesticide applications. (IA Stat. Sec. 455E.11 and Sec. 455F.7)

Disposal / Recycling Fees

Florida
Advance Disposal Fee (sunset in 1995) - Florida adopted the most complex and comprehensive Advance Disposal Fee (ADF) law, which set a flat fee on a broad range of containers, and then offered a series of exemptions for containers with recycled content or for those made from materials that were recycled at a high level in the state. The law was implemented in 1993 and was allowed to sunset in 1995. This fee applied an integrated tax and regulatory approach to promoting recycling of disposable containers sold in the consumer market. The state of Florida adopted aggressive recycling goals for consumer containers by media: aluminum and steel cans, glass, paper, and plastic. Revenues from the tax went to a variety of activities to promote recycling and waste reduction and reduce other environmental impacts. An innovative feature was the exemption system. When the containers of a given media type, i.e. aluminum, met the state recycling goal for that media, all containers of that type were exempted from the tax. In addition, individual businesses could achieve exemption by withdrawing from the waste stream a volume of containers of the media that they produced equal to their own production times the state recycling target for that media. The advance disposal fee raised $45 million in 1994, its first full year of operation. In the following year the revenues fell by more than 50 percent as more media achieved their recycling targets. In the years following, two major new recycling facilities were constructed creating forty new jobs, and Anheuser-Busch built a glass recycling facility that recycles more than 100,000 tons of glass per year.

Pollutant Tax for Water Quality - The tax for water quality is a one-time excise tax on each barrel of pollutant, other than petroleum products, produced in or imported into the state. The tax varies depending on the type of pollutant, 2.36 cents per gallon of solvents and solvent mixtures, 1 cent per gallon of motor oil and other lubricants, 2 cents per barrel of petroleum products, pesticides, ammonia, and chlorine. The revenues from this tax are placed into the Water Quality Assurance Fund. If the fund drops to $3 million or less, the above fees shall be 5.9 cents per gallon, 2.5 cents per gallon, 2 cents per barrel, and 5 cents per barrel, respectively. (FL Stat. Sec. 206.9935(2))

Pollutant Tax for Inland Protection - The tax for inland protection is a one-time excise tax on each barrel of pollutant produced in or imported into the state. The revenues from this fee are placed into the Inland Protection Trust Fund. The fee varies depending on the balance of the fund. A fee of 30 cents is placed on each barrel of pollutant if the unobligated balance of the Inland Protection Trust Fund is between $100 and $150 million. This fee rises to 60 cents per barrel if the unobligated balance of the fund is above or equal to $50 million but below $100 million. If the balance of the fund is $50 million or less, the fee rises to 80 cents per barrel. (FL Stat. Sec. 206.9935(3))

Hawaii
Advance Disposal Fee - Under the state Advance Disposal Fee (ADF) program, every importer pays a tax on incoming glass containers. The fee is one and one-half cents per glass container. Beginning October 1, 2004, the glass advance disposal fee will only apply to glass containers that are not glass deposit beverage containers. The money collected is used to fund the recycling of those glass containers. The recovered glass is crushed and used as road base, for sandblasting, in filtration systems, and for paving, as “glassphalt.” (HRS Sec. 342G-82)

Kentucky
Environmental Remediation Fee - This is a one dollar and seventy-five cents ($1.75) fee paid per ton of waste by generators of waste and collected at transfer stations and waste disposal facilities that is in addition to all other applicable fees and taxes assessed prior to January 1, 2003. (KRS Sec. 224.43-500) A trust fund known as the Kentucky Pride fund is established in the State Treasury to receive money collected from environmental remediation fees established in KRS 224.43-500. (KRS Sec. 224.43-505)

Maine
Recycling Assistance Fee - This is a fee imposed on new tires, new lead acid batteries, major appliances, new major furniture, new mattresses, and bathtubs. The fee is in the amount of $1 per tire or lead-acid battery and $5 for major appliances, major furniture items, bathtubs, and mattresses. The tax is applied the same way as sales percent use tax, and retailers are responsible for collecting and remitting the tax. Additionally, the fee is imposed on goods purchased out of state and used therein. The revenue goes towards the Solid Waste Management Fund. (ME Stat. Sec. 4831-4834)

New Jersey
Litter Control Fee - This is a user fee (between .0225 and .03 percent) imposed on manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and retailers on their sales of litter-generating products within or into New Jersey under the Clean Communities And Recycling Grant Act. The Act (AB 2069) was signed into law in 2002 as P.L. 2002, c. 128. Litter-generating products are defined as alcoholic beverages and soft drinks, tobacco products, cleaning agents and toiletries, groceries, glass and metal containers, newsprint and magazine stock, household paper products, and motor vehicle tires. The Litter Control Fee is similar to the expired Litter Control Tax, which was imposed from 1986 through 2000 under N.J.S.A. 13:1E-99.1, and is imposed annually on the previous calendar year’s gross receipts from sales of litter-generating products. It is due and payable on March 15th of each year. The fee rates and litter-generating product categories remain the same. Revenues from the Litter Control Fee (around $10 million per year) furnish support to the Clean Communities Program for litter pickup and removal and recycling grants to New Jersey counties and municipalities. The program results in annual pickup of over 7,000 tons of recyclable materials and ten times that amount of general litter per year, and encourages volunteerism, including such popular initiatives as the Adopt-a-Highway program.

Rhode Island
Hard-to-Dispose Material Tax - This is a tax levied upon the sale of hard-to-dispose materials including lubricating oils, antifreeze, organic solvents, new tires, and new motor vehicles. The fee is in the amount of 5 cents per quart (32 oz.) for lubricating oils, 10 cents per gallon for antifreeze, and 25 cents per gallon for organic solvents. In the case of new motor vehicles, a fee of $3 per vehicle is levied and paid to the Division of Motor Vehicles in conjunction with titling of the vehicle. It is the wholesalers’ responsible to collect fees from retailers for items sold to them, and to remit the fees collected to the state. (RIGL Sec. 44-44-3.7)

Beneficiary Fees

Connecticutt
Seed Oyster Tax - In 1987, the state imposed a tax of 10% of the retail value of the sale of oysters, with the proceeds going to the production of seed oysters and restoration of the oyster beds through the application of crushed shell. Since that date production of oysters has more than tripled to an annual level of about 700,000 bushels, and employment in oyster harvesting has more than doubled. (CT Stat. Sec. 26-237c)

Delaware
Travel Accommodations Tax - This excise tax is imposed at a rate of 8% of the rent for every occupancy of a room or rooms in a hotel, motel, or tourist home within the state. One percent of the proceeds of the tax is allocated to the Beach Preservation and Replenishment Fund. (DE Code Sec. 6102)

Safer Alternative Investment Fees

Massachusetts
Sales Tax on Pesticides - Massachusetts is one of 29 states that exempt pesticides from the state sales tax. (MA Stat. Ch. 64H Sec. 6(p)(3)) Given the harmful health effects related to pesticide use and the need to promote less pesticide intensive or pesticide free alternatives, this policy sends a wrong signal by making pesticides, in effect, cheaper to use. SB 1195 (2003) lifts the sales tax exemption and devotes the revenue to promoting integrated pest management.

Minnesota
Nuclear Waste Fee for Renewable Development Fund - The public utility that operates the Prairie Island nuclear generating plant must transfer to a renewable development account $500,000 each year for each dry cask containing spent fuel that is located at the independent spent fuel storage installation at Prairie Island after January 1, 1999. The fund transfer must be made if waste is stored in a cask for any part of a year. Funds in the account may be expended only for development of renewable energy sources. Preference must be given to development of renewable energy source projects located within the state. (MN Stat. Sec. 116C.779)

Pollution Prevention Fee - This initiative combines pollution charges with a variety of education, technical assistance and incentive programs intended to aid polluting companies in creating and implementing effective pollution prevention plans. The fee portion of the program is one of the few state charges to use pollution emissions as a tax base. The pollution prevention fee imposes a charge of $150 per chemical released, plus the greater of $500 or 2 cents per pound of release. The chemicals are based on the Toxic Release Inventory of pollutants required by the Superfund Amendment and Reauthorization Act. Through the Environmental Fund, the pollution prevention fee is the principal source of revenues for the state’s pollution prevention activities, including the Minnesota Waste Exchange, which helps turn one company’s waste into another’s raw materials. (MN Stat. Sec. 115D.12)