On or before July 1, 2025, producers of architectural paint sold at retail in the State, or a representative organization acting on a producer’s behalf, shall submit a plan for the establishment of a Paint Stewardship Program to the Department for approval. The plan shall minimize public sector involvement in, and financial responsibility for, the management of postconsumer paint by: Reducing its generation; Promoting its reuse and recycling; and Negotiating and executing agreements to collect, transport, reuse, recycle, process for resource recovery, and dispose of postconsumer paint. The plan shall provide for convenient and available statewide collection of postconsumer paint that: Provides for collection rates and convenience equal to or greater than the collection programs available to consumers prior to the Paint Stewardship Program; Identifies each producer participating in the Paint Stewardship Program and the brands of architectural paint sold in the State that are covered by the Program; Describes how the Paint Stewardship Program may be implemented in coordination with existing household hazardous waste collection infrastructure in a manner that is mutually agreeable; and Provides geographic modeling to determine the number and distribution of sites for collection of postconsumer paint based on the following criteria: At least 90% of the residents of the State shall have a collection site within a 15–mile radius; and Unless otherwise approved by the Department, one additional collection site shall be established for every 50,000 residents. The plan may identify a retailer as a postconsumer paint collection site if: The retailer volunteers to act as a postconsumer paint collection site; The retailer is in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations; and The site location of the retailer is consistent with maintaining a cost–effective network of postconsumer paint collection locations. The plan shall establish: A uniform paint stewardship assessment for all architectural paint sold in the State; and A mechanism for paint producers participating in a Paint Stewardship Program to remit to the representative organization payment of the paint stewardship assessment for each container of architectural paint sold in the State. The total amount of the paint stewardship assessment may not exceed the costs of implementing and sustaining the Paint Stewardship Program. The paint stewardship assessment shall be evaluated by an independent financial auditor, as designated by the Department, to ensure the costs of implementing and sustaining the Paint Stewardship Program are covered but not exceeded. The cost of any work performed by an independent financial auditor shall be funded by the Program. Paint stewardship assessments may be used only to implement and sustain the Paint Stewardship Program. A producer or representative organization shall submit a revised plan or amendment to the plan to the Department for approval: Every 5 years, on request of the Department; or When the Department requires a change to the amount of the paint stewardship assessment. The Department shall review: The Paint Stewardship Program plan required under subsection (a) of this section; and The work product of the independent financial auditor designated by the Department to evaluate paint stewardship assessments. The producer or representative organization that submits a plan for approval shall pay a plan review fee to the Department to be deposited in the State Recycling Trust Fund under § 9–1707 of this subtitle that covers the Department’s cost of plan review, including associated costs for Program compliance oversight, as determined by the Department. If the Department determines that the Paint Stewardship Program plan, including the paint stewardship assessment, complies with the requirements of subsection (a) of this section and that it demonstrates a net benefit compared to the collection programs available to consumers in 2023, the Department shall approve the Program. The Department shall list on its website the producers and brands implementing or participating in an approved Paint Stewardship Program. A producer or representative organization shall implement its Paint Stewardship Program plan within 6 months after the plan’s approval by the Department. Beginning January 1, 2026, or 6 months after plan approval, whichever is later: A producer or retailer may not sell or offer for sale a brand of architectural paint to any person in the State, unless the producer of the brand or a representative organization of which the producer is a member is implementing an approved Paint Stewardship Program; A producer shall add the paint stewardship assessment established under an approved Paint Stewardship Program to the cost of all architectural paint sold to retailers and distributed in the State; and Each retailer or distributor shall add a paint stewardship assessment to the purchase price of all architectural paint sold in the State. A producer or representative organization participating in an approved Paint Stewardship Program shall provide consumers with educational materials regarding the Program that include: Information regarding available end–of–life management options for architectural paint offered through the Program; and Information that notifies consumers that an assessment to cover the costs of implementing and sustaining the Program is included in the purchase price of all architectural paint sold in the State. Following the implementation of the Paint Stewardship Program, a retailer complies with the requirements of this section if, on the date the architectural paint was ordered from the producer or its agent, the producer of the paint brand is listed on the Department’s website as implementing or participating in an approved Paint Stewardship Program. A postconsumer paint collection site that is identified in the plan may not charge an additional fee for the disposal of paint when it is offered for disposal. A producer or representative organization that organizes the collection, transport, and processing of postconsumer paint in accordance with an approved Paint Stewardship Program shall be immune from liability for any claim of a violation of antitrust, restraint of trade, or unfair trade practice arising from conduct undertaken in accordance with the Program. Beginning April 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, the producer or representative organization shall submit a report to the Department that details the Paint Stewardship Program, including: A description of the methods used to collect, transport, and process postconsumer paint in the State; The volume of postconsumer paint collected in each county in the State; The volume and type of postconsumer paint collected in the State by method of disposition, including reuse, recycling, and other methods of processing or disposal, that includes an accounting of the volume of postconsumer paint collected in the State for each county in the State; The total cost of implementing and sustaining the Program, as determined by the independent financial audit funded by the paint stewardship assessment; The total fees collected in each county in the State, as determined by the independent financial audit funded by the paint stewardship assessment; and Samples of educational materials used to inform consumers of architectural paint. The producer or representative organization that submits a report required under this section shall pay a report review fee to the Department to be deposited in the State Recycling Trust Fund under § 9–1707 of this subtitle that covers the Department’s cost of report review, including associated costs for Program compliance oversight, as determined by the Department. The producer or representative organization shall make available to each county the information required under paragraph (1)(iii) of this subsection in a manner that provides a county with sufficient time to include the information in the reports to the Department under § 9–1705 of this subtitle. The Department shall review the annual report required under subsection (h) of this section and: Evaluate the total costs of the Paint Stewardship Program, including all expenses and revenues, to determine whether the paint stewardship assessment meets or exceeds the costs of the Program in accordance with subsection (a)(6) of this section; and Determine whether the plan is being implemented in accordance with subsection (a) of this section. If the Department determines that the paint stewardship annual report, including the paint stewardship assessment, complies with the requirements of subsection (a) of this section, the Department shall approve the annual report. The producer or representative organization shall make the approved annual report available to the public. Financial, production, or sales data reported to the Department by a producer or the representative organization shall be kept confidential by the Department and may not be subject to public inspection. The Department may release summary data that does not disclose financial, production, or sales data of a producer, retailer, or representative organization.