EPR Scope Screener: Which States Cover You?

Are you an obligated producer?

Seven questions, then a per-state read with the reason and the rule behind each answer. It settles the straightforward cases and names the qualifiers it could not resolve for you. Every verdict carries an evidence label. Confirmed means it is stated in a statute, an adopted rule, an approved program plan, or a published schedule or agency list, and signaled means an official but non-final source. A screening aid, not legal advice.

Am I an Obligated Producer? works through the producer cascade in every state, and the de minimis thresholds page covers the exemption side.

Question 1

Which states do you sell into?

Include anything shipped to a customer in that state, direct or through a retailer or marketplace.

Question 2

Which best describes your role?

Pick the one closest to how your packaged goods reach the market.

Question 3

Company-wide gross revenue, last calendar year

Total revenue for the whole organization, not revenue in any single state.

Question 5

Do any of these describe you?

Several states exempt specific organization types outright. Tick all that apply.

Question 6

Do you sell only to business customers?

Business-to-business only, with no consumer sales in these states.

Question 7

What kinds of packaging do you put on the market?

Several states run separate producer rules for particular packaging types that override the general answer. Tick all that apply.

This screener describes the general rules and does not apply them to your specific facts. It produces a starting point, not a compliance determination, and it creates no advisory or attorney relationship. Verify with the Circular Action Alliance, the relevant state agency, or qualified counsel before acting, or before deciding not to act. Full terms of use.

How packaging EPR scope works

Three separate tests decide whether a company has an EPR obligation in a given state, and all three have to point the same way before you are in scope.

The first test is who you are. Obligation follows a statutory cascade and the shape differs by state. Washington, Maryland, Minnesota, and Maine run five tiers for items sold at a physical retail location: the manufacturer for goods under its own brand or in packaging lacking brand identification; the licensee that manufactures and sells under a brand owned by another party; the brand owner; the U.S. importer where none of those exists in the United States; then the person that first distributes the item in or into the state (RCW 70A.208.020(29)(a)(i); Md. Envir. 9-2501(p)(1)(i) and COMAR 26.04.14.02B(25)(b); Minn. Stat. 115A.1441 subd. 26(a)(1); 38 MRSA 2146(1)(O)(1)). The Oregon and Colorado statutes run three tiers: own-brand or unbranded manufacturer, licensee, then the importer into the United States (ORS 459A.866(1)(a); C.R.S. 25-17-703(30)(a)); in Oregon there is no brand-owner tier. The Colorado rule then sets the order of obligation in four steps (6 CCR 1007-2 Part 1, s18.2.2(A)): the brand owner directing or performing the manufacturing of the packaging, then the brand or trademark licensee directing it, then the manufacturer where no brand is identified, then the importer. California reaches a manufacturer in the state that owns or is the licensee of the brand at tier 1, then the brand owner or exclusive licensee in the state, then whoever sells or distributes in or into the state, with no importer tier (PRC 42041(w); 14 CCR 18980.1.1(a)). Store-brand and private-label goods usually land on the retailer whose brand appears, but the test differs in three states. Colorado's rule reaches the brand owner first only where it directs or performs the manufacturing of the packaging (6 CCR 1007-2 Part 1, s18.2.2(A)(1)). In Oregon the retailer is reached only where it directs the manufacturing, including setting packaging specifications, and ordering finished goods for resale in the normal course of business is not directing manufacturing (OAR 340-090-0860(1)(a)). In California an in-state manufacturer that owns the brand or is licensed to manufacture the goods is the producer ahead of the brand owner (14 CCR 18980.1.1(c)(1)). Washington, Maryland, Minnesota, and Maine make the franchisor the producer where it has franchisees with a commercial presence in the state, and Colorado's rule does so where it has franchisees that operate in Colorado (RCW 70A.208.020(29)(a)(vi)(B); COMAR 26.04.14.02B(25)(g); Minn. Stat. 115A.1441 subd. 26(a)(6)(ii); 38 MRSA 2146(1)(O); 6 CCR 1007-2 Part 1 s18.2.2).
The second test is what you sell, and covered material scope differs by state and typically includes retail packaging, e-commerce shipping packaging, service packaging and food serviceware, and in some states printed paper and publications. Transport and business-to-business packaging is often excluded.
The third test is size, and each state sets de minimis thresholds on revenue, tonnage, or both. Falling under a threshold in one state does not exempt you in another, and the thresholds are not written the same way.

The screener above walks these three tests state by state and returns a per-state read. For the rules themselves, written out state by state rather than applied to your answers, see Am I an Obligated Producer?. For the exact thresholds see the de minimis thresholds comparison, and for the underlying statutes see EPR laws by state.

Frequently asked questions

How does the screener decide whether I am in scope?

The screener's role checks follow the California, Colorado, and Oregon producer definitions; for Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington it applies the de minimis and exclusion tests; and for Maine it reports the program status. The cascades differ: which party is obligated first, whether there is a brand-owner tier, and whether there is an importer tier all vary by state (each state page and Am I an Obligated Producer? set out the cascade with its citation). Revenue and tonnage de minimis thresholds then decide whether an otherwise obligated company is exempt, and in California an exempt small producer must still register (14 CCR 18980.5.2(e)).

Does the screener give me a compliance determination?

No. The screener describes the general rules and does not apply them to your specific facts. It produces a starting point for a scoping conversation, not a compliance determination, and it creates no advisory or attorney relationship. Verify with the Circular Action Alliance, the relevant state agency, or qualified counsel.

Which states does the scope screener cover?

All seven U.S. states with enacted packaging EPR laws: California, Colorado, Oregon, Maine, Minnesota, Maryland, and Washington. Each state sets its own producer definition, de minimis thresholds, and covered material scope, so a company can be obligated in one state and out of scope in another.

Are packaging suppliers obligated producers?

Usually not for the packaging they sell empty to another company. Obligation generally attaches to the party that places a packaged product on the state market under its own brand, not to the converter or component maker upstream. A supplier can still be obligated for its own branded goods and for any packaging it places on the market itself.

EPR Scope Screener: Which States Cover You?

How packaging EPR scope works

Frequently asked questions

Once you know where you are in scope