(a) The department shall prepare one or more initial statewide needs assessments designed to determine the necessary steps and investment needed for covered material, by covered material category, to achieve the requirements of this chapter. Needs assessments, or components thereof, shall be updated every five years or as necessary to ensure the requirements of this chapter are met. An initial needs assessment for specific covered material shall be completed before the completion and approval of any producer responsibility plan that includes that covered material. The department may select an independent third-party contractor to complete the needs assessment. The department or the third-party contractor shall consult with the PRO and local jurisdictions when developing the needs assessment. (b) The PRO shall reimburse the department for the cost of developing any needs assessment and any update to a needs assessment. (c) The department may prepare either several needs assessments, with each assessment specific to one or more covered materials subject to this chapter, or may prepare one comprehensive needs assessment that includes all covered material subject to this chapter. (d) The department shall guide development of a needs assessment, which shall be developed in collaboration with the PRO and a broad diversity of local jurisdictions, recycling service providers, and processors that reflect the different needs and challenges faced by urban, suburban, and rural communities and a variety of different population densities and socioeconomic perspectives and that choose to participate in the development of a needs assessment. (e) A needs assessment shall comply with all of the following: (1) Be designed to inform the PRO budget and PRO plan. (2) Include an evaluation of all of the following with respect to covered materials and covered material categories: (A) Existing state statutory provisions and funding sources related to market development and financial incentives to help achieve the stateâs goals related to recycling, composting, reuse, reduction, and recovery. (B) The current recycling, composting, collection, and hauling system in the state and the expanded access and additional recycling or composting options needed for enhancements to the system. (C) The existing access to on-premises recycling and composting for multifamily residences, and the need to expand that access. (D) The processing capacity and infrastructure in the state and regionally and the ability for innovative and advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics to improve that capacity. (E) Current market conditions and the need to create viable responsible end markets in the state and regionally. (F) Consumer education needs for recycling, composting, reuse, and reduction. (G) Funding needs and actions necessary to achieve the requirements of this chapter, including payments to recyclers, market incentive payments, or other payments necessary to achieve the requirements of this chapter. (H) Actions and investments necessary to provide sufficient access to collection, recycling, composting, processing, and transportation to viable responsible end markets. (I) An evaluation of the availability or lack of availability of markets for recycled covered material, the need to incentivize recycled or composted material market development, and the associated investments and actions needed to ensure that the covered materials are recycled or composted and have viable and sufficient responsible end markets to meet the requirements of Section 42050. (J) Factors contributing to contamination and actions and investments needed to avoid contamination and improve recycled and composted material in order to ensure the material meets quality requirements for remanufacturing. (K) Availability of responsible end markets and mechanisms to identify and expand responsible end markets. The evaluation shall include identification of measures to avoid and
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