SB 1215

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) The Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003 (act) requires a retailer selling a covered electronic device in this state to collect from a consumer at the time of retail sale a covered electronic waste recycling fee, as specified. The act defines "covered electronic device" to mean a video display device containing a screen greater than 4 inches, measured diagonally, that is identified in the regulations adopted by the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) , subject to certain exclusions. The act requires all fees collected pursuant to the act to be deposited in the Electronic Waste Recovery and Recycling Account, and outlines certain other requirements related to the establishment, adjustment, and administration of the fee. Moneys in the account are continuously appropriated for specified purposes, including, but not limited to, paying covered electronic waste recycling fee refunds and making electronic waste recovery and recycling payments. Moneys in the account may be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act, for other specified purposes, including the administration of the act by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) and DTSC and to provide funding to DTSC to implement and enforce the hazardous waste control laws as they relate to covered electronic devices. Existing law incorporates the requirements and other provisions of the act by reference as requirements and provisions of the hazardous waste control laws. The act also expressly authorizes DTSC to enforce the act, and all regulations adopted pursuant to the act, through the hazardous waste control laws. A violation of the hazardous waste control laws is a crime. This bill would, among other things, expand the definition of "covered electronic device" to include a "covered battery-embedded product," as defined, thereby expanding the scope of the act to include covered battery-embedded products, as provided. The bill would require a consumer, on and after January 1, 2026, to pay a covered battery-embedded waste recycling fee in an amount established by CalRecycle upon the purchase of a new or refurbished covered battery-embedded product. The bill would authorize, beginning on August 1, 2028, CalRecycle, in collaboration with DTSC, to establish more than one covered electronic waste recycling fee for covered battery-embedded products based on categories of those products. The bill would also require, on or before October 1, 2025, and on or before October 1 each year thereafter, CalRecycle to establish a covered electronic waste recycling fee based on the reasonable regulatory costs to administer covered electronic waste recycling. The bill would require the charge to be imposed upon the purchase of a new or refurbished covered battery-embedded product. The bill would also require the charge to be adjusted annually based on the California Consumer Price Index. The bill would require CalRecycle, on or before August 1, 2027, and thereafter as specified, in collaboration with DTSC, to review, at a public hearing, the covered battery-embedded waste recycling fee applicable to covered battery-embedded products and to make any fair and reasonable adjustments to the charge to ensure that there are sufficient revenues in the Covered Battery-Embedded Waste Recycling Fee Subaccount to fund the covered electronic waste recycling program established pursuant to the act. The bill would create the Covered Electronic Waste Recycling Fee Subaccount and the Covered Battery-Embedded Waste Recycling Fee Subaccount as continuously appropriated funds in the Electronic Waste Recovery and Recycling Account. Because the funds deposited to the Covered Battery-Embedded Waste Recycling Fee Subaccount would be a new source of funds in the continuously appropriated subaccount within the continuously appropriated Electronic Waste Recovery and Recycling Account, the bill would make an appropriation. By expanding the scope of the act to make it applicable to covered battery-embedded products, the bill would expand the scope of a crime, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. The act imposes certain obligations on a manufacturer of a covered electronic device sold in the state, including, but not limited to, requiring a manufacturer to submit a report to CalRecycle, as provided, and to make information available to consumers that describes where and how to return, recycle, and dispose of the covered electronic device. The act defines "manufacturer" as either a person who manufacturers a covered electronic device sold in the state or a person who sells a covered electronic device in the state under that person's brand name. This bill would revise and expand the definition of "manufacturer" for purposes of the act and would therefore extend the aforementioned obligations to these persons. The act would require a manufacturer of a covered battery-embedded product to also submit a report to CalRecycle, as provided, and to make certain information available to consumers. The bill would provide that any information submitted to CalRecycle that is proprietary in nature or a trade secret shall be protected under state laws and regulations governing that information. The bill would require a manufacturer of a covered electronic device to maintain and keep accessible for a minimum of 3 years all records required to be kept or submitted pursuant to the act and, upon request, provide those records to CalRecycle. This bill would require all reports and records provided to CalRecycle pursuant to the act to be provided under penalty of perjury. By expanding the scope of persons subject to the act's requirements and by expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, the bill would expand the scope of a crime, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. The act prohibits a person from selling a new or refurbished covered electronic device to a consumer if CalRecycle or DTSC determines that the manufacturer of that covered electronic device is not in compliance with the act, as provided. The act prohibits a person from selling or offering for sale in this state a new or refurbished covered electronic device unless the device is labeled with the name of the manufacturer or the manufacturer's brand label, so that it is readily visible. This bill, by expanding the definition of "covered electronic device," would expand the sales prohibition for noncompliance to covered battery-embedded products. The bill would also prohibit a person, on or after January 1, 2026, from selling or offering for sale in the state a new or refurbished covered battery-embedded product unless the product is labeled with the name of the manufacturer or the manufacturer's brand label so that it is readily visible. The bill would also require a new or refurbished covered battery-embedded product to be labeled with information identifying the chemistry of the embedded product. By expanding the scope of the sales prohibitions to include covered battery-embedded products, the bill would expand the scope of a crime, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. The bill would also replace references to the State Board of Equalization with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, and make other nonsubstantive changes. (2) Existing law, as part of the hazardous waste control laws, requires the department to adopt regulations to identify electronic devices, as defined, that the department determines are presumed to be, when discarded, a hazardous waste. Existing law requires a manufacturer of an electronic device that is identified in those regulations to send to any retailer that sells that electronic device a notice that identifies the electronic device and informs the retailer that the electronic device is subject to the covered electronic waste recycling fee. The act requires a manufacturer of a covered electronic device to comply with these hazardous waste control law notification requirements. Existing law defines the term "manufacturer" for the purposes of these provisions in the same way as the act. This bill, for purposes of the aforementioned notification requirement, would specify that the requirement applies only to video display devices, as defined by the act, and would expressly exclude from the notification requirement a covered battery-embedded product, as defined by the act. The bill would expand the definition of "manufacturer" in the act and thereby would make those additional persons subject to the notice requirement. By expanding the scope of a crime under the hazardous waste control laws, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also replace references to the State Board of Equalization with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, and make other nonsubstantive changes. This bill would require instead that, as part of the act, a manufacturer of a covered battery-embedded product comply with similar notification requirements. (3) The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 requires the county or regional agency integrated waste management plan that a county or regional agency is required to submit to the board to contain a household hazardous waste element. Existing law requires that when a county or regional agency revises the county or regional integrated waste management plan and its elements, the city household hazardous waste element and county household hazardous waste element is required to identify those actions the city, county, or regional agency is taking to promote the collection, consolidation, recovery, and recycling of covered electronic waste, as defined. This bill would, as a result of the aforementioned amendments to the Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003, expand the definition of covered electronic waste pursuant to the act to include a covered battery-embedded product, as defined by the Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003, thereby creating a state-mandated local program by imposing new duties upon local agencies. (4) Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. (5) The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. (6) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for specified reasons.