Minnesota Opens Packaging EPR Rulemaking; First Comment Window Closed July 24

MPCA's Request for Comments on rulemaking to implement the Packaging Waste and Cost Reduction Act (Minn. Stat. 115A.1455) closed on July 24, 2026 at 4:30 p.m., docket sw-rule3-06a. This was a first-stage request for comments rather than a proposed-rule comment period, so no draft rule text exists yet and further comment opportunities are expected before any rule is adopted. The Packaging EPR Advisory Board met on July 15, 2026 in St. Paul. Minnesota producer fees do not begin until 2029, but the rules that decide how those fees are calculated are being written now. Source: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Request for Comments, docket sw-rule3-06a; Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Packaging EPR Advisory Board meeting, July 15, 2026.

Update, September 24, 2026: as first published this entry cited Minn. Stat. 115A.1455 and called sw-rule3-06a a docket. The Act is Minn. Stat. 115A.144 to 115A.1463, and sw-rule3-06a is MPCA’s document number for the Request for Comments (Revisor ID R-04992) (MPCA rulemaking page). Minnesota also sets no producer fee start date: February 1, 2029 is the first 50% reimbursement floor for service providers (Minn. Stat. 115A.1455 subd. 4), and the PRO may charge member producers fees earlier (115A.1443 subd. 3(c)).