(1) Legislative mandate. The administrative fee covers ecology's administrative costs related to implementing the electronic product recycling program authorized under chapter 70.95N RCW. It does not include the fees for ecology's review of the standard plan or independent plans.

(2) Data.

(a) Ecology will use data collected to extrapolate Washington market shares, and to calculate manufacturer sales, either by unit or weight. Ecology will use market share and/or CEP sales to assign each manufacturer to an administrative fee tier. Ecology may use any of, or a combination of, the following data:

(i) Generally available market research data;

(ii) CEP sales data, either by unit or weight, supplied by manufacturers for brands they manufacture or sell; or

(iii) CEP sales data, either by unit or weight, supplied by retailers for brands they sell.

(b) Ecology may put the data directly into the database. Ecology will aggregate the data in sets of at least three companies for confidentiality when published.

(3) Distribution:

(a) Ecology will establish a fee schedule to distribute administrative fees on a sliding scale, based on tiers, that are representative of annual sales of CEPs in Washington state.

(b) Fees will be distributed to each tier in order to spread costs based on the estimated sales, either by unit or weight, given the number of manufacturers and the amount of revenue that needs to be generated to cover ecology's administrative costs.

(c) Tier 7 will have no fee amount associated with it.

(4) Calculating the administrative fee: Ecology will calculate the tiers based on the combined sales, either by unit or weight, of CEPs sold under manufacturer brands as a percentage of the total sales of electronic products sold in or into Washington state.

(a) Administrative fee tier calculations for program year 2007: For administrative fees due January 1, 2007, ecology will base fees on the amount appropriated in the budget for the electronic product recycling program by the legislature. Year one includes start-up costs and it funds the first eighteen months of operations. This amount is four hundred seventy-five thousand dollars.

(b) Administrative fee tier calculations for program year 2008 and future years:

(i) For administrative fees due January 1, 2008, and thereafter, ecology will base the fee on the expenditure authority for the electronic product recycling program which for program year 2008 is two hundred twenty-one thousand five hundred dollars.

(ii) The total administrative fee amount will be adjusted biennially by the fiscal growth factor (FGF) as calculated under chapter 43.135 RCW (FeeFGF).

(5) Tier placement:

(a) Existing manufacturers: Ecology will place existing manufacturers in the appropriate tier based on data obtained or received as described in subsection (2) of this section. If ecology has no data, ecology will place the manufacturer in the same tier it was assigned in the previous year.

(b) New manufacturers to Washington state: Ecology will assign these manufacturers to Tier 6 for their initial program year. After the initial program year, ecology will treat these manufacturers as an existing manufacturer (see (a) of this subsection).

(c) Manufacturers whose CEPs are not directly sold in or into Washington state: Ecology will assign these manufacturers to Tier 7.

(d) Manufacturers who previously manufactured: Ecology will assign these manufacturers to Tier 7.

(6) Publication of tier assignment:

(a) Tiers for fees due January 1, 2007: Ecology will publish the final tier schedule on ecology's website by November 15, 2006, for fees due January 1, 2007. The tiers will be based on data available to ecology and received from manufacturers and retailers prior to November 9, 2006. When providing data to ecology, manufacturers must meet the requirements of subsection (7)(a) of this section prior to November 9, 2006.

(b) Tiers for fees due January 1, 2008, and future years: For administrative fees for 2008, and future years, ecology will publish a preliminary tier schedule for review and a final tier schedule.

(i) Preliminary tier schedule: For program years 2008 through 2015, ecology will publish the preliminary tier schedule on ecology's website by September 1 of each calendar year. For program year 2016 and future years, ecology will publish the preliminary tier schedule on ecology's website by June 1 of each calendar year.

(A) This preliminary tier schedule will include the tiers and a list of manufacturers assigned to each tier.

(B) Ecology will also publish the estimated total percentage share of the market attributable to each tier and a list of the brand names for each manufacturer, which form the basis for the estimates used in the tier assignment.

(C) For program years 2008 through 2015, manufacturers will have until October 1 to submit a request for tier reassignment if they believe they are assigned to the wrong tier. (See subsection (7)(b) of this section.) For program year 2016 and future years, manufacturers will have until July 1 to submit a request for tier reassignment if they believe they are assigned to the wrong tier.

(ii) Final tier schedule: For program years 2008 through 2015, ecology will publish the agency's final tier schedule on ecology's website by November 1 of each calendar year. For program year 2016 and future years, ecology will publish the agency's final tier schedule on ecology's website by August 1 of each calendar year. This final tier schedule will reflect ecology's evaluation of all available data including but not limited to tier reassignment requests.

(7) Tier reassignment requests:

(a) Requests for tier reassignment submitted for fees due January 1, 2007. Manufacturers may request to be assigned to a different tier for fees due January 1, 2007.

(i) To submit a request for tier reassignment the manufacturer must, on or before November 9, 2006, do one of the following:

(A) Submit or update their online manufacturer registration form. The manufacturer must provide the number of units of CEPs, sold in the prior year, in or into Washington state;

(B) Send a written letter to ecology including the number of units of CEPs sold in the prior year in or into Washington state; or

(C) Submit a complete tier request form available on ecology's website.

(ii) If CEP unit sales data is provided, ecology will exempt this data from public disclosure in accordance with RCW 42.56.270(13).

(iii) In addition to submitting information about CEP unit sales as described above, ecology may request that the manufacturer submit the CEP unit sales data in writing certified by a certified public accountant. Ecology may request this if ecology finds the data gives a different market share than the national data collected and/or the information changes the tier assignment distribution.

(b) Requests for tier reassignment for fees due after January 1, 2007. If submitting a tier reassignment request:

(i) For program years 2008 through 2015, existing manufacturers must submit the request on or before October 1 prior to the next billing cycle and must follow the steps in (c) of this subsection. For program year 2016 and future years, existing manufacturers must submit the request on or before July 1 prior to the next billing cycle and must follow the steps in WAC 173-900-925 (5) and (6).

(ii) New manufacturers to Washington state may not submit a tier reassignment request for their first program year. Requests for tier reassignment for future program years must follow the process for existing manufacturers.

(iii) Manufacturers whose CEPs are not directly sold in or into Washington state may request to be assigned to a different tier at any time and must follow the steps in (c) of this subsection.

(iv) Manufacturers who previously manufactured may request to be assigned to a different tier at any time and must follow the steps in (c) of this subsection.

(c) Submitting tier reassignment requests: To request tier reassignment, the manufacturer must follow the steps in WAC 173-900-925 (5) and (6). If CEP unit sales data is provided, ecology will exempt this data from public disclosure in accordance with RCW 42.56.270(13).