Regulation; It's What We Do Best

This one will make it harder -- in the form of compliance costs -- on businesses that sell iPods, laptops, and such.  But, then, it may not be a problem if manufacturers, on considering  the puny size of the Vermont,  say the hell with it and abandon the state.  People who want the devices will, of course, still buy them.  They'll simply go on-line -- or across the river -- to do it.  Lower profits for the Vermont sellers, reduced tax revenues for Montpelier.  And the devices will still be disposed of here.  Perfect.

But the intentions are noble and the language, as in the following passage, is pure poetry:

(a)  Registration fee.
(1)  By July 1 of each year, all manufacturers who register under section 7302 of this title must pay to the agency an annual registration fee.  The commissioner must deposit the fee into the account established by this section.
(2)  The registration fee for the initial program year during which a manufacturer’s video display devices are sold is $5,000.00.  Each year thereafter, the registration fee is equal to a base of $2,500.00, plus a variable recycling fee calculated according to the formula in subdivision (3) of this subsection.
(3)  Using quantities from the preceding program year, the variable recycling fee shall be an amount equal to the pounds required to have been recycled under this chapter minus the pounds reported recycled, multiplied by the estimated per-pound cost of recycling.  The variable recycling fee shall be calculated according to the formula:  variable recycling fee = ((A x B) – (C+D)) x E, where: