Section 096-428-8 - Start-Up Registration and PaymentA.Start-Up Registration with the SO. Producers that are producing packaging material at the time this rule goes into effect must register with the SO within 90 days of the date a mechanism for start-up registration is made available by the SO. This registration must include the information in Section 9(A) and an estimate of the total tons of packaging material produced during a timeframe identified in the SO's contract with the Department. If the producer does not know and cannot estimate the total tons produced in accordance with Section 9(D), the producer may report the total tons of packaging material used to contain, protect, deliver, present, or distribute a product that is sold, offered for sale, or distributed for sale nationally. In such cases the SO will estimate the total tons of packaging material produced by multiplying the national tons by Maine's share of the population of the United States. This method of reporting and estimation is only acceptable for start-up registration.B.Start-Up Registration Fee. Producers, other than low-volume producers, that are producing packaging material at the time this rule goes into effect must pay a start-up registration fee within 180 days of the SO entering into a contract with the Department, as invoiced by the SO, in accordance with its contract. The start-up registration fees collected must cover one year of the SO's operational costs and the administrative fee to the Department. A producer's start-up registration fee cannot exceed its share of the total start-up registration fees collected, as figured by its share of packaging material produced and reported in accordance with Section 8(A), unless the producer agrees to a higher fee. The SO's contract with the Department can provide a mechanism by which a producer that agrees to pay a start-up registration fee that exceeds its share receives interest on additional funds paid.C.First Calendar Year Invoice. The SO must subtract a producer's start-up registration fee and any interest due on additional funds paid from fees owed when it invoices a producer for the first calendar year for which participating municipalities are reimbursed.06-096 C.M.R. ch. 428, § 8