84R4607 JRR-F
By: Anderson of Dallas H.B. No. 3153
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a program for the recycling of certain household
batteries; authorizing a fee; providing civil and administrative
penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 361, Health and Safety Code, is amended
by adding Subchapter P to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER P. HOUSEHOLD BATTERY RECYCLING PROGRAM
Sec. 361.471. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Brand" means a name, symbol, word, or traceable
mark that identifies a covered battery and attributes the covered
battery to the owner or licensee of the brand as the producer.
(2) "Covered battery" means a battery or
battery-containing product described by Section 361.472(a).
(3) "Discarded covered battery" means a covered
battery that a user discarded or intends to discard, abandon, or
send for recycling.
(4) "Producer" means one of the following with regard
to a covered battery that is sold or offered for sale in this state:
(A) a person that manufactures a covered battery
and sells or offers for sale that covered battery in this state
under the person's own name or brand;
(B) a person other than a person described by
Paragraph (A) that owns or licenses a trademark or brand under which
a covered battery is sold or offered for sale whether or not the
trademark is registered; or
(C) a person other than a person described by
Paragraph (A) or (B), including a wholesaler or retailer, that
imports a covered battery into this state for sale.
(5) "Recycling" means any process in which discarded
covered batteries, components, and by-products are transformed
into new usable or marketable materials in a manner in which the
original products may lose their identity. The term does not
include the use of incineration for energy recovery.
(6) "Retailer" means a person that offers covered
batteries for sale at retail in this state through any means,
including remote offerings such as sales outlets, catalogs, or an
Internet website.
(7) "Stewardship organization" means an organization
appointed by two or more producers to act as an agent on behalf of
the producers to design, submit, implement, and administer a
stewardship program under this subchapter.
(8) "Stewardship program" means a program described by
Section 361.474.
(9) "Wholesaler" means a person that offers for sale
in this state, other than a retail sale, covered batteries intended
for retail sale.
Sec. 361.472. APPLICABILITY. (a) This subchapter applies
to:
(1) a non-rechargeable battery that weighs two
kilograms or less, including alkaline, carbon-zinc, and lithium
metal batteries;
(2) a product that contains or is packed with a battery
described by Subdivision (1);
(3) a battery that:
(A) is one or more voltaic or galvanic cells
electrically connected to produce electric energy and designed to
be recharged and that weighs less than five kilograms; or
(B) is a battery pack designed to be recharged,
that weighs less than five kilograms, and that is designed to
provide less than 40 volts direct current; and
(4) a product that contains or is packed with a battery
described by Subdivision (3).
(b) This subchapter does not apply to:
(1) a product described by Subsection (a)(2) or (4)
from which the battery is not easily removed or is not intended or
designed to be removed, other than by the manufacturer;
(2) a medical device that is a device as defined by 21
U.S.C. Section 321(h), if the device or battery included in the
device must be treated as infectious waste when the device or
battery is discarded; or
(3) a battery described by Subsection (a)(3) that:
(A) is not easily removed or is not intended or
designed to be removed from a product described by Subsection
(a)(4), other than by the manufacturer;
(B) contains electrolyte as a free liquid; or
(C) employs lead-acid technology, unless the
battery:
(i) is sealed;
(ii) contains no liquid electrolyte; and
(iii) is intended by its manufacturer to
power a handheld device or to provide uninterrupted backup
electrical power protection for stationary consumer products or
stationary office equipment.
Sec. 361.473. SALES PROHIBITED. (a) A producer of a
covered battery may not sell, offer for sale, or deliver to a
retailer for subsequent sale a covered battery unless the producer
or the stewardship organization in which the producer is
participating implements a stewardship program approved by the
commission under Section 361.474.
(b) A retailer or wholesaler may not sell or offer for sale a
covered battery unless the producer of the covered battery is
implementing a stewardship program approved by the commission under
Section 361.474 or is a member of a stewardship organization
implementing a stewardship program approved by the commission under
Section 361.474.
Sec. 361.474. STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM; COMMISSION APPROVAL OF
PROGRAM. (a) A producer of a covered battery that sells, offers
for sale, or delivers to a retailer for a subsequent sale a covered
battery in this state shall, individually or as part of a
stewardship organization, implement a stewardship program approved
by the commission that:
(1) in each council of government region of this
state, provides for the collection of covered batteries from
consumers at no cost to consumers; and
(2) prohibits a producer from refusing to collect a
covered battery based on the brand or producer of the covered
battery.
(b) A stewardship program submitted to the commission for
approval must include:
(1) the fee prescribed by the commission under
Subsection (e);
(2) a list of all producers participating in the
program and the brands of covered batteries subject to the program;
(3) a description of the method that will be used to
responsibly manage discarded covered batteries to ensure, to the
extent economically and technically feasible, that the components
of the discarded covered batteries are recycled or otherwise
managed responsibly;
(4) a description of the manner in which the program
will use existing covered battery collection points;
(5) an education and outreach program and a
description of:
(A) the outreach procedures that will be used to
provide notice of the program to businesses, retailers,
wholesalers, haulers, local governmental entities, and the public;
and
(B) planned public educational activities that,
at a minimum, notify the public:
(i) that there is a free collection program
for all covered batteries; and
(ii) of the location of collection points
and how to access the collection program;
(6) a collection rate performance goal for the brands
of covered batteries subject to the program; and
(7) if the program is submitted by a stewardship
organization or a producer that does not operate a physical retail
location in this state, a description of how the program will
provide convenient, free, statewide collection opportunities for
discarded covered batteries.
(c) Not later than 30 days after receipt of a stewardship
program by the commission, including a program that is resubmitted
under Subsection (d), the commission shall approve or disapprove
the program. The commission shall approve the program if the
program demonstrates to the commission's satisfaction that the
program will comply with the requirements of Subsection (b).
(d) If the commission disapproves a stewardship program,
the commission shall notify the producer or stewardship
organization in writing of the reasons for disapproval of the
program. A producer or organization whose program has been
disapproved by the commission must amend and resubmit the program
to the commission not later than 45 days after receiving the notice
of disapproval.
(e) A producer or stewardship organization must pay an
application fee in an amount determined by the commission by rule.
(f) The commission shall deposit fees collected under this
section to the credit of the covered battery stewardship account.
Sec. 361.475. REPORT. (a) Not later than September 1 of
each year, a producer or a stewardship organization shall submit to
the commission a report that includes:
(1) a description of the activities carried out under
the program during the preceding 12 months;
(2) the weight of covered batteries collected by the
producer or the stewardship organization during the preceding 12
months;
(3) the locations for all collection points set up by
the covered battery producers covered by the program and contact
information for each location;
(4) the manner in which the collected covered
batteries were sorted, consolidated, and processed; and
(5) examples and a description of educational
materials used to increase collection.
(b) When a producer or stewardship organization submits the
report, the producer or organization shall pay an administrative
fee in an amount determined by the commission by rule.
(c) The commission shall deposit fees collected under this
section to the credit of the covered battery stewardship account.
Sec. 361.476. COVERED BATTERY STEWARDSHIP ACCOUNT.
(a) The covered battery stewardship account is an account in the
general revenue fund that consists of:
(1) fees collected under Sections 361.474 and 361.475;
(2) administrative penalties collected under
Subchapter C, Chapter 7, Water Code, for violations of this
subchapter;
(3) civil penalties collected under Subchapter D,
Chapter 7, Water Code, for violations of this subchapter; and
(4) interest earned on the money in the account,
notwithstanding Section 404.071, Government Code.
(b) Money in the account may be appropriated only to the
commission to implement and administer this subchapter.
Sec. 361.477. COMMISSION ORDER. The commission may order a
producer or stewardship organization to revise the program and to
take other actions necessary to comply with this subchapter.
Sec. 361.478. ENFORCEMENT. (a) The commission may audit
or inspect a producer, stewardship organization, retailer, or
wholesaler to ensure compliance with this subchapter and rules
adopted under this subchapter.
(b) The commission and the attorney general, as
appropriate, shall enforce this subchapter and, except as provided
by Subsections (d) and (e), take enforcement action against a
producer, stewardship organization, retailer, or wholesaler.
(c) The executive director or the attorney general may
institute a suit under Section 7.032, Water Code, to enjoin an
activity related to the sale of a covered battery in violation of
this subchapter.
(d) The commission shall issue a warning notice to a person
on the person's first violation of this subchapter. The person
must comply with this subchapter not later than the 60th day after
the date the warning notice is issued.
(e) A retailer or wholesaler who receives a warning notice
from the commission that the retailer's or wholesaler's inventory
violates this subchapter because it includes covered batteries from
a producer that is not in compliance with this subchapter must bring
the inventory into compliance with this subchapter not later than
the 60th day after the date the warning notice is issued.
(f) An administrative or civil penalty collected under
Subchapter C or D, Chapter 7, Water Code, for a violation of this
subchapter shall be deposited to the credit of the covered battery
stewardship account.
SECTION 2. (a) Not later than February 1, 2016, the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality shall adopt any rules or forms
needed to implement Subchapter P, Chapter 361, Health and Safety
Code, as added by this Act.
(b) Not later than March 1, 2016, the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality shall begin accepting plans seeking approval
for and approving stewardship programs established under
Subchapter P, Chapter 361, Health and Safety Code, as added by this
Act.
(c) A producer of covered batteries is not required to
implement a stewardship program under Subchapter P, Chapter 361,
Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, before September 1,
2016.
(d) This Act may not be enforced before September 1, 2016.
(e) The first report required by Section 361.475, Health and
Safety Code, as added by this Act, is due September 1, 2018.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2015.