BILL NUMBER: AB 488	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Williams

                        FEBRUARY 19, 2013

   An act to add Article 3 (commencing with Section 42450.1) to
Chapter 8 of Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code,
relating to recycling.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 488, as introduced, Williams. Recycling: household batteries.
   The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989,
administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery,
requires retailers of rechargeable batteries to have in place a
system for the acceptance and collection of rechargeable batteries.
   The bill would require a producer of single-use primary household
batteries or a single-use primary household battery stewardship
organization created by one or more producers to submit a single-use
primary household battery stewardship plan to the department.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) In early 2006, all household batteries were classified by the
state as universal waste and prohibited from being disposed of in
solid waste landfills.
   (b) Effective July 1, 2006, state law prohibits most retailers
from selling rechargeable batteries in the state unless they have a
system in place for collecting used rechargeable batteries from
consumers.
   (c) Rechargeable battery producers are subject to a mandatory
take-back system pursuant to Section 42453 of the Public Resources
Code, and the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery is
required to annually report on the estimated amount of rechargeable
batteries recycled in the state the previous calendar year.
   (d) Approximately 80 percent of batteries sold in this state are
alkaline batteries and are not covered under the retail take-back
requirements specified in subdivision (c).
   (e) Local governments throughout the state are responsible for the
collection and management of household batteries, and to manage this
hazardous waste, these local governments and taxpayers pay a range
of between eight hundred dollars ($800) per ton to two thousand seven
hundred dollars ($2,700) per ton, or tens of millions of dollars
each year.
   (f) Because other types of recycling programs have proven to have
limited success, state and regional governments in Europe and Canada
have adopted producer responsibility programs to redirect the
responsibility for the end-of-life management of discarded hazardous
and hard-to-manage products from local governments and retailers
primarily to producers.
   (g) After many public hearings and discussions, the former
California Integrated Waste Management Board adopted an overall
Framework for an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) guidance
document as a policy priority in January 2008.
   (h) The program established by Article 3 (commencing with Section
42450.1) of Chapter 8 of Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public
Resources Code, by Section 2 of this act, is intended to reduce costs
to local government, to harmonize the state's producer
responsibility obligations with other national and international
programs, and to enhance the protection of public health and
environment through safer product design, use, reuse, and end-of-life
management.
  SEC. 2.  Article 3 (commencing with Section 42450.1) is added to
Chapter 8 of Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, to
read:

      Article 3.  Product Stewardship for Single-Use Household
Batteries


   42450.1.  For purposes of this article, and unless the context
otherwise requires, the definitions in this section govern the
construction of this article.
   (a) "Single-use primary household battery" means a household
battery, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 42450, that is a
primary battery.
   (b) "Primary battery" means an electric cell that generates an
electromotive force by the direct and usually irreversible conversion
of chemical energy into electrical energy and that cannot be
recharged efficiently by an electric current.
   (c) "Single-use primary household battery stewardship organization"
means a nonprofit organization created by the one or more producers
to implement the single-use primary household battery stewardship
program.
   42450.2.  On or before January 1, 2015, a producer of single-use
primary household batteries or a single-use primary household battery
stewardship organization shall submit a household battery
stewardship plan to the department.