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HJ 448

Litter tax; Department of Environmental Quality to study tax policy options for reforming.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Patrick Hope and 3 co-sponsors

DEQ will study and propose policy options to reform Virginia’s litter tax to boost recycling, reduce waste, and expand recycling infrastructure and markets.

Bill text as passed House and Senate (HJ448ER)
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Bill Summary · HJ 448

Summary — HJ 448 (2025): Study of Tax Policy Options for Reforming the Litter Tax

Status: Enrolled (HJ448ER). Introduced Jan 7, 2025; agreed to by House Feb 3, 2025; agreed to by Senate Feb 20, 2025.

Purpose

HJ 448 requests the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to conduct a comprehensive, multi‑year study of tax policy options to reform the Commonwealth’s litter tax. The study’s goal is to identify policy changes that would better promote recycling, reduce landfill waste, and advance environmental stewardship.

Key tasks and required analyses

DEQ must examine and report on a wide set of topics, including:

  • Solid waste streams: generation by jurisdiction, type, and material; disposal methods by material and quantity; and costs and revenues of disposal programs.
  • Recycling streams: materials and amounts processed by jurisdiction; processing methods; program revenues and costs; estimated amounts of recyclable material not currently recycled; recycling infrastructure capacity, needs, and costs; access/availability statewide; collection, hauling, composting; and in‑state processing/composting capacity.
  • Market conditions and opportunities to increase recycling: coordination among local governments, consumer education, organics recycling, contamination issues, opportunities for women and minorities in the system, worker conditions (wages/benefits), and reuse/organics infrastructure.
  • Economic opportunities: revenue lost when materials are not recycled; potential employment growth by material type; business opportunities and barriers; barriers to using recyclables as manufacturing feedstock and ways to remove them; incentives to stimulate jobs and businesses; improving equitable outcomes for underserved populations; and an assessment of the current litter tax’s efficacy.
  • Policy options: develop options for an additional cigarette litter abatement fee and consider creating litter tax exemptions for small businesses.

Process, governance, and support

  • DEQ must use an independent, trained facilitator for the study.
  • Study membership must include a representative of an organization that receives litter tax funding and a member of the Litter Control and Recycling Fund Advisory Board.
  • Members must receive at least two weeks’ notice of meeting agendas and background materials.
  • Any policy recommendation in the final report must be adopted by motion with a recorded vote; dissenting views may be included.
  • Technical assistance will be provided by the Department of Taxation and the Department of Planning and Budget; all Commonwealth agencies must provide assistance upon request.

Timeline and reporting

  • DEQ shall complete meetings for the first year by November 30, 2025, and for the second year by November 30, 2026.
  • DEQ must submit an executive summary and a report of findings and recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly each year. Reports are to be processed as House/Senate documents and posted on the General Assembly website no later than the first day of the next Regular Session.

Who is affected / potential impacts

  • Primary: DEQ, Department of Taxation, Department of Planning and Budget, state agencies, and the General Assembly.
  • Stakeholders: local governments, waste haulers, recycling processors and manufacturers, small businesses (potential exemptions), workers in the recycling/waste sector, environmental groups, and communities affected by waste and recycling policy.
  • Potential outcomes: recommendations could lead to changes in litter tax rates or structure, creation of a cigarette litter fee, targeted exemptions, new incentives to expand recycling infrastructure and markets, and measures to boost recycling‑related jobs and equity.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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