AUGUSTA – Lobbyists for supermarkets and convenience stores led the charge Tuesday against a bill that proposes to eliminate discarded cigarette stubs by placing a nickel redemption on every butt.

During a hearing on LD 258 before the Legislature’s Business and Economic Development Committee, representatives of the Maine Grocers Association and the New England Convenience Store Association cited health considerations, administrative costs and lost sales as good reasons to kill the legislation.

But a unanimous ought-not-to-pass recommendation for the bill is definitely not in the cards. Several lawmakers indicated they were leaning toward supporting the bill, which could be voted out of committee by the panel during a work session March 8. Senate Chairman Kevin L. Shorey, R-Calais, said committee members were warming up to the proposal and that the depth of support ultimately could “surprise” more than a few skeptics who have not taken the bill seriously.

“I think the proponents convinced us today that cigarette butts are a problem. Whether this is the best solution will be determined next month,” he said.

“It’ll definitely be a divided report,” predicted committee member Rep. Jonathan Thomas, D-Orono. “How closely divided it will be remains to be seen.”

Sponsored by Rep. Joseph E. Brooks, D-Winterport, the bill is modeled after Maine’s successful returnable bottle law and would place a $1 surcharge on every pack of filtered cigarettes to provide the nickel-per-butt redemption. The bill would not apply to cigars or nonfilter cigarettes that proponents said were biodegradable.

Brooks estimates that half of the smokers who consume 2.2 billion cigarettes in the state each year would participate in the redemption program. The discarded butts would be redeemed at stores or existing bottle redemption centers and then taken to energy recovery companies for incineration or to be buried in landfills. After redemption payouts, about $46 million would remain to be transferred into state coffers and to cover program administration costs.

“This first-in-the-country legislation is telling people that we’re sick and tired of this kind of litter and that we’re going to surcharge you – not tax you – but surcharge you an extra buck every time you buy a pack,” he said. “But we’re also telling you that you can get your buck back by delivering those [butts] back to a redemption center.”

Submitting written testimony in opposition to the bill, Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director of the Maine Bureau of Health, said she had concerns about health issues raised by the legislation. Mills said children picking up butts to reap the nickel redemption fee risked absorbing nicotine through their skin and that exposure to very young children could be “potentially fatal.” She also said discarded cigarettes provide a warm, porous environment that is conducive to microbe growth.

But a number of motel owners, along with a spokesman for the Maine Innkeepers Association, challenged Mills’ concerns, saying there was no medical evidence to support the contention that anyone has ever contracted any disease from a discarded cigarette butt.

“I have to laugh when I hear about these health concerns from cigarette butts,” said Danny Lafayette of the Hampden-based Lafayette Hotels that has 10 facilities in Maine. “I’ve spent about an hour a day for the last 20 years picking them up.”

Terry Dickey drove from Medway to speak in favor of the butt bill and argued that it was odd that opponents saw health problems in cigarette stubs but not in discarded bottles and cans.

“There’s not much of anything nastier than a beer bottle that’s laid up aside the road for a week or so,” he said. “I pick up rubbish alongside my road all the time, and I’ve picked up everything from a pig’s head to car mufflers, but mostly a lot of cigarette butts. I’ll keep doing it with or without this bill. But people’s hands are washable, so I don’t think health issues should be a big problem.”

The most vocal opposition to the bill was offered by Christine Burke of the Maine Grocers Association and Lyanne Cochi of the Maine Chapter of the New England Convenience Store Association. Both women said many of the stores that already accept returnable cans and bottles would feel compelled to accept cigarette butts under the bill.

“These are absolutely health hazards and there is nearly no debate about that,” said Burke. “I just wonder how close to the food preparation area should we keep this material until it’s picked up by recyclers. The best answer is educate the public that cigarette butts are litter.”

Nancy Desmarais said she’d be more than happy to relieve grocers of any redemption duties. The woman and her husband run a bottle redemption center in Hampden and rising costs force the couple to operate a very close margin. Desmarais said the added revenue from handling cigarette butts could make the difference between staying open and closing for a lot of redemption centers.

“We really see this as a great opportunity to increase our customer base,” she said.

Conspicuously absent from Tuesday hearing were any representatives of the tobacco industry, a party that would receive the greatest degree of impact from the proposed legislation.

“I don’t know if they just don’t take it seriously or that they can just come in here and get what they want,” said Shorey, committee chairman. “If they show up during the work session, I’m just going to ask them where they were today when the public was here and questions needed to be answered.”