The Nickel Report

After much anticipation and delay, California’s Office of Administrative Law has officially finalized the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery’s (CalRecycle) permanent regulations for the state’s extended producer responsibility (EPR) program. As we previously reported, the regulations were delayed last March over concerns about cost to businesses and consumers.

The new regulations were effective on May 1, 2026. To comply, according to CalRecycle’s producer guidance website, producers have until June 1 to register with the producer responsibility organization (PRO) or register with CalRecyle and apply for either independent producer status or a small producer exemption. CalRecycle also launched the Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility System (PEPRS) to handle producer registration, reporting, document submissions, and compliance tracking. The final rulemaking file is still forthcoming.

Simultaneously, Circular Action Alliance (CAA), the PRO tasked with administering the program, published guidance on “illustrative fees” for obligated producers. Illustrative fees are described as “good faith, non-binding fee rate ranges intended to support producers in planning, internal budgeting, and early consideration of source reduction, reuse, and refill strategies ahead of formal program plan approval and final fee setting.” The illustrative fees are intended to aid producers in budgeting and planning but may not reflect additional costs based on the newly final regulations or other fees, such as those related to the Plastic Pollution Mitigation Fund. CAA anticipates publishing final fee rates in October 2026.