Recycling interests hope to save advisory board

RICHMOND

Sixteen years ago, Virginia took a quiet but important step in recycling: It dropped consideration of a "bottle bill" with consumer deposits and rebates and instead, beer sellers, soda companies and retailers agreed to pay an annual tax.

The state also established a board, consisting of business interests and recycling experts, to help determine how to allocate some $2 million each year from those taxes.

It is a unique approach among states to financing and promoting recycling, one that avoids mandates and penalties.

Gov. Bob McDonnell wants to do away with the board, called the Litter Control and Recycling Fund Advisory Board, but continue collecting the taxes and dedicate at least some of the proceeds to defray costs for unspecified environmental programs.

The move is part of the governor's initiative to streamline government by eliminating dozens of citizen boards and merging duties among state agencies.

Groups including the Virginia Recycling Association and the Virginia Beer Wholesalers Association are teaming up to fight the effort to do away with the recycling board. They say it violates the bottle-bill compromise of 1996 and would "severely threaten the single-source of state-level support for litter prevention and recycling," according to a position paper from the state recycling association.

Localities across Hampton Roads have benefited from these state grants for years, promoting curbside recycling and paying for beautification projects and neighborhood cleanups. "They've been very, very helpful, especially during these very lean budget years," said John Deuel, recycling coordinator for the city of Norfolk.

Supporters of the governor's move say the grants are not going away. They would be distributed through the state Department of Environmental Quality, which has been doing much of the work since 2009.

Still, these supporters concede that some funds might be tapped to help cover department costs elsewhere, and that previous governors, including Democrats Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, did so as well.

Dennis Gallagher, president of the Virginia Beer Wholesalers Association, said he has no problem with some of the money going for other purposes. But he is not pleased that McDonnell wants to scrap the advisory board.

"This provides what little oversight there is for these dollars," he said. "It's important taxpayers know where the money is going, and that it's going for a good cause."

The House and Senate are split on the issue. The House version of a resolution endorsing the governor's restructuring includes the recycling board's demise. The Senate version preserves the board.

The matter will be hashed out in the weeks ahead.

Scott Harper, 757-446-2340, scott.harper@pilotonline.com