Packaging EPR Update: Week of September 6, 2026

Fee Update  |  CA

CAA published the 2026 California Early Fee Schedule on July 21, 2026 and issued California Early Fee invoices the week of August 17, 2026, with payment due within 45 days of the invoice date. On that timing the first payments fall due around September 25 to October 1, 2026. Late payment carries CAA’s Late Payment Charge of 1 percent compounded monthly.

Two things that are easy to confuse. California Early Fees are separate from California 2027 EPR Fees, even though both are calculated from your 2025 California Supply Report. And the California Illustrative Fees published in May 2026 are, in CAA’s own words, “good-faith, non-binding estimates” of 2027 rates, not the rates you will be invoiced. CAA will publish final 2027 California EPR fee rates on or before October 1, 2026 and issue standard 2027 invoices in January 2027.

What this means for you: if you are a registered California producer, confirm your finance team has the invoice and that CAA is set up as a payee, because the payment clock started in August and the due date lands this month for most invoices. If you are budgeting 2027, the number you need is not published yet and arrives by October 1. Source: CAA, Producer Actions and Key Dates, August 2026.

Litigation  |  CO

On August 18, 2026 the Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Association filed a motion for preliminary injunction in its Denver District Court case against CDPHE (No. 2026CV30902, filed March 12, 2026). The motion asks the court to bar enforcement against ILMA members of the contracting, reporting and dues obligations imposed through the Circular Action Alliance program plan and the Lubricant Packaging Management Association individual producer plan. ILMA states plainly that it is not asking the court to halt Colorado’s entire EPR program. No ruling has issued on either the injunction motion or CDPHE’s pending motion to dismiss.

Separately, NAW filed its own preliminary injunction motion in NAW v. Ryan (D. Colo. No. 1:26-cv-03460) in August 2026. That is also unruled. Both Colorado cases now seek injunctions.

What this means for you: nothing changes today. Colorado dues remain due on the published schedule and no court has paused any obligation for anyone. This corrects earlier Atlas entries which said ILMA had not sought an injunction; that was wrong, and the correction is the reason for this entry. If either motion were granted it would be the first order anywhere actually pausing a U.S. packaging EPR obligation. Source: ILMA, “ILMA Seeks Preliminary Injunction Against Colorado EPR Enforcement”.

Legislative  |  FEDERAL

On September 1, 2026 the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade voted to advance the PACK Act (H.R. 6832) to the full committee. An amendment from Rep. Russ Fulcher was adopted, clarifying the FTC’s guidance role and setting minimum requirements for third-party certifications and certification bodies. No roll call vote was reported. The bill has 17 cosponsors, 16 Republicans and one Democrat.

The PACK Act is a labeling harmonization bill, not an EPR bill. It carries a preemption provision that would reach state labeling laws including California SB 343, whose enforcement is already preliminarily enjoined. The Recycled Materials Attribution Act (H.R. 7502) did not advance.

What this means for you: nothing changes for you today and no obligation arises from this. Clearing a subcommittee is an early step, the bill has no Senate companion, and a markup is not a law. Track it only if you sell labeled packaging into California, because it is the main federal route by which SB 343 could be displaced rather than merely enjoined. Source: Resource Recycling, “House subcommittee advances PACK Act” (September 1, 2026).