GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SECOND EXTRA SESSION 1996

S	1 

SENATE BILL 42

Short Title:  Revise Newsprint Tax.	(Public)

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Sponsors: Senator Sherron.

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Referred to:  Finance.

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July 16, 1996

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO SIMPLIFY AND REVISE THE TAX ON PUBLISHERS OF NEWSPRINT PUBLICATIONS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 105-102.6 reads as rewritten:
"§ 105-102.6.  Publishers of newsprint publications.
(a)	Purpose. – The purpose of this section is to provide incentives for the recycling of newsprint and for the use of newsprint that contains recycled content.
(b)	Definitions. – The following definitions apply in this section:
(1)	Gross tonnage of newsprint consumed. – The weight in metric tons of all newsprint consumed by a publisher.
(2)	Newsprint. – Uncoated paper, whether supercalendered or machine finished, made primarily from mechanical wood pulp combined with some chemical wood pulp, weighing between 24.5 and 35 pounds for 500 sheets of paper two feet by three feet in size, and having a brightness of less than 60.
(2.1)	Nonvirgin newsprint. – Newsprint that contains recycled postconsumer recovered paper.
(3)	Postconsumer recovered paper. – Paper products, generated by a business or consumer, that have served their intended end uses and have been separated or diverted from solid waste.
(4)	Publisher. – A person engaged in the business of producing publications printed on newsprint who acquires and uses newsprint for this business.
(5)	Recycled content percentage. – The percentage by weight of the total gross tonnage of newsprint consumed by the publisher that is recycled postconsumer recovered paper.  For example, if a publisher consumes 10 tons of virgin newsprint, 10 tons of nonvirgin newsprint that contains fifty percent (50%) recycled postconsumer recovered paper, and 10 tons of nonvirgin newsprint that contains ten percent (10%) recycled postconsumer recovered paper, the publisher's recycled content percentage is 6/30 or twenty percent (20%).
(5.1)	Recycled content tonnage. – The weight in metric tons of the total gross tonnage of newsprint consumed by the publisher that is recycled postconsumer recovered paper.
(5.2)	Recycling. – Any process by which solid waste, or materials that would otherwise become solid waste, are collected, separated, or processed, and reused or returned to use in the form of raw materials or products.
(5.3)	Recycling tonnage. – The weight in metric tons of newsprint that is recycled or diverted to recycling by a publisher.
(5.4)	Virgin newsprint. – Newsprint that does not contain recycled postconsumer recovered paper.
(c)	Minimum Recycled Content Percentage. – The recycled content percentage of newsprint consumed by a publisher shall equal or exceed the following minimum recycled content percentages:
During 1991 and 1992, twelve percent (12%).
During 1993, fifteen percent (15%).
During 1994, twenty percent (20%).
During 1995 and 1996, twenty-five percent (25%).
After 1996, forty percent (40%).
(d)	Tax. – Every publisher shall apply for and obtain from the Secretary a newsprint publisher tax reporting number and shall file an annual report with the Secretary by January 31 of each year.  The report shall include the following information for the preceding calendar year:
(1)	Tonnage of virgin newsprint consumed.
(2)	Tonnage of nonvirgin newsprint consumed.
(3)	Gross tonnage of newsprint consumed.
(4)	Itemized percentages of recycled postconsumer recovered paper contained in tonnage of nonvirgin newsprint consumed.
(5)	Recycled content tonnage.
(6)	Recycled content percentage.
(7)	Recycling tonnage.
In addition, each publisher whose recycled content percentage for a calendar year is less than the applicable minimum recycled content percentage provided in subsection (c) shall pay a tax of fifty dollars ($50.00) on each ton by which the publisher's recycled content tonnage falls short of the tonnage of recycled postconsumer recovered paper needed to achieve the applicable minimum recycled content percentage provided in subsection (c).  This tax is due when the report is filed.  
				(f)	Use of Proceeds. – The Secretary shall, on or before April 15 of each year, credit the net proceeds of the tax imposed by this section to the Solid Waste Management Trust Fund created in G.S. 130A-309.12."
Sec. 2.  This act becomes effective January 1, 1997.