BILL NUMBER: AB 2347 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 572
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 29, 2008
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 29, 2008
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 18, 2008
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 19, 2008
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 12, 2008
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 4, 2008
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 19, 2008
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 10, 2008
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 3, 2008
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 24, 2008
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Ruskin
FEBRUARY 21, 2008
An act to add Article 10.2.2 (commencing with Section 25214.8.10)
to Chapter 6.5 of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code, relating
to hazardous waste.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2347, Ruskin. Mercury-added thermostats: collection program.
(1) Existing law prohibits, on and after January 1, 2006, a person
from selling, offering to sell, or distributing for promotional
purposes, in this state, a mercury-added thermostat, as defined,
unless the mercury-added thermostat meets specified criteria. A
violation of the hazardous waste control laws is a crime.
This bill would enact the Mercury Thermostat Collection Act of
2008 and would require a manufacturer that owns or owned a name brand
of mercury-added thermostats sold in this state before January 1,
2006, to establish and maintain a collection, transportation,
recycling, and disposal program for out-of-service mercury-added
thermostats.
The bill would authorize a manufacturer to establish a collection
and recycling program individually or with other manufacturers and
would require manufacturers to meet certain requirements, including,
but not limited to, undertaking education and outreach efforts,
developing educational and outreach materials, providing adequate
incentives and education to contractors, service technicians, and
homeowners to encourage return of out-of-service mercury-added
thermostats to established collection locations, and on or before
April 1, 2010, and on or before April 1 annually thereafter,
submitting an annual report to the Department of Toxic Substances
Control with specified information and publishing the annual report
on the manufacturer's or program's Internet Web site.
The bill would require a wholesaler that has a physical location
in the state to act as a collection location for out-of-service
mercury-added thermostats, and would require a retailer or wholesaler
that distributes new thermostats by mail to buyers in the state to
include an Internet Web site address and toll-free telephone number
with instructions on obtaining a prepaid mail-in label with the new
thermostat. A wholesaler would also be required to distribute to its
customers the educational and outreach materials developed by the
manufacturers.
The bill would require a contractor who installs heating,
ventilation, and air-conditioning components and who removes
out-of-service mercury-added thermostats to handle the thermostat in
accordance with regulations, adopted pursuant to the hazardous waste
control laws, and take the out-of-service mercury-added thermostat to
a location with a collection bin operating in accordance with those
regulations. A person demolishing a building would be required to
remove the out-of-service mercury-added thermostats prior to
demolition and dispose of them in the same manner.
The department would be required to adopt regulations on or before
January 1, 2012, establishing performance requirements that specify
collection rates and a methodology for the calculation of the numbers
of out-of-service mercury-added thermostats becoming waste annually.
The department would be authorized to order a manufacturer, or a
group of manufacturers, to revise its collection and recycling
program or to undertake actions to comply with the act.
The bill would require a manufacturer, or group of manufacturers
operating a collection and recycling program, to conduct a survey, as
prescribed, to provide to the department statistically valid data on
the number of out-of-service mercury-added thermostats becoming
waste in California buildings.
The bill would require the department to provide a notice on its
Internet Web site listing manufacturers that are not in compliance
with the act on July 1, 2009, and on January 1 and July 1 annually
thereafter. The bill would prohibit a person from selling or offering
for sale a thermostat that is manufactured by a manufacturer that is
not in compliance with the act, would make that prohibition
effective on the 120th day after the notice listing the manufacturer
is posted on the department's Internet Web site, and would continue
that prohibition until the manufacturer is no longer listed on the
department's Internet Web site.
Because a violation of the act's requirements would be a crime,
the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating new
crimes.
(2) 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 a specified reason.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Mercury that is released into the atmosphere can be
transported long distances and deposited in aquatic ecosystems, where
it is methylated to methylmercury, the organic and most toxic form
of mercury.
(b) Methylmercury bioaccumulates and biomagnifies in animals,
including fish and humans.
(c) The March 2007 report of the Office of Environmental Health
Hazard Assessment stated that fish consumption advisories exist in
about 40 states, including, within California, for the San Francisco
Bay and Delta, Tomales Bay, and eight other county water bodies, and
more locations may be included as more fish and water bodies are
tested.
(d) Methylmercury is a known neurotoxin to which the human fetus
is very sensitive.
(e) The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
estimate that between 300,000 and 630,000 infants are born in the
United States each year with mercury levels that are associated, at
later ages, with the loss of IQ.
(f) New evidence indicates that methylmercury exposure may
increase the risk of cardiovascular disease in humans, especially
adult men.
(g) According to a 2004 study by the federal Environmental
Protection Agency, more than 10 percent of the estimated mercury
reservoir still currently in use in the United States resides in
mercury-added thermostats.
(h) Decreases in local and regional sources of mercury emissions
have been shown to lead to decreases in mercury levels in fish and
wildlife.
(i) As of January 1, 2006, state law banned the sale of new
mercury-added thermostats for most uses, but the long lifetime of
thermostats means that many of them are still in use.
(j) State law bans the disposal of mercury-added thermostats in
solid waste landfills, but according to an estimate by the Department
of Toxic Substances Control, less than 5 percent of the
mercury-added thermostats removed from buildings in the state are
turned in to the Thermostat Recycling Corporation (TRC) collection
program.
(k) In 1998, thermostat makers General Electric, Honeywell, and
White Rodgers, established the TRC to implement a program for
collecting used mercury-added thermostats. Under the TRC program,
thermostat wholesalers and contractors volunteer to collect
thermostats from heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning
contractors, and the general public. In 2007, the manufacturer
Nordyne joined the program and the TRC expanded its voluntary program
to household hazardous waste facilities.
(l) The California Integrated Waste Management Board adopted an
Overall Framework for an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
guidance document as a policy priority in September 2007 and approved
refinements in January 2008.
(m) The EPR framework recognizes that the responsibility for the
end-of-life management of discarded products and materials rests
primarily with the producers, thereby incorporating costs of product
collection, recycling, and disposal into the total product costs so
as to have a reduced impact on human health and the environment.
(n) Producers that historically manufactured, branded, and sold
mercury-added thermostats in California before 2006 have a
responsibility to collect out-of-service mercury-added thermostats
and ensure that they are properly handled and recycled.
SEC. 2. Article 10.2.2 (commencing with Section 25214.8.10) is
added to Chapter 6.5 of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
Article 10.2.2. Mercury Thermostat Collection Act of 2008
25214.8.10. This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Mercury Thermostat Collection Act of 2008.
25214.8.11. For purposes of this article, the following
definitions shall apply:
(a) "Manufacturer" means a business concern that owns or owned a
name brand of mercury-added thermostats sold in this state before
January 1, 2006.
(b) "Mercury-added thermostat" has the same meaning as defined in
paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 25214.8.1.
(c) "Out-of-service mercury-added thermostat" means a
mercury-added thermostat that is removed from a building or facility
in this state and is intended to be discarded.
(d) "Program" means a system for the collection, transportation,
recycling, and disposal of out-of-service mercury-added thermostats
that is financed, as well as managed or provided, by a manufacturer
or collectively with other manufacturers.
(e) "Retailer" means a person who sells thermostats of any kind
directly to a consumer through a selling or distribution mechanism,
including, but not limited to, a sale using catalogs or the Internet.
A retailer may be a wholesaler if the person meets the definition of
a wholesaler set forth in subdivision (g).
(f) "Thermostat" means a product or device that uses a switch to
sense and control room temperature through communication with
heating, ventilating, or air-conditioning equipment. "Thermostat"
includes a thermostat used to sense and control room temperature in
residential, commercial, industrial, and other buildings, but does
not include a thermostat used to sense and control temperature as
part of a manufacturing process.
(g) "Wholesaler" means a person engaged in the distribution and
wholesale selling of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning
components to contractors who install heating, ventilation, and
air-conditioning components, and whose total wholesale sales account
for 80 percent or more of total sales. A manufacturer, as defined by
this section, is not a wholesaler.
25214.8.12. (a) (1) A manufacturer shall establish and maintain a
program for out-of-service mercury-added thermostats in compliance
with this article.
(2) A manufacturer may establish a collection and recycling
program for out-of-service mercury-added thermostats individually or
collectively with other manufacturers.
(3) A manufacturer, or a group of manufacturers operating a
program collectively, may contract with a retailer for in-store or
out-of-store collection of out-of-service mercury-added thermostats.
(b) (1) A person shall not sell or offer for sale in this state a
thermostat that is produced by a manufacturer that is not in
compliance with this article.
(2) The sales prohibition in paragraph (1) shall be effective on
the 120th day after the notice described in subdivision (c) listing a
manufacturer is posted on the department's Internet Web site and
shall remain in effect until the manufacturer is no longer listed on
the department's Internet Web site.
(c) On July 1, 2009, and on January 1 and July 1 annually
thereafter, the department shall post a notice on its Internet Web
site listing manufacturers that are not in compliance with this
article.
(d) A wholesaler or a retailer that distributes or sells
mercury-added thermostats shall monitor the department's Internet Web
site to determine if the sale of a manufacturer's thermostats is in
compliance with this section.
25214.8.13. Each manufacturer shall individually, or collectively
with other manufacturers, do all of the following:
(a) Collect, handle, and arrange for the appropriate management of
out-of-service mercury-added thermostats in compliance with this
chapter and the regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter.
(b) On and after July 1, 2009, provide collection bins for
out-of-service mercury-added thermostat collection to wholesalers at
a cost not to exceed twenty-five dollars ($25).
(c) On and after July 1, 2009, make collection bins available at
no cost for out-of-service mercury-added thermostats to any local
governmental agency that requests a collection bin for use at
household hazardous waste collection facilities or household
hazardous waste events.
(d) Either arrange for pick up of the collection bins, or pay for
the costs of shipping the collection bins provided pursuant to
subdivisions (b) and (c) for proper handling and recycling.
(e) From July 1, 2009, to December 31, 2011, inclusive, undertake
education and outreach efforts, including, but not limited to, all of
the following:
(1) A public service announcement promoting the proper management
of out-of-service mercury-added thermostats. Copies of the public
service announcement shall be provided to the department and the
California Integrated Waste Management Board for their use and
promotion.
(2) The establishment of a public Internet Web site. Templates of
educational materials shall be posted on the Internet Web site that
are in a form and format that can be easily downloaded. A link to the
Internet Web site shall be provided to the department and the
California Integrated Waste Management Board.
(3) Methods used to engage other stakeholders such as waste,
demolition, heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning organizations,
as well as appropriate state agencies and local governments to
secure support and participation to encourage the proper management
of out-of-service mercury-added thermostats throughout California.
(4) Strategies to work with California utilities participating in
demand response programs involving the replacement of thermostats to
encourage their participation in the collection and proper management
of out-of-service mercury-added thermostats. These strategies may
include the inclusion of an educational insert in their customers'
utility bills.
(5) Contacting wholesalers in California and encouraging their
support and participation in educating their customers on the proper
management of out-of-service mercury-added thermostats.
(6) Strategies used to encourage support and participation by
retailers and other outlets to educate consumers on the proper
management of out-of-service mercury-added thermostats.
(f) On or before July 1, 2009, develop, and update as necessary,
educational and other outreach materials aimed at heating,
ventilation, and air-conditioning contractors, demolition
contractors, and their associations, municipal utility districts, and
homeowners. Those materials shall be made available to participating
retailers, all wholesalers, and household hazardous waste programs.
These materials shall include, but are not limited to, one or more of
the following:
(1) Signage that is prominently displayed and easily visible to
the consumer and contractors.
(2) Written materials and templates of materials for reproduction
by retailers and wholesalers to be provided to the consumer at the
time of purchase, delivery, or both purchase and delivery of a
thermostat. The materials shall include information on the
prohibition of improper disposal of mercury-added thermostats, the
proper management of out-of-service mercury-added thermostats, and
the locations of collection opportunities.
(3) Advertising or other promotional materials, or both, that
include references to the collection opportunities.
(4) Materials to be used in direct communications with the
consumer and contractor at the time of purchase.
(g) Provide incentives and education to contractors, service
technicians, and homeowners to encourage the return of out-of-service
mercury-added thermostats to established collection locations.
(h) Encourage the purchase of programmable thermostats that comply
with Part 6 (commencing with Section 100) of Title 24 of the
California Building Standards Code and that qualify for the Energy
Star program of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, as
replacements for mercury-added thermostats.
(i) On or before April 1, 2010, and on or before April 1 annually
thereafter, submit an annual report to the department covering the
one-year period ending December 31st of the previous calendar year.
Each report shall be posted on the manufacturer's or program's
Internet Web site. The annual report shall include all of the
following:
(1) The number of out-of-service mercury-added thermostats
collected in California during the previous calendar year.
(2) The estimated total amount of mercury contained in the
collected out-of-service mercury-added thermostats.
(3) An evaluation of the effectiveness of the program.
(4) Commencing with the report due April 1, 2013, a comparison to
the performance requirements for collection established pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 25214.8.17.
(5) An accounting of the program administrative costs, including a
copy of Internal Revenue Service Form 990 for a nonprofit
organization's program. For a for-profit organization's program, the
manufacturer, or group of manufacturers operating a program, shall
submit independently audited financial statements detailing revenues
and a full accounting of administrative costs incurred.
(6) A description of the outreach strategies employed to increase
participation and collection rates.
(7) Examples of outreach and educational materials used.
(8) Names and locations of all participating collection locations.
(9) The number of out-of-service mercury-added thermostats
collected at each collection location.
(10) The Internet Web site address where the annual report may be
viewed online.
(11) A description of how the collected out-of-service
mercury-added thermostats were managed.
(12) Modifications that the manufacturer is proposing to make in
its collection and recycling program.
25214.8.14. (a) A wholesaler that has a physical location in the
state shall act as a collection location for out-of-service
mercury-added thermostats.
(b) A retailer or wholesaler that distributes new thermostats by
mail to buyers in the state shall include with the sale of the new
thermostat, an Internet Web site address and toll-free telephone
number with instructions on obtaining a prepaid mail-in label that a
consumer may use to send an out-of-service mercury-added thermostat
to a collection location.
(c) A wholesaler shall distribute the educational and outreach
materials developed pursuant to Section 25214.8.13 to its customers.
25214.8.15. A contractor who installs heating, ventilation, and
air-conditioning components and who removes a mercury-added
thermostat shall handle the thermostat in accordance with the
regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter, and take the
out-of-service mercury-added thermostat to a location with a
collection bin operating in accordance with those regulations.
25214.8.16. A person who demolishes a building shall remove any
mercury-added thermostats from the building prior to demolition in
accordance with all applicable regulations adopted pursuant to this
chapter, and take the out-of-service mercury-added thermostat to a
location that is authorized to collect out-of-service mercury-added
thermostats.
25214.8.17. (a) The department may order a manufacturer, or a
group of manufacturers operating a program, to revise its program and
to undertake actions to comply with this article.
(b) On or before January 1, 2012, the department shall adopt
regulations for all of the following:
(1) To develop performance requirements that specify collection
rates expressed as a percentage of out-of-service mercury-added
thermostats becoming waste annually.
(2) To establish a methodology for the calculation of the number
of out-of-service mercury-added thermostats becoming waste annually.
25214.8.18. On or before March 1, 2009, a manufacturer, or a
group of manufacturers operating a program, shall present to the
department a survey plan and methodology for a survey to provide
statistically valid data on the number of mercury-added thermostats
that become waste annually in California. The manufacturer or group
of manufacturers shall complete the survey by December 1, 2009, and
shall present all survey data to the department by December 31, 2009.
25214.8.20. It is the intent of this article to provide for the
collection and recycling of the maximum feasible number of
out-of-service mercury-added thermostats.
SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.