For purposes of this chapter, and unless the context otherwise requires, the following definitions govern the construction of this chapter:

(a) “Brand” means a name, symbol, word, or mark that identifies the carpet, rather than its components, and attributes the carpet to the owner or licensee of the brand as the manufacturer.

(b) “CARE” means the Carpet America Recovery Effort, a third-party nonprofit carpet stewardship organization incorporated as a nonprofit corporation pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code in 2002 and established to increase the reclamation and stewardship of postconsumer carpet.

(c) “CARE MOU” means the 2012 Memorandum of Understanding for Carpet Stewardship, as to be negotiated among the carpet industry, states, and nongovernmental organization stakeholders as a successor to the 2002 memorandum of understanding.

(d) (1) “Carpet” means a manufactured article that is used in commercial or residential buildings affixed or placed on the floor or building walking surface as a decorative or functional building interior feature and that is primarily constructed of a top visible surface of synthetic or natural face fibers or yarns or tufts attached to a backing system derived from synthetic or natural materials.

(2) “Carpet” includes, but is not limited to, a commercial or a residential broadloom carpet or modular carpet tiles.

(3) “Carpet” does not include a rug, pad, cushion, or underlayment used in conjunction with, or separately from, a carpet.

(e) “Carpet stewardship organization” or “organization” means either of the following:

(1) An organization exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3)) that is appointed by one or more manufacturers to act as an agent on behalf of the manufacturer to design, submit, and administer a carpet stewardship plan pursuant to this chapter.

(2) A carpet manufacturer that complies with this chapter as an individual manufacturer.

(f) “Carpet stewardship plan” or “plan” means a plan written by an individual manufacturer or a carpet stewardship organization, on behalf of one or more manufacturers, that includes all of the information required by Section 42972.

(g) “Consumer” means a purchaser, owner, or lessee of carpet, including a person, business, corporation, limited partnership, nonprofit organization, or governmental entity.

(h) “Department” means the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery.

(i) “Label” means a graphic representation of three chasing arrows with a carpet roll inside the arrows, or an alternative design, designed by CARE, after consultation with retailers and wholesalers, and approved by the department for use on all invoices or functionally equivalent billing documents pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (c) of Section 42972.

(j) “Manufacturer” means, with regard to a carpet that is sold, offered for sale, or distributed in the state, any of the following:

(1) The person who manufactures the carpet and who sells, offers for sale, or distributes that carpet in the state under that person’s own name or brand.

(2) If there is no person who sells, offers for sale, or distributes the carpet in the state under the person’s own name or brand, the manufacturer of the carpet is the owner or licensee of a trademark or brand under which the carpet is sold or distributed in the state, whether or not the trademark is registered.

(3) If there is no person who is a manufacturer of the carpet for the purpose of paragraphs (1) and (2), the manufacturer of that carpet is the person who imports the carpet into the state for sale or distribution.

(k) “Postconsumer carpet” means carpet that is no longer used for its manufactured purpose.

(l) “Processor” means a company that uses a process, including, but not limited to, shredding, grinding, sheering, or depolymerization, to convert discarded whole carpet into finished recycled output that is ready to be utilized as an input material for manufacturing products.

(m) “Recycling” means the process, consistent with Section 40180, of converting postconsumer carpet into a useful product that meets the quality standards necessary to be used in the marketplace.

(n) “Retailer” means a person who offers new carpet in a retail sale, as defined in Section 6007 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, including a retail sale through any means, including remote offerings such as sales outlets, catalogs, or an internet website or other similar electronic means.

(o) “Sell” or “sales” means a transfer of title of a carpet for consideration, including a remote sale conducted through a sales outlet, catalog, or internet website or similar electronic means. For purposes of this chapter, “sell” or “sales” includes a lease through which a carpet is provided to a consumer by a manufacturer, wholesaler, or retailer.

(p) “Wholesaler” means a person who offers new carpet for sale in this state in a sale that is not a retail sale, as defined in Section 6007 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, and in which the carpet is intended to be resold.

(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 680, Sec. 1. (AB 729) Effective January 1, 2020.)