This division shall be administered by the department. Notwithstanding Section 607, the department may, for organizational purposes, create a new division, bureau, or office to administer this division. If a new division, bureau, or office is created, any reference to “department” or “director” in this division shall be deemed to be a reference to that entity and the officer in charge of that entity.

There is hereby created within the department a recycling financial analysis and policy development unit, to develop, analyze, consolidate, and evaluate economic and policy proposals to carry out the objectives of this division, including, but not limited to, all of the following:

The Division of Recycling shall be administered by an assistant director who is appointed by the Governor. The appointment shall be exempt from civil service.

Upon the request of the department, the Attorney General shall represent the department and the state in litigation concerning affairs of the department.

A payment made pursuant to this division, including, but not limited to, a handling fee payment, refund value payment, processing fee payment, or processing payment, may be made electronically.

Notwithstanding Section 14536, if the department determines that it is necessary to adopt or amend regulations to implement Section 14575, the department may adopt or amend those regulations as emergency regulations. The Office of Administrative Law shall consider those regulations to be necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, and general welfare for purposes of Section 11349.6 of the Government Code. Notwithstanding subdivision (e) of Section 11346.1 of the Government Code, the emergency regulations adopted or amended pursuant to this section shall be repealed 180 days after the effective date of the regulations, unless the department complies with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

A traffic officer, as defined in Section 625 of the Vehicle Code, or a peace officer, as specified in Section 830.1 of the Penal Code, may enforce this division as an authorized representative of the department.

For purposes of Section 12024.13 of the Business and Professions Code, the department shall notify the Department of Food and Agriculture of any changes to this division, or regulations issued pursuant to this division, that affect refund values, redemption payments, or the responsibilities of a dealer.

The department shall keep accurate books, records, and accounts of all of its dealings, and these books, records, and accounts are subject to an annual audit by an auditing firm selected by the department. The auditing firm or the department shall also conduct a selective audit of entities making payments to, or receiving payments from, the department to determine whether redemption payments and applicable processing fees are being paid to the department on all beverage containers sold in California, and that refund values and processing payments are being paid out properly by the department.

The department shall, to the extent feasible, make efforts to streamline and consolidate forms used by wineries who are also distributors to both register as part of the beverage container recycling program and provide required payments under this division.

The department shall provide on its internet website information that enables consumers to identify the geographic location of all points of redemption for beverage containers, to be updated at least once per year.

to the department under penalty of perjury. A recycling center shall meet all of the standards and requirements contained in the regulations for certification. The regulations shall require, but shall not be limited to requiring, that all of the following conditions be met for certification:

notifies the department promptly of any material change in the nature of the operator’s operations that conflicts with information submitted in the operator’s application for certification.

centers for successful participation in this division, thereby reducing the potential for errors, fraud, or other activities that compromise the integrity of the implementation of this division.

established pursuant to Section 14560.

containers or other containers that the certified recycling center knew, or should have known, were coming into the state from out of the state, or are otherwise ineligible for redemption.

the following conditions be met for certification:

certification.

errors, fraud, or other activities that compromise the integrity of the implementation of this division.

state from out of the state, or are otherwise ineligible for redemption.

by the department to cancel containers to render them unfit for redemption.

department.

department may recover, in restitution pursuant to paragraph (5) of subdivision (c) of Section 14591.2, any payments made by the department to the processor pursuant to Section 14573 that are based on the documents specified in paragraph (8) of subdivision (d), that are not prepared or maintained in compliance with the department’s regulations, and that do not allow the department to verify claims for program payments.

The department may review and verify all applications for certification of recycling centers and processors, and may conduct a comprehensive field investigation of any applicant in any manner which the department deems necessary to promote the purposes of this division. This division does not prohibit the department from certifying the same location or entity as both a processor and a recycling center.

Any certification or registration granted by the department is a privilege and not a vested right or interest.